Wednesday, April 21, 2010
2011 Hyundai Sonata
2010 Nissan Altima Sedan
Upon introduction, the 2.5 is equipped with a standard 2.5-liter, I4, 175-horsepower engine that achieves 23-mpg in the city and 32-mpg on the highway. The 3.5 SR is equipped with a standard 3.5-liter, V6, 270-horsepower engine that achieves 20-mpg in the city and 27-mpg on the highway. A variable speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard on both trims.
2010 Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Upon introduction, the C300 Sport Sedan is equipped with a standard 3.0-liter, V6, 228-horsepower engine that achieves 18-mpg in the city and 26-mpg on the highway. A 6-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard. The C63 AMG Sport Sedan is equipped with a standard 6.2-liter, V8, 451-horsepower engine that achieves 12-mpg in the city and 19-mpg on the highway. A 7-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard.
2010 Honda Accord Sedan
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Bestowing Early Season Bonehead Blunder Awards
Here I'm thoroughly convinced that Formula One teams are comprised of the best and brightest minds in the automotive business. Each one of those racing machines, particularly those at the front end of the field, are absolute technological marvels. The amount of organizational, engineering, and mechanical knowledge floating around an F1 paddock is staggering. So, it's all the more befuddling when you see one repeated bone head move after another. It seems each week, the F1 circus is intent on one upping each other in blunders.
The true silly season started even before the start of the season. A big Boneheaded Blunder award deservedly goes to our very own USF1 entry, an ambitious project spearheaded by Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson. Big on intellectual horsepower, but woefully short on financial horsepower. Despite preparing early and appearing to have all their "ducks in a row," the team massively underestimated the budget required to even get started with producing a car. We should have known something was amiss when the team was a no-show at the first test session.
Speaking of no-showing at a test session, another big Boneheaded Blunder award goes to Christian Horner, Adrian Newey and the lads over at Red Bull Racing. They decided to skip one of the four test sessions so as to further refine the aerodynamic package - the thought being, "Why test when we're going to make changes?" Here's the reason: to develop reliability. Two races into the season, Sebastian Vettel has seen two easy victories turn into one forth place finish and one DNF. Instead of sitting on 50 points in the championship, he has 12. If we've learned one thing from modern F1, it's that building an early lead in the championship is critical. Will Red Bull make all the tests next pre-season? My money says "yes," particularly if Vettel can't overcome his early season deficit.
While Vettel was failing to finish last week's Australia Grand Prix, the cars of Virgin Racing, driven by Timo Glock and Lucas Di Grassi, went into the race knowing they wouldn't be around at the end. Somehow, with all the technical engineering know-how back at the shop, the boys at Virgin Racing designed a car with a fuel tank that was too small to see their cars to the end of the race in Melbourne. Last year, no big deal. This year, the first with no refueling allowed since 1993, it's a really, really big deal. It's not like they were a few drops shy. They estimated they were a ridiculous 12 liters shy of the fuel necessary, and that's what they admitted to. Either they're planning a very expensive redesign to accommodate a larger fuel cell, or we can expect the Virgin cars to be parked well before the end of several Grands Prix this year. To Virgin, I bestow another Boneheaded Blunder award.
All of the above was prior to today, when the big bully on the F1 block, Ferrari, made another colossal screw-up, bigger so than the shockingly foretelling Massa Malaysian Qualifying Mess-Up of '09. At the Sepang circuit today, both Ferraris were safely ensconced in the garage, out of the elements of the wind and rain, brilliant in their red finish, so sparkling as it was being bone dry. The other cars, mind you, were circling the wet track, posting timed laps - any time - in case the weather got worse. Ferrari gambled, and lost. The weather did get worse, the times grew slower, and by the time the cars of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa took to the track, a sailboat would have been a more preferred vehicle to post a fast time.
Gambling makes total sense when the goal is to be the quickest car. However, the goal of Q1 is not to be quickest; rather, the goal is to not be in the slowest seven, and thus earn your way into Q2. Ferrari gets to start Sunday's race in 19th and 21st. Alongside those honors, they can also show off their own Boneheaded Blunder award.
