Posts Tagged ‘ Motor

Lamborghini Showcase Its Talents – But Not Through Motor Shows

Sometimes a car manufacturer does not only do motor shows in order to showcase its capabilities and cars. It does other types of trade shows too. Lamborghini is in Paris showcasing its skills and capability in the development and application of carbon fibre at the JEC Composite Show held on the 13th to 15th April 2010. The JEC is and organization dedicated to promoting composites internationally. It supports the development of these materials by fostering knowledge transfer and exchanges between suppliers and users. To date, the JEC network connects more than 250,000 professionals worldwide from 96 different countries. Lamborghini is the Honoured Guest of the Paris JEC Composite Show, where Lamborghini’s Director of Research and Development Mr. Maurizio Reggiani held an opening address.

Lamborghini had taken up a booth displaying the latest composite material technologies that the company has developed and/or used and basically showcased the stealth fighter lookalike Lamborghini Reventn at the show.

More than 1,000 companies from all areas of the composite materials industry (especially the aeronautical/aviation companies) had participated at the JEC Composite Show. And you would know that product marketing is also carried out here, where CEOs of these companies (who basically can afford a Lamborghini) are present. I would be pretty confident that a few side deals of car enquiries would be entertained aside from the actual composite technology discussion going on.

Anyway, Carbon-fibre reinforced (CFRP) composite materials are becoming key factor within the high-performance automobile sector, especially since this material is extremely high stiff and very light weight. These materials allow high-precision lightweight design and construction and results in an improvement in power-to-weight ratio. This in turn delivers increased driving dynamics while reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Furthermore, within Lamborghini, the utilization of composite materials enables new solutions in the construction of components and, when used as a visual material, offers an extremely aesthetic look to the items utilizing it. Take a look at the Reventn as a very good example.

Lamborghini first gained experience in the application of carbon-fibre composite materials back in the 1980s with the Countach. And now, the flagship model Murcilago (base model of the Reventn) makes extensive use of CFRP in its bodyshell. The bodyshell of the Murcilago weighs only 303 kilograms. A further example is the new Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera, through the increased application of carbon-fibre, its weight compared with the base model has been reduced by around 70 kilograms. The outcome is improved performance with reduced fuel consumption as well as a CO2 reduction of 20.5 percent compared with its predecessor.

If you have an interest in composites, JEC Composites Show Asia will be held in Singapore on 12-14 October 2010 tentatively at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre. Visitors may be limited to trade visitors (or students) only by the looks of it. And Lamborghini may not be participating in this upcoming show but from the 2009 show in Singapore had some automotive companies, mainly Toyota Auto Body Co Ltd and lots of aeronautical composites based companies (if you’re into aviation that is).

Author is a regular writer in a car blog and is knowledgeable about car insurance. He also contributes to car forum regularly.

A Brief History of Bmw Motor Cars

The BMW story starts way back in 1913 with the formation of the Rapp-Motorenwerke company by Karl Rapp. The firm were engaged in the production of aircraft engines from a former bicycle factory located near Munich. It was close to this plant that Gustav Otto established the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG aircraft factory and in 1922 these two organisations merged to form BMW. The letters stand for: Bayerische Motoren Werke.

In their early years BMW produced mainly aircraft engines, but also some motorcycle engines. In fact the BMW badge is supposed to resemble a spinning aircraft propeller. It wasn’t until 1928 when BMW bought a car factory at Eisenach/Thuringia that BMW began producing cars. Along with the factory they bought the licence to produce a small car called the Dixi. The first cars produced by BMW at the plant were badged BMW Dixi, but the word Dixi was soon dropped. They introduced a new model called the BMW 3/15 DA-2 and the success of this car enabled them to survive the great depression.

It was in 1936 that BMW introduced the type 328 roadster which quickly became the most successful sports car of the time. The 328, designed by Fritz Fiedler, featured a number of innovative features including a stylish, aerodynamic body shape. It used an inline 6-cylinder engine which gave the car excellent performance and it was renowned for its excellent handling. The type 328 roadster accumulated a number of prestigious wins on the racing circuit and was nominated as car of the century in 1999.

BMW’s involvement in aircraft engine production during WWII led to a 3 year ban on production at the end of the war. It wasn’t until 1949 that they were able to return to production which they did with the 250cc R24 motorcycle.

It was in 1951 that BMW introduced a spacious, 6-cylinder sedan called the 501. This was followed by the 502 which featured a lightweight alloy V8 engine. Later in the 1950s they began producing the BMW 507, a lightweight, V8 propelled sports car. This was the vehicle they hoped would revive the sporting success they’d achieved with the 328 roadster. But this wasn’t to be. They were losing money on every 507 that was produced and so production stopped in 1960.

Also during the 1950s BMW bought the design and manufacturing rights to the Isetta which was to become one of the most successful microcars in the post WWII years. It was a time when cheap, short distance transportation was much needed and the 2-seater, with an economical 250cc engine, fit the requirements nicely. Manufacturing rights for the Isetta were sold to various production companies around the world and these included the British Railways works in Brighton, UK.

The 1960s saw BMW enjoying a number of notable successes including the BMW 1500 which was a 1499cc, four cylinder touring sedan introduced in 1961. This was the first of the modern BMW sports sedans. They went on to produce a series of popular sedans including the famous BMW 2002. This was a 2-door sedan that had been based upon the 4-door 1600. The 2002 was to be the forerunner of the BMW 3 series and production of this successful model continued until 1976.

By the 1970s BMW had cemented their reputation as an innovative automobile manufacturing company. The 70s saw the introduction of the 3-tier sports sedan range consisting of the 3-series, 5-series and the 7-series. Between 1970 and 1993 BMW car production quadrupled and turnover increased by 1700%.

The 1990s, after 1994, saw BMW take ownership of the British Rover Group. This was not a successful venture and in 2000 BMW disposed of Rover.

Today’s ‘beemers’ have retained their highly prestigious reputation for quality and reliability. The company are taking steps to reduce the impact they and their motor cars have upon the environment so we can expect to see more innovative and exciting developments from the motor car company who have not only survived two world wars and a massive depression, but thrived.

By Tony Gee -

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Benefits of Black Boxes in Motor Cars

When you hear the phrase black box, you may think of an aircraft accident investigation. But the benefit of retrieving data from a flight data recorder in the Black Box is not limited to airlines. You can now find this technology in cars, where it helps to determine what happened in the critical moments before a crash. Furthermore it is also able to keep a running record of how a car is being operated, including speed, acceleration, breaking, steering and checking to see if you use your seat belt! A recent report by the BBC in the UK suggests that the installation of black boxes in the cars of young people is growing.

Originally the black box for cars was installed by car manufatcurers to monitor air bag activity. Studies have shown that drivers under the age of 25 are involved in 40% of accidents, but they make up just 10% of motorists. It appears that the black box could be a good tool to monitor and control their driving style. Also for parents, who worry that their child is driving carefully, they would derive comfort from the black box because the technology will present them with the cold hard facts about their children’s driving.

This new technology could be of interest for insurance companies, because it provides them with all necessary information about the driving styles of their customers. Theoretically, those that drive safely are less likely to have an accident and could therefore have their premiums reduced.

The black box for the car would be of special interest for car rental companies. When a car is returned back to the rental company, any disputes about vehicle damage can be easily resolved by looking at the data from the black box. The subversive practice of car rental companies charging multiple customers for the same damage will be eliminated. Driveaway Holidays receives numerous complaints from their customers

There is no question that a black box in a car will benefit car rental companies, consumers and the car insurance companies, but more importantly, it will reduce the number of accidents by improving the driving attitude of the general public