Carbon Fibre Fashion

Carbon fibre became a very popular material in many different areas. It started with airplanes, formula 1 cars, normal cars, laptop computers, iPhone cases and many other things. Carbon fibre is a composite material. This means, it is a combination of carbon and fibre. More basically, it is a very strong plastic! Actually it is stronger than steal and also very light, therefore it is very expensive. This unique characteristics make is very popular for automotive and aerospace industry. Mercedes McLaren SLR was a carbon fibre car, all formula 1 cars are carbon fibre, some Porsche 911 models especially GT series have carbon fibre parts to reduce weight and sustain the same level of safety.

Interestingly this ugly looking material and offers the feeling of plastic become a fashion material. Actually I was afraid of this integration in fashion, because carbon fibre is like a plastic. You cannot feel the difference in fashion products and looks weird. For iPhone cases, it might be okay. Light and robust to damages, that’s fine. A fresh fashion designer from Prague decided to use carbon fibre in shoes, in women shoes! I am not kidding. She designed high heels made from carbon fibre, the material looks exactly the same as a car interior or some unpainted parts of Mercedes SLR.

In terms of creativity, this is a great integration but in terms of functionality I really wonder the benefit. With these carbon fibres shoes, you will use less calories to walk around and even if you use them for breaking some other things nothing would happen. Also you can run faster with these shoes, as they are lighter! Actually I have no idea how carbon fibre create a benefit for fashion.

For more details; Zuzana Serbak and Carbon Fibre

Pictures' Copyrights

Mercedes, BMW, Zuzana Serbak

2011 Simbol Design Sports Cars Lavazza GTX-R The New Super Sports Cars

Italian brands The Lavazza GT-R unveiled, Simbol Design has some pictures and specifications for the new super sports car. Simbol Design has created this impressive new V12 supercar producing 620 hp while weighing a mere 2380 lbs. This gives the car an exceptional power to weight ratio of 3.8 lb.

2011 Simbol Design Sports Cars Lavazza GTX-R The New Super Sports Cars

Simbol Design's Lavazza GTX-R body made of carbon-Kevlar built atop a tubular steel frame. And since German powerplants have emerged as the new crate engine of choice for niche manufacturers from Spyker and Wiesmann to Gumpert and Pagani, the Lavazza packs a BMW-sourced 5.4-liter V12, picking up Lamborghini's tractor-origins mantle with an electro-pneumatic transmission reportedly sourced from a bus. Sources differ on the engine's output – alternately claiming 489 horsepower or 620 – but either way, 0-60 mph times quoted around the four-and-a-half second sound conservative.

The 2011 Simbol Design Sports Cars Lavazza GTX-R The New Super Sports Cars will be offered in both coupe and roadster versions and will be built in carbon kevlar. This will help the car get its weight down to about 2381 lbs. On the exterior, the 2011 Simbol Design Sports Cars Lavazza GTX-R will get fixed front diverters and rear venturi intakes with adjustable side diverters, an adjustable rear wing, and a roof scoop.

The front of the car may look a little like a Pagani Zonda (or a Zonda on drugs), but the price tag shouldn’t as this car is definitely not fitting into the ranks of the Italian supercars of today. Both coupe and roadster bodystyles are apparently in the works, though there's no word on availability or pricing just yet, but are exclusive to models such as this, you can not expect that the cheap.

 2011 Simbol Design Sports Cars Lavazza GTX-R The New Super Sports Cars

Venti Bentley

Last week my friend Laurence mentioned something in Costa Coffee. The stupidness of sizing your coffee! Every time you have identify the size your coffee or tea; small, medium, large and sometime it is quite pointless. I don’t like it either, because a tea is a tea. The size the same in everywhere, and for coffee also! The size of cappuccino is very clear, you don’t have to express you MBA degree ego to coffee. How I know this, I have MBA also. Based on our training, sorry education every product can be expand in order to increase profit with stupid names. Tall, Grande, Venti! I know each of these names express a capacity but nobody knows it, people are trying to learn them because it sound cool! And this is the side effects of iPod generation.

Unfortunately this MBA obsessed branding strategy virus split to Bentley also. Their “new” vehicle Continental family have different types. The cheapest one with no special name, it means you don’t want something very sporty, you don’t have many horse powers, you don’t want accurate steering wheel or you cannot afford to buy the more expensive one. The second choice is called Speed model, it has 610 horse power (normal one has 555 horse power), it is more sporty, very fast, comfortable, communicative steering wheel and more expensive. And last one is the SuperSports, that is a lunatic car with 630 horse power and can achieve 329 kph (204 mph) without any problem. Actually I don’t know why it is not capable of doing 330 kph! This car is very fast, very sporty, seats are a bit uncomfortable, very fast, has a very sexy bonnet, very fast. And also very expensive!

So I really wonder, why someone wants to buy a slow Bentley? It is against its DNAs of Bentley. Hey, I have a slow Bentley! This does not sound well :( As I mentioned everything has changed now, coffee is being sold with weird sizes, everything has a category, group or something else. Actually this is the iPod era! And I don’t like it. I just want to see a lunatic Bentley with exquisite comfort at the same time.

Tall Bentley Continental (New Model)

Grande Bentley Continental

Venti Bentley Continental

Starts on paper, ends up on paper

Usually I don’t watch the videos on iPhone applications. They might be boring, too long or I just don’t bother to watch. This time I wondered the Fendi’s video section on iPhone application and watched it. It was an interview with Karl Lagerfeld. As you can imagine, it is all about fashion but I like the last sentence of the interview. Fashion starts with paper and ended up in magazine or newspaper, paper is the starting point and where it ends up. This sentence basically defines the fashion business.

