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[LaZyBoY]

Sweet!! Now if only they come back into WRC..

Can't help but think some of this commercial success is because they've gone more mainstream, at least in terms of design. The new Impreza(hatch), Forester and Legacy all seem quite generic IMO Don't know about the WRC but I would settle for some old school innovation in the design department and maybe some tweaks to the flat four.

[Supra_Natural]

A Legendary name among gearheads everywhere passed on last week. Considering how much of a spectacle the car was in its life, its surprising that it ha been this quiet. RIP: Dodge Viper

Now Cracks a Noble Heart: RIP Dodge Viper, 1992-2010.

Today, the last Dodge Viper rolls off its Conner Avenue assembly plant and into the annals of history. RT/10, GTS, GTS-R, SRT-10, ACR-X, Carbon, two generations and over 25,000 examples later, Chrysler finally sets its wild child to rest. Goodnight, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

If the Viper were a beer, it would be a King Cobra: messy, but gets the job done. If it were a band, it would be Mötley Crüe, umlauts and everything. Side-mounted pipes and a front end that could eat toddlers was Dr. Feelgood’s recipe to kickstart anybody’s heart. A brash, two-middle-fingered, gun-blazing, aviator-wearing rock star of a car, the Viper rang true to the engineer’s law of simplicity that provided for its charm. A hood that stretched into next week, on top of a monster V10 engine lifted from a pickup truck, in front of a coal-bin interior sitting on top of a rear suspension also lifted from a truck. It was to be the next Cobra: a ludicrous engine in a small car that proved the axiom that there’s no replacement for displacement. That’s what Bob Lutz had intended, back in 1989 when he was helming a company that built K-Cars and whose most exciting vehicle was a FWD compact hatchback with a Japanese motor and a 30-year old nameplate reflecting a racetrack it never raced on. Unsurprisingly, the Viper dropped like a spaceship. Its mere presence was one way to get people to look at wood-paneled Caravans.

The Viper has always been a car that baffled Europe: a car it frowns upon with haughty snobbery, prides in never building, secretly yearns to do so, but forgets that it already does. And Europeans will take note at the fact that it’s more sophisticated than it lets on to be. Where the RT/10 roadster was impractical in the same way Denver International Airport’s Blue Mustang would be in your living room, the GTS coupe actually buckled down and decided to do something about this racing business. Ask the French about the GT2’s class victories at LeMans three years in a row. Ask Team Oreca (a French team) about winning the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in 2000, 12 Hours of Sebring, and the five FIA GT Championships. Ask Zakspeed about its three overall victories at the 24 Hours of Nuburgring. Oh, and speaking of the Nurburgring, the Dodge Viper ACR obliterated Porsche’s, BMW’s, and Nissan’s finest in the neverending penis-lengthening manufacturer circle jerk that are Nurburgring laptimes. Not bad for a car that revels in its lack of traction control. (USA! USA! USA!)

So what’s there to drive now if you’re looking for that patented combination of batshit insanity and civil egregiousness? A Corvette ZR1 comes closest, but you’d have to disable its ESP first. A Caterham feels too clinical, too focused on track-day time-shaving to be dramatic about it. Sure, it’s got side pipes, but they can’t set off as many car alarms. A Lamborghini, if you’ve got the dough? You could build a Factory Five Cobra, but what makes you think your average Viper owner is going to spring for so much manual labor? Who has time for that? Not when there are tires to smoke, preschoolers to frighten, neighbors to enrage, police officers to annoy, burnouts to do, status quos to flaunt (or reinforce, depending on your point of view), hairpieces to blow off in the wind, bleach-blonde bimbos to pick up.

And so it is perhaps fitting that this all-American car dies on Fourth of July Weekend, a weekend of noise, fireworks, brash patriotism, and potential risk of injury. I can’t think of a more appropriate send-off than amidst blaring rock music, explosions, fiery barbeques, and the sound of beers being shotgunned. It’s what the Viper would have wanted.

Via Hooniverse

[heavyD]

A Legendary name among gearheads everywhere passed on last week. Considering how much of a spectacle the car was in its life, its surprising that it ha been this quiet. RIP: Dodge Viper

Via Hooniverse

Oh wow. One of my all time favs. And one of the most beautiful cars on the planet...

