Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Torque Vectoring... now simplified and no longer solely the realm of super cars like Ferraris, BMW X6, etc
The idea behind torque vectoring is to spin the outside tire slightly faster through a corner to point the car into a turn.
While mechanical differential torque vectoring is awesome and results in physics-defying handling, it's still relegated mostly to pricey luxury cars.
That's changing, thanks to a simple formula tweak: Instead of speeding up the outside wheel, it now slows down the inside wheel. And that doesn't require anything fancier than brakes and software.
Voila! Torque vectoring is cheap enough to be included since 2013 in the Nissan Altima, where it's called Active Understeer Control. What once required genius mechanical engineering is now handled by a few lines of code.
http://www.mensjournal.com/expert-advice/no-gimmick-car-tech-20121023/torque-vectoring
For some reason, Ford, wasn't aware of, or deliberately deceives its advertisment readers, and claims Nissan Altimas don't have this.
http://www.fleet.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/brochures/2016/2016%20Fusion.pdf
While mechanical differential torque vectoring is awesome and results in physics-defying handling, it's still relegated mostly to pricey luxury cars.
That's changing, thanks to a simple formula tweak: Instead of speeding up the outside wheel, it now slows down the inside wheel. And that doesn't require anything fancier than brakes and software.
Voila! Torque vectoring is cheap enough to be included since 2013 in the Nissan Altima, where it's called Active Understeer Control. What once required genius mechanical engineering is now handled by a few lines of code.
http://www.mensjournal.com/expert-advice/no-gimmick-car-tech-20121023/torque-vectoring
For some reason, Ford, wasn't aware of, or deliberately deceives its advertisment readers, and claims Nissan Altimas don't have this.
http://www.fleet.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/brochures/2016/2016%20Fusion.pdf
Porsche, Ferrari and McLaren agree on one thing for certain... the Pirelli P Zero is their choice of tire. It just turned 30 years old
The company’s “Perfect Fit” strategy means each one of its 60 homologations have been customized for a particular car. If the 911 Turbo needs more squared shoulders for better cornering, Pirelli will do that. If the next Lamborghini needs extra clearance, it can round the shoulders. All 305/35R20s are not created equal.
For the 30th anniversary, the P Zero was updated, slightly.
The footprint is now flatter, which leads to a longer life, says Pirelli, while more tread pattern grooves and wider and deeper channels help wet grip. Pirelli also changed the way the transverse grooves line up, meaning less road noise. Rolling resistance was cut as well, through the use of new modeling techniques and more silica content in the rubber. That should be good for an mpg or two.
The latest tech from Pirelli, though, is its new noise cancelling system. The guts of the tire are filled with a layer of polyurethane sponge that dampens both the noise and vibration transmitted to the cabin. Pirelli says the new P Zeros are 2-3 decibels quieter, which is equivalent to cutting noise in half.
http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/pirelli-p-zero-goes-mainstream-30th-anniversary
Question. Would you be in favor of cameras at the gas pumps running your plates for registration and more importantly, car insurance? If a car has no insurance, the gas pump won't work for them
in the UK, 1 in 25 drivers do not have insurance - one of the worst records in western Europe.
According to recent figures, around 160 people are killed and 23,000 injured by uninsured and untraced drivers every year.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/cctv-at-petrol-stations-will-automatically-stop-758518
According to a 2009 USA Today study, 1 in 7 in the USA does not have car insurance, and only New Hampshire does not have compulsory insurance laws, but they have less than the average number of uninsured, and less than half of the number of uninsured as Tennessee, or Florida, or Mississippi
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-09-11/uninsured-drivers/50363390/1
http://www.ncforged.com/uk-to-use-gas-station-cameras-to-automatically-stop-fueling-of-uninsured-cars-w-poll/
According to recent figures, around 160 people are killed and 23,000 injured by uninsured and untraced drivers every year.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/cctv-at-petrol-stations-will-automatically-stop-758518
According to a 2009 USA Today study, 1 in 7 in the USA does not have car insurance, and only New Hampshire does not have compulsory insurance laws, but they have less than the average number of uninsured, and less than half of the number of uninsured as Tennessee, or Florida, or Mississippi
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-09-11/uninsured-drivers/50363390/1
http://www.ncforged.com/uk-to-use-gas-station-cameras-to-automatically-stop-fueling-of-uninsured-cars-w-poll/
campaigned 2wice in La Carrera Panamericana, in 1953 and 1954. Imagine for a moment... taking a brand new Jaguar for a race through Mexico. With the bad roads of the 1950s
Very cool paint, the stripes over the wheels, and the louvers in the Mexican natl colors...
