Lightweight Versions of The Audi R8
Posted by bensto in Audi on 04 12th, 2008
Audi will perhaps take a similar approach to performance as it did with the 2005 TT Quattro Sport to the R8 Sport , built in limited numbers during the last several months of the previous generation’s production run, although it never made it Stateside. That car featured a slight increase in horsepower for its turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a tauter suspension calibration, Recaro seats and a slight reduction in weight, primarily due to the removal of the rear seats/parcel shelf and the spare tire.
Audi has already shown us its hopped-up TTS, and Reil’s comments all but confirm a TT-RS model, which is rumored to have a turbocharged five-pot with nearly 350 horsepower. But the R8 reference is news, and tantalizing news at that.
The R8 certainly an increase in horsepower. The number close to 500 hp. Once some creature comforts are reduced and a few parts made from exotic lightweight materials, overall weight could be eliminated. we’d expect to see Audi shave a few pounds from the seat frames (which probably means fewer adjustments), while the climate control and audio system components could be surplus to requirements. Less insulation would also lighten the load, while lightweight carbon fiber could be used for the hood, engine cover, dash/door panels and possibly the roof.
Mechanical upgrades would no doubt also include carbon ceramic brakes, while a few cleverly optimized enhancements could reduce the aerodynamic drag and thus coax some more top speed from the thrust of the R8’s 4.2-liter V8, which currently produces 420 hp and 317 pound-feet of torque.
read comments (0)Xcor: Space Vehicle
Posted by bensto in AIRPLANE on 04 1st, 2008
Nowadays in Los Angeles, a private space company unveiled the latest participant in the competition to send paying passengers into suborbital space.
The Lynx, in development by XCOR Aerospace, is envisioned as a two-seat vehicle that will allow a paying passenger to ride up front with the pilot to experience weightlessness and see the Earth from space.
“From the beginning we worked towards a vehicle which is fully reusable, will fly often enough, economically enough and safely enough to succeed in what we expect will be a robust, competitive market place,” said XCOR president Jeff Greason at a press conference today.
XCOR’s been quietly working on liquid fueled rocket engines of all sizes and types in Mojave, California since 1999. The engines range from a diminutive alcohol-fueled “tea-cart” rocket suitable for showing off in hotel ballrooms (and attracting investors), to a methane-powered 7,500-pound-thrust engine completed last year for NASA.
Along the way, the company’s engineers have also hotrodded a homebuilt Long-EZ airplane with an alcohol-fueled rocket engine, picked up contracts from the Department of Defense to build novel rocket fuel pumps for cheaper operation of high powered rockets, and teamed with the Rocket Racing League to build the X Racer, a rocket-powered raceplane that XCOR chief test pilot and former Space Shuttle commander Rick Searfoss is now flight testing.
“As a test pilot and former astronaut, I’m absolutely enthralled to be having the prospect of flying this Lynx up through the development and test phase to the point where we are confident we can safely fly the paying public,” said Searfoss at the press conference.
Space is defined by an imaginary boundary at 62 miles altitude, and suborbital spaceships built by private companies aim to just sail past that mark for four or five minutes of weightless flight before falling back to Earth. That’s far short of the 200 miles or so reached by the Space Shuttle at orbital speeds topping 25 times the speed of sound.
Still, suborbital flight is a big challenge for any private company, and only one, Scaled Composites of Mojave, California has actually pulled it off. To get there, a ship has to crack three times the speed of sound using rocket power, keep its passengers alive with onboard life support, use maneuvering thrusters to orient itself in space, and somehow survive reentering the atmosphere, still going Mach 3, to make a safe landing.
Scaled’s SpaceShipOne, did all that in 2004 to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE, inspiring British airline tycoon Richard Branson to invest in SpaceShipTwo for his newly formed Virgin Galactic. Branson’s plans hit a snag last summer, however, when a test stand explosion claimed the lives of three Scaled employees and set back the company’s rocket development for the new ships.
XCOR plans to launch the Lynx by 2010, the same year called for in Virgin’s revised schedule for SpaceShipTwo. The private space race is definitely heating up.
New Spy in the Sky
Posted by bensto in AIRPLANE on 03 31st, 2008
Conduct yourself in Miami, since the eyes-in-the-sky may almost immediately be watching. With still some doubt about all those gossips concerning insect-sized flying vehicles keeping watch over cities, but larger versions certainly seem to be on the way.
Develop by Honeywell International’s Micro Air Vehicle, or MAV, a 16 pound, 14-inch-wide hovering craft, could become the Miami’s police department’s latest tool in the fight against crime. And although it does look frighteningly similar to the Interrogator Droid in Star Wars, there’s no proof that it’s capable of extracting information from rebel princesses. Or anyone else, for that matter.
The tiny vehicle is able of vertical take-offs and landings and, more importantly, capturing visual information from overhead. The MAV is waiting for FAA approval, but if it passes, the Miami-Dade Police Department figures to start using it as an extra set of eyes in emergency situations
Fiat Abarth
Posted by bensto in Fiat on 03 23rd, 2008
Finally automaker Fiat published official images of the long-awaited 500 Abarth, of which we’ve seen various spy shots. The Fiat 500 Abarth will make its official debut at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show and will come to European markets in July.
Powered by Fire 1.4L 16v turbo engine, the 500 Abarth produces 135 horsepower with a peak torque of 151 lb-ft of torque. The car also gets a new Fiat feature called the Torque Transfer Control system, which progress the transfer of drive torque to the wheels and make sure that it handles impeccably on bends.
2010 Mercedes-Benz B-Class with fuel-cell drive
Posted by bensto in Mercedes-Benz on 03 20th, 2008
The Mercedes-Benz B-Class with fuel-cell drive has successfully completed its winter testing in northern Sweden with flying colours. At double-digit, below-zero temperatures, the zero-emission drive showed what it could do in the comprehensive test programmes. For example, cold start activities was subjected to thorough scrutiny. Even though Daimler Research had already found a technical solution to the fuel cell’s start capability at -25 degrees Celsius, the engineers’ focus here was on the interaction between the different elements under real-life winter conditions. A further focus of the winter tests was on roadholding. This meant adapting the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) to the special conditions of a fuel-cell vehicle. A special feature in this context is that an electric motor exhibits different speed governing behaviour to that of standard combustion engines.
Dr. Thomas Weber, Daimler AG board member with responsibility for Research and Development at Mercedes Benz Cars, drew positive conclusions from the testing: “The results of the winter tests proved that we are on the right track with this innovative drive concept and have taken another important step on the road to reaching production standard. As with the standard test programmes for conventional vehicles, we will be subjecting the B-Class F-CELL to further rigorous testing over the next few months.”
The first series Mercedes will be launching with a local, zero-emission fuel-cell drive in the summer of 2010. Small-series production of the B-Class F-CELL will commence in early 2010. A new generation of fuel-cell drive will be used to power this innovative vehicle. It is much more compact, while at the same time offering greater performance and is completely suitable for everyday use.
The maximized fuel-cell system that Mercedes-Benz presented in 2005 in the F 600 HYGENIUS research vehicle forms the technical basis. This extremely compact fuel-cell system operates much more efficiently than previous generations. The newly designed “stack”, the fuel cell module, is roughly 40 percent smaller, yet generates 30 percent greater power, along with a 16 percent reduction in consumption compared to the F-Cell A-Class. The system also shows a good cold start capability, thanks to innovations such as the electric turbocharger for air supply, and the new humidification and demisting system.