From this point of view, cars stars with paper and ended up in paper also. The design stage, sketches mostly starts on paper, then to computer and later on with clay models. The production is done with metals and finally the pictures are printed on magazine or newspaper. I know the end up product of design is a car and made by steel, however every car built on earth printed on paper. Either it is nice or ugly, you can find a picture of each car printed on somewhere. As Lagerfeld mentioned, starts with papers, ends up with paper! I think cars and fashion have more common aspects than we know!

Pictures' Copyrights

Fendi, Land Rover, Mercedes McLaren

Porsche Design Hollywood movie

A short movie from Porsche Design. Starring Karel Roden and Titanic's star Billy Zane. All the objects used in this movie are available in Porsche Design stores, if you can afford them :)

Form and Function

De Tomaso Ghepardo Sports Cars Concept Designed For The Future

De Tomaso releases new renderings of a future car set to compete with the Mercedes CLS – its called the Ghepardo. The four-door sports cars, Ghepardo, suggests the new concept cars for the future De Tomaso. Ghepardo is designed with great respect for the De Tomaso history and design language, and several elements are inspired by the surface treatments of the Pantera and Mangusta. It is designed to match the future trends within the automotive industry both in design and functionality.

 De Tomaso Ghepardo Sports Cars Concept Designed For The Future

This entire auto is inspired not only by the De Tomaso past line of cars, but by a fine taylor-made Italian suit as well. De Tomaso was considered the entry level to the holy grail of Italian super cars in the 1960s and 1970s. De Tomaso sport cars Pantera and Mangusta are used as inspiration for surface treatments and more. Auto designer Frederik Tjellesen has created a concept sports car for an Italian car manufacturer, De Tomaso, which runs on a low-emission hybrid engine. Christened the Ghepardo, the concept is a four-door sports car that boasts Ecoboost technology and methanol fuel cells.

The De Tomaso Ghepardo Sports Cars Concept Designed For The Future uses technology based on both the latest production sports cars as well as the concepts cars currently being tested. Ghepardo may be powered either by a Ford twin-turbo ecoboost 3.5 V6 producing 465 bhp or by four electric in-hub fuel cells each producing 85 Kw (combined an equivalent of 440 bhp). Electricity is produced by a methanol fuel cell stack located beneath the 500 litre boot. Active aerofoils are incorporated in the ‘c-pillar/rear wing’ giving the car optimal down force at any speed. The Ghepardo measures a length of 4820 mm, a width of 1970 mm, height of 1300 mm and a wheel base of 2990 mm.

The sports cars were as fast and as beautiful, however, more inexpensive than the ones of Ferrari and Lamborghini. In 1971, De Tomaso introduced the Deauville which was the fastest saloon car at the time. It was referred to as a super saloon by founder Alejandro De Tomaso. Inspired by the spirit of the Deauville, the De Tomaso Ghepardo is a modern four door fuel cell super car with a surface treatment inspired by the legendary De Tomasos of the 60s and 70s and designed for the future.

As an inspirational effect from the Mangusta, in  Ghepardo De Tomaso the rear wing function as the boot cover and the rear door. With elegant surface, volume, stand, lines with a smooth eye catching finish, the bottom windows are so designed that the rider can have an idea of the speed. Run by a power of approximately 450HP, this car surely binds style with future trend of the car.

 De Tomaso Ghepardo Sports Cars Concept Designed For The Future

A pre-histroic car in New York

Flash news from Volkswagen for US market! Actually the news release is for Europe but the content should be explained to Americans. Volkswagen’s boring family sedan Jetta is quite common in US like in Europe. If you have two children, a wife and most probably you are young and you could not afford to buy a larger car. Anyway, family cars suppose to offer more comfort than coupes! This means suspension should be “a bit” more comfortable without compromising the handling.

Unfortunately, two generations ago Jetta (Bora) and Golf models were offering a catastrophic rear suspension system called torsion bar. Actually some Toyota models and French cars still have this. What’s wrong with that? Very simply; torsion bar is not a suspension, it is just a cheaper replacement for a proper suspension. Many of you will think, so what! When you have a car with a torsion bar, your handling will be worse and people in the back seat will feel the every single pothole inside their spine! It is offering neither better handling nor comfort but it is cheaper!

VW was using this with Bora (Old Jetta) and Golf, later on understood what they done wrong and replace the rear suspension with multi-link independent rear suspension. Multi-link independent rear suspension is a proper suspension, you don’t need to worry about anything but it is expensive for car companies. For that reason, Ford Focus always had worse interior and great handling. Ford Focus has the best rear suspension on its segment.

The current Jetta sold in US market is offered with torsion bar. This means, Americans have a pre-historic suspension system in a European car, hopefully in Europe VW did not risk its reputation and offers the Jetta with proper multi-link independent suspension. Anyway, Jetta is available with micro size engine 1,2lt TSi with 105 horses inside :)

European Jetta 

Pictures' Copyrights

Ford, VW

The best BMW 1 Series Review

This news is a bit old but I recently noticed in August issue of TopGear Magazine. They tried to double the price of cars through online configurator and they made a great statement about BMW and 1 Series :)

lancer proton images

proton persona
waja lancer buletin utama
Proton Waja2 Lancer MitsubishiA
lancer proton
lancer proton

Proton cars

Orange Proton Savvy
ProtonSatria
Orange Proton Savvy
protonMPV
proton bml
proton persona envy05