Full Course Yellows
Pizza Company
Vios race team.
If you ever thought that Thailand’s motor
racing was on the way down, the recent meeting in November
would certainly change that idea. This was the first time
for many years that I had to park so far away from the
timing tower that the organizers (Three Crowns), supplied
song taew taxis to take you to the pits. The pits were so
full of competitors that temporary tents were erected all
the way down to the pit entrance tunnel, and the ‘parc
ferme’ area behind the scrutineering bay was converted to
pits for the Toyota Vios and Yaris race cars.
The Vios competitors in particular turned on an incredible
show, with passing manoeuvres being attempted in parts of
the track where passing is not really possible. These
attempts usually ended up in the wall, and at one stage
there were so many cars off the track there seemed to be
yellow flags displayed on every flag point. Almost
equivalent to the American ‘full course yellows’.
The other classes included Minis and VW’s, as well as
pick-ups and touring cars and some road-going classes in the
‘run what you brung’ category. And a smattering of
motorcycle events as well.
There was also very little time between races, and the
timetable actually seemed to be reasonably accurate.
Hopefully this heralds an upsurge in not only interest, but
also in the efficient running of the program. I have seen 28
event one day meetings in Australia, so I know it can be
done. I believe that the general shortening of races is also
better for the spectators. Even the catering seemed to be
better than usual, and the hamburgers hot and tasty.
Well done Three Crowns. Thailand motor sport is looking
healthy again. I have been told that 22,000 spectators came
to the meeting, and while this looks a little too much for
my guestimate, it was still a very good turn out.
By the way, there was much talk of a four hour Vios
Endurance race with three to five drivers per car.
Unfortunately, nobody seemed to be able to let the press
know the date. This was variously given to me as being in
December 2006, January, April or May 2007. If I do find out,
you will be the first to know!
However, the RAAT has told me there will be an international
1,000 km race at Bira December 2007, with invited drivers
from overseas, and a 1.5 litre class for Asian produced
vehicles (like the Vios). 1,000 kays around Bira is
something over 400 laps!
A1 considers London float
The A1 Grand Prix World Cup of Motorsport
series may be floated on the London Stock Exchange next
year, according to Bloomberg financial news service. The
series lost US $212 million in its first season but is
projecting a profit of up to US $20 million in its second
season. The series founder, Dubai’s Sheikh Maktoum bin
Hasher Al Maktoum, is selling his stake and stepping down as
chairman. The next round of the second series is at the
Sepang circuit in Malaysia next weekend. Frequent
correspondent John Weinthal will be covering the meeting for
Automania.
Autotrivia Quiz
Quiz car
Last week I asked some F1 history. At which race did
Nuvolari and a couple of others ‘rig’ the results? It was
the Tripoli GP of 1933. Nuvolari, Varzi, Campari and
Borzacchini conspired to have Varzi win, which would net
them shares in a purse worth USD 10 million these days!
Despite many problems during the race, they did manage to
pull it off, which makes today’s “team orders” look very
mild!
So to this week. Have a look at the quiz car. It was found
in Vietnam. What is it? And what is wrong with it?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
Bose Suspensions and Audio systems – an electrifying experience?
In what seems a total turn-around, Bose, the makers of audio
speakers that have the capability of blowing the seats out
of non-reinforced small sedans also builds suspension
systems designed to keep the seats, and the persons who sit
on them, in perfect harmony inside the vehicle. What’s more,
the suspension system is not just designed for comfort, but
also for performance. It is no “select your mode” concept,
this suspension can do it all, and all at the same time!
Bose
suspension system
The first thing to understand is that this is no
‘breakthrough’ in controlling suspensions as we know them.
Up till now, suspensions, no matter how apparently
sophisticated they are follow the same basic design. There
are springs to hold the body of the car off the road, and
there are shock absorbers to quell the up and down
oscillations inherent in the design of any spring, be that
leaf, coil or torsion bar, exacerbated by the roughness of
the road being traversed. Because the shock absorbers dampen
down the oscillations, they are also known as “dampers”, and
that is about as technical as these devices get.
Certainly there is control these days to attempt to allow
more or less suspension movement. The softer the setting,
the more luxurious (or soft) the ride, and more suspension
travel ensues. The end result is a boulevard cruiser that
leans in corners, limiting the speed at which bends are
taken.
