Super Cars at Bira this weekend

Super Cars

The Super Car group is running at the Bira Circuit this weekend. These are some of Thailand’s fastest cars and includes Thomas Raldorf’s Pizza Company Subaru Imprezza lightweight. This weekend should also see the return of the New Zealand V8 Falcon Super Cars, which on the last outing managed to best the Thailand entries, but both suffered from mechanical problems.

Racing from around 10 a.m. on the Saturday and Sunday, and it promises to be a good meeting. Best viewing point is still on the right hand side of the track at the hairpin at the end of the straight.

The Securitas Escort and most of the other Retro cars will not be running (we’re not “super” enough), so no D2/AA Insurance Brokers hospitality tent for this meeting. However, the Bira Caf้ in the pits has both Thai and European food these days.

The Internet application to safer driving

Harman’s Human Machine Interface

At the Frankfurt motor show, the Harman company unveiled a suite of advanced driver assistance features for safer, but connected, car applications.

Harman’s new generation of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are designed to integrate seamlessly with their range of in-dash solutions for intelligent cars of the future.

The Harman ADAS features address safety and convenience in revolutionary new ways:

Situational Human Machine Interface (HMI) - As more Internet-based content and information makes its way into the car, there is a need to ensure data and services are displayed in the most intuitive and least distracting manner. Harman has introduced a personalized and context-aware HMI that ensures that a driver keeps his hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, while still enabling the maximum convenience and flexibility to on-line information and entertainment. Harman’s innovative approach to in dash displays means different screens can be served up to the driver depending on the information needs of particular driving situations such as daily commuting, personal errands, or a weekend road trip.

Augmented navigation - Harman is pioneering new navigation solutions that combine live motion video with route information on a single display screen when approaching areas with complex conditions, helping the driver with better navigation support. By overlaying images from car-mounted external cameras with advanced software visualization graphics, drivers can get a more accurate and realistic view of the road ahead and benefit from more clearly marked directional cues for off-ramps, roundabout exits, or even points of interest.

Park Assistant - Harman has introduced a revolutionary new camera-based parking aid that goes beyond today’s single, rear-mounted view or multi camera top view. Harman mixes real camera data with virtual reality modeling to offer complete surround views of the perimeter of the car from virtually any angle, greatly improving parking accuracy.

“Our vision is to combine vehicle efficiency, safety and convenience with the utmost in digital connectivity and entertainment,” said Michael Mauser, Co-President of the Infotainment and Lifestyle Divisions at Harman. “We are continuing our tradition of addressing the complex systems in the automotive field with highly integrated solutions. These new features are designed to take full advantage of the capabilities in today’s more connected, intelligent, and networked automobile to make the driving experience better and safer.”

So the technology that M-B is touting for their 2025 F125 concept, is already here, it will just take some time for that technology to be affordable and specific enough for motoring in 2012.

What did we learn from the Singapore Grand Prix?

Well, we learned (if we didn’t know already) that street circuits are boring. They may be technically very challenging for the drivers, but that does not translate into very exciting for the spectators. Because of the novelty factor of the race under floodlights, Singapore was better than Valencia - but only just.

There was no doubt in anyone’s minds as to who was the driver of the day (sorry - night). Vettel’s effort was flawless in his Red Bull, and currently he is head and shoulders above everyone. He drives with pin-point accuracy and a maturity well beyond his years. He will win the championship again this year and he deserves it.

His team mate Mark Webber fluffed the start, yet again. Two weeks ago I suggested he spend the time before the Singapore GP practicing starts. He didn’t listen, and so cocked it all up again. When will these drivers listen to age and experience (me)?

The McLaren team is an interesting one. The very fast, much vaunted Lewis Hamilton disconnects the brain yet again. Does he do it as the starting lights go out? Or does it only happen after a few laps? And in the other side of the garage, the only fast, and under-rated, Jenson Button keeps his cool, drives with intelligence and brings home the results. Far from being the Number 2 driver at McLaren, he is really now Number 1. Now the team has to accept this, and work out how to put enough fuel in their racing cars. This is Formula 1, the peak of motor sport. Perhaps I should send them a whisky bottle of 91 octane that my local shop sells to the motorcycle taxi drivers.

