2012 Porsche 911 Video

2012 Porsche 911

AutoGearhead: The all-new 2012 Porsche 911 is ready to make its debut on the world stage. In anticipation, Porsche has produced this teaser video of the latest 911 in action.

2012 Porsche 911 (991) revealed - offcial trailer

Source:

http://www.automobilemag.com

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Images From the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show

AutoGearhead: These photos are taken from Los Angeles Auto Show 2011.

The Dok-ing XD electric car, created by Croatian industrialist Vjekoslav Majetic, on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The electric car is only nine feet long feet long, features gull wing doors and seats three passengers, with the driver in the center and two passengers set back on either side. The car show opens to the public on Friday and runs through Nov. 27.

The first production model Mastretta, the MXT, is shown on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Mastretta is a Mexican car maker and design studio established by Mexican industrial designer Daniel Mastretta.

A Ford F150 Raptor SVT pickup truck is shown on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show.The show will surpass 50 vehicle debuts with nearly 20 highly-efficient, 40 mpg plus vehicles to be exhibited.

Land Rover DC100 concept cars make their North America debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

An Aston Martin One-77 is shown on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The BMW i3 plug-in hybrid makes its North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

A car detailer dusts a Rolls-Royce Ghost on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Chevrolet Vice President Global Marketing and Strategy Chris Perry speaks as the 2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Convertible is unveiled at the Los Angeles International Auto Show. The ZL1 accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and can reach a top speed of 184 mph. The convertible will go on sale in the summer of 2012 as a 2013 model.

A model stands beside an Audi R8 GT Spyder on display at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show.

The Volvo You concept car with coach doors and suspended seating is displayed at the 2011 LA Auto Show.

Actress Paula Patton is helped out of the BMW i8 concept car that is featured in the upcoming Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol movie by Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO of BMW North America as the car is revealed at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show.

The 2012 Honda CR-V makes its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Olivier Francois, CEO of Fiat Brand and Chief Marketing Officer of Chrysler and Fiat, unveils the Fiat 500 Abarth car during the LA Auto Show.

A Ford Focus Electric vehicle on display at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show.

A specially painted Kia Optima with US basketball star and Kia spokeman Blake Griffin's name is displayed at the 2011 LA Auto Show in Los Angeles.

Hyundai’s President and CEO John Krafcik, left, and Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun unveil the Hyundai Azera at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show.

Frank Fisher, CEO of Chattanooga Operations, Volkswagen Group of America, top left, holds the 2012 Motor Trend Car of the Year award for the 2012 Volkswagen Passat.

An Audi e-tron Spyder is seen at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show.

Reference: http://www.msnbc.msn.com

Day 2 from the 2011 LA Auto Show with the new Porsche 911, Panamera GTS, Lamborghini with the LP550-2 Spyder, the new Kia GT concept, and an Occupy movement hits the show floor. Hosted by Derek DeAngelis.


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100 Years of Chevrolet and The Best Chevy Ever

1969 Camaro

AutoGearhead: Base on vote at the official Chevy website for the best Chevy ever. Most of voters chose 1969 Camaro as the best Chevy ever.
By 1969 the Camaro was extremely popular. And though this was the final year of the Camaro's original iconic design, it went out with flying colors. The '69 Camaro paced the Indianapolis 500® for the second time.

It was the first and only year the legendary aluminum ZL1 engine was offered, and the Z28® SS/RS performance package qualified the '69 Camaro to compete in the Trans-Am racing series. It's still considered one of the hottest-looking rides of the classic muscle car era. It had a 290-horsepower rating but tested at close to 400.

This four-wheeled icon has graced the silver screen many times. In Almost Famous, a young William Miller watches his sister drive off with her boyfriend in a blue 1969 Camaro coupe. And a slightly earlier version stars as the famous black beauty in Better Off Dead.

Source: http://www.chevrolet.com




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Understanding Oversteer.

Oversteer: the car makes the turn too sharp and gets into a spin.

Auto Gearhead: In previous article we have talk about understeer, in  this articel we gonna talk more about understeer. Understeer and oversteer are vehicle dynamics terms used to describe the sensitivity of a vehicle to steering. Simply put, oversteer is what occurs when a car turns (steers) by more than (over) the amount commanded by the driver. Automotive engineers define understeer and oversteer based on changes in steering angle associated with changes in lateral acceleration over a sequence of steady-state circular turning tests.



An article from drivingfast.net says, when you reach the limits of grip on a corner, two scenarios can result known as understeer or oversteer. Oversteer, like understeer, results from the car reaching the limits of traction on a corner. In this case, the rear tyres reach the limit of adhesion before the front. This leads to 'the back coming out'. The good thing about oversteer is that you normally go through the hedge backwards, thus preventing expensive repairs to the front of your vehicle. If you manage to performed sustained, controlled oversteer this is know as drifting.

Symptoms of oversteer It's unlikely you'll ever experience oversteer unless you're driving a car near the limits of grip. You can recognise oversteer if, the rear of the vehicle becomes unstable and 'light' due to lack of grip and the car starts to rotate so the driver is facing towards the inside of the corner

There are four major active causes of oversteer, but what you're likely to encounter depends on the car being driven, causes include:

1. Entering the corner too fast.
2. Accelerating into the corner, too early or too aggressively.
3. Braking into the corner or mid corner.
4. Lifting off the throttle mid-corner. This scenario is also known as:

• lift-off oversteer
• snap-oversteer
• trailing-throttle oversteer
• throttle off oversteer
• lift-throttle oversteer
• lift-off oversteer

Lift-off oversteer is a phenomenon which can occur when reducing the throttle mid corner. This will only happen when driving close to the limit so only experiment when on the track. Sporty front wheel drive drive cars can be especially prone to this due to the heavy front end and light rear. Reducing the throttle input results in a forward weight transfer, which increases the grip at the front tyres, but reduces levels at the rear. If this is performed during cornering, the combination of the heavy front end and the reduction of grip can cause the rear wheels to break traction and start to slide towards the outside of the corner.

