AUTO MANIA: by Dr. Iain Corness [email protected]

Lamborghini to roll out their fastest Lambo ever

Lambo Sesto Elemento.

Lamborghini will show their fastest ever car, in Lamborghini’s 50 year history, at the 2013 Geneva motor show in late March.
This new car will have the latest in lightweight carbon fibre production techniques - Lamborghini is one of the leaders in carbon fibre - the new supercar is expected to be built in very limited numbers, somewhere between 2 and 10, depending upon firm orders.
Research and development head at Lamborghini Maurizio Reggiano says the car will be road-ready. “It will be a homologated car and we want it to be a tribute to the forthcoming 50th anniversary of Lamborghini.”
It is expected that the new secret Lambo will be quicker than the Sesto Elemento which covers 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds. Neck braces recommended!
“One-off is part of our strategy,” says Reggiano. “Usually we present something because we want to produce or sell it.”
He says buyers of one-off Lamborghinis - each typically paying multiple millions for the privilege of having something unique - are often loyal customers and pay for the car prior to production, “the majority of the time without seeing the car”.
Another Lamborghini which will be made is the Urus SUV, tipped to become one of the fastest off-roaders in the world.
Revealed first as a motor show concept car, the Urus could become Lamborghini’s first turbocharged and first hybrid vehicle. However this is some way away yet with Lamborghini chairman Stephan Winkelmann says the Urus could go on sale in 2017.

And that reminds me…
A ‘fuelish’ tale
Many years ago I was running a standard Isuzu Gemini in a tightly controlled formula. Like everyone else, we would be looking to see what little tricks could be turned to give an advantage. For most teams that meant trying to alter cam timing and compression without being found out by the scrutineers. For me, I began looking at the fuel we used.
The F1 circus came to Australia for the Grand Prix. After the GP weekend, somehow, a drum of the special F1 fuel was left behind by the Williams team, and it made its way to Brisbane, 2000 km away, where I was waiting. This fuel was really special, very much more efficient thermodynamically than 97 octane, or even 115.
Taking Gemini to the rolling road dynamometer we tipped in the F1 fuel and looked at the horsepower numbers. Instant horsepower, and big grins all round. The weekend would be very successful, we predicted.
We rolled out for practice, and I could feel the extra urge immediately. However, the extra urge only lasted three laps. The crew set about working out why it stopped, and it turned out that the fuel was not getting to the engine. But why not? There was plenty in the tank, and so we began to take out each fuel line looking for the blockage.
It was then we found that the F1 fuel was eating the inside of the standard fuel lines, making gummy deposits all the way along the hoses. F1 cars, of course, do not run rubber/neoprene fuel lines, like production Isuzu Gemini’s do!
We had outsmarted ourselves, but at least we did find a good use for the F1 fuel. It was the greatest way to get the BBQ coals burning. After dousing in F1 fuel, you tossed a match at the BBQ from about 20 paces away. Whooompa, and the BBQ was ready! Technology wins again!

Alonso’s new car

Ferrari F138.

Scuderia Ferrari launched their F138 F1 car last week. This took place in Ferrari’s home town of Maranello, Italy. The event was attended by Luca di Montezemolo, Stefano Domenicali, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. The new car, which will be driven by Alonso and Massa during the 2013 Formula One season, was revealed to a packed room of international journalists all eagerly awaiting the first glimpse of the Ferrari F138. (My ticket must have got lost in the post.)
The F138 is the 59th car built by Ferrari specifically to take part in the Formula One World Championship. The name comes from a combination of the current year and the number of cylinders, to mark the fact that this is the eighth and final year of competition for the V8 engine configuration.
This car constitutes the Scuderia’s interpretation of this year’s Technical and Sporting Regulations, which in fact are substantially the same as those from last season. Therefore the F138 can be seen as an evolution of the F2012, in terms of its basic design principals, although every single part has been revised in order to maximize performance, while maintaining all the characteristics which were the basis of last season’s extraordinary reliability.
Shell is again the supplier of fuel and oils. The roots of that partnership date back to 1929 when Shell supplied fuel and lubricants to Enzo Ferrari himself. Ferrari and Shell contested the first Formula One season together in 1950 and last season they celebrated their 500th race together. The technical partnership with Shell has led to continued progress on the fuel and lubricants front, aimed at increasing performance in overall terms and also on maintaining it throughout the engine’s life, as well as reducing fuel consumption.
“Formula One engine regulations are currently frozen so the only way to maximize performance of the engine is through improvement in fuel and lubricant - even half a horse power is important, every little bit counts,” said Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal Scuderia Ferrari.