At the other end of the scale, there are the “hard”
settings. At the extreme, this produces a car that follows
every undulation of the road, giving a jarring or jolting
ride with less suspension travel. The end result is a
circuit racer that changes direction while staying
reasonably flat, allowing corners to be taken at fast
speeds, but the harshness of the ride limits the speed at
which the passengers are prepared to tolerate the ride!
Shock absorbers, as we know them today, are basically like a
piston moving in a cylinder of oil. The piston has a hole in
it, allowing it to move up and down at a speed dependent
upon the size of the hole, which allows the oil to move from
below the piston to above the piston and vice versa. Note
that shock absorbers do not hold the car off the road – the
spring system does that. There are also ways in which the
size of the orifice in the piston can be altered. This was
first seen in the large knurled knob on the side of race car
suspensions about thirty years ago. Race drivers ‘tuned’ the
suspension by the number of “clicks” in either direction for
different circuits, with varying degrees of hardness or
softness to handle the bumpiness.
As we arrived at the electronic age, shock absorbers became
more sophisticated too, with computer micro-processors
sensing the movement at the wheel end of the shock absorber,
and electronically varying the stiffness or softness. This
explains how the manufacturer these days can let you go from
‘soft’ to ‘hard’ at the flick of a switch, but it is still a
compromise situation. Trading comfort against roadholding.
It’s one or the other. What Bose is claiming is that you do
not have to trade comfort against roadholding – the two can
co-exist!
“This is the first time a suspension system is the same for
a sports car and for a luxury car,” says company founder,
Dr. Amar Bose.
The Bose suspension system includes a linear electromagnetic
motor and power amplifier at each wheel, and a set of
control algorithms. This proprietary combination of
suspension hardware and control software makes it possible,
for the first time, to combine superior comfort and superior
control in the same vehicle.
Inside the linear electromagnetic motor are magnets and
coils of wire. When electrical power is applied to the
coils, the motor retracts and extends, creating motion
between the wheel and car body. One of the key advantages of
an electromagnetic approach is speed. The linear
electromagnetic motor responds quickly enough to counter the
effects of bumps and potholes, while maintaining a
comfortable ride. Additionally, the motor has been designed
for maximum strength in a small package, allowing it to put
out enough force to prevent the car from rolling and
pitching during aggressive driving manoeuvres.
The other necessity, the regenerative power amplifiers,
allow power to flow into the linear electromagnetic motor
and allow power to be returned from the motor. For example,
when the Bose suspension encounters a pothole, power is used
to extend the motor and isolate the vehicle’s occupants from
the hole. On the far side of the pothole, the motor operates
as a generator and returns power back through the amplifier.
In so doing, the Bose suspension requires less than a third
of the power needed by a typical car air conditioner system.
The Bose suspension system is actually controlled by a set
of mathematical algorithms that operate by observing sensor
measurements taken from around the car and sending commands
to the power amplifiers installed in each corner of the
vehicle. The goal of the control algorithms is to allow the
car to glide smoothly over roads and to eliminate roll and
pitch during driving.
Bose’s front suspension modules use a modified MacPherson
strut layout and the rear suspension modules use a
double-wishbone linkage to attach a linear electromagnetic
motor between the vehicle body and each wheel. The beauty of
the new system is that it can be bolted in as a complete
replacement unit in currently produced vehicles.
One motor noter in the US has experienced being in Bose test
vehicles, in this case Lexus LS 400s with one car using
standard suspension and the other the Bose suspension. He
reported that the stock car “waddled over the bumps”, while
the Bose car seemingly floated over them. Only the movement
of the wheels over the bumps proved that this was not some
sleight of hand magic. On the slalom course, which included
an emergency lane change and panic stop, the standard car
displayed the amount of lean, or body roll, that you would
expect of a soft luxury vehicle, plus the usual amount of
nose-dive under brakes. The Bose equipped car was then tried
over the same course. The tester wrote, “The Bose car
remained eerily flat through it all. Again, something we
wouldn’t have believed had we not seen it for ourselves.
After 25 years of research, it does look as if
“Suspend-by-wire” is almost here. It is likely that this
could be offered as an option before the end of the decade.
And for all of you who distrust computers and electrical
gadgetry, Bose also promises a ‘limp home’ mode, just in
case your car’s control panel tells you that you have just
done an “illegal operation, and your system will shut down”!
On the remainder of the drive, you will be able to listen to
soothing music, however, and hopefully Bose supplied as
well!
