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

British GP Silverstone this weekend

Silverstone for the British GP.

The British Grand Prix will be held this weekend at the ancestral home of F1, with the first ever F1 GP held there in 1950 (and won by Dr Farina in the Alfa Romeo, for the collectors of F1 history).
This is a circuit that the drivers universally like, a circuit that allows cars to pass each other (even without the DRS and “push to pass” buttons or coded messages from the pit wall), and a Grand Prix where it is likely to rain at some point. After all, it is in England, and they cannot possibly go three days on the trot without a good drenching from above!
The new “arena” part of the circuit used for the first time a couple of years back goes from Abbey to Brooklands corners, moving infield and adds an extra 760 m to the track length. You will be heartened to read that Herr Tilke was not involved. Interestingly, this modification was actually built for the MotoGP series, but now incorporated in the F1 series after Bernie, the patron saint of King Midas the Dwarf Enterprises, gave it his blessing. Yes, that is the same Bernie who has masterminded such yawnfest circuits as Bahrain and Singapore. But don’t start me.
So who should we look out for? Mercedes is still right up there, and Hamilton was unlucky not to get pole in Austria. Hamilton will be trying for the win but if Rosberg’s form is anything to go by, the two Mercedes drivers will be fighting it out between themselves.
Will the resurgent form of the Williams team of Bottas and Massa still be good on this track as well as the Red Bull Ring?
And the Red Bull Team will be praying that from somewhere they can find more straight line speed. Poor Vettel hasn’t had the opportunity to wave the finger all year.
Alonso the Savvy Spaniard will complain about something, and then try and scoop up another win! While all the tail end Charlies will be tripping over each other as usual.
The Qualifying is at 7 p.m. on Saturday 5 and the race is 7 p.m. on Sunday 6 July. We watch the racing, on the new super-big screen in Jameson’s Irish Pub, Soi AR, next to Nova Park. We get the dedicated F1 channel, with no breaks for adverts during the race. We get there around 6 p.m. and have something to eat (the Sunday specials are great value) and a small drink or two before the start. Why don’t you come and join us.

Toyota’s production Fuel Cell Sedan revealed

Toyota FCV.

Toyota say their four-door FCV (fuel cell vehicle) will be launched before April 2015 in Japan, and summer 2015 for Europe and North America.
Price indication of around seven million yen (approximately £40,450 / a little over 2.23 million Thai baht at today’s exchange rates), prices for Europe and North America to be decided later.
Toyota has now revealed the exterior design and Japanese market guide pricing of its hydrogen-powered fuel cell sedan, following the car’s appearance in concept form at last year’s Tokyo motor show.
In Japan the fuel cell sedan will be sold at Toyota and Toyopet dealerships. Initially sales will be limited to those parts of the country where a hydrogen refueling infrastructure is under development.
Toyota’s commitment to developing vehicles that are kinder to the environment is based on three principles: embracing diverse energy sources; securing low vehicle emissions; and driving positive environmental change by making these vehicles popular with customers.
According to Toyota, hydrogen has great potential as an alternative fuel. It can be produced from a wide variety of primary energy sources, including solar and wind power; it is easy to store and transport; and when compressed, it has a higher energy density than batteries. It could also be used in a much wider range of applications beyond automotive and domestic use, including large-scale power generation.
Toyota has been developing fuel cell vehicles in-house for more than 20 years. Its system includes a proprietary FC Stack, which generates electricity from the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, and high-pressure hydrogen tanks. The technology was featured in the Toyota FCHV (fuel cell hybrid vehicle), an SUV which was leased to customers on a limited basis in Japan and the USA from 2002.
Since then, Toyota has significantly improved its FC system. The Fuel Cell sedan revealed in June, for example, delivers performance and a cruising range similar to that of a petrol-engined vehicle, and refueling takes roughly three minutes. When driven, the car’s only tailpipe emission is water vapor, produced by the chemical reaction between the hydrogen and oxygen.
Fuel cell vehicles contribute to the diversification of vehicle fuels. They emit no carbon dioxide or substances harmful to the environment when driven, but offer the convenience associated with petrol-powered vehicles. Toyota believes the technology has great potential in the development of vehicles that are kinder to the environment and ideal for helping deliver sustainable mobility.
Karl Schlicht, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Europe, said, “We are very excited by the arrival of fuel cell technology. Of course there are many challenges ahead, such as the availability of fuelling infrastructure and customer awareness. But our history with hybrid gives us all the experience we need to bring a new technology to the market.
“In Europe we will be taking it step by step, gradually introducing the car in selected markets. But we are confident that hydrogen will become increasingly popular as a way of powering vehicles.”
Toyota companies are also engaging in other hydrogen-related initiatives, such as developing and testing fuel cells for use in homes, and designing fuel cell forklifts and buses.
(Ed’s note: Hydrogen is the most abundant element, not only on earth but in the entire universe. Supplies are unlimited.)