Whatever the cause of oversteer it is important to keep the front wheels pointing in the direction you're hoping to go. If you fail to do this, the most likely result is a spin. This technique is known as counter-steering or applying opposite lock. You should apply enough steering lock to point the wheels in the direction of the slide as shown below. Too little and you're likely to spin as the back continues to come round, too much and the car will rapidly over-correct, often resulting in a spin in the opposite direction. The skill can only be mastered with plenty of practice and should become instinct if you're planning to drive fast on a track.

Applying corrective steering needs to be done rapidly to catch the back of the car before it slides to a point which may be difficult to control. Once the slide has been controlled and the back starts to fall back in line, it's also important to get the steering correction off quickly too, otherwise you might find your self with oversteer in the opposite direction due to the resulting pendulum effect.(*)

A video with Martin Brundle describing Oversteer and Understeer.

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Understanding Understeer.

Understeer: The car does not turn enough and leaves the road.

Auto Gearhead: Understeer is vehicle dynamics terms used to describe the sensitivity of a vehicle to steering. Understeer is what occurs when a car steers less than, or 'under' the amount commanded by the driver.
Automotive engineers define understeer based on changes in steering angle associated with changes in lateral acceleration over a sequence of steady-state circular turning tests. Understeer occurs when traction is lost at the front wheels while cornering, forcing you wide on a bend despite applying the correct steering angle.

Avoiding understeer.
The potential harm of understeer is the car out off the road. But fortunately, this emergency situation is fairly easy to overcome. The point is to slow the vehicle so that traction can be returned.
To avoiding understeer you can drive as smooth as you can, don't enter corners flat out, and accelerate as you exit, do not add a round steering wheel or brake, reduce round the steering wheel until the tire gripping again. The las is do not brake in a corner. The only exception to this is if you are using trail braking (late braking). In some situations on the track, it may be possible to get a better time by leaving your braking to the very last minute, forcing you to maintain braking into the turn. If this is the case, ensure most of the braking effort has been carried out in a straight line, and progressively release the brakes as you approach the apex. The resulting forward weight transfer can reduce understeer and improve 'turn in', however, it can also make the car more prone to oversteer. This is an advanced technique and should only be used once you are very confident with your car, the track and the conditions.

Simple modifications to make a car less prone to understeer.
If you have a track car and find understeer a problem, you can complete some relatively easy modifications which can make the handling more neutral. These include:

• Reducing the front tyre pressure
• Softening front springs or anti-roll bar
• Use softer front tyres
• Increase front down force (if aerodynamics fitted).

Reference: drivingfast.net

A video from the AMG Driving Academy Performance, an explanation about Understeer and Oversteer.

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2013 Chevrolet Malibu.

Chevrolet Malibu

Auto Gearhead: Chevrolet has begun setting prices for its redesigned 2013 Chevrolet Malibu lineup, starting with the upper-level Malibu Eco model to be priced from $25,995, including $760 for destination and handling.
The first of Chevrolet’s new family sedans, the Malibu Eco will take over the role that the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid held in the automaker’s lineup until it was dropped from the lineup after the 2010 model year.

 Close in concept, both the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu and its predecessor use a mild hybrid setup that assists the gas engine with the electric motor, instead of either the gas engine or electric motor working independently of one another.
Based around Chevrolet’s 2.4-liter Ecotec four-cylinder engine with an electric motor, the combination produces 182 horsepower—the same as the base Malibu’s non-hybrid system. But with the eAssist technology, Chevrolet claims the car will achieve 26 mpg city/38 mpg highway. It will come with a lithium-ion battery pack in addition to automatic engine start-stop, and regenerative braking—all while only adding 130 pounds over the standard Malibu. Chevrolet is quick to point out that it compares well to the full hybrids in its class, but at a lower price.

Between the Ford Fusion Hybrid (40 mpg city/36 mpg highway), Volkswagen Passat TDI (30 mpg city/40 mpg highway with automatic transmission), Toyota Camry (40 mpg city/38 mpg highway), and Hyundai Sonata Hybrid (35 mpg city/40 mpg highway), none achieve below 30 mpg in any standard, leaving the Malibu Eco in a tenuous spot per its press literature. At least it is more affordable than the aforementioned models.

New for the 2013 model year, Chevrolet has included a host of upgrades, including active aerodynamics that close hood vents at highway speeds to cut through the wind better, standard low rolling-resistance 17-inch tires mounted on aluminum wheels, the MyLink infotainment system, satellite radio, Bluetooth connectivity, OnStar, and eight airbags distributed throughout the interior. Other features are available like a backup camera, remote starter, a nine-speaker Pioneer stereo system, and leather.
The Chevrolet Malibu Eco goes on sale in the first quarter of next year, representing the first time the Malibu will be sold all over the world in Chevrolet’s lineup. It will initially be produced in Chevrolet’s South Korean factory. Following it, the Malibu LS, LT, and LTZ non-hybrid trims will start production in summer 2012 and hit dealer lots shortly thereafter. (Jacob Brown)
Source: Chevrolet





Senior GM designer Bryan Nesbitt explains the aggressive new styling in the all new 2013 Malibu and how the Camaro influenced it for a sportier look. Precise engineering also make it a contender for the most aerodynamic car in its class.

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Be a Smart Driver to Save Your Fuel.

AutoGearhead: Maybe you think over to find how to saves fuel. Its easy to saves fuel with this simple tips. Your style of driving habits could be costing you at the fuel pump. Following these driving tips will help you save money on fuel.

You might enjoy your time when it at a stop light, do not rev up your engine rpm. Do not drive aggressively out on the highway can lower your car's gas mileage up to 33 percent. Driving aggressively around town can pull down your vehicle's fuel efficiency by 5 percent. Drive like a grownup is better. Slowly accelerate after every stop sign and stop light. Go easy on the accelerator out on the highway.

