Toyota Recall Might Be Caused by Cosmic Rays

From Live Science:

It may not lessen Toyota's woes to hear that the problems the company has been having with faulty gas pedals could be blamed on cosmic rays from space. Sound unbelievable? The concept is actually a lot more plausible than you might think.

Toyota's sticky gas pedals caused sudden and unintended acceleration in several of the automaker's top-selling Toyota and Lexus-brand cars, which led to a massive recall of more than 9 million vehicles worldwide, beginning in November.

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McLaren Takes On Ferrari With 'Affordable' £150,000 Supercar Dubbed 'F1 Car For The Road'

The company plans to sell the 12C in 19 countries, with North America expected to account for around 30 to 40 per cent of the market.

From The Daily Mail:

A gull-winged 200mph supercar dubbed 'an F1 car for the road' was launched yesterday by UK racing specialists McLaren.

The cars will be made in a new £40million factory designed by Sir Norman Foster and will create 300 jobs.

The £150,000 McLaren MP4-12C is Britain's answer to Italy's legendary Ferrari and is the long-held dream of boss Ron Dennis to produce an 'affordable' supercar with the greenest credentials.

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2011 Ford F-Series Super Duty Test Drive

From Popular Mechanics:

PHOENIX, Ariz.—Has the definition of leadership in the heavy-duty/super-duty truck segment changed since the last time Ford, Chevrolet/GMC, and Dodge brought out new truck bruisers? Make no mistake: Horsepower, torque, towing and payload are still the primary fields of battle for winning over ranchers, construction workers and contractors. But we can add another event to the heavy-duty Olympics, according to those customers—fuel economy. That's right. Even with gas and diesel comfortably below $3.00 a gallon in most parts of the U.S., fuel economy has become the new torque when it comes to impressing customers. Ford, in fact, named fuel economy as its leading concern when it set out to build a new diesel engine after severing its relationship with diesel-engine supplier Navistar. The results are surprising, and may well entice Dodge and Chevy owners.

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Ultra-Efficient Gas Engine Passes Test

Photo: Efficient exotic: Transonic Combustion put its new fuel-injection technology into this sports car, which weighs about as much as a Toyota Prius hybrid and has similar aerodynamics. It’s not a hybrid, but it gets better gas mileage than a Prius. Credit: Transonic Combustion

From Technology Review:

A novel fuel-injection system achieves 64 miles per gallon.

Transonic Combustion, a startup based in Camarillo, CA, has developed a fuel-injection system it says can improve the efficiency of gasoline engines by more than 50 percent. A test vehicle equipped with the technology gets 64 miles per gallon in highway driving, which is far better than more costly gas-electric hybrids, such as the Prius, which gets 48 miles per gallon on the highway.

The key is heating and pressurizing gasoline before injecting it into the combustion chamber, says Mike Rocke, Transonic's vice president of business development. This puts it into a supercritical state that allows for very fast and clean combustion, which in turn decreases the amount of fuel needed to propel a vehicle. The company also treats the gasoline with a catalyst that "activates" it, partially oxidizing it to enhance combustion.

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Runaway Toyotas: What's The Real Risk?

From Live Science:

Toyota, the world's top-selling automaker, recently announced a recall of up to ten million of its vehicles over reports of sudden uncontrollable acceleration. But it's not clear exactly what the problem is.

Some suspect sticking gas pedals, others believe it's a computer glitch. Whatever's causing it, the problem can be deadly. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Toyota recalls are linked to at least 50 reported fatalities.

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What Might Cause A Gas Pedal To Become Stuck?

Photo: PEDAL PROBLEM: The 2009 RAV4 is one of millions of Toyota vehicles that the automaker is recalling because of the risk of a sticky accelerator. IFCAR/Wikipedia Commons

From Scientific American:

Toyota, the world's largest automaker, has suspended sales of certain models and recalled millions of older ones as its engineers search for the elusive source of a sticky—and dangerous—accelerator problem

During the past few days, Toyota Motor Corp., has taken the unprecedented step of halting sales in the U.S., Europe and China of some of its most popular car and truck models. The reason: potential defects that cause the vehicles to speed up without warning and run out of control. The move follows a huge (and growing) recall of older Toyota vehicles last week. Safety Research and Strategies, based in Rehoboth, Mass., has reportedly implicated the sudden unintended acceleration problem to 2,274 incidents in Toyota vehicles, causing 275 crashes and at least 18 fatalities since 1999.

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High-Tech Cars Are Trouble For Some Mechanics

From MSNBC/AP:

Automakers hold onto information, bill in Congress would address problem.

LOS ANGELES - A sign inside the Humming Motors auto repair shop says, "We do the worrying so you don't have to."

These days, owner David Baur spends a lot of time worrying in his full-service garage near downtown Los Angeles.

