Speed Technology Shift Light
Australian company Speed Technology has announced the Quickshifter-S Multistage shift light. This compact unit assists the driver to make gear changes at precisely the right revs by illuminating a sequence of three high intensity LED lamps. The Quickshifter-S features a unique Dual Range Mode which offers both primary and secondary settings, facilitating the option of a clutch switch for race starts. The dual setting is also ideal for swapping between road and race driving, hillclimbs and endurance events, or wet and dry conditions. Settings can even be saved to memory and recalled. A Half Range Setting Mode allows each light to be set at half the required RPM, eliminating the need for high revs during programming. These settings can be fine-tuned in small increments, via buttons on the face of the unit, to increase or decrease the nominated shift point. The intensity of the lights is easily adjusted using the brightness control.
For availability: SpeedTechnology@onaustralia.com.au
LPG-only Falcon
The new Dedicated LPG Falcon is the first mass production six-cylinder* family car in Australia to run solely on LPG. The President of Ford Australia, Geoff Polites, said the Dedicated LPG Falcon offered a balance between people's need for personal mobility and the need to protect our environment. "This is not a concept car showcasing technology that is many years away from providing a viable alternative to petrol. It is available and accessible at an affordable price here and now," he said. The new dedicated fuel system on the Falcon has allowed Ford to cut the price of the LPG option by more than half, making alternative-fuel motoring more accessible to the customer. "The new LPG option will cost just $798 RRP. At today's prices that is about 16 trips to the petrol bowser," Mr Polites said. The price reduction means motorists can recoup their initial investment within a year of normal motoring, or approximately 20,000km. The LPG system is available on automatic Falcon Forte and Futura sedans and wagons, as well as automatic Falcon S sedans.
*but not the first Australian dedicated LPG car - does anyone remember the LPG-only Datsun 200B?
Facelifted MX-5 Here Later This Year
Mazda Australia has released this picture of the face-lifted MX-5 that has been announced in Japan. The car is externally distinguished by the incorporation of the company's signature five point 'element' in the vehicle's 'mouth'. Managing Director Malcolm Gough said it would go on sale in Australia in November and would be offered with a revised S-VT style engine. Mr Gough said that other specification details were being finalised against a background of increased costs based on exchange rate movements, freight rate increases and other cost rises. "While we will endeavour to keep the MX-5 the best sports car value-for-money on the Australian market, the facelift model will be well over $40,000 while the current model at $38,795 is selling at less in this post-GST period than its 1998 launch price", he said. Rumours of an Australian-developed turbo version - to be backed by the factory - are strong.
Ford Trains
No.30 in a series of 52 interesting facts about Ford Australia to celebrate its 75th Anniversary Year
Huge Ford Louisville trucks hauling three-trailer road trains are a common sight in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Back in 1937 Ford made trains that ran on rails. That year they delivered rail motors to the NSW Government railways. The trains were modern, streamlined passenger bus bodies built onto Ford truck chassis which had been converted to run on rails with flanged steel wheels. The driver sat alongside the engine and ahead of the front wheels while the passengers had a great view of the countryside through the large picture windows along each side. The Ford train ran from Newcastle to the Queensland border.
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How to Properly Apply Tyre Dressing
Courtesy of http://www.autodetail.com
First, you want to start with a newly cleaned tyre. If it is not clean, the tyre dressing will not stick to the tyres properly. OK, your tyres are clean and dry. Spray the tyre dressing directly on the applicator. You want to do this instead of spraying the dressing on the tyre. If you do spray onto the tyre the dressing will become airborne and land on your car's paint. Tyre dressing is silicone based and will leave a film on your paint. You can always tell if someone sprayed tyre dressing on their wheels. Once you have applied the applicator to your wheels, let the dressing sit for 12 to 24 hours. This will give it a chance to soak in. Then take a cotton towel and wipe off any excess material. This will keep the excess tyre dressing from slinging up onto your paint while you are driving. That's all there is to it. It's that easy to properly dress your tyres. Just takes a little extra time. But it is well worth it. Enjoy.
