An electric car in 1899, is it real ?

Actually I wasn’t planning to write for today but ideas kept coming to my mind!

Recently Charlie Chaplin’s one of the movie turn into a global phenomenon for time travel. A lady is passing in front of the camera and she is holding something to her ear and seems like she is talking with that thing. Interestingly this video revealed just couple of weeks ago, since 1920s nobody ever noticed this fact. I don’t wish to talk about the possibility of time travel but I would like to warn for a similar situation.

Nowadays electric cars promoted as something “new” and many people think that they are new technology. Actually they are not! It is a really old technology older than the mobile phone in Chaplin’s movie. In 1899 Ferdinand Porsche produced the first hybrid vehicle on earth. The wheel were the engine, there is no transmission. And it was producing around seven horse powers in 1899! Also it was four wheel drive!

The system is very basic; wheels are the engines, energy comes from battery and battery is charged by petrol engine. Very simple and effective technology. Interesting the Audi A1 e-tron uses the same technology platform. 110 years has passed and this car is not available yet!

If one day a video appears in YouTube and tells, there is a time traveller in Ferdinand Porsche’s video, don’t believe it. We just forgot what have done in 110 years ago!

Note: Toyota Pruis uses a different system, petrol engine can engage with during the drive and also acts as a generator. Ferdinand’s Porsche concept excludes petrol engine from the drive train.

Pictures', Video Copyrights
Charlie Chaplin, Porsche

2010 Mercedes-Benz Sport Cars Biome Concept

2010 Mercedes-Benz Sport Cars Biome Concept

Born out of the 2010 LA Auto Show’s Los Angeles Design Challenge, in which automotive designers are given free range to envision the future of transportation, the Biome is meant to blend seamlessly into the planet’s ecosystem. That means all components of the 2010 Mercedes-Benz Sport Cars Biome Concept car are “grown” organically, and it emits pure oxygen and is fully compostable at the end of its service life.

2010 Mercedes-Benz Sport Cars Biome Concept

The basis for the Biome Concept is a vehicle that "grows in a completely organic environment from seeds sown in a nursery." Not only that, but it's powered by a combination of the sun and a chemical bond from an imaginary liquid dubbed BioNectar4534. It's all natural, all organic and all science fiction.

"As the inventor of the motor car, we wanted to illustrate the vision of the perfect vehicle of the future, which is created and functions in complete symbiosis with nature. The Mercedes-Benz BIOME is a natural technology hybrid, and forms part of our earth's ecosystem. It grows and thrives like the leaves on a tree" according to Hubert Lee, Head of the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studios in Carlsbad.

2010 Mercedes-Benz Sport Cars Biome Concept

This year the competition had called for the creation of a vision of a safe and comfortable 2+2 compact car featuring good handling and a first-class design, and weighing only 1,000 lbs (around 454 kg/kerb weight).

The 2010 Mercedes-Benz Sport Cars Biome Concept symbiosis vehicle is made from an ultralight material called BioFibre and tips the scales at just 875.5 lbs (around 394 kg). This material is significantly lighter than metal or plastic, yet more robust than steel. BioFibre is grown from proprietary DNA in the Mercedes-Benz nursery, where it collects energy from the sun and stores it in a liquid chemical bond called BioNectar4534.

2010 Mercedes-Benz Sport Cars Biome Concept

The 2010 Mercedes-Benz Sport Cars Biome Concept is powered by BioNectar4534, which is stored in the BioFibre material of the chassis, interior, and wheels. In addition, Mercedes-Benz has developed a technology to equip trees with special receptors which can collect the excess solar energy and turn it into BioNectar4534. This creates a direct link with nature's energy sources and acts as an incentive to cover mobility energy requirements through more trees and at the same time maintain natural resources.

The Los Angeles Design Challenge is part of the Design Los Angeles conference, taking place from 17 to 18 November 2010 as part of the Los Angeles Auto Show.

2010 Mercedes-Benz Sport Cars Biome Concept

How to write a car blog?

Many people are asking how long it takes to write an article in my blog. And I always say, it doesn’t take more than half an hour but their face shows that they are not satisfied with the answer. For this reason, I took a video of yesterday’s post and upload on YouTube. The original video is 7 minutes and 26 seconds long but it is too long and too boring and I converted it to sixteen times faster frame rate and it became 26 28 seconds :)

Italian Passion, German Perfektion

I always try to highlight the passion and soul in Italian cars. They always have a distinctive character and sometime they can drive you crazy, actually most of the times! To understand the difference between German and Italian cars, I found an excellent example.

There are three videos. One from Mercedes-Benz, one from BMW and one from Lamborghini. The content of the videos are the same, engine production and testing. In German videos, there is no music or anything, camera was recording the production with no effects or anything. Just recording what really happening! Technically very nice video but boring but the German engines are the state of the art technology. They are the best engines on earth. Okay some of their engines are not that good but the ones in these videos are excellent :)

On the other hand Lamborghini’s video is expressing the passion and the sensation of the Lamborghini brand. The content of the video is the same, engine production. Hopefully Lamborghini did not lose its soul despite it Germany owner.

