scouring

Glady Reign asked:


The third model to use the Volvo V70 moniker was officially unveiled by Volvo at this year’s Chicago Auto Show which was held on the second of February. Unlike its previous generations, the new Volvo V70 delivers with a new five-cylinder D5 diesel engine, a four-cylinder flex-fuel option, and a new top-end six-cylinder twin-scroll turbo engine, plus an E85 option.

The second-generation D5 five-cylinder diesel option integrated to the estate produces 185 horsepower and 400 pound feet of torque across its range. The D5 features a new electronically controlled turbocharger, engine management system and more advanced multi-point injection technology. The estimated fuel consumption is 6.5 l/100km with CO2 emissions of 173 g/km. The vehicle will be available in a FlexiFuel E85 alternative. The FlexiFuel model uses a four-cylinder naturally aspirated engine that is quite capable of generating 145 units of horsepower.

The new Volvo V70 is an estate version of the second generation Volvo S80, which also incorporates significant Volvo S70 parts. The Volvo V70 shares the same metal sheet with its siblings however it uses Volvo’s new design direction that combines Scandinavian and modern styling. The latter can be reflected in its different bodystyles that include the grille and the front bumper. The dashboard and the majority of the interior of the car are basically the same, nonetheless.

“This segment has been our specialty ever since we invented it back in the 1950s,” said Fredrik Arp, Volvo Cars President and CEO. “Our competitors can count on us remaining number one in the future, too. In the all-new V70, rear passengers and luggage both ride in first class.” Arp added, “The attitude towards the modern wagon has undergone a significant change. With greater focus on design and comfort, the all-new V70 is both luxurious and practical. It’s not just for families with growing children but also for active people that demand everything of their cars. In fact, we expect that half of all V70 buyers won’t actually be families with children.”

As the estate version of Volvo S80, the Volvo V70 is not really a direct replacement for the previous model. The latest version is designed to compete with the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the BMW 5-Series estate versions while its predecessors were aimed at the class below.

The use of the Volvo V70 moniker suggests continuity with the automaker’s estate range. The estate is available in as front or all-wheel drive with manual, automatic or Geartronic, semi-automatic gearboxes. Just like its predecessors, there is an all-wheel drive only variant with raised suspension, plastic body cladding and an interior grab handle. This version was famed as the Volvo V70 XC for the older cars, but was later renamed the Volvo XC70.

Also followed from the previous generation was the use of 5 cylinder, 20 valve inline transversely mounted engines. All but the bottom range 2.4 employ turbochargers with either low or high pressure depending on the model.

According to the automaker comfort is a major consideration on the Volvo V70. The seats use the orthopedic design to offer utmost comfort and support. Dual-zone climate control, high end audio equipment with the Dolby Pro Logic and sub-woofers are available on all models.

The Volvo V70 is also equipped with driver, passenger, side and curtain airbags as standard features. Also featured on the front seats is the WHIPS whiplash prevention system. It also features the BLIS blind-spot sensor system that is designed to detect vehicles within its “blind spot.” As a Volvo vehicle, the V70 use headlamps that are designed to provide extra visibility. The vehicle got five stars in the NHTSA safety testing.

Bechara Aboul-nasr asked:


No matter how you call it, every car change brings us new systems and functions.

No matter what you do, this trend will keep growing too, thanks to the electronics revolution in the car industry, or as some like to call it, the electronics invasion.

Funnily enough, we all point far more to the electronic glitches, to the famous dead-computer blue screen, than to the enormous time-, cost- and life-saving systems we are getting cheaper and cheaper, from those daily criticised electronics.

We all forget too easily the mechanical and hydraulic failures we used to have a few decades ago, as drivers or as kids in dad’s or mum’s car.

Despite the usual moaning about electronics and computers glitches, who is ready to get rid of his/her computer, or car electronics, and get back to the Spartan rides and filing cabinets?

Who can imagine any customer asking for a traditional engine instead of an electronically managed one, with all the latter’s power and torque advantages; weight, noise, vibration, consumption and pollution reduction; longer and longer service intervals; neater presentation under the hood…

If electronics were so incorrigibly flawed, how come the markets did not revert yet to the full mechanical-hydraulic systems, away from electronics? Aren’t we living in supply-and-demand markets?

