2012 VW Passat Fender Stereo a Welcome Surprise

There was a time when Bose was the only recognized premium car stereo brand. Then Nakamichi blew our minds in the 1990 Lexus LS 400. Since then, automakers have scrambled to align themselves with whatever home or car-audio brand, music producer or musician they could find.

What do these alliances mean? Absolutely nothing. Decades of experience in home audio — or the music business — don't guarantee performance. Performance is its own bottom line. That's why I was impressed with the latest newcomer, a premium stereo in the 2012 Volkswagen Passat developed with Fender Musical Instruments and Panasonic.

The Fender-branded stereo is just that: a stereo, meaning two channels, not the multichannel approach many automakers — especially luxury brands — have taken. It's about as effective evidence as you'll find that high speaker counts and complexity aren't necessary to deliver quality audio. (The Suzuki Kizashi's Rockford Fosgate system is another.)

For the 2012 Passat, the Fender system is available as an option for the SEL trim and higher, which starts at $28,395, well above the car’s $19,995 base price. Fender also developed audio systems for most of the 2012 VW lineup.

Below I dissect the plusses and minuses of the system. As a former editor at Audio, Car Stereo Review and Sound + Image magazines, I am unfathomably nerdy about audio performance in or out of a car.

Hyundai Equus Buyers No Longer Get iPad Manual

Hyundai will stop including an iPad owner’s manual with its Equus luxury car, according to a report from USA Today. The free iPad won’t come with the Equus starting with the 2012 model year, which goes on sale next month.

The tablet will be replaced with a tried-and-true paperback manual, Hyundai spokesman Jim Trainor told USA Today. Trainor said the iPads were only meant to be a one-year promotion to help with the Equus’ U.S. launch.

The iPad owner’s manual is innovative, and if you’re already an owner of an iPad or other tablet, the application will still be available for download.

Exclusive: No more free iPads for Hyundai Equus (USA Today)

Nissan Leaf App Added for Android, BlackBerry Devices

The Nissan Leaf launched with an iPhone mobile application that allowed users to check the battery’s charge level, start and stop charging, and pre-condition the cabin, among other features.

Today, Nissan says those features are now available to users of Android and BlackBerry operating systems.

The app is available to any Nissan Leaf owner, CarWings subscriber (a service provider that helps remotely charge your EV), and to the general public interested in knowing more about the Leaf.

Cars.com senior editor Joe Wiesenfelder uses the iPhone app regularly and finds it useful with pre-conditioning the cabin. Also, unlike the Chevy Volt mobile app, the Leaf app can be downloaded onto multiple smartphones to control the same car; the Volt app can only be used on one phone.

We downloaded the Leaf app on a BlackBerry Torch — overall the interface design looks the same as the iPhone — but we’ll have to live with it longer to see whether the functionality is the same on the BlackBerry.

OnStar's Family Link Keeps Tabs on Teen Drivers

Waiting is the hardest part for many parents of teen drivers. They wait with cell phones in hand to get a call or text message that their young driver has arrived safely at a destination.

OnStar’s Family Link pilot program takes waiting out of the equation, allowing OnStar subscribers to check on the progress of a car equipped with the subscription-based communication system.

The Family Link program’s Vehicle Locate allows OnStar subscribers to log on to the Family Link website to view a map with the car’s exact location at any time. Vehicle Location Alert can send an email or text message to let parents know a car’s location. Parents can choose the day, time and frequency of the messages.

The pilot may expand to include speed, boundary and arrival/departure alerts, according to OnStar. About 10,000 OnStar subscribers in the U.S. will be invited to the pilot program. Pricing for the program hasn’t been announced.

The program sounds a lot like Big Brother — make that Big Mother — but parents of teens may appreciate the extra set of eyes on their young ones.

Ford Drops Sync Price by $100 on Explorer, Edge

Ford has cut the price of its Sync system by $100 on the 2012 Ford Explorer and Edge, and it’s offering the technology on all trim levels for both models.

The new starting price for Sync on the base Explorer and Edge is $295, down from $395. In past model years, Sync was unavailable on those trims. Ford hasn’t announced if the price cuts will impact the cost of MyFord Touch, an optional system that has Sync built into it available on higher trims.

The 2012 Ford Edge has a starting MSRP of $28,465 (up $825 from 2011), while the 2012 Ford Explorer starts at $28,995 (up $635), including undisclosed destination fees. Both models are in production and heading to dealerships.

