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

The Best Car in the World?

 The best car in the world?

The all-new 2014 S-Class full-size luxury sedan has been described as “the best car in the world.” One motor noter in the know said, “I don’t think it’s a statement I can argue with. I’ve never driven or ridden in a quieter, more comfortable or more technology-infused machine.” All big claims.
So what is there in this S-Class to rise above the other luxury cars? Well, for a start, the S-Class occupants actually breathe perfumed air from an ionization filter system that delicately scents the cabin with one of four exclusive designer fragrances. Chanel Number 5 anyone?
The car is built largely from aluminum, including most of the body, making it more solid and almost 90 kg lighter than the previous model.
Take the simple area of headlights. What can M-B do there? Each headlight contains 56 separate LEDs that are computer-linked to forward-looking cameras and sensors so servo motors can control the projection angles; tiny internal shades move to keep from blinding oncoming motorists.
There are no light bulbs in the car. Almost 500 LEDs will last the life of the car. They illuminate taillights, marker lights and the color adjustable ambient lighting interior.

“Sensor fusion” is a term used by M-B to describe the car’s continuous computer analysis and multiple applications of data collected from eight cameras, numerous radars and ultrasonic sensors that constantly look in all directions as far as half a km ahead.
Infrared cameras spot animals and humans in the dark, then project their images - highlighted in red - on a viewing screen in front of the driver.
Pro-active safety features abound which can autonomously brake the car when it senses that a car approaching is about to run a red light.
Image analysis from a pair of stereoptic cameras adjust the electronically controlled suspension to ease the big car over bumps and imperfections in the road ahead.
With a car like this, creature comforts include massage treatments for every seat. The back seats have individual wireless audio, video and Internet access. Cup holders? The new S-Class has heated and chilled cup holders, and airline-like retractable metal work trays for your laptop, if the screens in the backs of the seats ahead of you aren’t large enough.
Information screens? There’s two set into the dash of this new S-Class. The car simply bristles with unseen technology to make this (probably) the best car in the world.
Specifications 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Type: Full-size, four- or five-passenger luxury sedan with rear-wheel drive
Engine: 4.8 liter turbocharged V-8
Power: 455 horsepower; 516 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
And I would imagine that they would trade your BMW, Lexus or Audi!

BMW continues to push the electric button

BMW i8

The 2014 i8 BMW sports was displayed at the Frankfurt motor show, showing only cosmetic changes from the i8 concept (as seen driven by Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible).
The concept’s petrol-electric hybrid system, comprising of a 170 kW 1.5 liter turbocharged three cylinder engine - and a small 96 kW electric motor that works in tandem to deliver a combined 266 kW and 570 Nm of torque.
A six-speed automatic transmission delivers drive from the engine to the rear wheels, and the electric motor power goes to the front wheels, with the weight distributed 50:50 front to rear.
BMW says the i8 can charge in 3.5 hours from a domestic power point to give an electric-only range of about 35 km, while a full charge and fuel tank will give between 500-600 km, depending on driving mode. Fuel economy is quoted as 2.5 L/100 km. Exceptionally frugal.
The official 0-100 km/h figure of under 4.5 seconds is helped by carbon fiber being used for the frame and passenger cell, along with being used as reinforcing in plastic components, plus much use of aluminium - keeping the weight down to 1490 kg.

What did we learn from the Italian GP?