Scuderia Ferrari is having its problems too. Alonso is getting the most out of the car, while Massa really is only a Number 2, and his poor lap times get him back in the mid-pack, where he gets attacked by Hamilton (again/as usual).

Another driver who is showing bucketfuls of talent is Paul di Resta in the Team Poppadum finishing in 6th position. A huge future ahead for this rookie, who is easily outpacing his more experienced team mate Adrian Sutil, who is supposed to be the great ‘talent-in-waiting’.

The next team down the results sheet was Mercedes GP, where the other great talent-in-waiting Nico Rosberg couldn’t get to grips with the circuit at all. “I was struggling with the rear end in the race, and our car just really didn’t suit this demanding track.” The car or the driver, Nico? His team mate, Michael Schumacher, claimed the opposite, saying, “…my car and the tyres worked well, and therefore the pace was very good.” Unfortunately he clobbered Perez (Sauber) resulting in a crash he described as, “It’s probably one of those race incidents which look more impressive from outside than from inside, as I am totally OK and my impact in the end was not too heavy. It was a pity because I will look ahead to the next races and hope to have better endings there.” Ah yes, Michael, we know what you mean about happy endings. Perhaps he has been to the Suzuka massage parlor?

Kamui Kobayashi in his Sauber can always be counted upon to be in the thick of the action, and did not let us down in Singapore. “I was very surprised when I got the drive through penalty, because I didn’t see any blue flags.” A couple of meetings ago he used the excuse that he was Japanese and had small eyes - this time he didn’t bother opening them at all.

Next race is the Japanese GP October 9, telecast at 1 p.m. Thai time.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I mentioned that short cars were topical, and the current production Smart Fortwo is only 2695 mm long. I said that there was a previous production vehicle which was less than half that length. I asked what was it? It was the 1962 Peel P50 at 1,340 mm long.

So to this week. Who invented the device to make vision safer in the rain, and when?

For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].

Is this the future?

Mercedes F125 Concept

According to Mercedes-Benz, their car of the future will have emissions-free hydrogen motoring with cloud computing, 3D displays and partially running on Auto-pilot.

The F125 concept - named to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Daimler-Benz company, also integrates with the social media of 2025, making this car your complete mobile city office.

The styling as portrayed in this model is futuristic with gullwing doors and uses much in the way of lightweight materials to give the hydrogen car a 1000 km driving range. The car of the future also talks to the driver, with voice, touch and gesture controls as well as the ability to remotely control settings and entertainment features.

The cloud computer control system is always connected to the internet (so it can’t be used in Thailand!), allowing users to access websites, information and entertainment, including photo albums and music libraries housed on servers.

The front passenger gets a 17 inch display that can be controlled by gestures rather than having to push a button or twiddle a knob, however I wonder what the M-B computer would make of a couple of raised fingers in a V shape?

Primary safety features are embodied in the car with electronics to provide advanced crash avoidance systems, which can interface with traffic lights and transport centers to warn the driver of obstacles or potential incidents at intersections.

The power will be supplied by a hydrogen fuel cell, which emits no carbon dioxide to make it a zero emissions vehicle, while at the same time the fuel cell performs a chemical reaction to create electricity to drive the electric motors. M-B does not consider that it will be necessary to have back-up or hybrid power. Hydrogen storage integrates the tanks in the structure of the car, allowing the manufacturer more freedom in their placement.

The batteries will be new generation lithium-sulphur batteries - claimed to hold more charge per kilogram than other batteries, bringing weight reductions - allowing the car to be recharged via induction pads and driven for up to 100 km just on the batteries, without the output from the hydrogen fuel cell. Peak power is 230 kW and 170 kW can be delivered constantly, which is enough to produce acceleration times of 4.9 seconds for the zero to 100 km/h sprint from the four electric motors housed near each wheel.

“With the F125 we want to show that large, comfortable and safe saloon cars have an excellent future, partly because they are able to operate with no emissions,” said Professor Dr Thomas Weber, member of the board of management of Daimler.

“The legend of the S-Class will continue into the future thanks to intelligent solutions that always have the customer’s needs in mind. The new research vehicle illustrates and underlines this claim to leadership with innovative ideas and traditional Mercedes strengths in the areas of design, safety, comfort and performance.”