2011 Porsche Sport Cars Cayman R

2011 Porsche Sport Cars Cayman R

A couple days ago Porsche released a press statement saying that it will unveil a new “mid-engine sports car” at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show, it’s 2011 Porsche Cayman R. The Porsche alphabet reserves the letter R for very special sports cars: R for responsive and refined – but most especially for racy. The new Cayman R combines all these attributes without compromise. 2011 Porsche Sport Cars Cayman R has further developed the car by reducing weight, increasing horsepower and raising agility and handling to new heights.

Weighing 55 kg less than the equivalent Cayman S, and the new mid-engine coupé from Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, is designed for spectacular road behaviour, the 330 hp Porsche Cayman R has been created for one reason: pure, distilled driving dynamics. With its highly-tuned sports suspension and vigilant attention to weight savings, the new Cayman model offers a driving experience even more precise than that of the acclaimed Cayman S. The 2011 Porsche Sport Cars Cayman R makes its world debut today at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

2011 Porsche Sport Cars Cayman R

Power for the 2011 Porsche Sport Cars Cayman R comes from a tuned 3.4L inline 6-cylinder engine making a total of 330-hp allowing for a 0-62 mph time of 5 seconds when mated to a 6-speed manual and 4.9 seconds when mated to Porsche’s 7-speed PDK transmission. Adding the optional Sport Chrono packages brings the 0-62 mph time down to 4.7 seconds. Top speed for the 2011 Porsche Sport Cars Cayman R comes in at 175 mph with a 6-speed manual and 174 mph with the PDK.

For interior 2011 Porsche Sport Cars Cayman R has features Alcantara and leather upholstery, sport seats, strap door handles and a painted console color-keyed to the exterior. Under the skin, the suspension has been enhanced with shorter, more rigid springs and there are customized anti-roll bars on the front and rear axles (the ride height is about 20 millimeters lower than the Cayman S).

2011 Porsche Sport Cars Cayman R

Tracing its lineage back to the famous mid-engined 904 coupes of the 1960s, the Porsche Cayman R celebrates its world premiere at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show on November 17, 2010.

The new 2011 Porsche Sport Cars Cayman R will go on sale from February 2011, priced from £51,731 ( $66,300 ) and the price in Germany will be EUR 69,830 inclusive of 19 percent VAT and country-specific equipment items. Go to www.porsche.com/cayman-r-live to listen to the Porsche press conference broadcast live from the Los Angeles Auto Show starting 7:55 p.m. German Time.

2011 Porsche Sport Cars Cayman R

Don't buy Winter Tyres!

Winter tyres, in UK this sounds a bit weird. What is it for? Many people are saying this and they are right. For eighteen years in UK history, they did not see proper snow so they did not have a solid reason to buy winter tyre. However during last two years, the white thing that comes from the sky became a huge problem. And people started to wonder, is there something for snow?

Continental tyres UK Twitter page is working really hard to increase the attention towards winter tyre and my journalist also publishing posts in twitter to increase the awareness. But the result is not very satisfying, I talked with many people and they all say “it is expensive”. Yes, car is not something expensive and you bought it from one-pound store. And winter tyres perceived as expensive. This sounds interesting but it is the ugly truth.

Similar story happened in Turkey also, many people were saying a tyre cannot change the way car goes on snow. And they ignored, after many bad incidents now everyone is rushing to replace their tyres on winter.

I can understand financial pressure of buying four extra tyres and people did not see the real difference between winter tyres and summer tyres. Instead of trying to increase their awareness for winter tyres, let people learn by their selves! For that reason I would like to share the “advantages” of not to buy winter tyres!

First of all; if you have problem with manual cars and stall your car all the time don’t buy winter tyres because you don’t have to worry about the clutch in snow. You will just leave the clutch and car will not go anywhere despite the engine is still working!

One of the other important advantages for avoiding winter tyres is to understand the meaning of friction. Because; while your car is sliding nicely without responding to your controls, you will learn the friction differences between snow and dry!

This sliding opportunity will also help you to make new friendship. Forget Facebook and Twitter, they are for summer times :) When your car started to slip with no control, it will hit somewhere. This is very basic, every objects hits somewhere to stop! So, sliding will not last forever and you will hit to a vehicle or an object or some other places. In the end some people will come to help you or the other drive come to express own nice feelings to you. But you will make this friendship instant, no private message, no wall posting! Directly, face-to-face. But I cannot guarantee how long and how will last.

As a result of sliding and meeting with a new people, you might need to call some numbers. Of course, not for reservation in a restaurant. You will be calling emergency number to report the incident. And you will be able to calculate how quick an ambulance can arrive after your phone call in winter while you are shaking from cold. Also you will experience the privilege to attend a car with siren and colourful light and that is called ambulance. You will be the fastest moving vertical person on street!

