Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, it’s time to start thinking about the holiday shopping season. At Translogic we know how stressful this time of year can be for gift-givers and just how disappointing it can be when you’re on the receiving end. With that thought in mind, we’ve put together our holiday gift guide.
Transportation geeks will find some great ideas here, to fit every budget. Be sure to pass it along as a not-so-subtle hint to those clueless relatives who think all presents can be found at Walmart.
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SCX Digital – GT Pit Box Set
Price: $349.99
Hobbyists and kids alike have enjoyed the scaled down racing action of slot cars fornearly a century, but this remote controlled micro motoring has always lacked a certain sense of realism. That is, until slot cars went digital.
Now, sets like SCX’s GT Pit Box allow for lane changing, multiple cars per lane and active fuel management. Racers monitor a digital readout of their remaining fuel and have to hit the pits before hitting empty, or else experience an embarrassing stall out as competitors fly past. The ability to pit, as well as change lanes to overtake, adds that bit of depth that slot car sets had always been missing. It’s enough to awaken the kid in us all.
Gran Turismo 5
Price: $59.99
Delay after delay has kept the fifth installment in the epic Gran Turismo series outside of our grasp for far too long. Just in time for the holiday season, however, it has finally arrived, available only for the Playstation 3. With breathtaking graphics and knuckle-whitening action,it’s a great game even if it’s not perfect.
The prospect of car racing might not be quite enough to get some of the real automotive tech-heads out there excited, so keep this in mind: GT5 allows you to race with some of the most forward-looking cars of the recent past. Just thinking about the ability to race in a souped-up Honda CR-Z or hydrogen-powered Citroen GT on a cold winter day makes this video game shoot towards the top our own list.
Down payment on Nissan Leaf
Price: $1,999
For the person you know who is totally geeked about the all-electric Nissan Leaf, but is scared by the price tag, the gift of a down payment is ideal. At $1,999, it’s not a cheap gift, but the $349 monthly payment is certainly reasonable.
The Leaf is the first truly mainstream EV and will be doing battle with the Chevy Volt to win over the hearts and minds of the public. If you know the person who wants more than anything to be one of the first participants in the new frontier of automotive battles, then this gift is the way to go.
Parrot AR Drone
Price: $299.99
Recently, we had the opportunity to test out the Parrot Drone at the Translogic office in Detroit and — trust us — it’s a lot of fun. The AR Drone works by using an on-board WiFi system, which syncs up to your Apple iPhone, iPod or iPad. You can control the drone via your device, tilting it to steer and using a couple of different buttons to control height, take off and land.
The AR Drone is more than just a sophisticated way to terrorize your cat, too. With Parrot’s AR.PURSUIT video game, you can battle your buddies for air supremacy using your electronic device as a mode of augmented reality where you can shoot machine guns and missiles at each other.
Virgin Galactic Reservation
Price: $50,000,000
For that one person who has, literally, everything in the world, the gift of a reservation on the Virgin Galactic is the perhaps the only option you have. Sure it isn’t cheap, but it is a truly out of this world experience.
Virgin Galactic is the arm of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin group that is developing the world’s first commercial manned space flight system and tourism business. It recently announced that it had completed a successful manned flight of its VSS Enterprise and is now taking reservations for trips into outer space. If you have the means, this is certainly the gift to end all gifts.
USB Remote-Controlled Race Car
Price: $14.95
For the person with the boring desk job, this USB Remote-Controlled Race Car is the way to go. Using a“steering wheel” on the computer screen, the car can be moved in six directions and up to three feet from its USB-connected “garage” around your desk. It even comes complete with a little horn to honk.
We know how hard it can be to sit through those 10-hour days, day-dreaming about cars, tech and transportation. The USB Remote-Controlled Race Car can help get you through it by providing at least a small glimpse of what you would really rather be doing.
Kiwi Wifi iPhone Car Diagnostic Kit
Price: $149.99
The lack of clarity in the“Check Engine” light has led many-a-car-owner down a path of frustration and financial pain in getting their vehicle’s problem diagnosed and fixed. Enter the Kiwi Wifi iPhone Car Diagnostic Kit. The Kit plugs into your car’s OBDII port and, after downloading the recommended app to your iPhone, can tell you all sorts of information about your fuel economy, horsepower and torque and, most importantly, what is wrong with your engine. The kit works in any car built in or after 1996, including hybrids.
Hövding Scarf “Helmet”
Price: $357
As transportation geeks, we love cycling just as much as we love all other forms of mobility. However, we have never been to crazy about the safety gear necessary to travel via bicycle, motorcycle, etc. There’s just something about wearing half of a bowling ball on one’s head that doesn’t exactly scream coolness.
Luckily, two Swedish industrial design students have come up with a solution: the Hövding (or Chieftain, in English). This innovative device is essentially a stylish scarf that blows up like an airbag within 0.1 seconds when it senses a collision, saving your dome from damage. Made of durable nylon and coming in several different styles, we like to think that the Chieftain is making travel on two wheels more attractive. Then again…
Tesla Universal Mobile Connector
Price: $1,500
We love the fact that more EVs are starting to appear on the roads, but we are less excited about the lack of infrastructure for recharging. Until there is a large-scale solution in place for EV owners, they will have to rely on items like the Universal Mobile Connector for long range driving.
The Universal Mobile Adapter allows you to charge your Tesla using any 208-240 volt outlet. With 10 adapters available in the kit, Tesla owners can charge their vehicle in outlets anywhere, from those used for electric clothes dryers to other large appliances. A full charge will still take about six hours, but the adapters make road trips in EVs possible as owners can charge overnight at hotels or campgrounds.
Want to see the country without contributing to its destruction? This is the gift for you. Sure it’s a lot of plugs to lug around, but that’s what the trunk is for.
Top Gear DVDs
Price: $19.99
It’s too soon to tell if the American version of Top Gear will be as good as the original British one, but if history tells us anything, it’s that the American series is much more likely to jump the shark. Regardless, there’s no doubt that the British team of Richard, Jeremy and James provides some of the most entertaining and interesting automotive TV ever.
The gift of Top Gear is ideal for all automotive tech heads that like to sit back and live life as a couch potato now and then. It’s funny, entertaining and can whet your appetite for automotive tech almost as well as we can.