Of course, the supply is only offering more and more electronically controlled systems. But if there was really a significant market for “electrophobic” cars, how come no car maker grabbed such an opportunity?

Since the eighties, we started the electronic x-by-wire march, where x can represent drive (drive-by-wire), steering (steer-by-wire), braking (brake-by-wire), or any system based on sensors collecting data (speed, temperature, pressure, force…) and software analysing it and sending the appropriate electronic “orders” to actuators executing them, by mechanical means at the end.

This era started gently, with electronic engine management systems integrating the drive-by-wire, or simply put, the electronic connection between the gas pedal and the injection system (instead of the cable). Then came the gradual integration of ABS, traction control, ESP, hill descent and hill climb control, arriving today to the automatic brake discs drying and pressure building according to driving conditions, lane change warning, etc…

One thing is certain: we will always need a “hardware”, like a brake pad and a disc to stop the wheel, even if we replace the hydraulic pipes and the brake booster by some electronic devices.

The same applies to the steering-by-wire. Even when we will get rid of the mechanical link between the steering (or a joystick or whatever we steer the car with) and the wheels, we will always need some “hardware” to push mechanically the wheels right or left, and son on. Hence the word mechatronics.

A lot has been written, and even more will be written about the electronics revolution. All manufacturers, and especially suppliers are working on more system integration through electronics. ABS, TC, ESP and many more sophisticated functions are being integrated in one major system, with sub-systems controlling more functions, making every sensor work for several “bosses”, avoiding duplication.

One of the major players in this field, Siemens VDO Automotive is displaying several pioneering technologies at the 61st Frankfurt motor show (15-25 September). Except for the MS 2100 portable navigation system, which is launched to the market, the other technologies give us a clearer view about completely new systems promised for production with the next few years.

Since Siemens VDO Automotive is tempting us, let’s have a look at our next cars contents.

For a brief presentation on each of these technologies, click at the following:

http://www.motiontrends.com/2005/m09eng/siemens/brakes/electronic wedgebrake.shtml http://www.motiontrends.com/2005/m09eng/siemens/modularcockpit/mo dularcockpit.shtml http://www.motiontrends.com/2005/m09eng/siemens/driverassist/driv erassistancenetwork.shtml http://www.motiontrends.com/2005/m09eng/siemens/hybridcar/hybrid. shtml http://www.motiontrends.com/2005/m09eng/siemens/navigationsystem/ daytonms2100.shtm

Tom Tessin asked:


Suppliers that fail to be ahead of regulations, standards, and consumer requirements can suffer in bringing up new automotive technologies to market.

In early days of auto industry, latest technologies tend to introduce in random manner, at times based on inventor’s whim or possibly even dream tinkerer had night before. Great Bentley brought in aluminum pistons in automobiles due to decorative piston shaped paperweight that he had seen! To men and women functioning in this area, vagaries that enclose successful new automotive technology introductions most likely seem wide open. For each technology that embraces, over 10 potential fresh ones are been discarded. Steam cooled engines, talking dashboards, plastic cylinder blocks, as well as high-temperature electric batteries are some of ideas, which sounds good at some point, however finished up on the industry’s discard pile.

In order understand forces at work — and huge investments that they make — means knowing four main drivers of the automotive technology achievement and failure. Those 4 drivers are:

The robustness of technology platform: Accurately, is a technology market ready? Obstructions to robustness comprise lack of resources possessing properties needed, insufficient control plans to make thing work in a field, short of infrastructure to hold up invention, unproven construction processes as well as faulty and under-optimized product & process designs.

Many of obstacles to market readiness for new technology is related to lack of required control and pointer systems. The anti-lock brakes were foiled for years unless necessary sensor patterns and cheaply obtainable digital power caught up. Original ABS systems that was introduced by Hayes & Bendix in 1960s utlized analog PC systems, which had important performance, cost & dependability drawbacks — in some other words, they did not work very well! Ever more, robustness comprises of ability to net with industry wide standards when they evolve.

