Hot Turkey for dinner on Sunday?
The Turkish GP is on this weekend in the Istanbul “otodrom”,
which as the old song went, “You can’t go back to
Constantinople, ‘coz it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople”.
Istanbul
GP
This is another circuit designed by Hermann Tilke, and
everyone was amazed last year that it was very good,
especially when there had been many reservations expressed
before last year’s first ever GP in Turkey. Herr Herman can
produce a good F1 track. Places for passing did occur and it
is an interesting layout, with hills and hollows. Also of
interest from last year was the fact that there appeared to
be more than adequate run-off areas, with nobody hanging
their cars on walls.
The circuit is about 80 km east of Istanbul, and is 5.3 km
long. The theoretical top speed should be around 320 kph.
The race is over 58 laps and expect lap times down around 1
minute 24. Racing is anti-clockwise, and for much more than
that you will have to watch the TV as I do. Renault will
have the controversial dampers back in, I believe, and
Alonso will be very keen to show that he is still the
champion-elect, while Raikkonen will be out to make amends
for running into Liuzzi in Hungary. Ferrari? Expect the
unexpected, is my prediction! We will also see if Honda
really has come in out of the cold. I personally doubt it,
but we’ll know by Sunday evening.
The GP should be at 7 p.m. Thai time, but as always, check
your local feed to confirm this. I will be watching as usual
from my perch at Jameson’s Irish Pub on Soi AR (next to Nova
Park), and we watch the South African feed which has some
decent commentators and no adverts! Join me for a meal and a
natter first.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I mentioned that in the
formulae for racing cars in 1906 and 1908, both stipulated
weight regulations. The weights were almost the same (1000
kg and 1100 kg), but what was totally different? In 1906 it
was a maximum weight, while in 1908 it was a minimum weight.
So to this week. A transverse engined V4 front wheel drive
GP car ran in 1907. What was it?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
Small cars are coming – government permitting!
Some shilly-shallying by the government has resulted in many
manufacturers sitting on their hands while waiting for the
direction the government might move.
Suzuki
Swift
The president of Suzuki Thailand, Yoshaiki Tamai, spelled it
out in Asean Autobiz when he was reported as saying, “The
government has been too random in making its decisions. Last
year all the focus was on gasohol and introducing E20. Now
the switch has been made to CNG (compressed natural gas). I
had discussed plans with engineers in Japan to prepare our
engines to run on E20, but this year I’ve had to cancel
them. There were also discussions of biodiesel. Unless a
clear picture is drawn, we cannot consider investing here
for the long term.”
So what could be waiting for us? Suzuki has the 1.5 liter
Swift ready to go, plus other smaller engined cars, but is
waiting. Kia has the Kia Rio which would sell for under
500,000 baht, GM has the Aveo and we are told it will be
here soon, Toyota has a bunch of small vehicles to choose
from, and even the Chinese are exporting to Malaysia with
the Chery QQ, with its 812 cc, 52 bhp mini-car. But not to
Thailand.
Today’s consumer is concerned with price, which is one
reason that pick-ups have sold so well in Thailand - the
preferential tax structure has kept pick-up prices low,
compared to sedans. In June, for example, 34,616 pick-ups
went out the door, compared to 15,417 cars, but if you could
buy a Honda Jazz or Toyota Yaris base model for the same
price as a base model pick-up, you would soon see where the
customer preference lies.
I agree with Suzuki’s Yoshaiki Tamai, in that there has to
be a strong government commitment, written in stone for the
car companies to follow. Suzuki claim that start-up costs
for production of small cars here would be in the vicinity
of 3.8 billion baht, so you can understand why firm
commitment is needed. But will a (or can a) caretaker
government do that? I doubt it. For the time being at least,
we are stuck with the lumbering (and expensive to run)
pick-ups, rather than the smaller sedan cars which would be
fuel efficient and use less road space. Let us see what
happens after the October election!
Honda makes a new Legend
Honda are definitely attacking in the
luxury car stakes, even if the F1 results are doubtful.
GoAuto in Australia have just finished testing the new
Legend, saying that it is Honda’s most convincing and
best-value luxury sedan yet.
Honda
Legend 2007
Priced from A$74,500 - which is almost A$12,000 lower than
the unloved previous model, which was discontinued almost
two years ago - the fourth-generation Legend will also
become the most powerful Honda ever sold in Australia when
it goes on sale from September 18.
Driving all four wheels is a revised version of the 3.5
liter single-overhead cam 24-valve V6 found in the MDX 4WD
wagon, delivering 217 kW (295 bhp) of power at 6200 rpm and
351 Nm of torque at 5000 rpm, as well as an average fuel
consumption figure of 11.8 L/100 km.
This lightweight 60 degree V6 features Honda’s VTEC variable
valve timing, with a 4950 rpm changeover point for the 12
two-mode intake valve intake points.
It meets Euro IV emissions compatibility, partly due to a
new variable flow exhaust system fitted with a three-way
catalytic converter. A drive-by-wire throttle system is also
employed.