Peugeot Cruise Control Stalk

Be a smooth driver. Abrupt stops aren't great for your car or your car's fuel efficiency. So anticipate stops whenever you can. Letting your car coast to a stop is a good way to improve your gas mileage. Using cruise control out on the highway will help you maintain a smooth, constant speed and may boost your gas mileage. Becoming a smoother driver will help to saves fuel.

It's important to follow the speed limit. Speeding is a very expensive way to drive. Driving above the speed limit may get you where you want to go in less time, but it also means wasteful of fuel. "Driving at excessive speeds is going to pull down your fuel efficiency," says Jim Kliesch, research associate at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and vehicle analyst.

And the faster you drive, the bigger the fuel-economy hit on your car. Driving 75 mph instead of 65 mph will lower your car's fuel economy by 10 percent. Driving 70 mph instead of 55 mph will lower your car's fuel economy by 17 percent. So stop treating speed limit signs as suggestions and slow down already. Obeying the speed limit is the safest and cheapest way to drive.

Remove any excess items from your car to make your car more lighter. Less weight means better mileage. Carrying an extra 100 pounds in the trunk of your car may cut your car's fuel economy by 1 percent to 2 percent. A loaded roof rack increases your car's air drag and can pull down your car's mileage by 5 percent. Avoid carrying items on your car's roof whenever possible.

Go easy on the air conditioning. Roll down your car's windows and let in the summer breeze. Using the gas-hogging air conditioning as sparingly as possible will give your car's fuel economy a real boost. Air conditioning can drag down your car's fuel economy by 10 percent to 20 percent. But on days when air conditioning is a must, first try cooling your car the old fashioned way, rolling down the windows, opening the vents, peeling back the sunroof. You'd be amazed how much hot air you can clear out of your car just by opening up for awhile.

Do not waste fuel with let your car's engine runs  idle, its fuel economy crashes down to zero miles per gallon. The larger your engine the more gas you wind up wasting while idling your car. Get with the times. Keep in mind, that modern vehicles don't need to warm up.

In the city with high traffic, avoid rush hour. Not only is stop-and-go traffic stressful and annoying, it's bad for your car's gas mileage. So avoid driving at rush hour whenever you can. Stagger your work hours so you can time your weekday commuting at less busy times of the day. You can save fuel and cut down on the wear and tear on your car by choosing the shortest route to your destination and combining short trips whenever possible. Several short trips taken from a cold start can use twice as much fuel as a longer, multistop trip of the same distance with a warm engine.

Important!!! Avoid resting your foot on the brake pedal or clutch pedal while driving. The slightest pressure on brake or clutch pedal could cause a drag that will require additional fuel.

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Review: Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4

Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4

Auto Gearhead: Peugeot Citroen have been showing Hybrid4 concepts for three years now  and finally the wait is over. The new Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4 is here  and we've driven it.

UK sales start in November 2011. This is a significant car on numerous counts. It's the first series production diesel-electric hybrid on sale. It's the first time you or I have been able to buy a PSA Hybrid4 vehicle. And, if Paris is to be believed, it may yet revolutionise the way hybrid cars are put together and sold.

Peugeot Hybrid4: a history lesson
A quick recap on the PSA hybrid solution. The French have long championed diesel, and there's been much oh la la and gnashing of teeth to be heard in the corridors of Peugeot Citroen HQ as the world switched on to petrol-electric hybrids, many of them fearsomely expensive, bespoke models with knee-high emissions and sky-high price tags.
PSA, with a lot of help from Bosch, has come up with what it argues is a much simpler system: Hybrid4. It takes an existing combustion-engined model - step forward 3008 - and bolts on a relatively low powered 27kW electrified rear axle. Clever electronics control the interaction between front engine and rear electric motor, with not a single physical link between the axles.

It means that every model in Peugeot Citroen's range can theoretically be hybridised relatively cheaply, at a premium of some £2500-£3500 over a regular cooking petrol or diesel engine. PSA is launching the diesel first (because they're French/because of its inherent 30% mpg benefit), but unleaded hybrids will follow.

Does the Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4 work well in practice?
First impressions are good. This really is a 'normal' hybrid car. There are no glitzy controls to scare you off, no weird-looking body panels. Your next door neighbours will be hard pushed to tell you're driving a clever-clogs sub-100g/km CO2 car. There's just that niggling doubt over a price tag of £26,995 which seems at odds with the 3008 Hybrid4's populist roots... Cheaper hybrids will follow, engineers assure us.

Step onboard and where you'd normally find the 3008's Grip Control button is a hybrid controller, letting you pick between ZEV for full electric mode (it'll run as a RWD for up to three miles if the battery is full); Auto (where everything is done for you); 4wd (where both axles are powered for better traction in slippery conditions); and Sport (where the automated manual six-speed transmission clings onto gears for longer).
Turn the key to start up and the silence is golden. Progress is smooth, as we pull away in Auto mode. Peugeot has tuned the gearbox to use the electric motor's torque to smoothe off gearchanges and progress is sweeter than in regular 3008's with the jumpy automated manual. Creep forwards and you can indeed drive in EV mode up to around 30mph before the 2.0-litre HDI diesel kicks in. The transitions are smooth and there's no kangarooing to speak of. Don't like the cheap plastic paddles, though, and it's hard to tell which mode you're in as the controller has tiny lights. But initial driving impressions are good.

What about at higher speeds?
The 3008 is no powerhouse; that modest rear electric motor is a fifth the power of a Prius's, remember. But you've got that stonking 2.0-litre HDI engine, which rows the chunky - 1660kg - 3008 Hybrid4 along very nicely. Regular 3008 traits remain: a lofty driving position for good visibility (bar some hefty A-pillars), storage spaces galore for family duties, a plump ride, quite agile steering and a slightly fiddly parking brake. You won't see a % power indicator in a regular or garden Pug, though. It's more Rolls-like.