As cars become vastly more complicated than models made just a few years ago, Baur is often turning down jobs and referring customers to auto dealer shops. Like many other independent mechanics, he does not have the thousands of dollars to purchase the online manuals and specialized tools needed to fix the computer-controlled machines.

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2011 Ferrari 458 Italia Supercar Test Drive

From Popular Mechanics:

MARANELLO, Italy—Ferarri's new lust-worthy 562-hp supercar hits 60 mph in 3.4 seconds. It's indisputably attractive, but it is also derivative, as though it had been concocted from the best parts of previous great Ferrari designs. Let's see what it can do on real roads.

The Specs:

Ferrari's early cars were dominated by V12 engines. But the Italian sports car maker inherited its first V8 from Lancia in 1955, and its mid-engined V8 sport coupes have been the backbone of the company's model range for the last 35 years. Strictly speaking, the first road-going production-V8 Ferrari was the wedge-shaped, Bertone-designed Dino GT4 of 1973. The most recognizable was of course the Pininfarina-designed 308 launched at the 1975 Paris Motor Salon—a car that starred quite prominently in the hit TV series Magnum PI.

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The Race To Build A 1000 mph Car

From New Scientist:

Strapped into a custom built seat, Andy Green prepares for the ride of his life. The pancake-flat desert stretches out for miles ahead. The computer indicates all systems are normal. He eases off the brakes and puts his foot down on the throttle. The jet engine roars into life. In precisely 42.5 seconds he'll be travelling 1000 mph. In a car.

"It's almost impossible to tell the difference between going supersonic in a car and in an aircraft," says Green. He is the only person on Earth who can say that from personal experience. Green was a fighter pilot for the UK Royal Air Force for 20 years, and he is also the fastest man on wheels. In 1997, driving a vehicle called ThrustSSC, he set the world land speed record of 763 miles per hour, becoming the first and only person to break the sound barrier in a car (761 mph under standard conditions). Now, together with the Bloodhound SSC design team, he's attempting to do it all over again, and then some.

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Watch A 2006 Bugatti Veyron Crash On Video

2006 Bugatti Veyron Crashes On Video, Posted To Facebook -- Christian Science Monitor

Facebook video of a 2006 Bugatti Veyron crash shows the car making a wall of water as it hits a Texas lagoon. No one was injured in the crash.

It’s one of the rarest cars on the road, and Galveston, Tex. medical school student Joe Garza saw it crash on his way to get groceries.

He and a friend were driving off of Galveston Island when they pulled up alongside the $2 million French supercar, believed to be one of just 15 in the US. When they pulled up to the sporty two-seater, Garza whipped out his camera and started shooting. That’s when the unthinkable happened.

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Hot Spot Hot Rod: The Internet Invades The Automobile

MPG OR MBPS?: Car companies are going to win customers in the future based on the networked services they offer drivers and passengers and how well these services are delivered, in addition to offering vehicles powered by a number of alternatives (fuel, battery or both). © NG CONNECT PROGRAM

From Scientific American:

A group of companies led by Alcatel-Lucent demonstrate the power of next-generation wireless broadband technologies by rolling out a Prius with 4G connectivity.

With U.S. commuters spending an estimated 500 million hours per week in their vehicles, carmakers, software companies and content providers are trying to figure out how to take advantage of new high-speed wireless network technologies to help drivers have better Internet access during this often idle time.

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Electric SUVs: A Smaller Footprint For Big Vehicles

(Dan Vasconcellos)

From The Christian Science Monitor:

Converting existing gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs into hybrid and electric vehicles gains traction.

Tom Reid likes his ride big – a 2000 Ford Explorer SUV with plenty of interior room and all the amenities. None of those prissy little hybrid vehicles will do for him.

But after gas hit $4 a gallon last year, Mr. Reid had a big fuel bill, too – and an epiphany: convert his gas guzzler to an all-electric vehicle.

So he did. Now Reid’s bright idea has become a sideline business for his shop, HTC Racing, which produces specialized protective coating for automotive and other metal parts in Whitman, Mass. He offers kits to convert any 1995-2004 gas-sucking Ford Explorer into a cheap-to-keep, no fuel, little maintenance all-electric SUV. Cost: $15,000.

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Bad Driving May Have Genetic Basis, Study Finds

Bad drivers may in part have their genes to blame, suggests a new study
by UC Irvine neuroscientists. (Credit: iStockphoto)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Oct. 28, 2009) — Bad drivers may in part have their genes to blame, suggests a new study by UC Irvine neuroscientists.

People with a particular gene variant performed more than 20 percent worse on a driving test than people without it -- and a follow-up test a few days later yielded similar results. About 30 percent of Americans have the variant.

"These people make more errors from the get-go, and they forget more of what they learned after time away," said Dr. Steven Cramer, neurology associate professor and senior author of the study published recently in the journal Cerebral Cortex.

