Archive for Technology

The Project NEF engine aims to produce a high performance prototype engine without the need to resort to exotic materials or manufacturing technology, ensuring the transition from prototype to production with ease and speed. It was designed and developed by Lotus Engineering’s powertrain division.

The first in the engine family is the 3.0 liter supercharged DOHC 75 degree V6 engine found in the new Lotus APX prototype. The supercharged 3.0 liter V6 makes 300hp at 6250rpm and 360Nm of torque at 4500rpm. 80% of that 360Nm of torque (288Nm) is available from as low as 1500rpm. Acceleration should be very good. Pretty impressive stuff.

Other family models include a 2.2 liter and 3.0 liter normally aspirated versions, which compliment this supercharged one. They are all production feasible, but not planned for production, unless of course there is a customer who wants to buy it. Perhaps Proton would be one of the potential customers? Makes sense seriously.

The narrow 75 degree angle makes the engine compact. It also gives the engine better vibration characteristics, removing the need for a balance shaft and the extra cost and weight that comes with it. The engine is controlled by a 32-bit ECU capable of 200 million calculations a second.

Mercedes Benz was the first car manufacturer to use direct fuel-injection in it’s road cars, putting a direct-injection engine into the 1955 300SL Gullwing. Back then, things like fuel economy and emissions were not really an issue, but it is today. So car manufacturers everywhere are taking a look at gasoline direct injection to improve fuel efficiency and emissions.

Click here to read the rest of Mercedes Benz Charged Gasoline Injection (CGI)

When it comes to souping up cars, even laymen usually have two words in their heads – turbo and NOS. NOS, or its proper name nitrous oxide. Sounds cool doesnt it?

Contrary to popular believe, NOS isnt the chemical acronym for nitrous oxide. It is actually the acronym for Nitrous Oxide Systems, the largest manufacturer of automotive nitrous oxide injection systems out there. Its become so synonymous with the gas, like how Maggi is associated with instant noodles, Colgate is associated with toothpaste, or Nescafe with instant coffee, or how making a photocopy of something is called Xerox-ing. Nitrous oxides chemical designator is actually N2O, because it has 2 nitrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom.

Lets find out more about nitrous oxide injection systems.

Click here to read the rest of How does Nitrous Oxide work?

The car dashboard. You will spend most of your time as a car owner facing it. Many car companies have been trying to revolutionize the way dashboard information is presented to you. Honda has it’s split deck design with 2 levels of meters. Some companies position the dashboard meter cluster in the middle like the Toyota VIOS, Nissan X-Trail and even our Perodua Kancil.

I kind of like Citroen’s approach with the Citroen C6’s dashboard. Nice and compact display shows indicators, RPM, speed, gear shift position and fuel level in digital form, and speed is projected on the windscreen via a heads-up display.

After testing their new turbocharged petrol engine on a modified BMW 5-series, BMW has officially announced their new turbocharged petrol engine, the N54 Bi-Turbo.

The BMW N54 Bi-Turbo is expected to be installed for the first time ever in the 2007 BMW 335i E90 sedan and the 2007 BMW 335ci E92 coupe. It uses 2 turbochargers, fed by 3 cylinders each in parallel arrangement to reduce turbo lag. The new cars that carry this engine will have the 335 insignia, which represents the 3.0 liter N54’s engine power equivalance to a 3.5 liter normally aspirated engine.

Performance stats are quoted to be 306hp and 400Nm of torque. Previous horsepower stimated figure was 330hp. As a comparison, the 3.0 liter normally aspirated inline-6 engine in the 330i makes around 260 horsepower. Also, the new N54 Bi-Turbo engine is 70kg lighter than BMW’s 4.0 liter V8 engine.

Related Post:
BMW 335i to get twin-turbocharged inline-6

Here are somemore details on the upcoming new Audi R8 supercar, based on the Le Mans concept above. A quick recap, the car is supposed to come in 2 variants, one with an entry-level high-revving 4.2 V8 making 415hp and 430Nm of torque. The top of the line version features a 5 liter V10 from the Lamborghini Gallardo twin-turbocharged to make 610hp and 745Nm of torque.

Click here to read the rest of 2007 Audi R8 Technical Specifications

You’ve heard of carbon fibre bonnets, roofs, and even sports rims, but have you heard of carbon fibre tyres? Goodyear announced it’s new Goodyear Eagle with ResponsEdge Technology which will begin to be available in May 2006.

Click here to read the rest of New Goodyear Eagle with ResponsEdge Technology

Honda is famous for their 4-cylinder VTEC and i-VTEC engines, but they also have V6 engines in their stables. The Acura NSX had a 3.2 liter V6 and the current shark-faced top of the range CBU Honda Accord on our markets has a 3.0 liter SOHC VTEC V6 engine with the code J30A under the hood. However, USDM and Japanese versions of our Accord (actually called the Honda Inspire in Japan) has a new i-VTEC version of the J30A.

Click here to read the rest of Honda’s Variable Cylinder Management i-VTEC

A team of engineers at Keio University led by Professor Hiroshi Shimizu has developed this 8-wheeled electric car called the Eliica. Eliica stands for ‘Electric Lithium-Ion battery Car’ and it has some pretty impressive performance statistics.

With 600kW of power on tap, 0-100km/h only takes 4 seconds and 0-160km/h takes 7 seconds - this means it’s acceleration times are faster than a Porsche 911 Turbo. During a test on the Nardo high-speed test track in Italy, the Eliica managed to record a top speed of 370km/h, though theoretically it could touch 400km/h on smoother roads. What makes this car excellent on windy tracks is it runs on a single gear, so acceleration is very linear.

The Eliica is more than 5 meters long, shaped like a bullet and stores it’s batteries and motors low in the chassis, creating a low centre of gravity. It is also low for maximum aerodynamic efficiency, which means headroom is limited. No one taller than 178cm can fit in the car which rules me out since I’m about 181cm.

BMW’s Group Research and Engineering division has come up with something new to squeeze out every ounce of performance from a combustion engine. Let’s have a look at BMW’s Turbosteamer.

Click here to read the rest of BMW TurboSteamer