A 22-year-old student at the University of Central Lancashire painted a battered Skoda Fabia to match the car park and entrance to her art studio. Her work, created as part of her drawing and image making course at the university, creates the illusion that the car is see through.
She was given the car from a breakers yard and worked for three weeks to ensure that it blended perfectly with its surroundings. I was experimenting with the whole concept of illusion but needed something a bit more physical to make a real impact.” said Miss Watson.
People have been stopping in the street to look and coming up and almost bumping into it, so it’s had the desired effect.
The car is reminiscent of the work by pavement artist Julian Beever, whose attempts to trick people’s minds into seeing perspective on the flat surfaces of paving stones.
MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing Electronic Control) is the brand name of a variable valve timing engine technology developed by Mitsubishi Motors. MIVEC, as with other similar systems, varies the timing, lift and duration of the valves by using two different camshaft profiles.[2] At low speeds, a mild (low-lift) cam lobe provides stable idle, lower emissions and increased torque at lower speeds, while above a fixed engine speed a second set of cam lobes are activated, providing higher lift and duration; therefore a greater quantity of air into the combustion chamber which increases the power and torque output over a broad engine speed range. MIVEC was first introduced in 1992 in their 4G92 powerplant, a 1,597 cc naturally aspirated DOHC 16 valve straight-4.At the time, the first generation of the system was named Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing and lift Electronic Control.The first cars to use this were the Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback and the Mitsubishi Lancer sedan. While the conventional 4G92 engine provided 145 PS (107 kW; 143 hp) at 7000 rpm,[5] the MIVEC-equipped engine could achieve 175 PS (129 kW; 173 hp) at 7500 rpm. Similar improvements were seen when the technology was applied to the 1994 Mitsubishi FTO, whose top-spec GPX variant had a 6A12 1997 cc DOHC 24 valve V6 with peak power of 200 PS (147 kW; 197 hp) at 7500 rpm.The GR model, whose otherwise identical powerplant was not MIVEC-equipped, produced 180 PS (132 kW; 178 hp) at 7000 rpm by comparison.Although initially designed to enhance performance, the system has subsequently been developed to improve economy and emissions, and has been introduced across Mitsubishi’s range of vehicles, from the i kei car to the high-performance Lancer Evolution sedan.
Operation
Some types of variable valve control systems optimize power and torque by varying valve opening times and/or duration. Some of these valve control systems optimize performance at low and mid-range engine speeds. Others focus on enhancing only high-rpm power. MIVEC system provides both of these benefits by controlling valve timing and lift. The basic operation of the MIVEC system is altering the cam profiles and thus tailoring engine performance in response to driver input.
In essence, MIVEC serves the same function as “swapping cams”, something that car racers might do when modifying older-design engines to produce more power. However, such swaps come with a compromise – generally yielding either greater low-end torque or more high-end horsepower, but not both. MIVEC achieves both goals. With MIVEC, the “cam swap” occurs automatically at a fixed engine speed. The cam switch operation is transparent to the driver, who is simply rewarded with a smooth flow of power.
Two distinct cam profiles are used to provide two engine modes: a low-speed mode, consisting of low-lift cam profiles; and a high-speed mode. The low-lift cams and rocker arms – which drive separate intake valves – are positioned on either side of a centrally located high-lift cam. Each of the intake valves is operated by a low-lift cam and rocker arm, while placing a T-lever between them allows the valves to follow the action of the high-lift cam.
At low speeds, The T-lever’s wing section floats freely, enabling the low-lift cams to operate the valves. The intake rocker arms contain internal pistons, which are retained by springs in a lowered position while the engine speed is below the MIVEC switchover point, to avoid contacting the high-lift T-shaped levers. At high speeds, hydraulic pressure elevates the hydraulic pistons, causing the T-lever to push against the rocker arm, which in turn makes the high-lift cam operate the valves.
In summary, MIVEC switches to the higher cam profile as engine speed increases, and drops back to the lower cam profile as engine speed decreases. The reduced valve overlap in low-speed mode provides stable idling, while accelerated timing of the intake valve’s closing reduces backflow to improve volumetric efficiency, which helps increase engine output as well as reduce lift friction. High-speed mode takes advantage of the pulsating intake effect created by the mode’s high lift and retarded timing of intake valve closure. The resulting reduced pumping loss of the larger valve overlap yields higher power output and a reduction in friction. The low- and high-speed modes overlap for a brief period, boosting torque.