XKC 029 was originally exported via the Californian Jaguar dealer Hornburg to Mexico. It ran in both the 1953 and 1954 Carrera Panamericana races with sponsorship from the state of Mexico ‘Estado de Mexico’ in 1953 and ‘Veracruz’ in 1954, making it the only Jaguar C-Type to have competed on the original Carrera Panamericana. The driver for both years was local legend ‘Paco’ Ibarra and in 1954 he was partnered by Nickey Pinal.
Highly original throughout, it has been returned to its 1954 livery and caused a stir at the 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed where it was demonstrated on behalf of the owner. It was then invited that August to attend The Quail in California where it won its class.
Found on http://www.race2play.com/homepage/show_blog_posts/4352
http://www.sportscardigest.com/jaguar-c-type-xkc-029-car-profile-and-photo-gallery/?nggpage=3
Astonishing... an active duty Navy officer is racing Nascar during weekends while stationed at Monterey as a supervisor at the Naval Academy Postgraduate school, he even hit the Mojave Mile and went over 200mph
He was on the Naval Academy football team and ran on the track and field team at Annapolis, bought a used Challenger and went drag racing, then after getting to his first command, a mine countermeasures unit, he served two tours in the Middle East.
When he returned, he decided to test his driving skills at the Mojave Mile. He drove a car 200 mph on the desert track in California, becoming one of a select few to accomplish the feat.
He was then stationed at Monterey, Calif., and was assigned to the Naval Postgraduate School in Student Services. There he joined a NASCAR team and began working toward becoming a professional race car driver. In 2015, Iwuji started his NASCAR journey in the Whelen All-American Series and recently was approved to drive in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series.
http://jesseiwujiracing.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Jesseiwujiracing
http://www.knfilters.com/news/news.aspx?id=5980
http://www.ruggedradios.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=221
- Held the record for Fastest 1/2 Mile Late model Hemi in the world (174 MPH in '09 Challenger SRT8) and became the 5th person in the world to go over 200 MP in the 1-mile for Late Model Hemi's (200.9 MPH) with a stroker hemi and Kenne Bell supercharger.
- 4 Hot Rod Magazine Articles (May 2013 and Jan 2014 issues and Aug 2015/Dec 2015 online articles)
- Cover of May 2013 MoparMax Magazine
- 2015 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Driver
- 2015 Road Course Time Trial in Corvette C6 Z06
- 2015/2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series Driver
http://www.navytimes.com/story/sports/2015/06/14/navy-naval-academy-jesse-iwuji-nascar-racecar-driving/71068984/
How does this guy's duty days not interfere with racing?
Flop Gear cast creates a new low... lowest audience in a decade. 3 of the presenters didn't appear. And the guest star in a reasonably priced car? Doesn't drive a car. Ker-flop
lowest opening show viewing figures in a decade... wow. The last time the ratings were this bad, was 2006
How bad was it? People switched over to Antiques Roadshow. Yeah... that's pretty bad when you'd rather learn about what was found in a attic than try to be entertained
Summed up perfectly in this quote: Top Gear 2016 is to original Top Gear as Ghostbusters 2016 is to original Ghostbusters a tweet from James Delingpole
Bookies now offer odds of ¼ that it would be the last series of the show with Chris Evans at the helm and ½ that the show would be axed altogether.
Top Gear drew an average of just 4.3 million viewers, and at the same time, other channel, Antiques Roadshow drew 3.8 million viewers. Yeah, all the hype, and ridiculously overpriced hosts, and they barely had better ratings than vases and sofas.
Top Gear lost its regular title of being Sunday night’s most watched show in England to Countryfile, which peaked at 5.3million viewers and had an impressive 27% share of viewers.
Brad Pitt was supposed to be the guest star, he bailed, they replaced him with a cook and an actor who has zero car credibility
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/7186064/US-fans-take-a-swipe-at-charmless-Top-Gear-as-revamped-show-makes-debut.html
Jalopnik did a good review of it... http://jalopnik.com/what-the-hell-top-gear-1779481253
So did Drive:
http://www.thedrive.com/a-list/3743/12-thoughts-on-the-revamped-top-gear-premiere
the screaming eagle, flaming chicken... the Trans Am hood bird (PS, I never claimed to have everything you ever wanted to know, stupid ass Scott Aho of Minneapolis, screw you)
it started out small and simple, but, well... the 70s, you know? The cars got weaker, the decals got bigger and gaudier.... just like the shirt collars
http://www.firebirdgallery.com/Hood_Birds.htm
The new Top Gear... huh, seems to have problems. Here is the new version of the "star in a reasonably priced car" - It's a rally cross mini (over priced BMW), and they use paved and dirt segments of the airport
I don't think it has any of the charm the well known experience had. Time will tell if it gets less distracting. Maybe it was just the known places where we'd pay closer attention to see if the drivers would lose it on Hammerhead, or miss the last corner and womble on the grass before the finish line
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