We tested it in 38deg C heat with the air-con blasting away in mainly urban conditions - average speed 23mph - and gobbled diesel at a rate of 49mpg. We'd say that's quite impressive for a large five-seater that can double up as a van. The 3008's loadbay loses around 15% of its space, but you've still got 420 litres, stretching to 1501 if you drop the rear seats.

Just remember you need to pick the base car with 16in wheels if you want the magical 99g/km CO2 figure. At current tax rates, that'd mean you'd be exempt from annual road tax and London congestion charge for life. But the higher-spec Hybrid4 model we tested had 17s and 104g/km. Every digit counts nowadays.

Verdict
We admire the Hybrid4's plug-n-play nature. That you can apply this tech to any car based on the large or mid-sized PF2 or PF3 platforms in the Peugeot Citroen empire is a neat engineering trick. It's a clever way of hybridising large numbers of cars quickly, and a plug-in version with lithium ion batteries and a fourfold increase in ZEV range is coming in 2014.
While we may struggle to call a £27k hybrid affordable, it's obvious PSA has elected to launch the Hybrid4 at the top of the 3008 range. Once it percolates down to smaller engines, we'd wager it'll make more sense to more buyers. (Tim Pollard-First Drives)

Engine            :     1997cc four-cylinder TD, 163bhp @ 3750rpm, 221lb ft @ 1580rpm
Transmission  :     Six-speed automated manual, four-wheel drive
Performance  :     8.5sec 0-62mph, 74.4mpg, 104g/km
How heavy    :     1660kg/steel
How big (length/width/height in mm) :  4365/2113/1610





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Power Steering.

Rack and Pinion Type

Auto Gearhead: Power steering has hydraulic and electric types. Todays, hydraulic power steering is used on almost all car models. Three major components of the power steering is hydraulic vane pump, control valve and power cylinder. To increase driving comfort, most modern cars use wide tires sized and low pressure, which could increase the surface contact area of ​​wheel-to-street. As a result, the required power steering gets heavier.


Power steering can be lowered by lowering the gear ratio steering gear. However, this way will cause rotary motion of the steering wheel when the vehicle becomes more rounded, so it can not do a sharp turn.
To maintain steering and agility, at the same time make the power steering remains light, it takes a kind of steering aids. In other words, power steering, which has been widely used for large vehicles, are now also widely used for small passenger cars.

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The Most Popular Car Color 2011

Motor Trend Car of the Year: VW Passat

AutoGearhead: White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. Lately, white is becoming the most popular vehicle color in the world, followed by black and silver. According to car-paint supplier PPG Industries, in North America, white was first making up 20 percent of the 2011 model year cars. Silver was second at 19 percent, then black at 18 percent, gray at 15 percent, red and blue tied at 9 percent, naturals such as brown, tan and gold at 7 percent, green at 2 percent and other colors at 1 percent.

Results varied in Europe and Asia, though both continents had the same three color choices on top. PPG also conducted an online study of consumer choices regarding paint color, finding that 48 percent of car buyers make choices based on color, and 31 percent are willing to pay extra for a vehicle that expresses their personality through color. At its annual Automotive Color Trend Show, PPG will present ideas for future colors. Have any idea?.

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McLaren Swaps Racetrack for Freeway to Chase-Down Ferrari.

Photo:Bloomberg. The McLaren Group's MP4-12C supercar.

Auto Gearhead: London,Bloomberg. McLaren, the U.K. motor-racing team that trails only Ferrari in Formula One victories, is switching its pursuit of the Italian icon from the track to the road. McLaren on November 17 2011 opened a 50 million-pound ($80 million) factory that will allow mass production of a 200-mile-per-hour street-legal model selling for 168,500 pounds ($266,000) as it seeks to translate sporting success into 4,000 car sales a year.

Only a handful of teams in the history of motor sport have managed to leverage triumphs on the track to build a manufacturing business. Ferrari's cross-over success remains unique among competitors in Formula One, the world's richest race-car series with annual revenue of $1.1 billion and a television audience averaging 50 million for each grand prix. McLaren will "find it tough because there are lots of well-established brands already in that sports-car space," said Mark Jenkins, co-author of "Performance at the Limit: Business Lessons from Formula One Motor Racing" and a professor of business strategy at Britain's Cranfield University. "Motor sport technology is very, very high end and to move into road-car production you've got to be far more low-cost."

Tony Jardine, who was a manager at McLaren before Executive Chairman Ron Dennis took over in 1981 and also worked for Lotus and Brabham, reckons the new MP4-12C model, which will sell at 35 dealers worldwide, including nine in the U.S., is a winner. "They've done a massive amount of work to ensure the car is really amazing," he said. "It looks like a fantastic product."

Difficulty of survival
McLaren opted to begin volume production with a program it estimates will cost about $800 million after efforts to harness race-bred technology for other uses had limited success. While the company's electronics are used throughout world motor sport from Formula One to Nascar and IndyCar, the market is worth only about 20 million pounds a year, Dennis, 64, said in an interview at the new factory in Woking, England, pushing it to take a bolder step to safeguard the future.
"When you look down the pit lane, as I've been doing for a great many years, and you see that the only brand consistently there is Ferrari, you realize the fragility and the difficulty of survival," he said. "So that meant diversification."

