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Canwest News Service
1. Swedish muscle car Swedish-made SoundRacer plugs into the car's cigarette lighter adapter, senses the speed at which the vehicle is accelerating and then creates an extremely authentic revving noise that is characteristic of a V8 or V10 engine. Owners of cars already audible from afar need not apply, but genteel folk who buy environmentally efficient quiet cars can unleash their inner beasts by having this puppy on standby when they want their safe vehicle to feel a tad more daring. Fortunately, there is additional utility for the price, as the FM transmitter that outputs noise to the car stereo can also be used to transmit music from an MP3 player. Most intriguing about SoundRacer is its Swedish roots. It is sociologically significant that a country known for liberalism, efficiency and clean esthetics would be single-handedly responsible for a product whose primary purpose is to emulate the guttural sounds of dirty engines past. $55; visit soundracer. se. 2. This Fanatec is for fanatics While we see nothing inherently strange when fans of driving simulation video games purchase a steering wheel controller, it could be characterized as freakishly hard core when they invest vast sums into the newly released Porsche 911 GT3 RS Gaming Steering Wheel. Manufactured by German game accessory maker Fanatec, this product features hand-stitched leather that is identical to the leather used in the actual sports car. It arrives with a pedal set that has pressure-sensitive brake sensors, magnetic precision sensors and even ABS vibration. This is probably as close to driving a Porsche as many of us will ever get. Unfortunately, like those poor and twisted souls who own a World of Warcraft gaming keyboard (which we vigorously deny knowing anything about!), owners of this product will likely live in private shame, hiding this product from people with pursuits perceived to be more noble. Console players should be warned that not all Fanatec devices work with all consoles, but there is an option for each one. US$170; visit fanatec.de.
lconn@nationalpost.com
