Archive for Technology

BMW’s Hydrogen 7 is a 100-unit production ready car, powered by a 260hp V12 engine which takes the car from 0-100km/h in 9.5 seconds thanks to 390Nm of torque which peaks at 4,300rpm. While 6.0 liters of V12 goodness based on the unit in the BMW 760i making only 260hp is really nothing to shout about, in fact some might say it’s under performing, but the engine has the ability to use both regular gasoline as well as liquid hydrogen. More details after the jump.

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Sharp has developed a special LCD display that can be used for in-car dashboard meter panels, thanks to it’s 1500:1 contrast radio – the industry’s highest! The new 8 inch screen has a pixel count of 800 x 480, and it’s great contrast ratio offers excellent blacks even in the kind of lighting that a car dashboard has to go through.

With an LCD, the method of displaying information can be varied to provide a wide range of options, such as displaying GPS navigation maps right in the center dash! This system is already available in the new Mercedes Benz S-Class.

Source

Let’s not talk about the times we’ve speed intentionally, as no amount of technology can prevent that – but what about the times where we slowly found ourselves creeping above the speed limit, but never realising it until the speeding ticket comes? Siemens hopes to help us a little with this problem, with their new Siemens VDO Traffic Sign Recognition technology (click image to enlarge)

The Siemens VDO Traffic Sign Recognition technology can read road signs which display speed limits, and can warn the driver if he is driving over the speed limit. The car’s adaptive cruise control (if any) can also be configured to adjust cruising speed according to the speed limit. Production is expected in 2008, and the system is part of the many Siemens driver aid technologies, part of it’s pro.pilot program.

As you’ve previously read here, BMW has announced the new 2nd generation MINI Cooper, coded the R56. I’m sure MINI fans and car enthusiasts alike are curious to find out more about BMW’s new take on the iconic little car that has charmed the hearts of generations, but do you want to know where the MINI Cooper is made? Read about the MINI’s new triangle of production here, check out my first hand report after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of MINI Production Triangle and Oxford Plant Tour

Mitsubishi has developed another vehicle for electric vehicle research, the Mitsubishi i MIEV. Mitsubishi took the Mitsubishi i, and installed a lightweight motor into it, hooked up to a pack of high-energy density li-ion batteries, retaining the rear-midship layout. The Mitsubishi i’s rear-midship engine location allows the new motor and battery packs to be placed in front of the rear axle line, which ensures ample cabin space for passengers. The Mitsubishi i MIEV is also equipped with an on-board charger which supports charging from ordinary electric outlets – plug-in capability!

Mitsubishi will begin joint research with the Tokyo Electric Power Company, and The Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc., in November 2006 and with Kyushu Electric Power Co., Ltd, in January 2007. MMC will provide each power company with Mitsubishi i MiEV cars. The power companies will evaluate how fast-charge infrastructure can be developed for electric vehicles. Fast charging will allow the Mitsubishi i MIEV to be charged in about 20 minutes, compared to the hours it takes now.

After this first phase, fleet testing will begin in Autumn 2007 in order to verify the vehicle’s technical capabilities in daily use and to evaluate the commercial acceptance in collaboration with the power companies above along with, the Kansai Electric Power Co., Ltd, and Hokuriku Electric Power Company. The data collected from the test of daily use shall be used to assess the commercial viability of EVs in the market place.

The 1080kg electric vehicle is powered by a permanent magnet synchronous motor developing 63 horsepower and 180Nm of torque. This motor spins up to 8,500rpm, which translates to a top speed of 130km/h. This is hooked up to a pack of 330 volt lithium ion batteries which will have a 16 kWh capacity at first, but is expected to be 20 kWh during the fleet test phase. With a 100V power supply, it charges in 11 hours to 80%, and with a 200V supply it fills up to 80% capacity in 4 hours. And did I mention it’s rear wheel drive? I just did Check out Mitsubishi’s other electric vehicle, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MIEV.

One more diagram after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Mitsubishi i MIEV Research Electric Vehicle

Apparently, the new turbodiesel 2007 Range Rover TDV8 is so refined that Land Rover is afraid customers might mistake it for a petrol unit and accidentally fill petrol into the tank, especially if the driver is not a regular user of the vehicle. As ridiculous as it sounds, there was over 100,000 cases of mis-fueling reported in 2005. Needless to say, the cost of reversing such a muck-up can be very very painful to your bank account.

Which is why Land Rover has come up with something they call the petrol fuel guard system, which comes with the Range Rover TDV8. The petrol fuel guard system activates when a petrol nozzle is inserted into the fuel tank – it differenciates a petrol nozzle and a diesel nozzle by how deep the nozzle goes into the fuel tank – a petrol nozzle is thinner but longer, while a diesel’s is shotter but fatter. If a petrol nozzle is detected, a mechanical shutter is automatically activated, preventing petrol from getting into the fuel tank.

Subaru Europe President Hiroyuki Ikeda announced at the 2006 Paris Motor Show that the upcoming horizontally opposed 4-cylinder turbodiesel engine by Subaru is almost complete, with development at final stages now.