RIP.

[Pericles]

http://www.motortrend.com/features/auto_ne...brid/index.html

Scoop! Mitsubishi Evo XI Goes Hybrid!

Mitsubishi's Performance Icon Goes Green. Sort Of.

From the January, 2010 issue of Motor Trend / By Peter Lyon

[heavyD]

You guys saw this?

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/04/bugatti...cord-at-267-81/

And some pics here....

http://www.mibz.com/14598-official-the-new...iness-book.html

[Devinda_Z]

You guys saw this?

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/04/bugatti...cord-at-267-81/

And some pics here....

http://www.mibz.com/14598-official-the-new...iness-book.html

thats a serious piece of kit!

as if the stock car wasn't fast enough!

[Sylvi]

Members of the forum

Sorry for repeated posts below is the correct one from the Web

Wijesinghe

Edited July 9, 2010 by Sylvi

[Sylvi]

Saturday, 10 July 2010.

Autonomous cars could let drivers check email

7 July 2010 | By Siobhan Wagner

Busy professionals who travel to work by car may be able to take their hands off the wheel, sit back and check emails with autonomous vehicle technology being developed by UK researchers.

A £1.4m EPSRC-funded research programme led by Oxford University will aim to give vehicles the ability to navigate roads autonomously with data from onboard sensors, cameras, radars, lasers and downloaded information such as aerial photos and on-the-fly internet queries.

Principal investigator Dr Paul Newman from the university’s robotics-research group said the idea will be to develop a car with a central computer that is malleable like the human brain and capable of continuously ‘learning’ from experience and interpreting situations. This will require the development of probability statistics for analysing information from onboard technology and using machine-learning techniques to build and calibrate mathematical models that can explain the vehicle’s view of the world.

Current navigation systems in cars such as GPS, Newman said, do not give vehicles the accuracy needed to know how and when to move safely or make autonomous decisions.

‘GPS only gives you knowledge to maybe five or six metres,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t want to be going around a roundabout with a car that only knew where it was to the nearest five metres.’

The new autonomous vehicle technology developed through the five-year research programme will be tested on a car driven around a privately hired race track. With safety being a top priority, Newman said a number of issues will need to be addressed. Some of those on his list include: Can the vehicle navigate autonomously at night? Can it deal with changing seasons? How would it handle a change in the road structure? How well does it detect pedestrians?

In addition to Oxford University, the research will receive support from partners including BAE Systems, Nissan, the Department for Transport, Navtech Radar, Guidance Navigation and MIT.

Newman said the concept of autonomous cars is not such an unrealistic idea, considering the trend for intelligent vehicles. ‘Cars are going to have infinite computation and access to infinite storage because they are going to be connected to the internet the whole time, which is the cloud,’ he said, referring to cloud computing.

There would also always be the option for the driver to take over if a vehicle could not handle a particular situation. Newman envisioned the car being there only to help the driver and it could be deployed into autonomous action by sending a message via mobile phone.

‘You’re sitting on the Embankment trying to get to South London and, quite frankly, I lose the will to live,’ he said. ‘I think “I’m sitting in traffic, why can’t I watch a movie, why can’t I answer my email?” It’s because I have to sit here watching the car in front and yet all the cars know what’s happening around them.

‘Why couldn’t a licence be given over mobile phone to the car to say “OK, you can drive yourself a few miles because all the cars know what’s happening. It’s very slow traffic on a well-known road.”’

Newman also hopes that, with advanced machine-learning techniques, it might be also possible to communicate with the autonomous vehicle as a back-seat driver sometimes does to the main driver.

Legalities

Newman said the legal issues regarding autonomous road vehicles are unclear at the moment.

‘I’m starting to talk to the DfT about what to do about this,’ he said. ‘Insurance is obviously a big issue. Who is culpable if the machine goes wrong?’