One more key “gating feature” for automotive technology is materials performance. Some designs developed in early days of automobile might succeed if materials were available with necessary performance properties. Key to Ford Model success and indestructibility need to do with the apply of molybdenum steel that was hardly at limits of the commercial feasibility until obsessed Ford drove the producers to build necessary developments.

Lack of transportation also constricts technology’s marketplace readiness. The major obstacles facing today’s substitute fuel technologies is a lack of fueling and charging stations for the natural gas and electric cars. Lastly, less than optimal basic pattern solutions have harshly inhibited latest technology robustness, in spite of soundness of an underlying pattern.

Entertainment & Convenience. The satellite radios allow drivers listen to favorite music and radio programming continuous across all over the country. Some also straight connect Mp3 player in stereo system. Some cars feature the DVD systems in order to keep the passengers calm. Moveable GPS systems are used in whatsoever car you are driving and phones can give maps as well as driving directions.

There is so many more technological advances that will happen in the future. Keep up to date with items as mentioned above by checking your local paper or even the Internet. Technology is a great thing.

Alexander G. Aleksandrov asked:


Shenzhen, China (PRWeb) November 21, 2006 — Will people considering upgrading a car audio system in 2007 to something a bit more impressive than a standard car stereo / radio, only stick to well-known brands, or can they consider opting for something a lot cheaper? Wholesale importers think they already know the answer to that question, which is why in the New Year consumers can expect to see a lot more multimedia car gadgets where the only “brand” they need to know is “Made In China”.

Chinavasion recently hit the news for being the first gadget wholesaler to release a new MP4 player watch that lets you watch full colour video and listen to MP3 music, all in a normal wristwatch. Gadget-lovers will also find much to impress in Chinavasion’s Car Audio and Car DVD categories. Popular Chinese-made car entertainment products which Chinavasion makes available through their online wholesale electronics shop include region-free car DVD players, cheap car headrest monitors, car MP3 adapters, CD players that also connect directly to MP3 players or SD /MMC flash memory cards, and a wide range of Bluetooth and hands-free products.

Other innovations include a complete DVD player and screen built into a passenger side car sun visor, a discount in-dash DVD player bundled with car parking radar detectors plus rear view camera, and a handheld ODB2 Car Diagnostic Checker that lets users switch off their “Check Engine” light and diagnose car engine problems without needing to visit a mechanic.

Chinavasion’s new expanded category can be found here: http://www.chinavasion.com/index.php/cName/car-audio-car-stereo/

According to Rose Li, Public Relations Director at the Chinese Wholesaler Chinavasion.com, brands are becoming less important than price for many vendors and consumers: “We’re used to seeing electronics firms go up against each other - big brand names competing. For instance, the Microsoft Zune is being reported as a possible iPod killer. But in reality — when you look at the numbers, the killer is already there, and the consumers know it — it’s cheap electronics from China.”

Until recently only large corporations such as Wal-Mart and experienced importers were able to source products from factories in Mainland China. Up until around five years ago, before internet B2B sourcing came into its own, the communication difficulties made exporting car audio and MP3 products from the newly open market in China too complicated for most small and medium businesses.

With “online China sourcing” B2B portals springing up, and innovative online traders and wholesalers offering electronics and other export products for sale direct from Hong Kong and China, it’s becoming increasingly realistic for all sizes of business to “Go Asian” and buy at prices substantially lower than western wholesale rates.

“You just have to look at eBay in the USA and UK - the massively selling items are all Chinese electronics, and it’s really spilling over into retail shops now as well,” says Chinavasion’s Rose Li. “With MP3 players, consumers are focused on original designs and above all on price. So what’s really making a dent in iPod sales are the hundreds of thousands of generic - but decent quality - MP3 Players being sold direct from Hong Kong and China through eBay. Exactly the same effect is quickly emerging in Car DVD Player and Car Stereo sales in our wholesale markets in Europe and the States.”