Subaru’s gasoline boxer won the top spot for the 2.5 liter category in this year’s International Engine of the Year Awards, and the new turbodiesel boxer will be the first oil burning boxer in the world.

The new turbodiesel boxer engine by Subaru is expected to be unveiled at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show.

Audi launched three new engines at the 2006 Paris Motor Show – one being a new 2.8 liter V6 FSI engine with Audi’s new valvelift system, a new 1.8 liter Turbo FSI engine and a new more powerful variant of the venerable 2.0 liter Turbo FSI engine that will find it’s way into the new Audi S3 hot hatch.

The new 2.8 liter V6 FSI engine which will debut in the Audi A6 makes 210hp at 5,500rpm as well as a constant peak torque wave of 280Nm between 3,000rpm and 5,000rpm. The new engine is a shorter stroke version of it’s 3.2 liter big brother, 82.4mm instead of 92.8mm, and retains the same bore of 84.5mm, making it a slightly oversquare configuration. The engine uses an alloy crankcase which gives it a weight of only 165kg. Precise 100 bar pressure FSI direct injection allows a high compression ratio of 12.0:1.

New to the engine is Audi’s valvelift system which gives the engine two valve lift profiles on the intake cam. The higher cam profile opens valve through 11mm, while the other cam opens the intake valves at two different lifts – one at 5.7mm and the other at 2mm. This is deliberately done for a swirl and tumble flow effect for intake air. The transition between the two cam profiles is smoothened out via a combination of tricks like temporary retardation of ignition, adjustment of camshafts and closing of throttle valves.

A slightly different style of how an engine is built is shown in the form of the new 1.8 Turbo FSI engine. The new 1.8 TFSI engine has higher pressure six-hole injectors – up to 150 bar. A watercooled Borg Warner K03 turbocharger gives the 1.8 TFSI engine a good torque figure of 165Nm at just 1,000rpm, and this peaks at 250Nm slightly further up in the rev range at 1,500rpm – this figure stretches all the way up to 4,200rpm. Peak horsepower is 160hp from 5,000rpm to 6,200rpm. Compression ratio is lower than the 2.0 TFSI though, at only 9.6:1 compression.

The final engine is the new motor that goes into the Audi S3 hot hatch, an updated 2.0 TFSI with a higher power of 265bhp at 6,000rpm and a stronger peak torque of 320Nm constant up to 5,000rpm. To keep up with the stronger boost, the engine features pistons with stronger pins, stronger conrods and a reinforced cylinder block made of a new highly heat-resistant alloy.

Click here to read the rest of Audi debuts new 2.8 FSI V6, 1.8 TFSI and 2.0 TFSI

Honda announced it’s new second generation i-CTDi engine today, featuring a new NOx catalytic converter which significantly reduces NOx emissions to meet stringent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier II Bin 5 emissions requirements.

The new NOx catalytic converter converts toxic nitrogen oxide (NOx) into harmless nitrogen (N2) through a two-layer structure. In the first layer, some of the NOx reacts with hydrogen (H2) to produce ammonia (NH3). Ammonia is stored, then used in the second layer to reduce NOx into N2.

The development of the new NOx filter was done on the Super Clean Tier II Bin 5 diesel engine research vehicle – which is an European market Honda Accord (shown above).

1. During lean burn operation, the NOx adsorbent in the lower layer adsorbs NOx from the exhaust gas.
2. As needed, the engine management system adjusts the engine air-fuel ratio to rich-burn, wherein the NOx in the NOx adsorption layer reacts with hydrogen (H2) obtained from the exhaust gas to produce ammonia (NH3). The adsorbent material in the upper layer temporarily adsorbs the NH3.
3. When the engine returns to lean-burn operation, NH3 adsorbed in the upper layer reacts with NOx in the exhaust gas and reduces it to harmless nitrogen (N2).

Source: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Honda has announced it’s next generation VTEC engine, the Advanced VTEC engine (AVTEC) which will make it’s debut in a production car within the next three years. Honda’s new Advanced VTEC (AVTEC) engine combines continuously variable valve lift and timing control with the continuously variable phase control of valve timing to achieve a good combination of better performance, fuel economy, and lower emissions. This is an improvement over the i-VTEC system which has preset changeover settings in valve lift – the new AVTEC system can adjust the valve lift continuously. There is also a variable-length intake manifold to improve intake airflow.

The Advanced VTEC (AVTEC) system allows optimum control over intake valve lift and phase in response to driving conditions for a significant increase in torque across the engine rev range. Under low and medium loads, the valves are set to have low lift and early closure – this reduces pumping losses and subsequently improves fuel economy.

The new AVTEC system will allow for a 13% improvement in fuel economy over the current i-VTEC range of engines. The 13% figure was obtained comparing the current K24A 2.4 liter i-VTEC engine with a new 2.4 liter AVTEC equivalent. Emissions are compliant with US LEV2-ULEV standards and Japanese Low-Emission Vehicles standards with levels 75% lower than 2005 standards.