2,000 sales
Dennis said he's continuing to seek new investment after cutting his stake in McLaren Group, owner of the Formula One team, to 25 percent and spinning off the production-car venture as McLaren Automotive, in which he has an 18 percent stake. Bahraini sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat Holding Co. is the biggest shareholder in both enterprises.
Established by New Zealander Bruce McLaren in 1963, McLaren entered Formula One in 1966 and won its first race in Belgium in 1968. Forays into manufacturing to date have been limited to a venture with one-time investor Mercedes and the F1 supercar, which had a production run of 106 vehicles and was the costliest auto of the 1990s at 540,000 pounds.
With a 240 mph top speed, it was also the fastest until the Bugatti Veyron in 2005. McLaren's new model will arrive in U.S. showrooms by year's end as production accelerates. The company has presold 2,000 cars, with 250 already delivered to European clients from existing facilities at the adjoining McLaren Technology Centre, where its Formula One racers are made.

Ferrari blueprint
"McLaren is following the Ferrari path of building a brand around racing and exporting that into the road-car sector," said Jenkins. "They came at it a different way with the F1, which was a very specialist supercar, not mass market, and really are now trying to more seriously develop their brand in that area."
Ferrari, founded as a race team in 1929, didn't make a road-going auto until 1947, three years before the first Formula One championship. Based in Maranello, northern Italy, it has won 15 driver's championships, three more than McLaren.
Most other specialist race teams have stuck with the track, and those embracing mass production have generally struggled, among them Lotus of Norwich, England, which was rescued first by General Motors Co. and then Malaysia's Proton Holdings Bhd. Ferrari itself was bought by Fiat S.p.A., Italy's biggest manufacturer, in 1969, providing funds to help develop cars such as the Dino, its first high-production model.

Toyota flop
Other carmakers come to Formula One as established global manufacturers looking to bolster the prestige and sporting credentials of their road cars. Ford Motor Co. bought a team from former driver Jackie Stewart in 1999 to promote the Jaguar brand it then owned before selling the team in 2004 to Austrian drinks company Red Bull GmbH, which subsequently won the world title.
Dennis reckons Toyota Motor Corp. spent 3 billion euros ($4 billion) over eight years without winning a single race. Renault SA and Daimler AG's Mercedes unit are among 12 teams competing in this year's world championship.

McLaren's push into manufacturing envisages developing eight models and variants in coming years, it said Thursday. Dennis's goal is to build 4,000 cars a year within five years, equal to almost two-thirds of Ferrari's anticipated 6,500-vehicle output for 2010 and three times deliveries at Volkswagen AG's Lamborghini unit.
Sales of ultra-luxury brands are projected to rise 19 percent to more than 28,000 this year, seven times the 2.7 percent gain in overall deliveries, according to consultant IHS Automotive, with companies insulated from a slowdown by limited production runs that aim to restrict supply and buoy prices.

Early glitches
The first examples of the MP4-12C suffered glitches including malfunctioning satellite-navigation systems and software that drained batteries. Those issues, which McLaren says have been resolved, are not unusual in early-build supercar models, according to Jardine.
"Ron Dennis's attention to detail is legendary and I expect to see that philosophy in the road cars," he said. "If you want a raw gear change and raw noise you'll buy something more basic, but with McLaren you're going to get sophistication."
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Ltd., the third-ranked Formula One team with seven drivers' championships, is sticking with McLaren's old strategy of technology transfer, contributing to the C-X75 electric supercar being developed by the Jaguar Land Rover luxury unit of India's Tata Motors Ltd., which will sell from 700,000 pounds and reach 60 mph in three seconds.

China, India
The success of McLaren's MP4-12C in the showroom may hinge on Formula One's penetration of emerging markets, particularly in the Middle East and Asia, according to Cranfield's Jenkins. The series has added races in China, Singapore and South Korea in recent years and last month staged the inaugural India Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit near New Delhi.
That in turn increases the pressure to win on the track and build a bigger following. With one grand prix left, McLaren's Jenson Button ranks second and Lewis Hamilton fifth in this year's championship, which was already won by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel with four races remaining.
Dennis says it's McLaren's long-term success that counts.
"The Formula One team is our advertising budget," he said. "Since 1966 we've won one in four of the races we've competed in and had a driver on the podium half the time. That's a very good statistic when you're trying to attract investment, and it supports the concept that we make good sports cars as well.".(Bloomberg)

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Audi A7: 2012 Automobile of the Year.

Audi A7

Auto Gearhead: Sometimes, the Automobile of the Year is a dramatic about-face for its manufacturer. Other times, it is a car that breaks new ground technologically. Some years, it is a spectacular upgrade from its predecessor. This year, it's none of those things.
Automobile Magazine's 2012 Automobile of the Year, the Audi A7, does not represent a dramatic change of pace for its maker. Audi has been building handsome, fast, and rewarding luxury cars for some time now. Anchored by Audi's Quattro all-wheel drive, bristling with of-the-moment technologies, and surrounding its passengers with an artfully crafted interior, the A7 is exactly in keeping with the cars that this brand has been turning out. As editor-in-chief Jean Jennings said, "It's the culmination of everything Audi has promised."

The A7 may not usher in any major new technology, but the list of leading-edge features it does offer is impressive. Inputs to the navigation system can be made by drawing them on a touch pad with your finger (which requires less eyes-away-from-the-road time than more traditional methods), and the navigation also incorporates Google Earth imagery. The car can function as a mobile Wi-Fi hot spot. LED front accent lighting -- which was pioneered by Audi and has since been much copied -- is standard, and full-LED active headlamps are available. Audi's all-wheel-drive system isn't just a bad-weather security blanket; the rear torque bias provides the sportier, more responsive cornering of a rear-wheel-drive car with the ability to put more power to the ground.

The A7 cannot be a dramatic upgrade over its predecessor, because it has no direct predecessor. Slipped into the lineup between the A6 and the A8 sedans, the A7 is something new from Audi. True, as a swoopy, four-door "coupe," the A7 is thematically similar to the Mercedes-Benz CLS. But as a four-door hatchback, the A7 is something else again.

