Car News Articles

The system looks interesting, despite the fact that it’s built by Microsoft, because it lets you connect virtually any media player, such as an iPod or Creative Zen, to the car’s entertainment system.

It will also connect virtually any phone that has Bluetooth, and let’s face it, that’s most of them, to the car and then you can control the phone, or the media player, by voice commands. It will even read out SMS messages for you, which makes a lot of sense in a market like Australia that’s completely addicted to SMS.

Unfortunately it’s not coming to Australia. At least not yet. Ford Australia says it would love to have a product like SYNC in its local vehicles, but emphasises that it’s a US-only offering for now.

What SYNC does is herald an era of the connected car. Toyota has trialled systems in Japan that automatically get road conditions and upload them to the Sat-Nav. The system is also smart enough to connect to your house and transfer the songs you were playing inside the car into your home Hi Fi.

Volkswagen has previewed an interface system that looks a lot like the CoverFlow interface built into Apple’s iTunes media player. In iTunes you skip between albums by “flipping” through the cover art, much as you would have with an old time vinyl record collection. The VW system - at least what’s been shown of it - seems to have you flipping through car functions in a similar way.

The trend towards building hard disc drives into high end cars will also eventually filter down into the mass market. And it makes sense that they would, after all, a drive that can hold hundreds of gigabytes will set you back less than $200 at an electronics store. Factor in that technology always falls in price, and it makes sense that we’ll start to see these sophisticated entertainment and control systems popping up.

There are a couple of hard questions that must be answered, however. What happens if the system crashes? We all know from experience that Windows isn’t the most reliable piece of software on earth, and although Microsoft’s embedded Windows Mobile software is more reliable, it still has some way to go before you’d really want it controlling your car.

And then there’s the question of interface. The desktop metaphor of mouse, folders and pointer is fine for the desktop, but it doesn’t work so well inside a car. Touch screens are better, but perhaps what’s needed is some sort of Apple iPhone-like interface built into vehicles. Is it any coincidence that Apple and Jaguar were said to be working together on in car systems? It’s not clear whether that effort is still a goer, but it would certainly make a selling point somewhere down the road.

As BMW has shown with iDrive, manufacturers struggle when it comes to building decent electronic interfaces into their cars. Perhaps it’s time they outsourced it to the experts, just like they do with stability control systems and anti-lock brakes.

What do you think? Do we need more electronics and more elaborate interfaces in cars, or are old fashioned buttons good enough?

Joshua Gliddon

Ashley Cooper passed away in Royal Adelaide Hospital today after crashing at the Clipsal 500 at the weekend.

The V8 Supercar series driver sustained massive head and internal injuries after his car hit a safety barrier at high speed on Saturday. He was treated immediately on site before being rushed to Royal Adelaide Hospital by ambulance.

CAMS President, Colin Osborne, said that Cooper’s passing was something that would be felt by the entire Australian motor sport community.

“Firstly our thoughts and sympathies go to Ashley’s family and friends, particularly his wife Casey and two children and parents Alan and Maree,” said Osborne.

“It is always a very sad day when any member of the motor sport community is taken from us.

“The motor racing community involves a close knit group of competitors and officials and I know that everyone will be feeling the loss of Ashley.

“CAMS will conduct its own full independent investigation to determine the circumstances leading to the incident. In the mean time, CAMS and event officials are working with the relevant civil authorities to assist with their investigations.”

CAMS Chief Executive Officer, Graham Fountain, praised the actions of officials immediately following the incident.

“We have to thank our Clipsal 500 Adelaide officials for their swift and professional actions as the loss of Ashley will no doubt have an effect on our many volunteers who work tirelessly at amateur and professional motor sport events around the country each weekend.

“Our extensive counselling and support services will be offered to Ashley’s family and friends as well as to the competitors and officials involved in the event to help them though this tragic time.”

- Carsguide

Caltex is taking no risks, reports GRAHAM SMITH

Three new super-safe trucks are the frontline weapons deployed by Caltex in a bold bid for a perfect safety record. The Mercedes-Benz Actros prime movers have joined the Sydney fleet, which distributes fuel to Caltex sites in Sydney.

Caltex Sydney can boast of an unblemished safety record dating back almost three years.

It’s one the company is immensely proud of and wants to extend as far as possible, and the new trucks are a crucial part of its plans.

Caltex risk-management staff identified its tanker trucks as having the highest likelihood of an accident or incident that could affect productivity or the health and safety of its employees. Having recognised that risk, Caltex decided to formulate a specification for trucks to minimise it.

For the first time, the company has invested in safety in their trucks, when in the past it had bought trucks simply designed to get the job done with little or no thought to the impact they had on the drivers or the community in which they operated.

The resulting specification identified 168 individual items which needed to be built into the trucks. The list included ergonomics, ease of entry and exit, comfort, ease of driving, visibility, as well as the active and passive safety aspects of the trucks.

“While safety had been in our minds it didn’t translate to the cheque book,” says Greg Massingham, the company’s operations manager.

“We bought trucks that did the job, but there wasn’t a focus on the safety of the drivers or the people they came into contact with in the course of doing their job.

“It didn’t help that trucks were bought by local branch people around the country who used their own specifications. The result was little or no commonality, so trucks couldn’t be moved from one branch to another because what suited one branch often didn’t suit another.”

Trucks were bought on an ad hoc basis and there was no common specification, Massingham says.

Now, with a common specification being used to buy trucks across the company, such conflicts are a thing of the past.