Newman said there are also possible moral dilemmas that could arise. ‘Imagine you have ‘n’ thousand people killed a year on the roads at the moment and you could show the machine was 80 per cent better than a human,’ he said. ‘So only one in five of those people are getting killed but they are getting killed by a machine. Many will say “No, I’d rather get four times more people killed than have any of them killed by a machine”’.

Newman predicts that the moral dilemmas surrounding more autonomous technology will not be limited to roads.

‘I think this debate is going to come everywhere with machines,’ he said. ‘I think it’s going to be in the military domain. What military decisions do we want machines taking in our name? What driving decisions do we want machines taking in our name? What data-protection issues? What medical decisions do I want this computer to make on my behalf if you’re a consultant? It’s everywhere. We’re going to have this debate.

Auto News from the WEB.

[Sylvi]

From the web

Vehicle maker selects AP and T hydroforming press Jul 12, 2010

Faw Car Co, a Chinese manufacturer of trucks, buses and cars, has invested in a hydroforming press from AP and T in order to produce the engine cradle for a new automobile model.

As the plan to produce a new automobile model was finalised, the company decided to invest in advanced technology in order to be able to shape more complex components.

The structure that the entire engine is mounted on in the automobile - the engine cradle - can be produced in a variety of different ways, for example by welding together several pressed sheet metal components.

However, Faw opted for hydroforming since it offered a number of advantages.

Bjorn Kinnby, AP and T's Asian market director, said: 'With hydroforming, it is possible to transform a bent and pre-shaped tube into the engine cradle's final shape in one operation.

'The material experiences no spring-back and it is possible to maintain extremely tight tolerances, otherwise known as the "net shape".

'In addition, it is much lighter and there is considerably less scrap compared with conventional manufacturing, which means both a lower manufacturing cost and a higher quality,' added Kinnby.

Hydroforming involves filling a tube or profile material with fluid, typically an aqueous emulsion.

With the increase of the fluid pressure, the material expands and is shaped to match the tool's mould.

Since the fluid's pressure works perpendicularly against the mould's surface, it is possible to shape components with complex geometries, often in one or two operations.

Typical forming pressures are between 1,000bar and 2,000bar.

In order to minimise the thinning of the material during expansion, fluid is injected from both ends of the tube with the help of the mould's axial cylinders.

During the hydroforming process, the mould is held together by a hydraulic press, with press forces of 30,000kN to 50,000kN (3,000tonf to 5,000tonf).

The press that AP and T delivered to Faw has a press force of 35,000kN (3,500tonf).

The 'short-stroke'-type, energy-efficient press has a short cycle time.

According to Liu Qiang, project manager at Faw, when evaluating the available options, AP and T was the only supplier that offered a NC-based system for the control of both the hydroforming tool and the press as a joint forming process.

The following nine months consisted of close project co-operation between the parties as AP and T designed, built and tested the hydroforming press according to the time schedule.

Jack Wang, AP and T's area sales manager in China, said: 'The very first piece of material we shaped was close to perfect and was within the applicable tolerances.

'The reliability of the form is one of the advantages of hydroforming and the tolerance reliability is the result of our servo hydraulics together with the NC control system,' he added.

Faw also has a 25,000kN (2,500tonf) hydraulic press previously supplied by AP and T, which has been used for several years for the testing of conventional press tools for vehicle components.

[Sylvi]

From the web.

2011 Chevrolet Cruze Engines Use Eco-friendly Cartridge Oil Filter

The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze will make proper oil filter disposal and recycling easier. The Ecotec 1.4L turbo and 1.8L four-cylinder engines will use a cartridge style oil filter which is easier to recycle and service compared to the conventional steel canister-style oil filters.

Recycling canister style filters requires that the metal housing and other elements, like the rubber seal, be cut away or separated, whereas the compact cartridge style is made of only paper and plastic. Because of this, proper disposal of the oil filter is easier for recycling centers.

Another benefit of the cartridge-style filter is that it can be changed easily and is virtually drip free from the top of the vehicle. This lessens the chance of oil dripping to the ground or driveway and possibly making its way into the water system when performing oil changes.

The housing for the cartridge-style filter is part of the engine and reused for the life of the engine. It never needs replacing. The housing also has a screw-on replaceable cap that eliminates the conventional canister-to-engine mating surface that is a potential source of leaks.