Still, we will admit that the A7 is a car that snuck up on us. It looks good in pictures, but it's much more striking in person. The front visage is both sleek and imposing; in the side view, the car appears elongated, as if tapered by the wind. Move around to the rear, and the A7 is simply captivating. Who ever thought a hatchback could be so sexy? The seduction was underway.

The closer you get to the A7, the better it looks. Slip inside, and it looks better still. The Audi-liscious interior does not disappoint. It's modern and luxurious yet cosseting and comfortable, mile after mile. Granted, things are more snug in the back seats than they are in a traditionally shaped sedan, and the center rear position has been sacrificed. But who wants to sit in the center position of a rear bench anyway? And the dramatic shape has a practical benefit. Under the enormous, power-operated rear liftgate is nearly twenty-five cubic feet of cargo space -- more if you fold the rear seatbacks. That's an almost SUV-like ability to tote luggage, but no SUV looks anything like this.

It's not all about looks with the A7, however. This car moves with grace and ease. There is only one engine, but what an engine it is. A 3.0-liter supercharged V-6, it makes 310 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque, the latter from 2900 rpm. That output is distilled through a superlative and highly efficient eight-speed automatic transmission. A dealer friend of ours tells us that some customers are skeptical of the A7 because it doesn't have a V-8. They shouldn't be. The muscular six makes this sleek Audi as fast as it appears -- we clocked the car's 0-to-60-mph time at 5.0 seconds -- and yet unlike a thirsty V-8, the supercharged six exhibits healthy, modern drinking habits, nursing a gallon of premium over twenty-eight highway miles.

Audi A7

A relaxed, long-legged cruiser, the A7 hoovers up the interstate. It also attacks corners with a verve that the rear-wheel-drive purists on our staff found surprising. At the same time, it proved supple over beat-up pavement despite its high-fashion, twenty-inch wheels and low-profile rubber. It was even surprisingly at home on the racetrack, where all-wheel-drive sedans are usually an uncooperative mess of understeer. As associate editor Eric Tingwall pointed out, "Whether it's commuting, being driven hard, or touring, the A7 can please any driver."

Indeed, its excellence in any one area does not come at the expense of its competence in any other. Speaking of expense, however, we will acknowledge that this is not an inexpensive car, starting at just over $60,000. It is, however, a highly desirable car, a covetable car. And covetable objects rarely come cheap. Mesmerizing to look at and seductive to drive, the Audi A7 is a car to aspire to -- and an entirely worthy Automobile of the Year. (Automobile Magazine)




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Four-Stroke Engine Theory.

Four-stroke engine diagram

Auto Gearhead: In the previous article I have explained briefly about the four-stroke and two-stroke engines. Now here I will explain more detail how the four-stroke engine works in every steps

Intake Stroke.
This is the very first step in the chain of events that makes an engine run. This is also the most important step. In this step, mixed air and fuel entering the cylinder through the intake manifold. Incorrectly metered fuel entering the combustion chamber (cylinder) can severly hamper perfromance. Valve clearance is also a very important factor.
During the Intake Stroke, the piston is traveling downwards toward BDC (Bottom Dead Center). At the very same time, the intake lobe on the cam shaft is pushing up on the valve tappet  (valve lifter) which opens the intake valve. So at the very moment, the piston is traveling downward while the intake valve is opening. Now the piston is creating negative air pressure or vacuum. Naturally, we can't have negative air pressure, so a charge of gas and air comes rushing into the cylinder through the intake manifold. By the time the piston arrives at BDC, the air pressure inside the cylinder is equal to the air pressure outside the engine. Now, the piston is leaving the BDC position and the cam lobe is leaving the tappet, allowing the valve to close for the next step.

Compression Stroke.
The piston is now traveling back up the cylinder and the intake valve is closing. By the time the piston reaches TDC (Top Dead Center), it has squeezed, lets say, thirteen cubic inches of charge into less than one, it called compression ratio. If your rings and cylinder was is bad shape, most of that charge would have leaked around the rings, reducing the compression ratio.
How healthy your engine is how well the compression stroke works. For the engine to be very efficient, all of the air and fuel mixture must stay inside cylinder as long as possible. And for this to be possible, the compression rings, valves and cylinder must be in good shape to prevent the air and fuel mixture from leaking out.

Power Stroke (Combustion Stroke).
The Power Stroke is the most extreme stroke. It puts a great amount of pressure on the entire engine (rings, rod, crankshaft, valves and valve seats and piston.) While the piston was traveling towards TDC, ignition system was building up a charge and at around 12 degrees or less BTDC (Before Top Dead Center), the charge is released and arcs across the spark plug. By the time the piston arrives at TDC, the charge is violently exploded inside the engine, pushing the piston downward.

Flywheel

Exhaust Stroke.
Now that we had the power stroke and after that we need to get rid of it and start over. With the energy from power stroke, the piston reaches BDC and expained above and begins to travel upwards. While the piston is traveling upwards, the exhaust lobe on the cam gear comes in contact with the exahust tappet (valve lifter), opening the exhaust valve. The exhaust is pushed out of the cylinder as the piston travels upward. By the time the piston reaches TDC, the exhaust valve closes and intake valve opens again, and the cycle is started over.
Now with that said, you may wonder, "If there is only one power stroke for every 4 total strokes, then what makes the engine continue going without stopping, because I know that there is not enough energy created to run the engine for three more strokes before making another power stroke?"
What helps the engine continue through the other three stroke? Strokes  inertia. And that inertia can be found in the flywheel. That extra 15 pounds of weight on the crankshaft "pushes" the engine through the other three strokes.




Here is very good video of car engine working.

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Four-Stroke And Two-Stroke Internal Combustion Engines.

4 Stroke Engine

AutoGearhead: There are two types that an internal combustion engine to transform combustion into motive power. The two-stroke cycle and the four-stroke cycle engine. Two stroke engine produces power every crankshaft revolution, while a  four stroke engine produces power once every two revolutions. Older designs of small two stroke engines produced more pollution than four-stroke engines. However, modern two stroke designs, like the Vespa ET2 Injection utilise fuel-injection and are as clean as four strokes.


