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

Australian GP this weekend

F1 kicks off.

After a layoff that seemed to be forever, the F1 circus is on again in 2013. The first Grand Prix of the year comes from Australia, around the Albert Park circuit.
Up till now, we have had test sessions only for the teams, and it is very difficult to put much credence into the times. Very often teams will send the drivers out on a spoonful of petrol to set a quick time to try and intimidate other drivers, whilst others ‘sandbag’ by having full tanks at all times.
We return to Jameson’s to watch the GP on the big screen, and we will have the dedicated F1 channel again, with no adverts during the races. Thank you Kim for arranging this for us once more. The coverage is far superior to Star Sports.
In the front running teams, expect Red Bull, “Lotus”, Ferrari and McLaren to be there. Mercedes appear to be only a mid-fielder again, despite having Lewis Hamilton on board and a couple of fastest times of the day, but it is too early to predict. We will know more after Qualifying at 1.00 p.m. Saturday.
The Grand Prix begins at 1.00 p.m. Thai time Sunday, so we’ll get there early for lunch and liquids and settle back to watch the action. I suggest that if you want the best seats in the house get there around noon.
Jameson’s Irish Pub is on Soi AR, next to Nova Park. Turn right off Second Road at Soi 4 (Bangkok Bank) and follow the road up 200 meters and around to the right. Jameson’s is immediately on your left. You can’t miss it. See you there.

LaFerrari - pardon?
Finally the new (and for the time being) ultimate Ferrari has been unveiled at the Geneva show, and as predicted it is a hybrid with performance that will blow everything away this side of F1.

Hybrid LaFerrari.

However, what was not predicted, was that Ferrari would outsource and go to Nissan’s famous Department of Silly Names to get the name for this new supercar. “LaFerrari”. Just what sort of name is that? Oh well, it could have been worse like “Cecil” I suppose.
This is Ferrari’s most extreme road car to date featuring technologies drawn from Formula 1, including a petrol-electric hybrid drivetrain with KERS-style kinetic energy recovery.
The LaFerrari will be built in a strictly limited production run of just 499 cars - 100 more than the Enzo - all of which will find their way into the eager hands of Ferrari collectors the world over. Read Ferrari collectors with bags of cash. At least 1.3 million euro which comes out at around 50 million baht, and then add on customs, excise and tax for just being rich. And they won’t take my Mira as a trade.
Because an electric motor provides maximum torque from minimal revs, Ferrari’s engine development team was able to optimize the V12 petrol engine’s performance at higher revs, resulting in a more constant supply of power and torque throughout the wide rev band.
The 590 kW/700 Nm 6.3 liter V12 internal combustion engine has a very high 13.5:1 compression ratio and revs to 9250 rpm. This is paired to a 120 kW electric motor, for a combined system potential of 708 kW and 900 Nm, which is enough torque to drag City Hall down to Beach Road. Power is sent to the wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Actually, the LaFerrari has two electric motors, one powering the driven wheels and the second the ancillaries - and a battery pack attached to the floor of the chassis, consisting of cells assembled in the Scuderia Ferrari department alongside the KERS for the F138 Formula 1 car.
The battery pack weighs 60 kg and is recharged by both brake and engine regeneration - the latter feeds excess torque energy straight to the cells.
Ferrari claims it to be its fastest road car to date, with a zero to 100 km/h in less than three seconds and a 0-200 km/h time of under seven seconds.
You do not move the driving seat to get comfortable, as it is fixed. You move the pedal box, a feature that Ferrari say was developed in consultation with Ferrari F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, who played an “active role” throughout the entire development process. Since Massa in particular, is about 1 cm off being called a dwarf, I wonder how 6 footers will go?
The styling team was led by Flavio Manzoni, with the need to pair aerodynamic lessons learned from Formula 1 with the requisite sex appeal of a Ferrari.
According the Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, this new car gives, “Excellence in terms of technological innovation, performance, visionary styling and the sheer thrill of driving. Aimed at our collectors, this is a truly extraordinary car which encompasses advanced solutions that, in the future, will find their way onto the rest of the range, and it represents the benchmark for the entire automotive industry. LaFerrari is the finest expression of our company’s unique, unparalleled engineering and design know-how, including that acquired in Formula 1.”
That may be so, Luca, but it still is a silly name!

