Monthly Archives: March 2012

This year's 24 Hours of Le Mans is going to be particularly interesting from…

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged deltawing Google+ highcroft lemans nissan on by (updated 4628 days ago)

This year's 24 Hours of Le Mans is going to be particularly interesting from a technological standpoint.

We have Audi bringing the R18 e-tron Quattro with a turbodiesel V6 and a flywheel hybrid system, Toyota with a gas engine, battery electric hybrid and of course Highcroft Racing with the amazing DeltaWing.

Highcroft's prospects just got a huge boost with official factory backing for the project now coming from Nissan. Nissan will power the radical new race car with a turbocharged, direct injected gasoline inline four producing 300 hp. While that is maybe half the power of the other top LMP1 cars, the key to Deltawing's performance will be the fact that it has half the weight and half the aerodynamic drag of cars like the Audi and Toyota. Nissan and Highcroft will run some demonstration laps with the Deltawing at Sebring this Thursday.

#lemans #nissan #deltawing #highcroft

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NISSAN TO POWER DELTAWING

Nissan is aiming to change the face of endurance racing forever by becoming a founding partner …

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I'll be watching the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro closely at the 24 Hours of Le…

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Google+ on by (updated 4628 days ago)

I'll be watching the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro closely at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

I wrote quite a bit about the flywheel hybrid system that was originally developed by the Williams F1 team and then licensed to Porsche in 2010 for the 911 GT3R hybrid.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/alternative-fuel/hybrids/porsche-911-gt3r-hybrid-flywheel

In the 911's first 24 hour outing at the 2010 Nurburgring 24 hour, the car led for more than 8 1/2 hours before a problem with the gas engine caused it to retire. During its first races at the the 'Ring, the flywheel 911 was able to run 13 laps per tankful compared to just 11 for the conventional 911 GT3 RSR in the same race. In endurance races on long tracks like the 'Ring or Le Mans, that kind of efficiency is a huge advantage despite the extra mass of the hybrid hardware.

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/05/17/porsche-911-hybrid-retires-after-leading-nurburgring-24-for-8-ho/

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Thankfully rick santorum has his priorities straight planning to repeal the Rennaisance,…

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Google+ on by (updated 4628 days ago)

Thankfully rick santorum has his priorities straight planning to repeal the Rennaisance, evolution and ObamaCare in his first days in office. http://www.borowitzreport.com/2012/03/12/a-letter-from-rick-santorum/

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T-Mobile's CMO Cole Brodman would like to see subsidized pricing on new phones… 2

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Google+ wireless on by (updated 4628 days ago)

T-Mobile's CMO Cole Brodman would like to see subsidized pricing on new phones go away because he thinks that consumers don't see the true value of the hardware under the current system.

The reality is that financially, subsidies hit carriers like T-Mobile and Sprint extremely hard, especially on popular devices like the iPhone. Sprint pays a huge upfront cost in the billions of dollars to Apple to get the iPhone in the hopes of recovering that in monthly user fees during the contract period.

While getting rid of the subsidies makes sense for carriers, it only benefits consumers if it means we get to eliminate contracts and get reduced monthly prices. After all, the carriers aren't eating that cost out of the goodness of their hearts, we pay the full price of that phone over time. If carriers aren't having to recover the cost of the hardware, there is zero justification for the contract unless they give us an ever larger discount to reflect the reduced customer acquisition costs.

What do you suppose the chances are of that happening? I'm not holding my breath.

#wireless

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T-Mobile CMO: subsidized pricing hurts wireless competition, undermines hardware value
Could an end to unsubsidized smartphones be on its way for US carriers? If T-Mobile's Chief Marketing Officer Cole Brodman had his way, that

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I've seen at least a couple of different sites today post photoshop renderings…

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged ferrari ferrarif12barchetta ferrarif12berlinetta Google+ on by (updated 4628 days ago)

I've seen at least a couple of different sites today post photoshop renderings of what an open top version of the new Ferrari F12berlinetta might look like. Unfortunately both demonstrate the lack of knowledge of the history of cars that is prevalent in online blogs today.

This car would never ever come out of a Ferrari factory badged as the F12berlinetta Spyder. A berlinetta in Italian sports car taxonomy refers to a hard top coupe. Traditionally an open top version is refered to as a barchetta (as in the classic Rush song Red Barchetta, but I digress).

If Ferrari builds an open top version of its new flagship it will almost certainly be named the F12barchetta.

#ferrari #ferrarif12berlinetta #ferrarif12barchetta

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Ferrari F12 Berlinetta Spyder rendered & beefed up
Following the highly anticipated unveiling of the new Ferrari F12 Berlinetta at the Geneva Motor Show this week, the rumors about the open top version are inevitable. Fortunately, we were given a pote…

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When an app crashes on your phone, it's not the end of the world

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged electronics fiskerautomotive Google+ software on by (updated 4628 days ago)

But software bugs in a car can range from simply annoying to downright dangerous.

I worked with automotive embedded software systems as an engineer for 17 years and making sure the software is robust and reliable is one of the toughest parts of developing modern cars. In fact, it's one of the main reasons it still takes so long to bring a new car to market.

Being an early adopter in consumer electronics is a lot easier than in the car business. Hopefully, Fisker owners will be patient and the engineers will address these problems quickly before it does irreparable damage to the brand reputation.

#fiskerautomotive #software #electronics

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Dead Fisker Karmas: One May Be A Fluke, But Is Two A Trend?
First off, just to be clear, the photo above is NOT a dead Fisker. It shows the 2012 Fisker Karma we road-tested three weeks ago parked in front of a Tesla Motors dealer in Los Angeles. But while our …

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Ouch! Another bit of bad news for Fisker 4

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Google+ on by (updated 4628 days ago)

Ouch! Another bit of bad news for Fisker

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Fisker Karma car dies in Consumer Reports testing
DETROIT (Reuters) — A $100000-plus Fisker Automotive luxury car died during Consumer Reports speed testing for reasons that are still unknown, leaving the struggling electric car startup with another…

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