Classic automobiles often fetch absolutely staggering prices. They just are that good, the vestiges of the golden era of “gearheadedness”. Don’t agree? If you think the 8C is the best looking Alfa Romeo ever produced try finding out how the car got its name and you’ll probably stumble across the 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta. End of argument. The point here is that classics really are breathtaking, but what’s even more beautifully astonishing is the resolve of a legendary company to stand true to its roots and ensure that men don’t have to make do with boy’s toys. It really is a glorious moment when you ride up to your classic bike collection on a brand new bike and still be proud of it. Yeah, heads turn when you burn up the asphalt on your sleek sportbike, people come up to you whistling and suddenly you’re the “dude with the nice bike”, but when a Harley whizzes or rather “POTATO-POTATO-POTATOs” by, people shuffle aside and don’t look you in the eyes. Respect.… Read More…
Why? Because Racecar.
It’s not a car, it’s a bloody dart, I curse as I saw car number 69 tear up the Autodromo Ricardo Paletti straights. Even when the F2 driver actually braked, he still didn’t seem to slow down but infact just slingshot through the corner. I was seated in the stands, of a racetrack situated in the hills of Verano, awestruck as Hawks Racing’s car, which could well be the new batmobile, took the finals laps of its FSAE Italy Endurance event. “It’s a pretty sight this”, I thought to myself. “Stuttgart has nothing on them.”… Read More…
Nico Rosberg Explaining The Evolution Of F1 Helmets
Many of you may have seen the bone crushing F1 crashes. You may relate to how the initial shock quickly transforms into relief when you see the driver emerging unscathed after banging the side walls at a furious speed of 300 km/hr, or crashing head-on with other driver in an explosive instant. This drama, where relief usually prevails is perhaps owed to the most important equipment of the sport: the driver’s helmet. What parameters were judged? What standards were met before drivers were assured of maximum safety levels as they stepped into the arena?… Read More…
Team Hot Wheels – Your Childhood Just Got Real
I confess, I was a die hard fan. Who am I kidding? Give me a kit now and I’ll end up spending hours making my own permutations to the already uber-cool tracks and crashing the gorgeous cars all over. Hot Wheels is the match that ignited the passion in most gearheads when they were young. The thing about such childhood passions is that inevitable and unshakable belief that these toys could be actually made. Yeah, it fades away in most of us but some never get weaned off it. Here I was, bored, skimming the www and then… Oh the delight! It was almost as if I’d met Superman, a group of “engineers” were actually crazy enough to go ahead and replicate all my childhood dreams. Real life Hot Wheels stunts. Need I say more? Corkscrews, Wall Runs, Double Loops and Jumps, all in a real self powered car with a real driver in it.… Read More…
A Brief History Of Four-Wheel Drive
First Mechanical FWD Car- Spyker
Envisioned first in the last century and work started by a Wisconsin based blacksmith, a four-wheel drive car has become a necessity for many vehicles we see today. Harry Armenius Miller and Harry Ferguson both believed that their development would be popular in the future.
The first 4WD car was built in 1903, but it wasn’t until the early 1980’s that this unique concept came into series production. Many road cars such as the Jensen FF, Cisitalia 47 and the early 70’s prototypes of Formula one cars used this concept. But the manufacturer which had immense faith in the concept and wanted to make it an integral part of it production range was Audi with its Quattro model. The Quattro received proper attention to details and investment in research and development and marketing back up too, which boosted its early career as an unique vehicle package.… Read More…
Smartphone – Now A Life Saver
GM researchers are working on technology that will use the Wi-Fi Direct peer-to-peer wireless connection standard to allow smartphones and other connected devices to communicate with cars. Wi-Fi Direct would be integrated with existing driver-assistance systems that use sensor-based object detection to identify pedestrians and others carrying smartphones equipped with a Wi-Fi Direct app that the automaker is also developing.
According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, Wi-Fi Direct has an effective range of just over 200 yards, or roughly more than two football fields. And unlike the type of Wi-Fi you sponge off of at Starbucks, where each user connects to a central access point, Wi-Fi Direct is an ad-hoc network that allows device-to-device connection. “Seven to eight seconds is the amount of time it takes to connect to a Wi-Fi access point,” Donald Grimm, GM’s Global R&D senior researcher of perception and vehicle control systems, told Wired.… Read More…