[harshansenadhir]

From the web.

2011 Chevrolet Cruze Engines Use Eco-friendly Cartridge Oil Filter

The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze will make proper oil filter disposal and recycling easier. The Ecotec 1.4L turbo and 1.8L four-cylinder engines will use a cartridge style oil filter which is easier to recycle and service compared to the conventional steel canister-style oil filters.

Recycling canister style filters requires that the metal housing and other elements, like the rubber seal, be cut away or separated, whereas the compact cartridge style is made of only paper and plastic. Because of this, proper disposal of the oil filter is easier for recycling centers.

Another benefit of the cartridge-style filter is that it can be changed easily and is virtually drip free from the top of the vehicle. This lessens the chance of oil dripping to the ground or driveway and possibly making its way into the water system when performing oil changes.

The housing for the cartridge-style filter is part of the engine and reused for the life of the engine. It never needs replacing. The housing also has a screw-on replaceable cap that eliminates the conventional canister-to-engine mating surface that is a potential source of leaks.

Not a new thing, 4DR5 engine of my 1977 J44 had a cartridge type oil filter.

[Sylvi]

Not a new thing, 4DR5 engine of my 1977 J44 had a cartridge type oil filter.

Sir,

I do not dispute your post you may be correct by all means that is in Japan. This came to me from USA as a Email so I thought I will send this post to the forum some thing new.

The new-to-America Cruze is Chevrolet's latest small car and comes powered by either a naturally aspirated 1.8-liter four-cylinder, or a 1.4-liter turbocharged Ecotec four-cylinder -- both with the choice of either a six-speed automatic or manual transmission.

The turbocharged engine puts out 138 horsepower and 148 lb-ft. of torque and should be capable of up to 40 mpg on the highway. The 1.8-liter puts out 136 horsepower and 123 lb-ft. of torque.

The Cruze is offered in four standard trim levels, as well as a specialty option package, known as RS Appearance, which includes rocker moldings, unique front and rear fascias, front fog lamps and a rear spoiler.

Wijesinghe.

[harshansenadhir]

Sir,

I do not dispute your post you may be correct by all means that is in Japan. This came to me from USA as a Email so I thought I will send this post to the forum some thing new.

The new-to-America Cruze is Chevrolet's latest small car and comes powered by either a naturally aspirated 1.8-liter four-cylinder, or a 1.4-liter turbocharged Ecotec four-cylinder -- both with the choice of either a six-speed automatic or manual transmission.

The turbocharged engine puts out 138 horsepower and 148 lb-ft. of torque and should be capable of up to 40 mpg on the highway. The 1.8-liter puts out 136 horsepower and 123 lb-ft. of torque.

The Cruze is offered in four standard trim levels, as well as a specialty option package, known as RS Appearance, which includes rocker moldings, unique front and rear fascias, front fog lamps and a rear spoiler.

Wijesinghe.

What did you mean by"all means that is in Japan"? Actually speaking, it's Japan whom have set examples and started using throw away type spare parts as oppose to USA and European manufacturers whom were using repairable, re-usable spare parts. My 1977 504 had front shock absorbers which can be repaired using few litres of ATF oil and repair kit worth of 250/- per shock. Patrol counter part of the same car had air filter which is a metal mesh dipped in slightly oil soaked container and in each service you're suppose to clean the mesh and refill 1/4 litre of engine oil. I thought being decades in the industry you had known these reusable stuff aint news.

[VVTi]

What did you mean by"all means that is in Japan"? Actually speaking, it's Japan whom have set examples and started using throw away type spare parts as oppose to USA and European manufacturers whom were using repairable, re-usable spare parts. My 1977 504 had front shock absorbers which can be repaired using few litres of ATF oil and repair kit worth of 250/- per shock. Patrol counter part of the same car had air filter which is a metal mesh dipped in slightly oil soaked container and in each service you're suppose to clean the mesh and refill 1/4 litre of engine oil. I thought being decades in the industry you had known these reusable stuff aint news.

Harshan lokka... oya ithin illagena parippu kanna yanne...

