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Mercedes leads in US luxury car thefts

Mercedes-Benz makes some fine automobiles. The Silver Arrow'd cars are so good, apparently, that thieves can't help but try to steal them. The German brand is at the top of the charts for luxury car thefts in the US, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, with New York City leading the way. (And those New Yorkers complain about Detroit being bad!)
The C-Class was the most stolen model, with 485 ganked between 2009 and 2012 in NYC alone, while the E-Class and S-Class (which also boasted the worst recovery rate, at 59 percent) both finished in the top ten. Following the C-Class was the BMW 3 Series and Infiniti G. Not surprisingly, each of these were the most common models in their respective lineups. Los Angeles and Miami are also prime hotspots for luxury car thefts, according to the Detroit News report.
While getting your car stolen is pretty awful, there was one inspiring statistic compiled by the NICB - the average recovery rate across the board was 84 percent, with the Cadillac CTS getting recovered 91 percent of the time.

TRANSLOGIC 147: CES 2014 Autonomous Vehicles

We head back to CES in Las Vegas to check on the progress of autonomous vehicles in 2014. We go hands-free on the highway with Audi, narrowly avoid a collision with Ford and hear all about BMW's drifting driverless car. But first we take a ride on Induct's self-driving Navia shuttle.

Lotus Esprit S1 gets wet and wild in 'Forza Horizon 4' James Bond trailer

It only makes sense. When the official trailer for Forza Horizon 4 ( FH4) first debuted at E3, details showed the game is set in Britain. Those who were ahead of the curve might have recognized this as a foreshadowing of sorts. Celebrating the launch of FH4's XBOX One and Windows 10 demo on Sept. 12, Playground Games announced that the next version of the beloved racing simulator will launch with an available Best of Bond pack that includes many of James Bond's storied rides. As expected, the list is heavy on the Aston Martin, but there are plenty of other goodies, too. Included in the 10-car pack are the 1964 Aston Martin DB5, a 1969 Aston Martin DBS, a 1986 Aston Martin V8, a 2008 Aston Martin DBS, a 2015 Aston Martin DB10, a 1974 AMC Hornet X Hatchback, a 1977 Lotus Esprit S1, a 1981 Citroen 2CV6, a 1999 BMW Z8, and a 2010 Jaguar C-X75. If you can name every movie that all of these vehicles are from, pat yourself on the back and grab a martini. View 15 Photos Microsoft is rewarding those who are all-in on FH4. The Best of Bond pack will come with the Ultimate Edition of the game that is allowed an early play date, starting Sept. 28. For those who haven't fully committed, the Best of Bond pack will be available as an add-on for purchase when the game launches globally on Oct. 2. The action-packed trailer shows many of the vehicles transforming or busting out tricks they're known for from the films, including the Lotus emerging from the sea. Although players will not be able to drive any vehicles under water (that we know of), several of the gadgets will make it into the game and will be viewable during Forzavista mode. The '64 DB5 has many of its features, such as the bumper rams and revolving license plate, while the Lotus will have an available body kit, fins and all. The Bond pack also comes with a few features irrelevant to the cars, including two Bond outfits and six "quick chat" phrases that can be used during multiplayer. The pack adds to an already impressive catalogue of vehicles that includes more than 450 different rides. Available now to pre-order, the FH4 Ultimate Edition is priced at $99.99, the Deluxe Edition is $79.99, while the base game is $59.99. For those who love Bond but don't own a gaming system, don't forget about the recently announced DB5 Lego kit.