Is Indonesia a threat?
The Automotive Focus Group (AFG) reports that Indonesia is looking to knock Thailand from its perch as the top vehicle sales country for SE Asia.
Some sources in Australia are suggesting Indonesia could pass Thailand to become the largest vehicle market, by unit sales, in Southeast Asia.
When looking at vehicle producers, however, Thailand is in the world top 10, while Indonesia is lagging seven years behind Thailand.
According to official figures, Indonesia and Thailand produced more than a million vehicles for their domestic markets for the first time last year but the Thais are still far ahead in quality, quantity and value to the national economy.
The Indonesian vehicle sector had a break-out 2012, but Thailand domestic sales grew to 1.44 million units, propelled by the government’s rebate to first car buyers. Including exports, the Thailand gross figures for production were 2.45 million vehicles.
Indonesia’s figures were 1.2 million vehicles in the domestic market, but only 250,000 for export, well behind Thailand’s numbers, though up 40 percent mainly through the mini-MPV built in Indonesia.
GM is returning to Indonesian manufacturing, after an eight year break, with a Chevrolet mini-MPV, manufactured in Brazil but designed, the company says, for Indonesian conditions.
The Indonesian government is trying to capitalize on the potential through the Low Cost Green Cars program, which would remove or partly rebate the luxury tax applying to all new private vehicles.
The scheme was announced last year with Toyota (which has 36 percent of the domestic market), Daihatsu, Suzuki and Honda all immediately committing to the plan, and now joined by Nissan (using the Datsun nameplate for low cost vehicles). However, the government has not set the guidelines for the manufacturers, but there is much potential when they do, looking at the population of Indonesia.

A Lekky Landy

Lekky Landy.

Word coming through from the UK is that Land Rover has been playing with all-electric Land Rover Defenders.
“This project is acting as a rolling laboratory for Land Rover to assess electric vehicles, even in the most arduous all-terrain conditions,” said Antony Harper, Jaguar Land Rover’s head of research. “It gives us a chance to evolve and test some of the technologies that may one day be introduced into future Land Rover models.”
Land Rover has built seven of these all-electric variants, with lithium-ion batteries and Land Rover states that the lithium-ion battery pack gives the Defender a range of just 80 km between recharges, but Land Rover says the car can go up to eight hours between charging if doing low speed off-road driving. That is quite ludicrous, and I have no idea why Land Rover would even bother writing press releases about this. 80 kays! Come on!
Land Rover has ruled out putting the EV Defender into production, but says the seven cars are part of the company’s long-term plans for hybrid and electrification. The new Range Rover will be the first Land Rover hybrid, when the diesel-electric variant of the Vogue goes on sale later this year.
That makes a little more sense, but you will never sell expensive SUV’s that can only go 80 km before running out of volt juice.

Is the MINI a disco on wheels?
At the international motor show in Geneva, Harman, the premium global audio and infotainment group, announced two new additions to the line-up of MINI models featuring Harman/Kardon sound.
The latest members of the MINI family to be equipped with the distinct Harman/Kardon audio experience are the brand new R61 Paceman - available since December 2012 - and the MINI Clubman Bond Street Edition, which made its debut appearance at Geneva.
To maximize the fun factor and complement the character of this classic car, the MINI models feature a high-performance Class-D 480-watt DSP amplifier which delivers richly layered audio to the ten vehicle speakers, and weighs in at just 1.3 kilograms. Loudspeaker positions are optimized in each MINI model, providing listening pleasure to all vehicle occupants in both front and rear seats: with crystal-clear treble tones and rich bass sounds, driver and passengers can enjoy an unforgettable sound experience, with all the realism that characterizes a live performance, says Harman.
The fidelity comes from special metal matrix diaphragms that have a sandwich structure made from an aluminum core with a ceramic surface to produce a top-class, high-fidelity music experience. Two 26 mm metal matrix tweeters in the A-pillars are supported by two 100 mm midrange speakers in the door panels.
The innovative ALumaprene diaphragms have excellent damping characteristics for a fine-tuned frequency response, and are designed to deliver the optimum balance between stiffness and weight.
Harman Kardon acoustic specialists have also integrated two bass speakers in the front door panels. With a diameter of 150 mm, these door woofers ensure high fidelity sound reproduction and excellent dynamics of even the deepest bass rhythms. The rear side panels feature two more 26 mm metal matrix tweeters and two powerful 150 mm × 230 mm midbass speakers (woofers).
There’s enough sound pressure there to blow your doors off! But pity about the price in Thailand.

Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I asked you what is the connection between Tazio Nuvolari, Nick Mason and Dr Porsche? No, they didn’t all play guitar, but they all drove the Auto-Union rear engine V16 Silver Arrow, one of the most fearsome race cars of all time. Buckets of horses going through the skinny tyres of the day. You had to be a hero to drive one.
So to this week. A famous movie star had a 1948 Ford convertible repossessed. Who was this person?
For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].