Performance News - 11 July 2000

Kia Carens

The Kia Carens, a car that offers six seats in little more road space than a compact hatchback, has gone on sale in Australia fully equipped and priced from $22,990. The six-seat Carens includes in its standard equipment front and rear electric windows, central locking, a CD player, driver's side air bag and air conditioning, a power socket in the boot for accessories, and table tops on the back of the middle row of seats. The manual version costs $22,900 for and the four speed automatic version $24,900.

Nitrous Formula Octane Boosters

New on the market is the range of Nitrous Formula octane boosters, which are said to have been formulated by one of the leading fuel additive research and development engineers in the world. Other claims?

• Nitrous Formula octane boosters are unequalled by any other make or brand.

In addition, they are said to:

• Stop your motor vehicle from knocking & pinging
• Eliminate hesitation
• Restore lost horsepower
• Clean your combustion chamber
• Improve combustion efficiency
• Increase economy & performance

For more information: http://www.nitrous.com.au/.

DaimlerChrysler Neuronic Networks

In a four-cylinder petrol engine, the fuel-air mixture has to be blended an average of 6,000 times per minute. In other words, the ideal ignition firing point must also be selected 6000 times per minute. In calculating the optimum firing point for each of these combustion processes, DaimlerChrysler researchers are now assisted by "intelligent" neuronic networks, which lengthen an engine's service life while at the same time helping to reduce fuel consumption.

Neuronic networks, which are now used in computer technology, are a concept derived from biology: in biological terms, a neuronic network is an alliance of nerve cells. Such a networked system is versatile and capable of learning; it understands the general subject matter it is dealing with and can relay information. The DaimlerChrysler information technology experts benefit from these characteristics by putting the artificial neuronic networks to work for the engine electronics system, where networked model neurones - which are in fact nothing more than mathematical formulae - evaluate the information provided by the sensor in the engine.

In automotive technology, neuronic networks are used where the computation of technical data would be too expensive. Until now, such parameters as firing points were not determined precisely. With the help of neuronic networks, for instance, the DaimlerChrysler scientists can now evaluate combustion chamber pressure readings. Each individual measurement is analysed and processed in the networked model neurones; on the basis of this information, the computer chip can calculate the most favourable firing point for the fuel-air mixture prevailing at any given moment.

Combustion chamber pressures vary over the lifetime of a petrol engine. Since the neuronic network understands the connection between these pressures and ignition timing, it can adapt to changes and regulate the firing points accordingly. The results: fuel is used more efficiently and engine service lives are extended.

How Big's Big?

AutoSpeed reader Angus MacMaster photographed this Japanese import show car at the recent Queensland Jamboree, complete with its 20-inch rims. Nineteens are now passé....

Rally Planning And Preparation Is Everything...

Mitsubishi's four-times World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen and team-mate Freddy Loix play an enormous part in the success of Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart, however the Finnish Lancer Evolution and Belgian Carisma GT drivers are just part of a massive operation that keeps the team competing and winning at the highest level.

The FIA World Rally Championship is a truly international series that takes seven competing manufacturers to four continents in a season lasting eleven months. To ensure the best possible chance of success, wherever Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart is in the world, working conditions must closely match those at the team headquarters in Rugby, England. Of the 14 events in the 2000 World Rally Championship, four take the team on a 48,000 kilometre round-trip to the African, South American and Australasian continents for events in Kenya, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia. This requires at least one duplicate set of long-haul equipment, and it is therefore little wonder that a Logistics Co-ordinator spends a year dedicated to its movement.

Within days of the World Championship winning Lancer Evolution and Carisma GT being completed at Rugby, they are handed over to the logistics team to get them to any of the 14 events contested over the year. Doing this is as much of a challenge as beating the opposition! "Detailed planning can start as much as six to eight months in advance," comments Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager Phil Short.