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Revealed: The £1m Bullet-Proof SUV (But That's Cheap Compared To The Vodka That Comes With It)

Bulletproof: The £1 million Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition armoured car

From The Daily Mail:

This is the world's most expensive SUV - but with three bottles of the world's most expensive vodka included in the price tag, it actually appears to be a bargain.

The £1million Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition has gold-plated windows, pure tungsten exhausts, and the speed gauges are encrusted in diamonds.

The seats are not for the squeamish. They are made of one of the softest materials around - leather from a whale's penis.

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e-Wolf's e2 Next-Gen EV Supercar a Handsome Powerhouse

e-Wolf's e2 Electric Vehicle: With a top speed of 155 mph and 0-60 acceleration in under four seconds, the e2's performance is nothing to scoff at (for an EV especially). e-Wolf

From Popular Science:

No sooner does Tesla announce that it's expanding its vision to include minivans and crossovers, e-Wolf unveils an EV supercar that’s so sporty we’ve forgotten what Tesla’s Roadster even looks like. With a top speed of 155 miles per hour and a 0-60 acceleration that clocks in under four seconds, it has the performance to (somewhat) match its Italian playboy good looks, and its all-wheel drive (each wheel is powered by an independent electric motor) should be able to keep all 2,000 pounds of it on the road.

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VW Redefines ‘Car’ With A 170-MPG Diesel Hybrid

From Autopia:

Volkswagen is redefining the automobile with the L1, a bullet-shaped diesel hybrid that weighs less than 900 pounds, gets an amazing 170 mpg and might see production within four years.

The L1 concept car unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show pushes the boundaries of vehicle design and draws more inspiration from gliders than conventional automobiles. The only question the company’s engineers asked when designing the L1 was, “How would a car have to look and be built to consume as little energy as possible.” Their answer was small, light and extremely aerodynamic. Those guidelines led to a car that requires just 1.38 liters of diesel fuel to go 100 kilometers.

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Frankfurt Motor Show: Mercedes SLS AMG Is The New 'Gullwing'

From The Telegraph:

A dashing new interpretation of Mercedes-Benz's fabled "Gullwing" model, called the SLS AMG, will be one of the stars of the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Gone are the familiar rounded nose, circular headlights and triangular rear quarter-lights of the 1950s model.

In their place, the German firm will unveil a chiselled, aerodynamic new model with vertically slanted headlights, a steeply-raked windscreen and taut, muscular, ground-hugging lines.

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The Equilibrium Concept: A Car That Acts Like A Person

The Equilibrium Concept Car: Automotive designer Bob Romkes's vision for the Equilibrium concept is a car that uses artifical intelligence and other technologies to adapt to a driver's needs, and mimics the responses of a living being. Bob Romkes

From Popular Science:

You love your car, but would you want it to be more human? One designer thinks so.

Ask anyone who's ever talked back to their GPS navigation system: Product developers are pretty good at using technology to humanize inanimate objects. But how would you like it if your car responded to your presence -- lighting up with delight or panting like a pet dog? What if, more helpfully, it recognized your touch on the steering wheel, and queued up your favorite MP3s and set your seating position just the way you liked it? Creepy or no? Either way, that's the future envisioned in the Equilibrium (EQ), a concept car by Dutch designer Bob Romkes that uses artificial intelligence to simulate life and the personality of an individual. Imagine rows of faceless sedans parked at the mall suddenly springing to virtual life, each becoming a sort of Tamagotchi with a purpose.

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Full Steam Ahead As British Supercar Prepares To Smash Land-Speed Record

The 25ft-long car will race across the desert in California to try and break a land speed record.

From The Daily Mail:

Enthusiasts behind a British-built steam supercar will attempt to break a century-old world land speed record for steam-powered vehicles tomorrow afternoon.

The 25ft-long car - dubbed the 'fastest kettle in the world' - aims to go faster than 127mph - the speed reached by American Fred Marriott in a Stanley steam car in 1906 at the Daytona Beach Road Course.
The team will begin their attempt at 6am tomorrow morning in California, or 2pm UK time.

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The Most Exciting Cars of 2010

STAN HONDA / AFP / Getty

From Time Magazine:

The popularity of the Jeep Grand Cherokee was instrumental in launching the SUV boom of the 1990s. America's love affair with big, gas-guzzling hulks is pretty much over, but Chrysler believes there's a new chapter for this rugged classic. Jeep's engineers have shortened the vehicle, given it a more aerodynamic shape and equipped it with a more luxurious interior, featuring more expensive materials and higher-grade controls. It also comes with a more efficient V-6 engine while trying to remain faithful to Jeep's can-do heritage. The introduction of the Jeep Grand Cherokee is now scheduled for the second quarter of 2010.

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