Autoblog

Carbon fiber, that uber-cool mix of graphite fibers and epoxy that used to be reserved for exotic race cars and fighter jets, is seemingly everywhere these days. Lightweight and space-age, the material is now directly associated with speed and performance. If you are an automaker offering a high-performance vehicle, you had better slap some CF on the car just to keep up with the federation (nobody really cares if it actually helps performance). The BMW M3 Coupe sports a carbon fiber roof, the Porsche GT3 RS a carbon fiber spoiler, and the Nissan GT-R a carbon fiber underbody air diffuser (most of the mainstream automotive applications are technically known as "carbon reinforced plastic").

Taking advantage of the trend, the team over at Carbon Fiber Gear will sell you such must-have items as carbon fiber humidors, carbon fiber guitars, and carbon fiber shoes, but we like a carbon fiber product for the computer that won't lighten the wallet at all. It's an assortment of free downloadable carbon fiber desktops, in resolutions from 1024x768 to 1680x1050. We honestly don't know if they will speed up your refresh rates, but if carbon fiber is good for the Bugatti Veyron, it should help your display. Right? Thanks for the tip Dave!

[Source: Carbon Fiber Gear]

Click the image above for dozens of wallpaper for your desktop

We've spent the first two days of the 2008 Detroit Auto Show going full throttle - attending press conferences, photographing vehicles, and posting non-stop. The only problem is that thousands of other journalists are doing the same, and it can sometimes be tough to get good, clean photographs of the vehicles without dozens of people crowding the cars. Fortunately, the third press day is more relaxed and offers a better chance to take pictures of the cars. All of the press conferences are over, the vehicles are displayed nicely in their stands, and the crowds of journalists and photographers have lessened. We spent the first half of today photographing our favorite vehicles at the show and have created a gallery of super high resolution images (1920 pixels wide!) just so you can adorn your desktop with the likes of the Audi R8 V12 TDI, Mazda Furai, Land Rover LRX, and more. Feel free to browse through the gallery below and download your favorites.

All photos ©2008 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

Click on the Demon for a gallery of high-res images suitable for wallpaper

In conjunction with the preview of its 2008 models, Chrysler invited us out to their proving ground in Chelsea, MI to photograph all of their latest concept cars. The only car we hadn't seen before was a rally-prepped Dodge Caliber that designer Ralph Gilles drove in the Targa Newfoundland. Also on hand were the Chrysler Nassau, Jeep Trailhawk and Dodge Demon, which we saw on the auto show circuit this past winter.

The Chrysler Sebring that was shown last fall at SEMA was joined by the wildly popular Jeep JT pickup and Wrangler Unlimited Ultimate, which will both be shown this fall at SEMA. The concept vehicles were arrayed around the handling loop at the proving ground and we were given free reign to shoot for the next couple of hours. Even though we've seen most of these machines in the past, it was nice to see them outside in the sunshine on a beautiful summer evening. If you're in need of some new wallpaper for your desktop, peruse these galleries and take your pick.

More Chrysler Concept galleries can be found after the jump.