Large diesel two-stroke engines, as used in ships and locomotives, have always used fuel-injection and produce low emissions. One of the biggest internal combustion engines in the world, the Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C is a two-stroke; it is bigger than most two-storey houses, has pistons nearly 1 metre in diameter and is one of the most efficient mobile engines in existence.

The Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C

In theory, a four-stroke engine has to be larger than a two-stroke engine to produce an equivalent amount of power. Two-stroke engines are becoming less common in developed countries these days, mainly due to manufacturer reluctance to invest in reducing two-stroke emissions. Traditionally, two-stroke engines were reputed to need more maintenance (despite exceptions like the Ricardo Dolphin engine, and the Twingle engines of the Trojan car and the Puch 250 motorcycle). Even though the simplest two-stroke engines have fewer moving parts, they could wear out faster than four-stroke engines. However fuel-injected two-strokes achieve better engine lubrication, also cooling and reliability should improve considerably.

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Safe Nighttime Driving Tips.

Nighttime driving

AutoGearhead: Have you ever driving at night? What do you feel? Driving in the dark night is one of the most dangerous situations a driver faces. According to a recent study, thirty two percent of drivers say they have trouble seeing all or most of the time at night; twenty six percent claim they have trouble seeing signs when driving at night; twenty percent have difficulty seeing pedestrians, animals and turns in the road and twenty two percent report they cannot judge distance when driving at night. Statistics like these are cause for concern. Many people are turning to night vision glasses in the hope of overcoming these difficulties.

There are many roads out there with low or no lighting and then you also have to contend with the blinding lights coming at you from other drivers. The fatality rate at night, which is considered from 6 pm to 6 am, is three percent higher than the day time rate. Many people complain of eye strain, dry and tired eyes, inability to focus and blurred vision all that can be helped with night vision glasses. Many people feel that the most distracting issue when driving at night are the lights of oncoming traffic and the headlights from cars behind them. And if you have any vision problems to begin with like cataracts or near-sightedness, these problems can be intensified. Many eye professionals are recommending night vision glasses be used to help keep you safer.
Some tips from the professionals  for safe nighttime driving are recommending:

1. Make sure your headlights are clean, by keeping them clean you are ensuring that you will have better visibility when driving on roads with little or no lighting.
2. Do not wear sunglasses after dusk. These only make it more difficult to see at night.
3. Cleaning your windshield inside and outside. This will prevent smears that block your vision and make it more difficult to see.
4. Dim your instrument panel.  This will reduce brightness when you glance at them.
5. Drive slower than the speed limit. This is especially true on winding roads.
6. Wear a pair of night vision glasses that have anti-reflective coating on the lenses.
7. Adjust your rear view mirror to "night" setting. This will dim the glare of headlights from the cars behind you.

Night Vision Glasses For Safer Driving

This last bit of advice is very important as there are a lot of night vision glasses being sold with a yellow or amber tint that experts agree do not help you when driving at night and can actually hinder you by making dark areas appear even darker. The glasses that are recommended are equipped with an anti-reflective coating (on both sides of the lens) as they transmit more light. By transmitting more light this will help to improve your vision at night. The special coating will reduce the reflection from headlights, which as mentioned before, is the greatest problem for people when driving at night.

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Engine Warning Light Indicator Is Flashing, What Should I Do?

Engine Warning Light Indicator

AutoGearhead: When the Engine Warning Light Indicator (check engine indicator)  soon light illuminates on your dash, it means that electronic control unit on your car recognizes that there is an electronic system or sensor(s) failure. This indicates a problem, and the computer tries to compensate for that problem and keep the car running as close to normal as possible and it also known as "down-grade mode".

A Peugeot Planet System
Diagnostic Computer

Usually you will be able to feel a noticeable difference in the performance of your car. When this Engine Warning Light Indicator soon light flashes you should  check your car to your trusted repair workshop for a diagnosis and repair. But if it can't be done, imediately pull over safely tour car and shut the engine off.  Then call your trusted repair workshop  to towed your car. Flashes on Engine Warning Light Indicator  light is related to electronic system failure. To figure out about the problem, your trusted repair workshop uses a diagnostic computer.

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How does the engine work? | Requirements for the engine to work.

AutoGearhead: There are three requirements for the engine to work, the fuel system, the ignition system (petrol engine), and there is sufficient compression in the combustion chamber. On a basic automotive engine, either two-stroke or four-stroke, will work with combustion. combustion occurs due to a combination of fuel (gas or diesel) and air in its cylinder(s). Compression in the combustion chamber is generated by a moving piston to compress air and fuel inside the engine cylinder.

Fuel and compressed air inside the engine combustion chamber is ignited by a spark plugs attached to each cylinder walls and then burning air and fuel in the cylinder respectively. Spark plug wires attached to the receiving electrical current (high voltage electrical , about 12,000 volts) from the car electrical system. This electric current, or fire, is what started the combustion in the engine.

The strength of the combustion engine is what gives strength to the engine to move piston engine which connected to the engine crankshaft, which in turn is connected to the vehicle via a transmission and driveshaft and ultimately to the wheels of the vehicle.

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Automobile history in the era of the internal combustion engine.

The 1890 Type 2, the first Peugeot petrol-powered car

Auto Gearhead:  The succesful history of the automobile is begins of applied the Internal combustion engine. An internal combustion engine is any engine that uses the explosive combustion of fuel to push a piston within a cylinder. The piston's movement turns a crankshaft that then turns the car wheels via a chain in the beginning of invented but now uses  a drive shaft. The different types of fuel commonly used for car combustion engines are gasoline/petrol, diesel, and kerosene. However, there is no automobile uses kerosene nowadays .