Can the ugly duckling turn into a swan?

Ssanyong.

I have written before that Ssangyong should have shot their sstylist, for that awful ugly duckling monstrosity called the Ssanyong Sstavic with its boat-like behind.
Honestly, how they managed to sell any at all is a mystery, but you do see the odd one floating around the local roads.
The Korean company, which was saved from bankruptcy by Indian manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra in 2011, has announced that the replacement for the Sstavic (called Rodius in some markets) will be powered by 3.2 liter petrol and 2.0 liter diesel engines. The diesel is the same 114 kW/360 Nm four-cylinder unit as employed in the Korando and Actyon - the only Ssangyong models still on sale in most places after the demise of the Rexton large SUV and the Stavic.
Ssanyong’s publicity blurb states, “Based on its design philosophy ‘robust, premium, specialty’, the new front line emphasizes Ssangyong’s boldness and its spacious body combines dynamics with sophistication. Styled to be fit for outdoor, off-road driving as well as on-road driving with its streamline-shape of the radiator grille and headlamp, the new Rodius/Stavic also offers a whole package of convenience and practical values by fulfilling various needs from business, leisure, and travel.”
The new car will be released at the Geneva Show at the end of March, and we might even get to see it at the Bangkok International if we are lucky.
Hmm, a SSanyong for all sseasons!

Honda joins the expansion

Does the future of the Thai auto industry look good? You betcha! The latest to join the expansions is Honda which is going to spend B. 17 billion on a new assembly plant at Prachin Buri and another three billion baht on expansion of the current Ayutthaya assembly plant. This will provide for an output of 300,000 units per year by 2014.
According to the local Honda president, Hiroshi Kobayashi, the new Prachin Buri plant is modeled on another new plant in Japan, with the emphasis being “green”. This new plant will initially produce 120,000 units annually, bringing Honda production to 420,000 units by 2015. Most of these will be sub-compact small cars, with around 50 percent of the output earmarked for export to ASEAN, Oceania, Middle East and Africa.
The new plant will also be looking for an additional 2,500 workers, which could be a problem in the short term, with there being a chronic shortage of skilled labor in Thailand.

Suzuki an early Myanmar investor
Early news from CEA boss Kevin Fisher, who reported that Suzuki are building a new plant next door to his new CEA yard in Myanmar. This plant will supposedly be operational by mid-year, though other sources have said that the date for being fully operational could be some years off. Permission has been granted by the Myanmar government for Suzuki to recommence manufacture, after the cessation in 2010 of the business license.
Suzuki will also be re-opening its Yangon plant and the aim is to produce 100 light trucks a month. This output is for domestic sales, there being no indication, at this stage, that Suzuki might be looking at tapping the export market from Myanmar.
The Yangon plant had assembled 6,000 cars and 10,000 motorcycles between 1999 and 2010.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I asked what significant motoring news happened in Camden, NJ in 1933? It was the opening of the first Drive-In movie theatre, attended by 600 motorists. (From the History website: Richard Hollingshead, a movie fan, came up with the idea of an open-air theater where patrons watched movies in the comfort of their own automobiles. The young entrepreneur received a patent for the concept in May of 1933 and opened Park-In Theaters, Inc. less than a month later, with an initial investment of $30,000. The idea caught on, and after Hollingshead’s patent was overturned in 1949, drive-in theaters began popping up all over the country. One of the largest was the All-Weather Drive-In of Copiague, New York, which featured parking space for 2,500 cars, a kid’s playground and a full service restaurant, all on a 28 acre lot.)
So to this week. Who invented the first practical windscreen wiper? Clue: 1911.
For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].