Car with Flying Lady Hood Ornament
When choosing what ornamentation you want, you have to narrow it down to three things: the type, the era you want it from, and the color. If you are going for the more 'fancy' look, you could simply pick a gemmed accessory. The color of wings is also important, because if your car is a color that does not match with the decoration, it may look just a little odd. Of course, if that's your style, go for it!
If you are going for a slightly different approach, say, gold plated? Then you should absolutely research in that alley. Gold may not be your thing, but it would definitely compliment any silver, white, or black cars immensely. Gold is dandy and all, but what if your just not a 'gold' person? Well, then, chrome is another choice! Not only does it match about any color in existence, but it also has a shining finish to it to top it off!
You might also want to consider the shape. Do you want your lady flying with angel wings, simple bird wings, no wings at all, or just simply gliding in the air? The variations are endless!
Finally, do you want the real thing, or a replica? Antiques cost a fortune, but owning one can bring a great amount of pride, and even more so when one is a rare. Replicas are more on the less expensive side, and can bring just about the same joy as an antique one could!
If you have decided on a replica winged flying lady, which style will you have installed on your ride? There are several color or finish variations of the modern day flying lady hood ornament nicknamed the hood bitch or home bred bitch; chrome wing with die-cast chrome body, gold wing with chrome body, gold body with chrome wings and gold wings with gold body. Besides the standard hood ornament, there is the illuminated flying lady hood ornament with color wings including amber, blue, green, purple and red]
Hood ornaments used to be purely for technical purposes: the radiator cap in the old days. It sat on top of the grille and served as a temperature taker of coolant fluid. When this became an art form, it began to 'speak volumes' about the owner.
Basically, it individualized your car. In the 1920s, 1930s, and the 1940s, these were popular and it created a healthy business. Chrome plate used to be unavailable and only silver and nickel plating was accessible.
Ferrari The Ultimate Supercar
The founder for Ferrari is Enzo Ferrari. Born on the 18th February 1898 in Modena, Italy, Ezno did not have a very formal education because he was not particularly interested in his studies. He was very determined in racing cars. He took up racing when he was 19 but did not have huge success, said Kjell Halvor Landsverk. Kjell landsverk
He then left the tracks and secured a job at Alfa Romeo. He took the job as a car racer with them and found bigger success than he did previously. After racing for Alfa Romeo for more or less 20 years, he left the company to set up his own company, the Auto-Avio Construzini to subsequently build his own racing cars under his own name, Ferrari, said Kjell Halvor Landsverk. The rest as they say is history.
The Enzo Ferrari was the Ferrari that was named exactly after its owner. This Ferrari was built in the year 2003 and it was built using some of the Formula 1 technologies. These technologies include F1-style carbon-ceramic brake discs, carbon-fiber body, and sequential shift transmission, said Kjell Halvor Landsverk. To build a car with the best performance, the designers of this Enzo Ferrari also went as far as to use banned Formula 1 technology which is the active and integrated aerodynamics.
The Enzo Ferrari has the largest engine as compared with the other Ferraris. Despite that fact, the Enzio Ferrari was made with inspirations from the racing tracks. With this reason, the frame of Enzio Ferrari was made out of carbon fiber and aluminum honeycomb panels, said Kjell Halvor Landsverk.
This frame will then form a rigid tub for the Enzo Ferrari. In the middle of the frame is where the new large engine F140 is at. The all new F140 is actually a twelve cylinder engine. This particularly large engine is attached to the alloy sub-frame at two points. The purpose of this design is to prevent the vibrations from escaping into the passenger compartment.
As mentioned about the inspirations from the Formula 1, this Enzo Ferrari uses an electro hydraulic system that automatically activates the clutch and the gear changes. This is actually a semi-automatic gearbox and it helps the driver of the Enzo Ferrari to change their gears in 150 milliseconds. The driver may also achieve gear changes in 90 milliseconds if he is driving the Enzo Ferrari in sport mode, said Kjell Halvor Landsverk.
The uniqueness of this Enzo Ferrari also lies with the embedded electronic system that they used on the sport car. These embedded electronic systems are included to ensure the comfort of the driver while driving the Enzo Ferrari. The designers included a central computer that can synchronize the engine, the suspension, and the transmissions. Inside the Enzo Ferrari, the designers also included the aerodynamic subsystem to optimize the performance and also the wellbeing of the driver, said Kjell Halvor Landsverk.