Posts Tagged ‘system’
Ferrari, the greenest car maker on earth?
February 13th, 2010 | 
Author: Aston Martin sources engine, body and electrical parts from outside the main plant at Gaydon, as does Jaguar. Even Morgan, that most bespoke of car companies, sources one or two components externally, including quite a few trees.
Ferrari 599XX video, pictures and first drive review
At Ferrari, though, everything except the cows that provide the leather is now made at Maranello. Since November, in fact, they’ve even been generating their own electricity in order to power the Scuderia’s various tooling facilities – to the extent that in January Ferrari sold power back to Italy’s National Grid.
As a result, Ferrari now claims that its plant at Maranello produces between 25-30 per cent less CO2 than it did before its new “Trigeneration” system fired up in November – in which mechanical power, heat and cooling are produced by just one source. And that’s real world emissions, by the way, not ones that appear in EU approved documents, and which mean not a great deal in the overall scheme.
Imagine how much less angst would be displayed towards the car industry in general if all cars were created in the same way, with the same efficiency? The green meanies would hardly have a leg to stand on, and us car enthusiasts could carry on enjoying our cars (virtually) guilt free. Even ones like the utterly barking 599XX, on whose launch I discovered all of the above.
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Automotive virtual reality has finally arrived
Steve Sutcliffe, a driver whose abilities are held in high esteem by more than one supercar manufacturer, had to admit that electronic chassis ‘aids’ have reached a new level of competence.
“Yes, the electronics in this car are specifically intended as performance parts, not safety features. Switch them off and you will not be able to lap a circuit as fast as you can with them on, not even if your name is Fernando Alonso. You might just be able to match the system for a couple of corners if you fluke the perfect sequence of brake, turn-in, balance power, apply throttle at the exit.”
Read Steve Sutcliffe's Ferrari 599XX drive
In a more down to earth way, I experienced something similar on the launch of the new Audi A8. That car will come with ‘Drive Select’ as standard, which allows you to choose from ‘comfort’, ‘auto’ and ‘dynamic’.
This switchable chassis tuning really does make a difference, especially if you specify the optional sports differential on Quattro versions, which can split the engine’s torque between the rear wheels.
Read Hilton Holloway's Audi A8 drive
So far I’m also the only Autocar staffer to have driven the Mito in both stock and electronically controlled Cloverleaf forms. The difference between the two – driven back to back at Alfa’s test track – was incredible.
Read Hilton Holloway's Alfa Mito Cloverleaf drive
It seems that we have moved into a new era, (partly thanks to the new high-speed Flex ray wiring systems) that will see electronic chassis controls so sophisticated that virtually no driver can out drive them. And better still, the average future car could now be wired to have three very distinct personalities.
Ideally, many of us would prefer that exemplary ride and handling was delivered through the engineering purity of the car’s layout.
But then again, these systems can also make 2.7 tonne cars – such as the new Range Rovers – handle with physics-defying alacrity.
25 years after the false dawn of digital speedometers and talking dashboards, it seems automotive virtual reality has finally arrived.
Driving a Tata Nano in Mumbai
Over Christmas I optimistically nominated the Tata Nano as my car of the decade, even though I hadn’t actually driven one. It’s social significance and engineering achievement was what appealed to me.
I put that straight yesterday, though, on a half-hour adrenalin-charged drive through Mumbai’s crowded streets. To be honest it wasn’t the car raising my pulse to a steady 150bpm, it was the crazy driving conditions here. It’s like being bombarded with one of those tennis ball serving machines or being on the top level of a video game; things come at you so randomly and so fast that you’re just fire-fighting to stay out of trouble.
Chas Hallett blog: A taste of India
Thousands of pedestrians, other cars, street traders, cows, buses, taxi cabs and the odd dog are all sharing the same space.
Timidity means failure though; you’ve just got to grit your teeth and go for it or else some crazy cabby will be occupying the piece of tarmac you’ve got your sights on. And keeping his hand glued to the horn whilst he does it. Then again, while such a system shouldn’t really work, here it kind of does.