Another bright spark?

Original spark plugs

Internal combustion engines have been around for many years, and most of them require some way of igniting the petrol/air mixture in the cylinder. The easiest and simplest way is by introducing an electric spark timed to coincide with compressing the fuel mixture and bang! The internal combustion engine fires into life, courtesy of that ignored device called the spark plug.
The spark plug concept actually predates the internal combustion engine itself and the earliest demonstration of the use of an electric spark to ignite a fuel-air mixture was in 1777. In that year, Alessandro Volta loaded a toy pistol with a mixture of marsh gas and air, corked the muzzle, and ignited the charge with a spark from a Leyden jar. Scarcely viable in the dueling situations.
Thirty years later in 1807 François Isaac de Rivaz invented a crude hydrogen and oxygen powered internal combustion engine with electric ignition, and in 1808 he fitted it into a working vehicle. It did not work well enough to be considered the new technological advance, however.
Next in line with a spark ignition device was Edmond Berger who invented an early spark plug on February 2, 1839. However, Edmond Berger did not patent his invention, so we will never know if it really worked, as internal combustion engines in 1839 were very experimental in nature as well or perhaps the date was a mistake.
In 1860 Étienne Lenoir used an electric spark plug in his first internal combustion engine and is generally credited with the invention of the spark plug, in a form as we know it today.
As the internal combustion engine began to be reliable enough to be considered as a viable method of power, as opposed to the horse, electric and steam, designers began to improve on the humble spark plug. Early patents for spark plugs included those by Nikola Tesla (in U.S. Patent 609,250 for an ignition timing system, 1898), Frederick Richard Simms (GB 24859/1898, 1898) and Robert Bosch (GB 26907/1898). But only the invention of the first commercially viable high-voltage spark plug as part of a magneto-based ignition system by Robert Bosch’s engineer Gottlob Honold in 1902 made possible the further development of the internal combustion engine. Subsequent manufacturing improvements can also be credited to Albert Champion, the Lodge brothers, sons of Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge, who developed and manufactured their father’s idea and Kenelm Lee Guinness, of the Guinness brewing family, who developed the KLG brand. Of course the brands Champion, Lodge and KLG became well known in the motoring world.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I asked when did the Porsche 901 come out? The answer was 1963, but after finding that Peugeot had registered all the three digit numbers with a zero in the middle, the factory had to re-christen the follower to the 356 as the 9-1-1. Porsche fans will also tell you that the early (long bonnet) Porsches had engine cases which were numbered “901”.
So to this week. You’ve had it too easy recently, so this week might make it a little difficult, even for the ‘Googlers’. What cars are these? Production began in 1902 with four cylinder engines. In 1906 they added a six cylinder engine, and by 1914 they dropped the four cylinder engine altogether. These were notable in the fact that they were air-cooled engines and they had a dummy radiator up front, to look like most other vehicles in those days. By 1929 they were making 14,432 cars per annum, but with the stock market crash the company was out of business by 1932, having made only 360 cars that year. So what was this car company. Hint - American.
For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].