The Dangerous Old Days

Wow. Racing has become a LOT safer than it used to be.

Killed Myself When I Was Young from The Jalopy Journal on Vimeo.

Nissan Mocks GM's Volt

Nissan throws down this funny smack-down of the Chevrolet Volt.

Link

Memorial Day Video

This video is very moving. Thanks to our veterans and our fallen warriors.

The New EPA Label

The new EPA fuel economy label, thankfully, won't have the highly subjective letter grades.

What is interesting, is that it will clearly show the decrease in vehicle range (and fuel economy) caused by running on E85, in the example given of a flex-fuel F150.

Edmunds $1,000,000 Contest: No Winner

As I expected, no winner in the Edmunds $1,000,000 Unintended Acceleration contest.

Les Jackson re-stated Edmund's conclusion that most cases of UA were caused by driver error.

Sean Kane and Joan Claybrook didn't like the conclusion, and in the Q&A period attempted to dismiss Edmunds. This is not surprising, as Kane and Claybrook are solidly on the side of the trial lawyers, and have an interest in showing that driver error is not the root cause.  Kane mentioned tin whiskers as a possible explanation, despite the fact that NASA's analysis did not find tin whiskers as a failure mode that would cause un-detected unintended acceleration.  Joan Claybrook stated that she finds it impossible that all those people, with their detailed letters to NHTSA, didn't press the right pedal.

Edmunds $1,000,000 Challenge Prediction: No Winner

Tomorrow, Edmunds will announce the results of its $1,000,000 Unintended Acceleration challenge, the contest they set up to see if anyone could demonstrate a hardware or software error state that could cause unintended acceleration in a Toyota with electronic throttle control.

My prediction: no millionaires.  No winner.  

Because the problem was explained by floor mats and some sticky pedal assemblies, compounded by user error.  

Sprinter With Vortex Generators

Spotted this Sprinter van on Southfield road. The owner has stuck on
Y-shaped vortex generators (Airtabs?) in hopes of improving fuel
economy. The theory is that these break up the air flow behind the
vehicle, reducing the drag from the low pressure area behind the
vehicle.

Dunkin Aston

Saw this Aston Martin at a lowly Dunkin Donuts the other day.

Neat Old Truck

I spotted this old truck on Woodward the other day. It is an old
Dodge pickup, which was a rail inspection truck -- you can see the
rail wheels folded up under the rear bumper. The truck had the phrase
"Born in Detroit, Raised in Montana" painted on the bed box.

Sorry for the crummy cell phone pic it's the best I could do.

Is Saab Smoking Something?

According to Automotive News, Saab is considering the possibility of selling cheap Chinese SUVs through their dealer network as part of a Chinese partnership.

If they do, they're dead.

Saab's cachet, if it has much left, is that they are an offbeat, "sensible luxury" brand.  Saab is not cheap.  

Selling junky Chinese trucks alongside Saab's aerospace influenced Scandinavian cars will muddy their brand and alienate buyers.  It's like going to Saks and finding they have a WalMart mini-store inside.

Old Chevy, Royal Oak

This is a neat photo from a friend of mine. You can check out her photoblog here.

Obama Considering Mileage Based Taxes

According to this Detroit News article, the Obama administration is considering funding roads through a tax on miles driven, as opposed to gasoline taxes as they are now.

This is a reasonable approach, and it should be studied.  

As gasoline consumption decreases due to more efficient vehicles, and different forms of propulsion, the amount of tax revenue from gasoline taxes will decline.  A sensible approach would be to tax the common denominator--miles driven--rather than the fuel type.  Electric cars should not free-load on highway taxes.

The devil is in the details, of course.  Americans will not put up with an intrusive enforcement system, such as mandatory monthly mileage checks.  In states which have annual emissions tests, they are roundly hated, and removed whenever the voters have a chance.  A less frequent annual or quarterly mileage check would result in higher tax bills, as opposed to the gradual leeching we get from gasoline taxes or toll roads.  I would support an electronic system which allows cars to report mileage wirelessly to road-side sensor, or RFID based toll gathering sensors, however privacy hawks will howl that Big Brother is going to know where we drive.

Another detail is the amount of tax--people who pay a mileage tax should not have to also pay an equivalent gasoline tax.  It should be one or the other.

Taxing miles has another side effect, which is to put direct pressure on the number of miles driven.  As fuel economy increases, each mile driven will become less expensive.  By keeping miles expensive, the government is encouraging less driving, which will lead to less wear on the roads and less damage to the environment.  

  

 

NYC Picks Nissan Minivan Taxi

New York City has chosen, somewhat surprisingly, Nissan as the supplier for the "Taxi Of Tomorrow".  I had expected them to choose the Ford Transit, because it is the only vehicle that actually is in production, and has some quality history behind it.  The Karsan taxi was a complete unknown, while the Nissan NV200 is for sale in Japan, has not been modified to meet U.S. regulations, and is not currently street legal in the U.S.

Interestingly, the "American" Ford would be imported from Turkey, while the Turkish Karsan was promised to be assembled in New York.  Nissan's NV200 will be built in Mexico.  

My Syma S107 Helicopter Video Hack

Some time ago I got one of those awesome little IR controlled helicopters, a Syma S107.

Then, I saw a guy on eBay selling keychain video recorders, similar to this one. Of course, I thought I maybe could mount the guts of the micro video camera under the helicopter, and record my flights.

First, I dis-assembled the video camera. It isn't hard, there are 4 screws, 2 on the outside and 2 on the inside. Then the board pops out of the shell.

I also partly disassembled the helicopter, to get to the power wires.

Next, I cut the original battery leads on the video camera. Both batteries are 3.7V, so the helicopter battery will run the camera.