Well we learned, if we didn’t know already, Sebastian Vettel (AKA The Finger) will be 2013 world champion barring major disasters. His performance all through the Monza weekend showed that he is head and shoulders above the rest. Of course, some of the results reflect the design brilliance of Red Bull’s Adrian Newey, but there is no doubt that Vettel is an extremely talented driver. Whilst he is not my favorite driver, he does not deserve boos from the crowd when standing on the top step of the podium.
Teammate Mark Webber, having his final Monza finished well up in third, but gearbox maladies meant he had to nurse the car to the finish. Newey may design very fast cars, but are they a bit fragile? Probably yes.
With the passionate Italians, to have Fernando Alonso (Ferrari’s number 1 driver) in second was a consolation, but will Alonso wear down The Finger? I do not think so, looking at the way Vettel is driving. Alonso saying, “It’s not an easy task to close down a 53 point gap in the few remaining races, but in Formula 1 anything can happen.”
Massa (Ferrari’s number 2 driver) drove well, but it is too late for the little Brazilian. The carpenters are already taking down his name plate from his room in the motor home, and a little Italian sign writer is learning how to spell Hulkenberg!
One of the stars of the race was The Hulk, giving Sauber one of their best results all year. His teammate Esteban Gutierrez was nowhere, so I hope the Sauber team will use some of the large bag of money he brought to the team for a proper send-off for him at the end of the year.
Mercedes, the team which came out of the doldrums, seems to have gone back there again. England’s white hope Lewis Hamilton did not make the cut for the final 10 in Qualifying, with Hamilton saying, “The pace of the car was great but unfortunately we paid the price for not qualifying far enough up the field.” And why was this? Because he was held up by another car in trying for his fastest lap, and the team had left no time for a second try at it. It is about time that some team managers remember the concept of a ‘banker lap’ earlier in the sessions. Now these F1 race cars cost millions of dollars and are (supposedly) the finest examples of automotive engineering, but they can’t get the radio to work! Hamilton saying, “My radio failed right at the start of the race and it’s really tough when that happens as you rely on the advice and information from the team to manage your race.” I was tempted to offer Mercedes the radio out of my Daihatsu Mira, but then I remembered it doesn’t work either.
For the second race in a row, Rosberg was there, in the middle of the pack, but so colorless that the TV cameras missed him. However, he does have a watch embroidered on the back of his left hand driving glove. How exciting is that?
Despite the high speeds at Monza, it really was processional, and even with two DRS zones, there was little passing. Let us hope that next week’s Singapore GP can put some ‘zing’ back in F1.

Is the future of auto manufacturing looking grim?

There can be no denying the official figures from Europe, which show a downturn in sales in France, Italy and Spain. And remembering that a percentage of the Thai vehicle output is exported to Europe will make the captains of industry over here just a trifle jumpy.
France saw a drop of 8 percent. Italy fell 9 percent, and Spain a whopping 18 percent fall.
One car maker who felt the plunge has been VW with sales in France down 24 percent, while Ford and PSA Peugeot sales fell by 19 percent and 17 percent respectively. But those figures were well eclipsed by Mercedes who experienced a 37 percent fall year on year.
Some very minor gains were seen by Renault, in the 1 to 2 percent range, but over all, the European motor industry is reflecting the economic downturn with loss of jobs, youth unemployment and tightened credit.
However, even though Thailand has also seen a general tightening of the credit belt, the strong motor industry will continue to grow, albeit slower than was predicted a year ago when the government’s first car buyer plan was in full swing.
 

A KERS for bumpy roads?

ZF GenShock

A new suspension development by the ZF company in Germany, in conjunction with the US-based electronics group Levant Power Corp has developed shock absorbers that can capture the kinetic energy and store it as electricity for use in a hybrid or fully electric system.
Called the GenShock system, it is a “fully active, regenerative” suspension design which stops the loss of energy largely as heat as a car’s suspension isolates the occupants in the cabin from lumps and bumps.
Adaptive suspension systems are available across a range of models, but none feature energy saving technology. A valve within the shock absorber is connected to a small electric generator, which can recoup energy and transform it into electricity.
It is not stated just how much energy the suspension could potentially recover, nor how much the system could potentially reduce fuel use. However, regenerative braking systems - like those seen in the Toyota Prius and other hybrid cars - can capture about 30 percent of the energy that would otherwise be lost as heat during braking, helping reduce fuel use by up to 50 percent in some applications.
ZF says it wants to make the new system “ready for volume production and introduce it to the market”.
ZF already supplies some of the world’s biggest car companies, including the Volkswagen Group (including Audi and Porsche), Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Rolls-Royce and Maserati. All those manufacturers are either currently producing or working on electric and/or hybrid applications.
It may seem like a rather different approach to fuel-saving technology, but the ZF GenShock system is the latest in a long line of initiatives from the automotive industry in the face of stricter emissions regulations.
Audi, for example, is testing a traffic light reading technology that will help drivers time their run to avoid sitting at a red light (though this would be of little value with Thailand’s red light runners).
There’s even a new Rolls-Royce that has a gearbox that is controlled via satellite which aims to reduce fuel use and increase driver-friendliness. Let’s hope this will work better than satellite television every time it rains!
 

Autotrivia
Last week I mentioned that Bugatti purchased a couple of American race cars to adapt the heads to his own engines. I asked what was the American car? It was the Miller.
So to this week. Which driver in what car started 168th at Versailles, finished 3rd on the road at Bordeaux and won the overall classification?
For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].