Bisarbeat: AUTOMOBILE

Showing posts with label AUTOMOBILE. Show all posts

Wednesday, 13 June 2012

Strangest Car Dashboards

1972 Maserati Boomerang concept

All instruments inside the steering wheel is the idea behind the Maserati Boomerang. It was first displayed as a non-functional model at the Turin Motor Show in 1971. By the Geneva Salon in March 1972, it transformed into a fully operational vehicle. The mechanics were from Maserati, the engine being the race-bred V8 of 4.7 liters, developing no less than 310 hp and good for an indicated top speed of 300 km/h. It was then, until 1974, successively shown at the Paris, London and Barcelona motor shows and was unanimously praised for its audacity.

1981 Citroen Xenia concept

The Citroen Xenia Concept was introduced in 1981 and was a scale model design that never went past the concept stage. The interior was just as futuristic as the exterior, with a slew of lights and buttons in-and-around the steering wheel. The concept was envisioned as having an automatic gearbox and plenty of glass on all four corners, offering an open-air feeling for the occupants.

1988 Pontiac Banshee

The 1988 Pontiac Banshee concept car interior was a blend of 1988 and 2008: high-tech gadgetry and conveniences, but using technology that existed when the car was built. Gauges were electronic and included a 3-D head-up display.

1982 Lancia Orca

A digital dashboard way before its time.

2012 Pagani Huayra

Some people love it, others hate it, but you can't deny this million-dollar car has a crazy dashboard full of details.

2002 Fiat Multipla

If you think the dashboard is ugly, you should see the exterior. It had, however, an interesting range of family-friendly features. It was voted Top Gear Magazine's "Family Car of the Year" for four years in a row (2001–2004).

2003 Honda Civic (customized)

Alpine spent over a quarter million dollars on this 2003 Honda Civic. This car is full of electronics and could be described as unprecedented.

K.I.T.T. replica

It's a talking, computerized car from the old 80's TV hit, Knight Rider? Built by a dedicated fan in Toronto, the replica took over 4 years and $40k (CAD) to build. The modified 1984 Pontiac Trans Am features all of the meaningless flashing lights and buttons from TV's one-and-only talking car, along with a handful of updates like LCD screens and a DVD/CD/MP3 player to keep up with the times.

1983 Citroen GSA Pallas

The GSA Pallas had the mad rotating drums for speed and revs which you had look at through magnifying glasses.

1984 Aston Martin Lagonda

Boxiest dashboard ever. Its exterior was also one of the longest, strangest ever seen.

The 1957 Edsel...Strange dashboard or ahead of its time?

The Edsel Ranger interior, showing the Teletouch system and Rolling Dome speedometer.

Crystal Console by Swedes

Its only a concept.

Thursday, 7 June 2012

MINI Launch China Olympic Special Edition

Mini,s Chinese outpost will celebrate the 2012 Olympic Games in London by launching a special-edition Mini Cooper hatchback. Being part of BMW, MINI also have very ambitious intentions for the Chinese market, and so, they’ve released a new, special version of the Cooper, specially for the market.

The China Olympic Special Edition cars are based on a Mini Cooper with the 120-hp, 1.6-liter inline-four engine. The Olympic Special Edition cars will reportedly go on sale in China in July. Mini has yet to announce pricing for the models. Mini had previously unveiled its London 2012 special limited edition models to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The model sports gold stripes on the roof to resemble an athletics track and a numbered “Mini China Olympic Special Edition” badge on the grill. It features an excellent (British Racing) green paint finish, which is very nicely complimented by the special gold-effect five stripe design which runs across the car’s bonnet and white roof, where it forms the shape of an oval(-ish) running track, and on its sides where the ‘MINI China’ logo is added for good measure.

Despite BMW’s association with the Olympic event in London, the MINI China Olympic Special Edition has no official logos of the event nor does it seem to have any association with it.

Saturday, 2 June 2012

World’s First Supersonic Car

Pall's latest filtration solution not only debuted with a bang, but also with a sonic boom. On October 15, 1997, Andy Green became the first man to drive faster than the speed of sound, thanks in part to the crucial hydraulic system in his car, protected by Pall filtration.

On that dusty day in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA, Green, a 35-year-old fighter pilot with the UK Royal Air Force, strapped on a twin-engine jet designed for supersonic speeds, but which was never intended to fly. Before the day was over, Green and his car, the Thrust SSC (Super Sonic Car), owned the prestigious World Landspeed Record, with an official speed of 763.035 mph (1,228 kph), or Mach 1.020. This result shattered the 14-year-old record of 633.468 mph (1,019 kph) set by Green's boss and Thrust team leader, Richard Noble, and allowed Green to claim the title as the first man to ever officially drive faster than the speed of sound. This amazing achievement came 50 years and one day after Chuck Yeager's historic supersonic flight.

