Archive for the ‘Hybrid Sports Car’ Category
What was everyone doing when Toyota developed the Prius? With its hybrid technology, the Prius was hailed as the answer to our problems. A cleaner, greener alternative for those who wanted to save the world but still wanted, or needed, a car to drive round it. Other manufacturers seemed to be slow to develop hybrid technology. So what have they been doing while Toyota surged ahead? Well, one manufacturer, BMW, have been taking some of the best bits off the hybrid and combining them with existing technology, to produce much more fuel efficient and therefore much cleaner cars. Cleaner cars that seem to be able to out perform the hybrids in almost all departments.
When you look at it BMW seem to have had one of the harder jobs when it comes to reducing their overall Co2 emissions. They’ve been known for producing large 4 x 4’s and luxury sports cars. Not the type of cars that offer the best solutions to our environmental problems. However, with this clever mix of existing technology and the development of better engines they have managed to reduce their average Co2 emissions by 26g/km, a saving of over a third of a tonne per year for vehicles fitted with EfficientDynamics. So, how have they done it?
Well, first you have to look at the engines. BMW have developed a high precision injection system, that alongside the ultra-light aluminium crankcase and variable twin turbo technology have allowed the models fitted with EfficientDynamics to increase power whilst reducing emissions. Formula One technology that has been developed and proved in the hardest arena in the world.
Stop start technology is another major factor in reducing emissions. Pull up at the traffic lights and the engine on the BMW stops, press your foot on the accelerator and the engine automatically kicks back into life, saving you money and not choking the planet whilst standing still. This clever bit of kit also tells you when the optimum time is to change gear, also adding to the BMW’s frugality.
Lighter materials have not only been used under the bonnet, they’ve also been used in the manufacture of the boot and the roof on some models. Cutting down on the overall weight of the car is not rocket science and it will obviously impact on the performance of the vehicle. Previously, performance was equated with speed, fortunately performance now covers all aspects of the car, including efficiency and economy.
Brake energy regeneration, electric power steering, an electric coolant pump and small flaps that open and close in the front grille to improve aerodynamic efficiency have all contributed in reducing emissions, making BMW a leader in the luxury car market when it comes to complying with the new Euro V legislation that will come into force in the next decade.
So, do we need full hybrids? Well if you break it down to figures alone it is not quite so clear cut. The BMW 1 Series118d EfficientDynamics achieves 62.8 miles per gallon on the combined cycle as opposed to the Prius that manages 65.7 mpg. Co2 emissions are 119 g/km for the BMW, 104g/km for the Prius. However, take into account the batteries that are used to power the Prius and it becomes slightly hazier. Manufacturing processes and the disposal of spent batteries will obviously have an environmental impact and produce plenty of Co2. Is that impact greater than the small advantages gained? The UK government and the British media would certainly like to know and as a result have asked Toyota to supply them with the figures. As of yet Toyota have not been forthcoming.
With all this in mind, BMW will no doubt continue to refine their EfficientDynamics range, no doubt producing more and more frugal variants, with the gap already small does this mark an end to full blown hybrids? Only time will tell.
Dave Foord
http://www.articlesbase.com/cars-articles/bmw-efficientdynamics-is-it-the-end-of-the-hybrid-675181.html
I wouldn’t because I need to hear the engine, thats the whole point of a sports car. I hope enough people buy electic and Hybrid Cars to save the planet so I don’t have to. I choose to save the planet in other ways, but not with my car.
NO. As you said it just would not sound right.
Toyota exhibit of the FT-HS Hybrid sports concept car at the 2007 Detroit auto show.
Recently confirmed by Best Car magazine as the next gen Supra !
http://www.7tune.com/2011-hybrid-supra-successor/
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If you are used to driving a large 4×4 vehicle or you just want to experience it whilst on holiday hiring a 4×4 in Spain couldn’t be easier. If you know your trip is going to take you to some of the more remote areas of the country or you will be travelling along untracked roads a hire 4×4 car could help you immensely. Not only are they capable of transporting you over rough terrain they benefit from having a huge capacity for luggage or sports equipment and also very spacious seating sometimes enough for seven people.
4 wheel drive vehicles offer a different perspective on driving, you can go almost anywhere nothing can stand in your way. Often some Spanish houses are located very remotely or a long way up winding hill pass roads. A 4×4 will transport you and your family safely and in comfort.
In 1900 Ferdinand Porsche the man who would go on to found the Porsche company we know and love today invented a vehicle called La Toujours Contente The car was the first four wheel drive vehicle created although it isn’t exactly a car like we know today. He started of by designing a car which had four independent battery powered motors set in the wheel hubs. Later his idea grew to include a petrol engine which ran a dynamo powering the four electric motors. This invention proved far too expensive for the day but unbelievably and ironically is what most motor manufacturers are striving to build today. Hybrid Cars of the future will work in a very similar way as Ferdinand Porsche’s first four wheel drive machine. The man’s thinking was simply a hundred years or so early.
Dutch motor racing group Spyker built and exhibited the worlds first full time four wheel drive vehicle at the Paris motor show in December 1903. Spyker always were an obscure company designing revolutionary but weirdly created vehicles; sadly fell among hard times and ceased trading, today luckily Spyker have been reborn from the ashes to once again build bonkers Dutch cars this time aiming at the super car market with the insane styling of the Laviolette. It wasn’t until 1907 that two South Australian men Felix and Norman Caldwell, applied for a patent for four wheel drive plus four wheel steer that the revolutionary system was realized.
Today a 4×4 car works in much the same way a conventional vehicle does with one or two slight differences. In a convention front or rear wheel drive car drive, or motion is taken from the engine and passed into a differential, the power and forward motion is then divided between the two wheels through a series of gearing. Wheels turn independently of each other allowing a car to go around corners when one wheel would turn faster than the other. In a four wheel drive car the differential splits power via an additional drive shaft to all for wheels. Again the differential allows “slip” so that the car can corner. However when you are on very soft or wet terrain the differentials can be altered to give limited “slip” or even locked so that all four wheels turn at the same time giving unbeatable traction.
A 4×4 drive vehicle is usually equipped with a low ratio gear box. This means that when climbing steep slopes or negotiating boggy terrain the engine revs can be kept high turning the wheels very slowly. The low ratio gears are selected only when needed from a secondary gear stick or switch inside the vehicle. Now there really is no stopping you as traction, torque and power are at heir greatest. But don’t attempt to go too quickly or you can damage the crucial gears.
Combined with highly sprung independent suspension to raise you above the deep ruts and boulders and rugged large off road tyres which give grip and ride comfort these monsters of on and off road are the ultimate hire car experience.
Michael J Lee
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/where-to-find-the-best-4×4-car-hire-755992.html