"The big one of the year is the Safari Rally," adds Derek Dauncey, the team's Logistics Co-ordinator. "The rally is in February/March, and we have to start working on it in August and shipping before Christmas, due to the high cost of flying all the equipment. When you consider the containers are not back from Australia until the beginning of December, there is no more than two weeks to turn them round and get them on their way to Africa. It's a pretty busy time!"

Due to its unique nature, the sea-freight for the Safari Rally is treated as a totally separate issue requiring a different set of equipment, most of which returns to Rugby, unlike Argentina, New Zealand and Australia where the freight can spend up to nine months on the high seas.

The Safari Rally sea-freight, sent on its 7,000 kilometre journey from the UK in mid-December, includes:

1 x 40' container for two recce cars

1 x 40' container for approximately 240 wheels and tyres

1 x 20' container for spare parts

"The type of things that go by sea-freight is equipment we can afford to be out of touch with for three months at a time," says Derek Dauncey. "Anything that relates to technical developments and actual competition goes at the last possible minute."

In addition, the following was sent directly from Rally Australia in November 1999:

1 x 20' mobile workshop container

1 x 20' container for consumable items

Excluding the two rally cars used by Tommi Makinen and Freddy Loix - which are sent by air-freight at a later date - the total volume of equipment sent out to Nairobi amounted to eight tons.

As far as the remaining three long-haul events are concerned, between 45-50 tons of equipment, in eight containers, spends its life on ships between the middle of March and December.

This includes:

1 x 20' mobile workshop container, shipped 2,500 kilometres directly from Kenya to meet the Rally Argentina freight

1 x 20' container for consumable items

1 x 20' container for approximately 300 wheels and spare parts

1 x 20' container for a recce car and spare parts

1 x 20' container for the press team's equipment

1 x 40' specially modified container for three cars - 2 Lancer recce and 1 Lancer test car

2 x 20' high cube containers each carrying a specially-designed service vehicle

On top of this, the test car is sent on a 10,500 kilometre sea-freight journey from Argentina to New Zealand, and two additional 20' containers are shipped separately from the UK to New Zealand and Australia to restock the round-the-world containers after Rally Argentina.

The Kia Rio

The all-new Kia Rio has gone on sale with a $14,990 price for both the five-door hatchback and the four-door sedan. The Kia Rio includes in its standard equipment package a driver's air bag, central locking, a six speaker CD player and air conditioning. Both the sedan and hatchback versions of the Kia Rio are powered by a 1.5 litre 16 valve engine offering 73.5 kW with a five speed manual gearbox as standard and the option of an electronically operated four speed automatic available. Fully independent suspension is standard. Unusually, there is not price differential between the sedan and the hatch, with both versions costing $14,990 inclusive of GST. The automatic version is an additional $1800.

Choosing a Professional Detailer Courtesy of http://www.autodetail.com Some detailers are more knowledgeable in specific areas. Some may do a fine job washing and waxing a car. Others may know how to use a wheel (high speed buffer or cutting machine). And when you need a professional detailer to remove acid rain or water spots, you want to choose one that you feel totally comfortable with. Follows are a few questions you may want to ask before you have services performed on your car. Ask for references. You want to see cars cleaned by the company. If you want the detailer to perform minor surgery on your car's paint, you want to see a finished car that has had a similar surgery. Do they have insurance? Detailers that have been in the business for years should have insurance. You are not looking for their car insurance policy. You are looking for liability or garage keeper's insurance. If they damage your car, all they have to do is submit a claim to their insurance and it will be taken care of. What kind of guarantee do they offer? Example: If I wash my car a week later and see something that should have been removed, what will they do to fix it? You need this in writing. How long they have been in business? If you need acid rain removed, you want to know if they are going to use a neutralizing bath on the car. This will allow the acid rain that may still be in the paint to be neutralized and not reappear later. What kind of machines will they use on your car? And, what experience does the detailer have using that machine? Here's a story that was told to us. Joe wanted to have his car waxed by a professional detailer. He took his car to ABC Detail and he left it there to be waxed and detailed. When he returned to pick up his car, he noticed that there were swirl marks in his car's paint. He asked ABC Detail what they were going to do for him. They refused to do anything. They didn't even refund him the money for the detail. Swirl marks put there by a machine are almost impossible to remove. We saw Joe's car ourselves and the only way those swirl marks were going to be removed was by having the car repainted. This is an expensive procedure. And, the detailing company refused to do anything. This is why insurance and getting guarantees in writing are so important. Here's another example. You have your car washed by the neighbourhood detailer. A person who washes cars on the side and does not carry any insurance. He sprays wheel cleaner or all-purpose cleaner on your wheels and lets it sit. He cleans the wheel, then rinses. You pick up your nicely cleaned car and notice your wheels are hazy looking or they have streaks running down the rims. Now what do you do? He doesn't have insurance. He's not going to pay. Things can happen. Mistakes happen everyday. All you want to know is when a mistake does happen, what are they going to do to fix it. And, how soon....

