China makes more than copy watches and Crocodile T shirts
According to GM Daewoo, China is making
copy cars as well, claiming in a lawsuit lodged in mid
December that Chery Automobile, a Chinese car manufacturer,
has illegally copied the design of the Daewoo Matiz.
GM Daewoo, a South Korean subsidiary of
General Motors Corp. (GM), licensed SAIC (Chery)-GM-Wuling
Automobile Co., or SGWA, a General Motors joint venture, to
manufacture and distribute the Matiz II-based vehicle sold as
the Chevrolet Spark in China in 2003 under a technology
licensing agreement. They have now sued Chery Automobile for
alleged violation of China’s competition law, accusing the
Chinese carmaker of violating GM Daewoo’s intellectual
rights.
The
Daewoo Matiz
In a statement, GM Daewoo alleged
‘extreme similarities’ between the Chevrolet Spark, and
the Chery QQ. In a press release GM Daewoo claimed that Chery
produced the QQ through copying and unauthorized use of GM
Daewoo’s trade secrets, while Chery was claiming that it had
developed the vehicle on its own.
GM Daewoo also filed a petition with the
Patents Review Board under the (Chinese) State Intellectual
Property Rights Administration Bureau to invalidate Chery
design patents. It claims Chery copied features of the Daewoo
Matiz that was launched long before Chery registered its
patents.
GM Daewoo said the two vehicles shared very
similar body structures, exterior designs and key components,
and the vast majority of parts in Matiz and QQ were
interchangeable.
The Matiz was designed and engineered by
the former Daewoo Motors and over 1.3 million units have been
sold since 1998.
The
cheery Chery
The Chinese government advised GM to
resolve the issue through mediation, said Ken Wong, general
counsel of GM Daewoo. However, he said, “Despite our good
faith efforts and the assistance of the Chinese government in
the past year or so, Chery has been non-responsive to the
mediation efforts, and has even stepped up efforts to export
this vehicle to other markets.”
Is this the ultimate ‘badge
engineering’? It would appear so. We shall await the outcome
of the ‘mediation’.
It was reported that Chery was not available for immediate
comment!
More on Sir Stirling Moss
Following my article on Sir Stirling and
Juan Manuel Fangio, in which I put forward the idea that
Stirling was a car breaker, and it was that, rather than
anything else, that stopped him becoming the world champion,
one reader (Mike Davies) wrote in.
“Your article brought memories flooding
back to me. I was present at the British GP at Aintree in July
1955 when Moss beat Fangio by 0.3 of a second, it was a great
race, both driving Mercedes. The race was over 90 laps a total
of 270 miles so it was quite gruelling.
I attended every major race at Aintree as I
was living in St Helens at the time, but I was doing my
National Service in Germany when this race was run, but I
requested my leave so that I could attend the race, arriving
the night before the race, but I was young and mad in those
days.
I also attended the Grand Prix d’Europe
incorporating the RAC British Grand Prix in July 1957 again
over 90 laps. Moss and Tony Brooks in a Vanwall won with Musso
Ferrari second and Mike Hawthorn in a Ferrari third.
There were other great races that I saw and
the last major race was in April 1964, the Aintree 200 won by
Jack Brahbam from Jim Clark and a young man by the name of
Jackie Stewart won the formula three race.
Apart from those I have named above I saw
some other great drivers there, such as Bruce McLaren,
Wolfgang von Trips, Phil Hill, Richie Ginther and others.
Later when I was more sensible (?) we lived
near Oulton Park racing circuit in Cheshire and the manager
used to let me try out my sports car of the day and there were
many of them, but my favourite for going round the track was
the Lotus Elan SE, that car was great and the worst was the
Austin Healy 3000 Mark III, it was a pig on corners.”
(Thank you Mike for your reminiscences, and
I would certainly agree with you about the A-H 3000 Mk III.
The same 6 cylinder (truck) engine was also used in the MGC
and I was given a pre-production test drive at Abingdon in the
UK, after which I described it as going like a bullet, and
cornered the same way! Dr. Iain.)
BMW’s new M
Series feature a V10 engine
With the Eff Wun BMW V10 being considered
one of the most powerful in the field, BeeEmm have taken some
of the technology to build its first V10 engine for their road
cars.
This V10 is a 5 litre, and produces a
maximum output of 378 kW and a maximum torque of 520 Nm,
making the new M5 the most powerful production model in
BMW’s extensive vehicle line-up. The previous M5 engine was
a V8, which developed 25 percent less power than the new V10,
a difference that all drivers will be able to appreciate.