I soldered the power wires together, red to red and black to black, to form a parallel circuit. I wrapped the joints with a little electrical tape, to make sure there wouldn't be any short circuits.

Then, I put the helicopter back together. I slung the camera pod under the body, slightly forward of center, and used a rubber band to hold it.

One problem I found was that the camera vibrated wildly on its ribbon, and needed support. I glued a short bit of coated wire to the board, bent the end, and glued that to the back of the camera.

Here's a short sample movie, of me flying it around my small laundry room. The camera gives reasonably good video (cell phone quality) in bright light. The sound is interesting, you can gear the whir of the helicopter gears and the wind noise from the rotor wash.

The toy still flies reasonably well, though the added weight does make the helicopter noticeably slower to react. The weight bias is slightly too far forward, the way I have it, so copter tends to drift forward, and I need to add some weight to the rear to balance it better. You can't mount the camera pod too far to the rear, because if it blocks the view of the IR sensor (which is located between the rear tail struts) your helicopter will lose touch with your controller frequently.

The effect on runtime is significant... my stock helicopter would fly for around 5 minutes or so (I never really timed it carefully). The modded helicopter will fly for around 3:00 or so. I blame two factors: the weight of the camera causes you to use more throttle (and more main rotor), and the drain from the camera recording.

My next step is to locate a small, easy to detach power connector, and install it, so I can easily remove the camera pod if I don't want to record.

Free Motor Oil Coupon: G-Oil

I was offered a chance to give away a free mail-in rebate good for a 5 qt. jug of G-Oil motor oil, so here it is.

Link.

G-Oil is an interesting new product from Green Earth Technologies. It is billed as a superior motor oil, as good as any synthetic or crude based product, however G-Oil is made from cattle. It comes in 5w-30 weight or racing formula.

Yes, beef.

G-Oil "recycles" beef tallow into motor oil, which is also bio-degradable. It is made in the USA.

Politics: Gas Pump Activism

A bit if gas-pump pinup activism, a blogger is advocating pasting up these fliers at gas pumps, to blame Obama for rising gas prices.

http://disruptthenarrative.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/gas-pump-activism/

To be fair, Obama was talking about his hypothetical (and never enacted) cap and trade plan, and I think he was talking about electricity, not oil.  See http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/06/27/flashback_obama_says_cap_and_trade_makes_electricity_rates_skyrocket.html

The current run-up in oil prices has a combination of causes, which include war in the middle east, speculation, cheap dollars, and reduced exploration due to Obama environmental policy.  

CU burned by Leaf

Consumer Reports bought a Leaf.

Thinking that a range estimate of 30 miles meant close to 30 miles, Jon Linkov left home with a kid to drop off at daycare and a commute to the office.

17 miles later, he was in turtle mode.

About 17 miles from startup, the potential range indicator had become three blinking dashes. I realized I was not going to make it to work, and decided to get off the highway. As I exited the Leaf entered "Turtle" mode, complete with a small, green turtle indicator light. I proceeded to limp the next 1.3 miles into town. The final humiliation came when a highway department mower passed me.

I can hear the true believers yelling at me already, since I didn't charge the car overnight. The thing is, we're charging all the plug-in cars at our facility, on 220-volt chargers that can log exactly how much just our cars are using. Planning a 46-mile round trip when the car suggested I had 60 miles available didn't seem too much to ask.

Range anxiety isn't a bugbear invented by the oil lobby.  It's real.  And Nissan really needs to refine their range estimation algorithm, because this is the sort of thing that fuels consumer backlash.

 

Best Performance Values

Over at Forbes, there is a post listing the ten fastest vehicles under $30,000.  The results are interesting, but they are sorted by 0-60 times.

What if we resort the list based on "value"?  I'll define value as the number of dollars it takes to get incrementally better from 10s 0-60 (in other words, price/(10-T60))?

Here is the value ranking:

1.) Ford Mustang V6 5.6 $22,145 $5,032.95 

2.) Subaru Impreza WRX 5.2 $25,495 $5,311.46 

3.) Ford Mustang GT 4.8 $29,145 $5,604.81 

4.) Hyundai Genesis 3.8 R-Spec Coupe 5.9 $26,750 $6,524.39 

5.) Mazda Mazdaspeed 3 6.4 $23,700 $6,583.33 

6.) Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart 5.8 $27,695 $6,594.05 

7.) Hyundai Sonata SE 6.6 $24,345 $7,160.29 

8.) Kia Optima SX 6.5 $25,995 $7,427.14 

9.) Honda Accord Coupe EX-L 6.3 $29,730 $8,035.14 

10.) Mazda6 s Grand Touring 6.4 $29,320 $8,144.44 

The top 3 don't really change, but the Mazdaspeed 3 improves relative to its previous ranking, while the Lancer Ralliart falls.  

As before, if you want bang-for-the-buck, it's Mustang or Impreza.  And Camaro?  Where is Camaro  V6 is too slow, V8 is >$30k.  

Chevy HD Video Fishiness

A guy at work pointed this out to me.  If you watch closely, in video #5 of Chevrolet's HD truck HD2HD video series, the Ram truck changes from a single mirror model to a dual mirror model.  Which means that Chevrolet isn't showing just vidoe of the official test, but is also showing video of another vehicle.

The single mirror shot can be seen at around 3:30, the dual mirror can be seen in a few shots, this one is at 3:52

In general, I think the whole "passing the truck before hitting the slowpoke" thing was pretty lame, as in contrived.

Also, for some reason, videos #1, and #2 are now missing from YouTube.

Saab, Beats Porsche, Still In Trouble?

Interesting nugget in the just released sales numbers... Saab sold 830 cars in March, compared to Porsche's 771. However, Saab is having trouble paying suppliers, and needs to come up with a new infusion of cash soon, or sell itself off again.