Those Were the Days...

No.27 in a series of 52 interesting facts about Ford Australia to celebrate its 75th Anniversary Year

When Ford released the 1952 Customline V8 to the motoring press in each state, it held a photographic contest. The press photographers were invited to snap a picture of the car with any one of the pretty girls as part of the picture. The story of the Adelaide release said "the girls obligingly and smilingly posed in the car, alongside it, on top of the engine with the bonnet open and even under the vehicle!" It also said that "the girls gave the photographers fresh inspiration as they changed their attire from colourful frocks to swimsuits." The winning photo earned a keg of beer for the photographer! Those indeed were the days!

Ordynski Rally Win

Ed Ordynski and Iain Stewart, driving the Team Mitsubishi Ralliart Lancer Evolution VI, took a fine outright win at the New South Wales round of the Australian Rally Championship, held at Coffs Harbour on July 1st and 2nd. It was a giant-killing performance as Ordynski's Lancer, running in the Group N category for standard production cars, finished ahead of the highly modified World Rally Cars from Subaru and Toyota. The battle in the Group N Production Car Class between Ordynski and Impreza WRX driver, Cody Crocker, has been a feature of the Australian Rally Championship this season, the two rarely separated by more than a handful of seconds. However it is very rare for a Group N car to take an outright win in the Australian Rally Championship although Ordynski did manage the feat last year at Telstra Rally Australia, clinching the Manufacturer's Championship for Mitsubishi.

Citroën Prepares For The World Rally Championship

Citroën's World Rally Championship plans have moved a step forward with the successful completion of the first loose surface tests on the stunning Citroën Xsara T4 with one of the world's leading gravel experts, Swede Thomas Radstrom, behind the wheel. The tests took place near Ales in southern France and Radstrom, a former works driver for Toyota and Ford, believes that the Citroën Xsara T4 prototype is well on the way to being a competitive proposition after covering a World Championship stage distance under mock world rally conditions in the Citroën over three days near Ales in the South of France.

"I must say for a very, very young rally car it feels very good. It's very nice to drive," he said after the test. "We were working quite a lot on the suspension. The test stage was quite rough; it was on the same place Citroën normally test for rally-raids, no big stones like Greece, but big holes. You never know before you compete against other cars, but the first impression feels very good. I think the car is a bit smaller than the Focus, which means the handling and that stuff is a bit easier."

In France the Citroën Xsara, meanwhile, remains unbeaten, with Bugalski sweeping to his fourth successive French Championship win this year on the Limousin Rally, in which he vanquished Simon Jean-Joseph's Subaru Impreza WRX by 57.8 seconds.

Citroën To Open Heritage Centre

Citroën, is to open a heritage centre later this year with space to display more than 250 cars, as well as offering a car restoration centre and workshop, a model sales area and a library to contain the archives of the company.