Anyway, most of my time in the Nano was spent preserving it, me and the lads from Autocar India in the back. I did find out, however, that it’s way better than a £1500 car deserves to be. The ride is surprisingly good for such a short car that has to bounce over Mumbai’s chronic roads. The two-cylinder motor is not the quietest device but its low-down grunt is ideal for town work – and quick squirts to get out of the way of slower obstacles. It also feels stable and well-planted on the road. The unassisted steering, too, is sweet and communicative if predictably stiff at parking paces.
Best of all though is the Nano’s space. It’s barely bigger than a Smart but four big blokes can easily squeeze in. And four of us did in search of yet another amazing Indian meal. It also feels extremely well made. Sure the cabin is basic and the driving position too high for my tastes, but I reckon that our 4000 miler will still feel solid in 10 years time.
The main consideration with the Nano though is that it was Ratan Tata’s vision to get some of his less fortunate countrymen away from transporting their entire families on a scooter (you see thousands of them) and into four-wheeled transport. Yet, it’s far from being just utilitarian transport – it’s way too good for that.
So anyone who voted for the Range Rover, the eventual winner in our poll, or anything else – sorry I think that you were wrong.
4WD v FWD – a surprising result in my snow test
The problem with four-wheel drive is it lulls you into a false sense of security, as the mate of mine who’s just binned his Honda CR-V will attest. Modern four-wheel drive systems are so good at finding traction where there is none, you only realise just how lethal the conditions are when you have to make even a slight turn and continue straight on, or need to stop. By contrast, with front wheel drive you always know where you are grip-wise and will never miss that moment when your journey becomes a fool’s errand.
Watch our winter tyre test video
Of course four-wheel drive can be a life-saver as all those who have been rescued by off-roaders in the last few weeks know well. But these cars will tend to be Land Rovers and the like which have not only four driven wheels but, just as importantly, tyres designed to cope with these conditions. But modern soft-roaders come with road tyres whose treads clog at the first sign of snow, leaving you little better than four driven slicks.
The point is this: if conditions are too bad to provide safe passage for modern front drive cars with sophisticated electronics, perhaps they should be considered too bad to drive on at all, unless you have the right specialist equipment.
Going out in terrible weather because you have four-wheel drive is not safe: not going out in the first place because you haven’t got four-wheel drive is safe. This is why I like the choice provided by the Peugeot/Mitsubishi arrangement so much: I drive in front drive, relying on ESP and traction control to provide due warning of slippery conditions, leaving the selection of four-wheel drive as a last resort.
But if I had to choose between the two, I’d stick with front-wheel drive.
Infiniti isn’t Lexus
Even though the cars are good, Infiniti already seems to have copped all manner of flak. Observations like, it’ll never take off; BMW won’t notice or care; they’re just Datsuns in disguise and it’s going to be like Lexus all over again.
Why all the hostility?
OK, let’s take the last one first. Lest we forget, Lexus was created originally for North America where over the years it’s been hugely successful and influential (yes, even Mercedes and BMW had to sit up and take notice). Europe has been a much harder slog and 20 years on, Lexus is still mostly about refinement, comfort, quality and luxury, and now eco-friendly hybrids, of course.
Driver appeal and sportiness have never been high on the agenda – until the IS-F came along, that is. And it’s here that the two Japanese brands part company.
Infiniti most definitely is about driver appeal and sportiness, just the kind of things readers of this site and mag are wired in to. Nissan has some demon engineers who turn out good stuff like the 370Z, Skyline and GT-R and when you drive the latest Infinitis, you can feel this DNA coming through.
Yes, I know, all that on its own is not enough. Until Infiniti comes up with some new clean diesels and gets C02 down to a certain level, it’ll be a blip on the radar screens. Guess what, Nissan knows that already which is why diesel power and a new rear-drive hybrid are working their way through the system as we speak. The party starts on that next year, but – yes – really should have been there from the start…
Nissan is also clued into the badge snobbery bit, which is why it’s not making any rash promises about world domination and blowing BMW away tomorrow. It look Audi, after all, the best part of 20 years to make it into the same premium car park as BMW and Mercedes.
Nissan is sensibly starting out slow and steady and, yes, much ultimately depends on how much Carlos Ghosn invests, when the diesels and hybrids come and what the dealer experience is like.
Anyway, Infiniti is not going to be like Lexus. The cars and culture are different, with Infiniti appealing far more to the (free-thinking) petrolheads among us. An attitude like that is eminently worthy of support, I’d say.