Online malls (such as Yahoo Stores owners) and eBay sellers are widely seen as small-scale importers, with little effect on the market. However, as more consumers turn to online shopping to beat the prices of wholesale stores, “Power Sellers” online are shifting the focus towards cheaper imported electronics. “China is without a doubt the leading wholesale electronics source for eBay and Mercadolivre,” says Rose Li. “You can see the trend developing, that with trustworthy and simple wholesale ordering methods directly from China - at China prices - it makes total sense for car audio and car video product wholesale buyers to cut out their local middlemen and bring better prices to their customers.”

Chinavasion’s website announces new products every month and Rose Li states the flexibility of Chinese car electronics factories as a major competitive factor. “Looking at the big car audio / car stereo brands, like Pioneer and Kenwood, they hold their high prices due to their reputation. However, in terms of functionality, the designers of these products can’t innovate so often because of the slow response time in large scale factory production. The difference with sourcing no-brand or small-brand car stereos, car DVD players, and car monitors from China is that each factory is producing a new model every month. And there are literally hundreds of different factories around Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dongguan, and Shenzhen all competing to come out with the latest car gadgets. The bigger companies will feel the heat more and more, especially as Car DVD players become more mainstream and consumers demand something newer and cheaper. But for electronics importers and medium-scale car audio / video businesses it’s only good news from here.”

About Chinavasion Wholesale Co. Ltd.

Chinavasion is a Chinese-owned electronics wholesale company, specializing in Car Audio products, Car DVD and Video, and Car Accessories - as well as Digital Cameras and MP3 Players. For more details visit:

http://www.chinavasion.com/

Source: http://www.emediawire.com/

Jeremiah asked:


Water4Gas is a technology based on splitting water on board a vehicle, and using the resulting gases not to drive the vehicle - but only to boost the efficiency of its combustion.

It is a Do-It-Yourself technology, specifically designed for beginners with no special tools and very limited budgets. A working system can be built at home with basic hand tools for $20-$100, installed in minutes and removed in seconds.

No modifications to the engine, computer or fuel injection systems, so any backyard mechanic can install it easily.

The technology is age old, over 91 years. All we’ve done is raise it from the dead and develop a simple structure based on low cost hardware. Although there is a myriad of hydrogen generating designs out there, ours is the simplest and also the safest for the beginner. The electrolyzer, bubbler and water reservoir have all been combined into one super-simple device.

Another advantage is the employment of coiled/spiraled electrode WIRES - rather than flat plates or spiraled plates. The magnetic vortex created by the coil assists water splitting, so we don’t need as much power from the car’s electrical system, thus simplifying the system even further and lowering its cost.

Three major factors work together to cause water splitting: direct current flowing through the electrode wires to the water, the magnetic vortex created by the shape of the electrodes, and the vacuum provided by the engine itself.

The effects of this technology is lowered emissions and improved mileage, simply due to a MORE COMPLETE COMBUSTION. Today’s internal combustion engines suffer from poor efficiency of 20%-25%, as any mechanic will tell you; 75%-80% of the gasoline, instead of being converted to forward motion, is instead converted to pollution and carbon deposits (unburned fuel), as well as heat (global warming), vibration and noise (knocking/pinging).

THE MAIN PROBLEM IS OVERSIZED FUEL DROPLETS IN THE MIXTURE. The Hydrogen, being such a small particle, hits a droplet, cuts it into smaller droplets and attaches itself to the smaller droplets. Now the finer, hydrogen-enhanced mixture, is capable of burning more thoroughly.

On top of improved performance, the engine steam-cleans itself every day, and the resulting effect is smoother and quieter operation. One of our staff was shocked when she checked her engine oil and was sure that her oil ran totally out. Actually what happened was that while she was expecting dark brown, dirty oil, the oil was actually so transparent that she could not see it on the dip stick. Her 20-year-old car is as smooth now (with our device on) as it was when she bought it 17 years ago.

Another lady “complained” that she could not hear the engine running…but to her surprise the car was still moving along.