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Avoiding Crashes the GM Way
The best way to avoid being injured is not to crash in the first place. To that end, GM is in the midst of an automotive crash warning research project with the US Department of Transportation and primary partner Delphi Delco Electronics Systems. Begun in the northern summer of 1999, the focus is on helping the driver be more intelligent about avoiding crashes by making the car smarter about the traffic and environment around it.
The first half of the five-year, US$35 million Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI) research project involves development and testing of prototype vehicles equipped with crash avoidance technology. GM and suppliers are currently working on a prototype car - a Buick LeSabre - which should be complete in about a year. To show progress-to-date, GM displayed a LeSabre engineering development vehicle equipped with collision warning system hardware at the U.S. Department of Transportation's IVI Conference in Washington, DC July 19-20.
A host of sensors and instruments on the car will measure road conditions and environmental factors and feed real-time information to decision-making software, which will alert the driver to hazards in the vehicle's forward path and adjust the car's adaptive cruise control. Once the system design and integration is complete, GM plans to turn over 10 test vehicles for selected members of the public to drive for 10 months in real-world conditions. Each of about 120 drivers would have unrestricted use of a test car for two to four weeks while data is collected. The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) would help screen, select and orient the drivers from across southeast Michigan, and then would perform data collection and analysis.
The LeSabres will be fitted with forward radar, forward vision, mapping systems, global positioning systems and adaptive cruise control, all tied together by sophisticated software and computers. The system even keeps tabs on what the driver is doing to estimate his or her "distraction level" and response times. When a threat is detected, the system will either alert the driver or, if adaptive cruise control is engaged, take control of the accelerator and brakes to slow down the vehicle.
Rear-end crashes account for more than one-fourth of all injury collisions, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, and most are caused by inattention, tailgating or speeding - factors the US-GM joint research project could alleviate. If the driver's foot is on the brake or the car is moving less than 40 km/h, the collision-avoidance system will still be gathering and analysing data, but will not report out any warnings. "If your foot's on the brake, you're paying attention," said Dr. Ronald Colgin, a staff research engineer at the GM Technical Center in Warren who is the program manager.
The US Department of Transportation is funding 61 percent of the program, with the remaining cost shared by GM and Delphi Automotive Systems.
Quickies
- Peugeot driver Marcus Grönholm has secured victory for Peugeot on the final leg of Rally New Zealand (July 14-16, 2000), the latest round of the World Rally Championship (WRC).
- Now that the GST dust has finally settled, Daewoo is more confident than ever that the Matiz is the best value for money new car in Australia. Current specifications for $11,000 (inc GST) already include: dual airbag, air conditioning, four speaker radio and CD player, central locking and powered front windows as well as minor touches such as remote boot release and adjustable exterior mirrors. Importantly, the Matiz now also offers power steering as an option, with a RRP of $750.
- Honda Motor Co has formalised its agreement with General Motors Corporation (GM) to develop and supply V6 engines and automatic transmissions. Originally announced in December 1999, the agreement calls for Honda to supply up to 90,000 advanced V6 Ultra Low Emission Vehicle engines (ULEV) and automatic transmissions for five years beginning in late 2003.
- Mitsubishi's "Get smart-Get a Mitsubishi-Get rich" win a million dollars promotion has been run and won. Maylene Leeds from the small town of Kuttabull, just outside Mackay Queensland, won the dough by buying a new Lancer VR-X coupe from Frank Murray at Carlisle Motors.
- No Mitsubishi vehicles produced at its Adelaide plant are involved in the huge Japanese Mitsubishi recall. "At this stage we also feel it is unlikely any vehicles imported into Australia are affected but, as a precaution, we are double-checking," said MMAL spokesman Kevin Taylor. If any vehicles sold in Australia are affected owners will be notified directly.
