Now, I don’t know how many of you have ever gotten stuck in the mud or in snow while driving, but I can tell you this much–I certainly have.  And I would have absolutely loved to have a gadget like this while trying to get myself OUT.

It’s the Foldable Traction Mat, and they’re essentially piece of high-density plastic gadget that can withstand weight and preposterously cold temperatures to give your tire a surface to grab onto that isn’t made of snow, ice or mud.

You just slip the end under your tire–in the mud or snow or what have you–and then you drive onto that.  Get out of the sticky item in question, then go back and recover the mat when you’re on safer ground.

This gadget definitely is a smart idea, great for winter and late fall / early spring when mud is prevalent.  And forty bucks for a traction mat is a lot cheaper than a tow would be.

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Land Rover has come forth and announced that they will be giving their Defender a make over with the Fire & Ice limited editions.

The Defender Fire & Ice editions will be getting Recaro bucket seats, all sorts of leather and Alcantara trim, alloy wheels, “color-coded heat and tail lights”, a glass sunroof panel and running boards. The Fire edition will come with a beautiful “Vesuvius Orange Metallic paint” while the Ice edition will get an Alaska white paint with both models getting Santorini black accents.

Of course this is all going to cost you with Autoblog reporting that the special edition Defenders will cost upwards of €68,400 or about $95,000, yikes.

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