It’s been an interesting year for cars and car tech. It started with Google announcing that it wanted an Android in every car before showing off its own custom-built autonomous vehicle, saw plenty of racing and ended with plenty of promise for 2015.
But what about you? What piqued your interest in 2014?
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We decided to have a look back in our archives and, given that the tagline of this site is “Because Cars are Gadgets”, the results were surprisingly traditional.
Far from being obsessed with the latest and greatest car tech innovations, the stuff that’s on your mind is the stuff that’s obsessed petrol-heads for most of motoring’s history: aerodynamics, DIY hacks, and outright speed.
Here are the five most read Motorburn articles of 2014.
1. 12 of the most aerodynamic cars in production right now
Aerodynamics has always been one of the most vital elements of motoring. It affects everything from fuel economy to acceleration and handling.
In this piece, Motorburn contributor Ryan Bubear takes a look at 12 of the most aerodynamic cars currently gracing show-room floors.
Interestingly, the cars featured cover everything from high-performance sports cars to sedans and chubby cross-over hatchbacks.
2. 4 ways to get the HUD experience without shelling out for a new car
It’s easy to understand why you’d want a head-up-display in your car. Apart from the cool factor of feeling like you’re flying a fighter jet, it’s also a hell of a lot safer than having an aftermarket GPS unit blocking the view from your windscreen.
But while cars with built-in HUDs are becoming increasingly affordable, they’re still out of reach for plenty of people.
Enter the DIY hack. The solutions may not always look, or function, perfectly but how much does that really matter when you’re hunting down a bogey (or rusting Peugeot, as the case may be) at 12 O’Clock.
3. The 10 fastest production cars ever to lap the Nürburgring
It’s the holy grail of motoring and, among car companies, getting a fast time on the Nürburgring Nordschleife is a badge of honour.
That’s because getting a fast time on this legendary track is no small feat either. As Ryan Bubear explains anyone wishing to take it on has to bear in mind its unforgiving undulations, its length (20.832km) and the fact that it’s still regarded as a public toll road.
As of April 2014, these were the fastest production cars to go round the world-famous track, although we can probably expect a similar list in 2015 to have a good few new names on it.
4. 5 DIY hacks that let you fit high tech gadgets into ordinary cars
There’s plenty to be said for the tech finding its way into new cars, especially from a safety point of view. As we’ve already established though, new cars can be pretty darn expensive.
And if you’ve got a perfectly functional set of wheels, why trade them in just so you can get a backup camera or parking sensors, especially when you can just do it yourself?
We would however like to say that Motorburn takes no responsibility for any damage you might do to your car while turning your ashtray into a smartphone dock.
5. 7 top chauffeur-driven cars for stinking rich technophiles
We had no idea that Motorburn had such a strong following among the one percent.
Thee fifth most popular Motorburn article of 2014 saw Ryan Bubear detailing the best cars to buy for anyone who prefers sitting in the back looking stock figures to actually being behind the wheel.
Of course, the cars in this piece will probably occupy a special place in history, given that they’re probably among the last chauffeur-driven cars that will be built before autonomous motoring technology renders chauffeurs obsolete.