The only gearbox on offer is a five-speed automatic with a
Tiptronic-style sequential shift mechanism located adjacent
to the gear lever’s ‘D’ slot, or via paddles on the steering
wheel.
Honda
Legend 2007
Interestingly, Honda claims this transmission features the
widest ratio spread of any five-speed automatic gearbox in
its class, as well as a computer map to determine throttle
position, vehicle speed and acceleration/deceleration
factors.
The Legend’s big headline-grabbing feature, however, is the
Super Handling - All Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system. A
full-time set-up requiring no driver intervention for
operation, it apportions a varying amount of drive according
to whichever wheels need it most - front-to-back and
side-to-side in the rear.
SH-AWD also actively counteracts understeer and oversteer
properties, aided by the standard stability control,
traction control and ABS (with electronic brake-force
distribution and brake assist), so it has the complete box
of tricks.
Honda says it wanted this Legend to compete with Europe’s
best, so it devised an independent double-wishbone front and
Accord Euro-based independent multi-link rear suspension
system, but with detail alterations.
Optimised with the SH-AWD set-up, it uses aluminium
components to reduce unsprung weight and increase responses,
traction and handling over a wide number of likely road
surfaces.
The rack-and-pinion steering is electronically controlled
and speed-sensitive, while the 320 mm ventilated front
rotors with four-piston callipers, and 310 mm ventilated
rear discs with large single-piston callipers, form a
four-wheel disc brake system designed to surpass rival
vehicles from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.
Available only as a four-door sedan, the pronounced
wedge-shape and underbody aerofoils make for better
aerodynamics than before (0.29 is the drag co-efficient),
while the body is 40 mm shorter, 20 mm higher and 25 mm
wider than the old Legend. However, it looks more than just
a little plain to my eye.
To help contain weight, the larger body members are made of
high-tensile steel, while aluminium is utilized in the
bumper beams, subframes, bonnet, boot and suspension arms.
Correspondingly, body stiffness rises by one-third. Honda
expects a five-star NCAP crash-test rating (not yet
performed), while the body structure was devised with SUV or
light truck side-impact protection in mind.
Other Legend body improvements include a new “ultra high
gloss” paint method, doors that open a wider 80 degrees, 5
mm thick power window glass, and a boot lid with hidden
hinges.
Other interesting features include a novel “active noise
cancellation” system that reduces low frequency exhaust
noises from entering the cabin by using a counteracting
audio signal through the door speakers and subwoofer located
on the rear parcel shelf. Included in the package are
dual-front, side and curtain airbag protection, leather
upholstery, bona fide wood veneer (wot, no plastic?),
electric front seats (with heating and memory functions),
high-intensity discharge headlights, cornering headlights,
rain-sensing windscreen wipers, a sunroof, side and
electric-rear sun blinds, a reversing camera, dual-zone
climate control air-conditioning, ambient cabin lighting and
two programmable keys that automatically set the seats,
mirrors and wheel (among other things) to individual
preferences.
Wheels are 17x8 inch alloys shod with 235/50 R17 100W-rated
tyres, while the spare is a stylized alloy space-saver.
Most rivals are either smaller or significantly more
expensive when matched for specification. They include the
BMW 3 and (lower-end) 5 Series, Lexus IS250 and GS300,
Mercedes-Benz C and E-class and Audi A4 and A6.
Honda claims its new “Super Handling” all-wheel drive
system, based on the set-up first utilized in the current
MDX in the early 2000s, has a number of world-first
applications.
In gentle driving situations around 70 percent of torque is
transmitted to the front wheels, full throttle acceleration
drops this to 60 percent, while hard cornering sends up to
70 percent rearwards, with all of this available to the
outside rear wheel if necessary to correct an understeer
situation.
Unique among other AWD vehicles, SH-AWD also increases the
rotation speed of this outside rear wheel during hard
cornering for more effective turning power, reduced
understeer, better handling balance and greater cornering
grip.
Honda claims the upshot of this is class leading cornering
precision and traction, since the slower-turning front
wheels enable the SH-AWD system to use the engine power to
yaw the vehicle while turning, counterbalancing and
controlling the normally ensuing understeer.
The SH-AWD’s physical properties consist mainly of a torque
transfer unit bolted to the front-mounted transaxle.
Providing it with input torque is a helical gear attached to
the front wheel differential’s ring gear, which turn a
propeller shaft 90 degrees and move it to the vehicle’s
center line, with a composite propeller shaft then carrying
power to the rear-drive unit.
This contains three planetary gear and clutch sets, with the
first driving an electromagnetic clutch for each rear wheel.
It can alter between 30 and 70 percent of the engine’s total
torque output depending on conditions, as well as increase
the output shaft speed by up to five percent faster than the
input shaft via a compact planetary gear set.
Meanwhile, a limited-slip differential function is provided
by the other two planetary gear and clutch sets. They
control the amount of torque that reaches each rear wheel,
from zero to 100 percent, thus creating the yaw moment under
deceleration to stabilize the car.
While all this sounds wonderful, I wonder if it will be like
the Honda 4 wheel steer of a couple of decades ago, which
came out on the Accord with a similar fanfare of trumpets,
but has been quietly forgotten about since then.