The
cylinders of the V10 are arranged at the now usual angle of 90
degrees, which BMW claim decreases vibration. To ensure
maximum stiffness and resist the high loads resulting from
combustion pressures, engine speed and vibrations, a bedplate
design has been chosen for the crankcase, which has integrated
cast iron inserts. The crankshaft has six main bearings, and
the engine spins up to 8,250 rpm, fairly high for a production
engine, but still a long way short of the 19,000 plus used in
the V10 F1 application.
The cylinder heads have four valves per
cylinder, with flow-optimised five mm shafts, spherical valve
tappets with hydraulic valve play compensation and single
valve springs.
The engine uses natural aspiration, with 10
intake trumpets and 10 individual throttles which are
electronically controlled to make the engine highly responsive
in the lower speed range, as well as to achieve an immediate
response at the higher end.
BMW
M5
The V10 engine has an exhaust system that
is dual-flow, right to the four tailpipes, one way of picking
the ‘real’ M5’s from the imposters, of which there will
be many in this country! I am prepared to bet that BMW
Thailand will sell more M5 badges, than they do M5’s!
The M5 gets its power to the ground through
a new seven speed sequential gearbox which allows gears to be
changed using the central gearshift lever or via steering
wheel paddles so you can play F1 drivers. There are 11 gear
change options, depending upon how ‘sporty’ you feel that
day.
The transmission also senses gradients and
adjusts the shift points on gradients and descents, to prevent
hunting when going up a long hill, and holds the lower gears
for longer to make effective use of the engine’s braking
power going down hill. It also uses the anti-creep feature to
stop rolling back when stopped on gradients.
Knowing the attention to detail that BMW
put into the road holding dynamics, the new M5 will be one
helluva motorcar. I want one!
But then, there is another option. That is
the M6!
BMW
M5
Reports from Down-under say that they
Aussies with enough money are already putting deposits down
for a vehicle which will not be available until the end of the
year 2005. “We have been getting inquiries about the car
ever since the rumours surfaced earlier this year,” said BMW
Australia’s general manager for marketing and
communications, John Kananghinis. “I think it is safe to say
that the 20 or 30 examples of the car we will get next year
will go pretty quickly.”
The current 6 Series Coupe retails for AUD
203,000 (12 million baht in Thailand) plus on-road costs. The
M6 is likely to be approaching the 18 million baht range.
“It is going to be a car aimed more at
the type of buyer who would consider a Porsche 911, and not
just an ordinary 911, but the GT3 style of buyer,”
Kananghinis said.
The M6 gets the same high-tech V10 as the
recently launched M5, along with the seven speed sequential
manual gearbox, which includes launch control. The new owners
of an M6 will be able to hang a sign on their doors, “Gone
to launch!” I think I want one of these even more than the
M5, but if I can get my backside in either, I won’t
complain. Are you listening to me, BMW Thailand?
Autotrivia
Quiz
Last week, I mentioned that in South
Australia, if you find an old car built before 1930, the
chances are that it will be partially dismantled. I asked what
is the reason for this? The clue was to think of government
regulations! The answer was that before 1930, any car had to
be registered if it were complete, whether it was in use or
otherwise, and an annual tax applied. However, to get round
this, owners would partially dismantle the cars so they did
not have to pay tax!
So to this week. How and when did the
terminology “the pits” come into common usage in motor
racing?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be
the first correct answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
100 horses per litre
In the BMW M5 and M6 V10 engine, much has
been made of the fact that this is delivering 100 bhp per
litre in a road car. Indeed this is an output that was
originally the aim of pukka racing engines. However, I should
point out that motorcycle engines had been achieving this
magic figure long before car engines.
Evo
VIII
Getting back to the M5/6 V10, this is nowhere near the
first road engine to get to these numbers. In 1985, the RS
Cosworth Escort from Ford had 204 bhp from its 2 litre engine
and even the mini-cars had this by the end of that decade with
Daihatsu dropping a turbocharged 1 litre engine in the Charade
which developed 100 bhp per litre. Others that are currently
on sale include the Ferrari 360 CS which gets 116 bhp per
litre and Mitsubishi’s Evo VIII, which churns out an
unbelievable 170 bhp per litre. Yes, 340 bhp from the well
worked over 2 litre Mitsu engine!