Ford says the 2013 Ford Taurus, Focus, Escape and Flex will get new — presumably lowered — pricing for Sync, too. 

Spotify in the Car: Review

Online music junkies probably greeted the U.S. release of Spotify last week with glee. The online music service has been popular in Europe for years; it had to wrangle with U.S. music companies before launching here. It’s similar to online radio services such as Pandora and Slacker, but Spotify allows for customized playlists, including full-length albums, for free.

To use Spotify in your car via a smartphone you have to jump through some hoops and pay up. How well does it work?

Toyota's Crazy Smart Window Concept

Watching the video (above), you can’t help but be blown away by Toyota’s “Window to the World” concept for rear windows. It allows rear passengers, namely children, to tap on the window to identify things the car is passing, like sheep or homes.

They also can drag open a digital pane in the window to magnify things they’re passing. Like sheep.

They can even draw images on the window like trees that will then move off the screen as if they’re part of the scenery.

This is a tremendous way to get children more involved in the outside world rather than watching cartoons on an iPad, let’s say. But how often are you passing through quaint countryside locales like the one in the video?

Plus, your child would have to be able to reach the window easily. In today’s strapped-in world of child-safety seats and high beltline car designs, I don’t see that happening. Not to mention that the girl in the video doesn’t appear to be belted in.

Window-mounted displays would be best used on the windshield like a head-up display to keep motorist’s eyes on the road. Or perhaps a unique rear window could show the surroundings in an augmented way making rearview monitors unnecessary.

For me, I’d rather Toyota make rear sunscreens standard for a lot less money; my kids can just keep smudging my iPad screen.

Ford Adds Operators To Help Sync Users

Ford is rethinking its computer-driven Sync system by adding a human touch to the equation. Over the summer, Ford will experiment with a new service called Operator Assist, according to the Detroit Free Press. The feature would allow drivers having trouble using Ford’s Sync systems to connect with a live operator.

Ford launched its voice-activated Sync system to rave reviews nearly four years ago. Since that time, the company has added complex technology including driving directions, stock quotes and more that are proving harder for drivers to use versus the original music and phone operations.

If Ford decides to expand its Operator Assist program after the field test, it can do so without updates or new equipment for existing Sync users, according to the Free Press. The service would be free for up to three years and then cost $60 for a yearly subscription.

Rolls-Royce President Talks Electrics, High-Tech

The Rolls-Royce Phantom sedan has enough room to cross your legs in the backseat without touching the front seats: one foot propped sideways and the other buried an inch deep in carpet. It’s not a shabby place to sit — and probably better than chatting outside, Rolls-Royce’s David Archibald tells me. He and I are at the jam-packed opening of a Rolls-Royce dealership in Chicago’s moneyed Gold Coast neighborhood. Archibald, 53, is a sum manifestation of today’s global auto industry: a Scotsman who’s president of the North American arm of a British carmaker owned by Germans. BMW has controlled Rolls-Royce since 1998, and Archibald has been with the brand since 2002.

Product changes come slow in the ultra-luxury business and the lengthy product cycles risk having cars with outdated technology. Take the Phantom. It dates back to late 2003 and still employs an early generation of BMW’s iDrive interface. The smaller Ghost, introduced for 2010, has BMW’s latest generation of iDrive, which is far more workable.

Then again, with 11 bull hides and 10 square meters of wood inside a Phantom’s cabin, it’s a long shot whether any Rolls-Royce customer gives a whit about outdated electronics. After all, most Patek Philippe timepieces don’t include a stopwatch.

More New Cars Will Have Start-Stop Tech by 2016

Start-stop systems — a longtime integral attribute of hybrids and, in the past few years, something offered on luxury models from BMWs and Porches — are about to get a lot more popular, according to Johnson Controls, a major auto supplier.

Auto start-stop systems, which cut off an engine’s fuel supply when the car is stopped, were in about 8% of new cars in 2010; they will increase to 52% to 55% of new cars by 2016, according to the parts firm. The quick adoption mainly stems from increased pressure on automakers to increase fuel-economy standards from a 30.1 mpg average to 35.5 mpg by the federal government’s 2016 deadline.

Auto-start stop technology can increase fuel economy by 5% to 12% compared to a model with a regular gas engine. The change is already happening today. Vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu, Buick LaCrosse, Buick Regal, Kia Rio and BMW 5 Series will get the technology in the 2012 model year. Mazda, Audi and Mercedes-Benz are working on similar systems.

"Start-stop" seen tripling in new cars by 2016 (Reuters)