During its long history, Citroën has not only produced cars that have had a profound affect on the whole car industry, such as the Citroën DS, the 2CV and the Citroën Traction Avant, the company has also been at the forefront of developing new technology. This ranges from the helical gears now used by every car maker in the world and which form the basis of the Citroën double chevron logo, through front wheel drive, aerodynamics and its famed advances in suspension design.

The new Citroën Heritage Centre, which is under construction at the Aulnay Citroën factory near Paris, will bring together Citroën's own collection of classic cars and displays which have, until now, been spread through the company or left in long term storage. The Centre will provide a unique resource for students of the car industry as well as fans and car enthusiasts of the Citroën marque.

Quickies

• A Honda topped Japan's new-car sales for the first time last month when the new Honda Odyssey outsold Toyota's top-sellers. Honda sold 14,639 Odysseys in June, beating the Toyota Vitz - badged as the Toyota Echo in Australia - by more than 450 units. It was the first time in 13 years that Toyota has failed to grab top position. Traditional market leaders Corolla, Crown and Vitz have kept Toyota in the top spot since March 1987. Honda has sold around 70,000 Odysseys since the new-generation people mover was launched in Japan in December last year.

• Le Mans Adelaide organisers have announced that Coopers Brewery have won the rights to be the official beer supplier for the "Race of a Thousand Years" - beating interstate rivals to the honour. Oh yes, and Coopers will also be a key sponsor for the New Year's Eve event which will attract thousands of interstate and international visitors to Adelaide.

• Hyundai's new Accent small car has put in an astonishing first full month's sales in June, racing past Toyota Camry (four and six combined) and Mitsubishi Magna as well as all other small cars to claim outright third top selling car status, all achieved without importer advertising (five dealers each ran one teaser press ad). Accent's 2480 sales almost tripled the heavily promoted efforts of the Ford Festiva and Toyota Echo, accounting for a massive 35.3 per cent of the 22-car strong light car segment and even far outsold Corolla and its kin in the next size up class, according to monthly retail vehicle sales figures released today by official industry statistician VFACTS.

• Alfa Romeo has one of the largest and most comprehensive museums of any car maker in world, but with it based just outside the Italian city of Milan, this has been of little benefit to Australian motoring enthusiasts - until now. The latest in Internet technology has made it possible to not only take a virtual tour of the of the museum and look at just about every model, both road and race cars, from Alfa Romeo's illustrious history, it is also possible to watch more than a dozen videos of Alfa Romeo cars being built and, from the immortal Alfa Romeo P3 to the Alfa 155 V6 Ti, watch them perform on the race track. The Alfa Romeo Museum web site may be found at http://www.museoalfaromeo.com/english/index.htm

• Following last year's sellout success of the Olympic Edition Vectra, Astra and Barina models, Holden has released another competitive Olympic Edition four cylinder line-up. The Olympic Edition Vectra sedan offers $4,000 worth of extra features for just $720 more than a standard Vectra GL. The unique Olympic Edition Astra City sedans and hatches offer $4,000 in extra features for $1,480 more than standard models. The Astra CD sedans and hatches offer $3,000 in extra features for an additional $980. The stylish Olympic Edition Barina models offer $2,500 in extra features for $330 and $450 respectively over Barina City and Swing recommended retail prices.

• In the style of the famous Monte Carlo Rally, the Classic Adelaide 2000 is a unique historic motorsport event starting each day from the former Grand Prix city of Adelaide. Entrants will experience real "Special Stage" rallying throughout the nearby Mount Lofty Ranges, Fleurieu Peninsula and Barossa Valley over four consecutive days, all within 100 kilometres of the city centre. The competition route loops through a different sector of the Adelaide Hills each day, incorporating a series of Tarmac Special Stages. Classic Adelaide allows the entry only of sporting cars manufactured up to December 1970. Entries for the October event are being accepted now. http://www.classicadelaide.com.au/

• And just a note to contributors Cameron van den Heuvel and Adrian Ecker. Cameron, your email box has been full and not accepting emails for weeks now - that's why you get no communications from us!