[harshansenadhir]

Harshan lokka... oya ithin illagena parippu kanna yanne...

LOL, bit boring here and it's a gloomy friday..

[Sylvi]

Harshan lokka... oya ithin illagena parippu kanna yanne...

Sir,

Mr. Harshan is correct but please note Industrial revaluation took place 500 years ago in west toady every none wants to plug and play that is the reason you do not get good mechinecs in Srilanka they allays want tho change parts and try out.

JAPANESE RAISED FROM ASHES TO BECOME A INDUSTRIAL COUNTRY AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR WITH THE HELP OF USA TECHNOLOGY WITH THEIR LABOUR. IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN.

Mr. Harshan say's his shocks were repairable in his old car that is enough proof that old day Vehicles was made to last for number of years.

I my self is a old school man Srilankan Mechanics did lot during 1962 to 1979 modifying things FOR THE OLD vehicles be on the roads of our country.BENEFIT FOR MOTORISTS.

Wijesinghe.

[Pericles]

The new-to-America Cruze is Chevrolet's latest small car and comes powered by either a naturally aspirated 1.8-liter four-cylinder, or a 1.4-liter turbocharged Ecotec four-cylinder -- both with the choice of either a six-speed automatic or manual transmission.

New to America? My sister has been driving a Cruze for around 4-5 years now!

In fact -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Ignis#Chevrolet_Cruze

Derived from a Suzuki, by Holden, Manufactured by Suzuki. In 2001!

[jerryda]

Sir,

Mr. Harshan is correct but please note Industrial revaluation took place 500 years ago in west toady every none wants to plug and play that is the reason you do not get good mechinecs in Srilanka they allays want tho change parts and try out.

JAPANESE RAISED FROM ASHES TO BECOME A INDUSTRIAL COUNTRY AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR WITH THE HELP OF USA TECHNOLOGY WITH THEIR LABOUR. IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN.

Mr. Harshan say's his shocks were repairable in his old car that is enough proof that old day Vehicles was made to last for number of years.

I my self is a old school man Srilankan Mechanics did lot during 1962 to 1979 modifying things FOR THE OLD vehicles be on the roads of our country.BENEFIT FOR MOTORISTS.

Wijesinghe.

http://www.allon.info/japan-market-share.html

[heavyD]

New to America? My sister has been driving a Cruze for around 4-5 years now!

In fact -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Ignis#Chevrolet_Cruze

Derived from a Suzuki, by Holden, Manufactured by Suzuki. In 2001!

Judging by the syntax, I doubt that is Mr. Wijesinghe's writing... It's most probably a quote off the net and I think he's talking about the latest incarnation of the Cruze.

[Pericles]

Judging by the syntax, I doubt that is Mr. Wijesinghe's writing... It's most probably a quote off the net and I think he's talking about the latest incarnation of the Cruze.

I agree its a quote off the net, I just think its a very old quote off the net.

[heavyD]

I agree its a quote off the net, I just think its a very old quote off the net.

But I think the engines he's talking about come in the newer versions.

[harshansenadhir]

But I think the engines he's talking about come in the newer versions.

Naturally aspirated engines? lol Ecotec is the only new term there but then again it was there in early 2000 as well as per wiki.

[heavyD]

Naturally aspirated engines? lol Ecotec is the only new term there but then again it was there in early 2000 as well as per wiki.

But I doubt the Cruze Pericles is talking about ever came with a n/a 1.8 engine.... I may be mistaken though.

[Pericles]

But I think the engines he's talking about come in the newer versions.

Sigh. The confusion that happens when makers slap names around willy-nilly. The old Cruze is a hatchback. The new Cruze is a sedan replacing the Lacetti and Cobalt. So no link to either the Lacetti, Cobalt or to Suzuki. Just picked a dead nameplate and stuck it on a new car, no continuity.

[shanX]

Judging by the syntax, I doubt that is Mr. Wijesinghe's writing... It's most probably a quote off the net and I think he's talking about the latest incarnation of the Cruze.

http://www.google.lk/search?q="The+ne...small+car" LOL

Edited July 16, 2010 by shanX