Once the specification had been decided, Caltex issued tenders to the truck industry. Of those that responded only three, all European, met the requirements.

The three trucks delivered to Caltex Sydney so far are equipped with a two-pedal automatic gearshift, and an array of active and passive safety systems.

Among them are disc brakes overseen by ABS anti-lock electronics, traction control, EBS electronic braking — which Massingham describes as phenomenal for its ability to assess the truck’s speed in a corner and apply the brakes as required to stabilise a potentially perilous situation — and rollback prevention.

One of the most daunting things for a driver is rollback, when trying to take off on a hill with a line of cars behind, Massingham says. This system makes a driver’s life a lot less stressful and less hazardous for the public. Passive safety is delivered through the safety cab and the SRS driver’s airbag.

Driver comfort also plays a part in safety and the Caltex trucks feature power windows, heated power mirrors and cruise control.

Safety extends beyond hauling the big red rig; the tanker trailers also boast several initiatives aimed at making the rig safer. Thanks to an electronic tank level meter, the driver no longer has to climb up on top of the tanker to manually dip the tanks to check the level of fuel.

That information will now be delivered by a series of gauges on the side of the tanker.

Side and rear barriers prevent other vehicles running under the tankers in a crash, while upper and lower rear sensors alert the driver when he is approaching low objects such as parked cars, fences or pedestrians or high objects such as service station awnings, using different tones to identify the location of the danger.

LED lighting and the extensive use of reflective tape around the tankers make them highly visible.

In-built service alert systems, such as those that tell the driver when the brake pads require replacement or a globe has failed, also help keep the tanker trucks in a safe operating condition.

- The Daily Telegraph

Driver attitudes need to be shaped before young people reach driving age, according to Qld Raceway owner John Tetley.

That is why he has set aside $500,000 to create what he believes is Australia’s first behavioural driver training school at the historic Lakeside International Raceway at Petrie, north of Brisbane.

“We need to get young people’s attitude to driving right before they get their driving skills,” he said, quoting Albert Einstein; “Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18.”

“Scary when you think about it, but at least it supports my notion of getting it (the right driving attitude) into them before they get their licence,” he said.

Tetley plans to launch his two-day Road User Boot Camp (RUB) in July, targeting school children in Years 10 and 11.

Rather than teaching road skills or driving skills like most driver training schools, Tetley plans to teach basics such as car maintenance, attitudinal skills to resist peer pressure, and how to avoid road rage and dangerous road situations.

“Some 75 per cent of drivers under 25 can’t change a wheel,” he said. “No one teaches kids the basics such as checking the car before they drive off.

“There will also be some fun things as well, such as simulators and go-karts.”

Tetley said cars were becoming safer, but he was concerned that technology such as anti-skid brakes and stability control were replacing driving skills.

“Kids don’t understand the forces involved in a car,” he said.

Currently any driving tuition done off the road, such as at a driver-training centre or racetrack like Lakeside, is not eligible to be credited in the 100 hours of training; yet learners must do it before they can sit for a licence.

He hopes his RUB camp may be considered exempt from this ruling because it does not teach driving or road skills.

“I’m worried that the 100 hours is just reinforcing negative practices and attitudes. In Britain you have to go to driver training before you can even drive on the road. I can see a political battle to get it accredited,” he said.

Tetley said his school would not compete with other driving schools.”

“I’m giving kids the right attitude before they go to a driving school.”

Tetley’s program includes a self-assessment and asks the students to assess their parents’ driving.

“We want them to understand that no one is a perfect driver,” he said. “We need to change their attitude to other people’s driving and drive as though other people are going to make an error.

“I still make mistakes and have other drivers blowing the horn at me,” said Tetley, who is an accomplished race-car driver.

“Five per cent of drivers are total idiots. Ten per cent are so smart they will never be a problem. The others just need some guidance.”

Tetley said he initially would aim at private schools and charge about $200 a person to “cover costs” for the two-day course with accommodation and meals included.

“I’d also like to see it go national but not as a franchise. I’d just like others to pick up the idea.”

Learner logbooks

* Learner drivers under 25 are required to complete 100 hours of supervised on-road driving experience, including 10 hours of night driving.

* When they get their learner licence, they receive a learner logbook to record supervised on-road driving.

* Supervisors can be anyone with an open licence for one year.

* A one-hour lesson with an accredited driving instructor counts for three hours in the learner logbook, up to a maximum of 30 hours.

* Time spent at advanced driving courses at off-street venues cannot be credited to the logbook.

* If Queensland Transport suspects the logbook has been fudged, learners will have to wait six weeks after a completed logbook is submitted before taking a practical driving test.

Do you think young driver training like John Tetley’s boot camp is a good idea? Should it become a compulsory step in acquiring a licence? Share your thoughts below…

- The Courier-Mail

Posted on 03.10.2008 17:48
by
Simona Alina
Filed under:
Morgan | coupe | Morgan Aeromax

Maximum Bob’s edict that no Camaro prototype will be spotted with camouflage held true again today, when Corey R. over at Camaro5.com snapped off almost a dozen shots of a black mule headed out for testing. The dark horse pony isn’t sporting anything we haven’t seen before, but the chrome surrounds on the tail lamps are more obvious with the contrasting black paint.

According to Corey, the driver and passenger gave him the traditional one-fingered, spy-shooter salute, but after they calmed down, they allowed him to shoot the outside of the Camaro as long as his prying lens didn’t get any images of the interior.

We’ve assembled all the pics in a gallery below for you viewing enjoyment.

Thanks to all who tipped in.

[Source: Camaro5.com]