Our technology is not capable of running a car on water alone. Our aim is not to replace gasoline but to enhance it - and open the door and the mind to the possibilities of waterfuel technology. With correct fine tuning we can double the mileage, rendering a new energy balance: half gasoline, half water. Very little water is used, in an economy car it’s around 2700 miles per gallon of distilled water, together with 4-6 teaspoons of household baking soda as catalyst. We have demonstrated many times that the fuel consumption of a 4-stroke generator can also be cut in half with our technology.

Not all cars, loads and driving conditions will gain the same, obviously. For ethical reasons we do not build up expectations for more than 10%-50% improvement in fuel economy, however we are getting daily success stories from experimenters who are seeing gains of 80%-100% in various vehicles. For some, significant economy gains inflict a revelation that something can be done about it, while for others it’s a life changing factor.

We sell books that teach EVERYTHING about the technology and how to manufacture it, as well as sponsoring a f’ree marketplace where sellers and buyers of actual systems can find each other and trade without interference and without any fees paid to us. Like in the Golden Age of Greece - no police, very little government.

At the time of writing we have more than 3200 satisfied customers, over 400 registered independent manufacturers/installers, and an unknown number of affiliates promoting us all over the world. 85%-90% of our sales occur via affiliates, and more are joining due to the generous 50% commission rate and the skyrocketing popularity of the product and the technology.

All in all, Water4Gas has become a buzzword for practicality and affordability. Our policy is to guide the readers toward a mindset of an experimenter rather than a driver that takes things for granted. We teach them that something can be done about gas prices, pollution and global warming, and they gladly take an active role and help to spread the word.

At the time of writing the technology is only for gasoline and diesel cars and trucks. However many of our experimenters are working on adaptations to propane/LPG/CNG propelled vehicles, as well as boats and other applications such as stationary generators.

We’re getting daily requests from business people around the world, as well as inventors inspired by our success, requesting that we work with them to advance their goals and purposes. We help as much as we can, including bridging the gap between investors and inventors, as well as between inventors/developers seeking to complement their technologies with supporting ones (such as a bridge we’ve created between an English fuel cell and an American pure-hydrogen generator).

Thus Water4Gas has emerged and evolved in one year from a small home-based business to become a global junction for waterfuel technologies, inspiration and leadership.

Water for Gas Review

Gregg Hall asked:


It seems that almost as soon as a new idea gets made reality in the world of automobiles, there is another idea to push that achievement even further than before. We moved from carburetors to fuel injection, added GPS systems, and finally made sure that almost every model comes with automatic transmissions. But, has all that actually been an improvement over the old way of driving? Or has it actually caused more problems than it has fixed? To put it in direct terms, is the increased cost and hassle of new technological gizmos in automobiles worth it?

For instance, in the old days if your car keys were stolen or if you lost them, all you would need to do to get a replacement set made from your spare copy would be to head to your local locksmith, or even to a hardware store that could make copies of keys. But today’s cars are equipped with electronic locks that require electronic keys.

To get these replaced, you have to visit the dealership, or one of the select few licensed digital blacksmiths who can make a replacement key for you. Why is this process so difficult? Because, rather than a physical key that turns a tumbler within a lock, new electronic lock systems are code based, with a secret signal held in the key being transmitted to the engine when the key is inserted into the ignition. Only licensed professionals, such as dealers, are allowed to access the code stored on your key, or to make a new key that will transport this information. All of this has lead to a large increase, according to the American Automobile Association, in lock outs and other problems related to misplaced keys.

Another problem with computers and electronics that are installed in our vehicles is the simple fact that sometimes they have glitches. Think of the computer you are reading this article on, or about any of the past computers you have used. Can you think of an instance where these electronic devices had a serious problem? You’re probably thinking of more than one instance. Now think about your car. How many times has the electronically controlled “service engine soon” light switched on for no reason? And how much did it cost you every visit to the dealer to find out that, in fact, the light was on for no reason?

Now, it would be great if you could simply plug in your car to a computer and that computer could tell you precisely what is wrong with it. But that isn’t usually ever the case of how these things work. And, what’s more, the added cost makes the scant moments when such a technological achievement occur not worth it. What we need to be asking ourselves is, do we need all this technological junk in our cars?