It would be difficult to find a more exciting and technically challenging form of motor racing than the World Landspeed Record (WLR). But the rules that govern it are surprisingly simple. The car must make two passes over a measured mile (1.6 km) within 60 minutes, and the average speed of the two passes yields the official result. Another rule is that the vehicle must have four or more wheels, with steering provided by two of those wheels. Other than that, there are no design restrictions.

The Thrust SSC uses an innovative design that takes full advantage of the WLR's lack of restrictions. The 10-ton car's most notable features are its twin layout Rolls-Royce Spey 202/205 afterburning turbofan engines. These modified aircraft engines generate the 110,000 horsepower needed to propel the car through the sound barrier. The Rolls-Royce engines were chosen for their design stability, and because they could be positioned such that 60% of their weight rested on the car's front wheels. This would help keep the Thrust SSC, a twin-engine jet car, from becoming airborne.

The extremely high speeds that are inherent in pursuing the World Landspeed Record, coupled with the unevenness of the course's surface of compacted desert sand, make controlling the car's stability a crucial and difficult problem to solve. Thrust SSC uses a hydraulic active ride suspension system that is similar to those developed for Formula 1 racing cars. Active suspension dynamically adjusts the displacement of the rear suspension, helping to keep the vehicle on the ground.

The active suspension system adjusts the relative angle of the car with respect to the ground, to help maintain stability at any speed. It does this with the help of high-performance servo valves. These valves are very sensitive to particulate contamination in the hydraulic oil. To protect it, the suspension system was first flushed using Pall high-efficiency one-micron filters. Thrust SSC uses four Pall 9021-Series non-bypass pressure-line filter assemblies, with a filtration rating of 3 micrometers (ß3=200). Each assembly also incorporates an indicator, to help the team rapidly determine when a filter is blocked and a replacement is required.

Most expensive luxury car crashes

We generally talk about the power, style and stunning beauty of the expensive and limited edition luxury sports cars manufactured by some of the noted automakers, but this time, the topic is about the on-road crashes of these ultra-expensive beauties and its aftermaths.

Last year, an outing of luxury sports car enthusiasts ended in one of the most expensive high-speed freeway pileup in Japan; smashing a convoy of 11 luxury cars including eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and two Mercedes.

11 luxury sports cars wrecked in expensive pileup

Here, are some of the few picks of the very latest and most expensive supercar crashes involving million dollar cars:-

Aston Martin One-77 crashed in Hong Kong

The ultra-rare and most sought-after supercar, Aston martin One-77, is now even rarer as one of just 77 units ever produced is damaged badly following a tragic high-speed crash occurred in Hong Kong, China. Considerably new, the car involved in this tragic accident was reported to be one of the last units to be produced. Considering the carbon-fiber construction of this $1.7 million car, its repair is expected to cost pretty high and is expected to be shipped back to the Britain for further damage assessment.

2006 Porsche Cayman crashed by ‘Star Trek’ star Sherry Jackson

Sherry Jackson, the star who played Andrea in the original ‘Star Trek’ series back in the 1960s rear-ended a 2011 Mustang while she was driving her sleek white 2006 Porsche Cayman in Norwalk, California. However, the reports about the amount of damage and if Sherry Jackson got injured are still unclear.

Tuned Lamborghini Murcielago smashed five cars in Russia

In the Russian city of Saint Petersberg, a tuned Lamborghini Murcielago got involved in an accident and damaged five other cars. This 641hp supercar accelerated heavily and driver lost control which resulted the crash into three parked cars, along with the hitting of Lexus with a BMW. However, after looking at the cars condition, it doesn’t look like if anybody got hurt.

Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren sports car

Thor Batista, the son of business tycoon Brazil’s richest man, Eike Batista ran over a cyclist in his Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren over Washington Luiz highway outside Rio de Janerio in March this year. While driving, 20 years old billionaire heir hit a 30-year old Wanderson Pereira, which led to his immediate death. However, Thor survived the tragic crash with some minor cuts in the arm and chest but is summoned to testify as part of the investigation. Also, the Thor family has announced that will bear the costs of the victim’s funeral.

Audi A8 V10 crashed by Ski World Cup winner Marcel Hirscher

On 14 May 2012, Ski World Cup winner, Marcel Hirscher met an accident in his Audi A8 V10 in Abtenau, Austria. Marcel Hirscher was taken to nearby hospital following the major impact which resulted in minor injuries and the total write-off of the car. The 23-year old Austrian World Cup alpine ski racer was on his way to a press even that time.

Thursday, 24 May 2012

New York Auto Show of 2012

The 2012 New York Auto Show is not one of the bigger motorshows in the world, but certainly very prominent, with its own set of world debuts. This year’s edition marked the introduction of various 2013 models such as the Toyota Avalon, Subaru XV CrossTrek, Hyundai Santa Fe, Nissan Altima, SRT Viper, Lincoln MKZ, Mercedes-Benz GL-Class, Lexus ES and more. The few concepts included the Honda Crosstour, Infiniti LE, Acura RLX and the BMW i8 Spyder.