If you are lucky, you will have a nice conversation with the insurance company and then call your “new” friends and then go to service and this will repeat for quite long time. If you are not that lucky, you can measure the love of your friends through their visit in hospital. And also you will have chance to taste hospital food, learn about the problems of health system.

If you do not wish to experience this stupid story, go and buy winter tyres. They are much cheaper than all of these and it will help you to make better friendship with no anger involved :)

Pictures' Copyrights

Continental, Mercedes

2010 Spyker Sport Cars C8 Aileron Spyder

2010 Spyker Sport Cars C8 Aileron Spyder

Today introduced the first prototype of the Spyder version of its all-new second-generation sports cars, the Spyker C8 Aileron. Spyker Cars, manufacturer of exclusive, hand-crafted sports cars since 2000. The 2010 Spyker Sport Cars C8 Aileron Spyder was unveiled at the Spyker lounge on Peter Hay Hill on Saturday, and subsequently displayed on the concept lawn at the 59th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on Sunday.

Zeewolde, The Netherlands (4 November 2010) – The Spyker C8 Aileron Spyder concept makes its UK debut today at MPH The Prestige and Performance Motor Show at Earls Court in London. For the first time, British motoring enthusiasts visiting the annual celebration of performance motoring will be able to lay their eyes on one of the most exclusive cars in the world.

2010 Spyker Sport Cars C8 Aileron Spyder

The Spyker C8 Aileron is an advanced mid-engine, two-seat sports cars, featuring a longer wheelbase than Spyker's existing sports cars, the C8 Laviolette and convertible C8 Spyder. The Spyker C8 Aileron Spyder sports a high-quality, semi-automatic canvas soft-top. The roof's operation is electric/hydraulic, secured by one central latch operated manually.

The 2010 Spyker Sport Cars C8 Aileron Spyder uses the Audi 4.2 litre V8 engine, delivering 400 bhp and is available with two transmission alternatives. The first one is a 6-speed Getrag manual gearbox, with ratios perfectly matched to the V8 engine. A ZF 6-speed automatic gearbox is optional, which comes standard with paddle shifts behind the steering wheel. Both transmissions retain Spyker's trademark exposed gear change mechanism.

2010 Spyker Sport Cars C8 Aileron Spyder

The 2010 Spyker Sport Cars C8 Aileron Spyder features an all-aluminium V8 engine producing 400 bhp and generating 354 lbs of torque at 3,400 rpm. The engine is paired to a manual six-speed gearbox, driving the rear wheels via a limited slip differential. For the first time, Spyker is offering an optional automatic transmission on the C8 Aileron. The Aileron delivers a top speed of 300km/h (187 mph) and accelerates from standstill to 60 mph in a mere 4.5 seconds.

The 2010 Spyker Sport Cars C8 Aileron Spyder is fitted with a brand new front and rear independent double-wishbone suspension system developed by Lotus. The new suspension system includes a new kinematic layout of the front and rear suspension, front and rear stabilizer bars, mono-tube dampers, coil over damper steel springs, anti-dive and anti-squat setup for improved handling properties.

2010 Spyker Sport Cars C8 Aileron Spyder

All Kharma sound systems are developed, assembled and tested in the Netherlands, with the utmost care by a team of highly engaged specialists. These characteristics of high-quality products and exclusiveness are fully in line with Spyker's brand values of craftsmanship and exclusivity.

Spyker Cars has announced the development of a C8 Spyder convertible spoiler at the Geneva Salon in March, at the launch of the 2010 Spyker Sport Cars C8 Aileron Spyder version of the series. The car is now the first prototype for the convertible model, the production in the first half of 2010 will begin.

The Spyker C8 Aileron comes with an unlimited 3-year manufacturer's warranty. Price: $210,000.

2010 Spyker Sport Cars C8 Aileron Spyder

New BMW 6 Series Coupe, hoppss that's a Cabrio!

In my blog I don’t like to talk about new cars and their features, because you can find all these information nearly in everywhere. However sometimes there are some exceptions like new BMW 6 Series. Last week BMW revealed the pictures of new 6 Series cabrio, not coupe! Usual car companies reveal the coupe models first and later they reveal the cabrio. This time BMW did the opposite and revealed the cabrio!

It will have all the BMW technology which you can find in 7 Series. Active steering, active something, active that thing. You can read the details from their press release. The distinctive thing with the new 6 Series is the interior. Usually BMW does not offer this good interior, okay BMW is a luxury brand it is not Aston Martin! Let’s be reasonable, BMW is also producing something called 1 Series! This time they changed everything in this segment. The interior is exquisite, even the Bentley Continental GT does not offer this beautiful interior design. Also the material combination is excellent, nowadays car manufacturers place an aluminium which was left unused in warehouse and offer as something interesting. Always you can understand that the metal part attached to interior is to create a more luxury impression, which never does! New BMW 6 Series interior is a very good example for how to combine different materials in a harmony and don’t create any irritating look.

Actually I don’t mind the engine size or acceleration performance with this interior is good to hinder the technical facts!

Press Release 

Pictures', Video Copyrights
BMW