So many history books say that the automobile was invented by either Gottlieb Daimler or Karl Benz? It is because both Daimler and Benz invented highly successful and practical gasoline-powered vehicles that ushered in the age of modern automobiles. Daimler and Benz invented cars that looked and worked like the cars we use today. But in fact the very first self-powered road vehicles were powered by steam engines and by that definition Nicolas Joseph Cugnot of France built the first automobile in 1769, recognized by the British Royal Automobile Club and the Automobile Club de France as being the first. So, it is unfair to say that either Gottlieb Daimler or Karl Benz invented the automobile.

A brief outline of the history of the internal combustion engine includes the following highlights:

1680 - Dutch physicist, Christian Huygens designed (but never built) an internal combustion engine that was to be fueled with gunpowder.
1807 - Francois Isaac de Rivaz of Switzerland invented an internal combustion engine that used a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen for fuel. Rivaz designed a car for his engine, the first internal combustion powered automobile. However, his was a very unsuccessful design.
1824 - English engineer, Samuel Brown adapted an old Newcomen steam engine to burn gas, and he used it to briefly power a vehicle up Shooter's Hill in London.
1858 - Belgian-born engineer, Jean JosephÉtienne Lenoir invented and patented in 1860 a double-acting, electric spark-ignition internal combustion engine fueled by coal gas. In 1863, Lenoir attached an improved engine (using petroleum and a primitive carburetor) to a three-wheeled wagon that managed to complete an historic fifty-mile road trip.
1862 - Alphonse Beau de Rochas, a French civil engineer, patented but did not build a four-stroke engine (French patent #52,593, January 16, 1862).
1864 - Austrian engineer, Siegfried Marcus, built a one-cylinder engine with a crude carburetor, and attached his engine to a cart for a rocky 500-foot drive. Several years later, Marcus designed a vehicle that briefly ran at 10 mph that a few historians have considered as the forerunner of the modern automobile by being the world's first gasoline-powered vehicle.
1873 - George Brayton, an American engineer, developed an unsuccessful two-stroke kerosene engine (it used two external pumping cylinders). However, it was considered the first safe and practical oil engine.
1866 - German engineers, Eugen Langen and Nikolaus August Otto improved on Lenoir's and de Rochas' designs and invented a more efficient gas engine.
1876 - Nikolaus August Otto invented and later patented a successful four-stroke engine, known as the "Otto cycle".
1876 - The first successful two-stroke engine was invented by Sir Dougald Clerk.
1883 - French engineer, Edouard Delamare-Debouteville, built a single-cylinder four-stroke engine that ran on stove gas. It is not certain if he did indeed build a car, however, Delamare-Debouteville's designs were very advanced for the time - ahead of both Daimler and Benz in some ways at least on paper.
1885 - Gottlieb Daimler invented what is often recognized as the prototype of the modern gas engine - with a vertical cylinder, and with gasoline injected through a carburetor (patented in 1887). Daimler first built a two-wheeled vehicle the "Reitwagen" (Riding Carriage) with this engine and a year later built the world's first four-wheeled motor vehicle.
1886 - On January 29, Karl Benz received the first patent (DRP No. 37435) for a gas-fueled car.
1889 - Daimler built an improved four-stroke engine with mushroom-shaped valves and two V-slant cylinders.
1890 - Wilhelm Maybach built the first four-cylinder, four-stroke engine.

Maybach's  first four-cylinder four-stroke engine

Engine design and automobile design were integral activities, almost all of the engine designers mentioned above also designed cars, and a few went on to become major manufacturers of automobiles. All of these inventors and more made notable improvements in the evolution of the internal combustion vehicles.

One of the most important landmarks in engine design comes from Nicolaus August Otto who in 1876 invented an effective gas motor engine. Otto built the first practical four-stroke internal combustion engine called the "Otto Cycle Engine," and as soon as he had completed his engine, he built it into a motorcycle. Otto's contributions were very historically significant, it was his four-stoke engine that was universally adopted for all liquid-fueled automobiles going forward.

In 1885, the famous German mechanical engineer, Karl Benz designed and built the world's first practical automobile to be powered by an internal-combustion engine. On January 29, 1886, Benz received the first patent (DRP No. 37435) for a gas-fueled car. It was a three-wheeler; Benz built his first four-wheeled car in 1891. Benz & Cie., the company started by the inventor, became the world's largest manufacturer of automobiles by 1900. Benz was the first inventor to integrate an internal combustion engine with a chassis - designing both together.

And in 1885, Gottlieb Daimler together with his design partner Wilhelm Maybach, took Otto's internal combustion engine a step further and patented what is generally recognized as the prototype of the modern gas engine. Daimler's connection to Otto was a direct one; Daimler worked as technical director of Deutz Gasmotorenfabrik, which Nikolaus Otto co-owned in 1872. There is some controversy as to who built the first motorcycle Otto or Daimler.

The 1885 Daimler-Maybach engine was small, lightweight, fast, used a gasoline-injected carburetor, and had a vertical cylinder. The size, speed, and efficiency of the engine allowed for a revolution in car design. On March 8, 1886, Daimler took a stagecoach and adapted it to hold his engine, thereby designing the world's first four-wheeled automobile. Daimler is considered the first inventor to have invented a practical internal-combustion engine.

In 1889, Daimler invented a V-slanted two cylinder, four-stroke engine with mushroom-shaped valves. Just like Otto's 1876 engine, Daimler's new engine set the basis for all car engines going forward. Also in 1889, Daimler and Maybach built their first automobile from the ground up, they did not adapt another purpose vehicle as they had always been done previously. The new Daimler automobile had a four-speed transmission and obtained speeds of 10 mph. Daimler founded the Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft in 1890 to manufacture his designs. Eleven years later, Wilhelm Maybach designed the Mercedes automobile.

That is the history of the invented and development of automobile industry, with all people of  the automobile advocates of change involved in it.

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