From the 4B1 engine family onward, MIVEC has evolved into a continuous variable valve timing (VVT) system (dual VVT on intake and exhaust valves).Many older implementations only vary the valve timing (the amount of time per engine revolution that the intake port is open) and not the lift. Timing is continuously independently controlled to provide four optimized engine-operating modes:
Under most conditions, to ensure highest fuel efficiency, valve overlap is increased to reduce pumping losses. The exhaust valve opening timing is retarded for higher expansion ratio, enhancing fuel economy.
When maximum power is demanded (high engine speed and load), intake valve closing timing is retarded to synchronize the intake air pulsations for larger air volume.
Under low-speed, high load, MIVEC ensures optimal torque delivery with the intake valve closing timing advanced to ensure sufficient air volume. At the same time, the exhaust valve opening timing is retarded to provide a higher expansion ratio and improved efficiency.
At idle, valve overlap is eliminated to stabilize combustion.
MIVEC-MD
In the early years of developing its MIVEC technology, Mitsubishi also introduced a variant dubbed MIVEC-MD (Modulated Displacement), a form of variable displacement. Under a light throttle load, the intake and exhaust valves in two of the cylinders would remain closed, and the reduced pumping losses gave a claimed 10–20 percent improvement in fuel economy. Modulated Displacement was dropped around 1996.
A seat belt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop. As part of an overall occupant restraint system, seat belts are intended to reduce injuries by stopping the wearer from hitting hard interior elements of the vehicle or other passengers (the so-called second impact) and by preventing the passenger from being thrown from the vehicle.
Similar to the lap and shoulder, but one single continuous length of webbing. Both three-point and lap-and-sash belts help spread out the energy of the moving body in a collision over the chest, pelvis, and shoulders. Volvo introduced the first production three-point belt in 1959.The first car with three point belt was a Volvo PV 544 that was delivered to a dealer in Kristianstad on August 13, 1959.The three point belt was developed by Nils Bohlin.
Nils Ivar Bohlin (July 17, 1920 – September 26, 2002) was a Swedish inventor who invented the three-point safety belt while working at Volvo. Born in Harnosand, Sweden, he received a diploma in mechanical engineering from Harnosand Laroverk in 1939. In 1942 he started working for the aircraft maker Saab as an aircraft designer and helped develop ejection seats. In 1958 he joined Volvo as a safety engineer. He is credited with the invention of the modern 3-point safety belt, now a standard safety feature in all cars. He retired in 1985.
In 1999 he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame. In 2002 he was inducted in the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Three-point safety belt
Similar to the lap and shoulder, but one single continuous length of webbing. Both three-point and lap-and-sash belts help spread out the energy of the moving body in a collision over the chest, pelvis, and shoulders. Volvo introduced the first production three-point belt in 1959.The first car with three point belt was a Volvo PV 544 that was delivered to a dealer in Kristianstad on August 13, 1959. The three point belt was developed by Nils Bohlin who earlier had worked on ejection seats at Saab.
Until the 1980s, three-point belts were commonly available only in the front seats of cars; the back seats had only lap belts or diagonal belts. Evidence of the potential for lap belts to cause separation of the lumbar vertebrae and the sometimes associated paralysis, or “seat belt syndrome”, has led to a revision of passenger safety regulations in nearly all developed countries requiring that all seats in a vehicle be equipped with three-point belts. Since September 1, 2007, all new cars sold in the U.S. require a lap and shoulder belt in the center rear.
Besides regulatory changes, “seat belt syndrome” has led to tremendous liability for vehicle manufacturers. One Los Angeles case resulted in a $45 million jury verdict against Ford Motor Company the resulting $30 million judgment (after deductions for another defendant who settled prior to trial) was affirmed on appeal in 2006.
History
Seat belts were invented by George Cayley in the late 1800s, though Edward J. Claghorn was granted the first patent (U.S. Patent 312,085, on February 10, 1885 for a safety belt).
American car manufacturers Nash (in 1949) and Ford (in 1955) offered seatbelts as options, while Swedish Saab first introduced seat belts as standard in 1958.
After the Saab GT 750 was introduced at the New York motor show in 1958 with safety belts fitted as standard, the practice became commonplace.
The first three point seat belt (the so-called CIR-Griswold restraint) was patented in 1951 by the Americans Roger W. Griswold and Hugh De Haven, and developed to it’s modern form by Nils Bohlin for Swedish manufacturer Volvo – who introduced it in 1959 as standard equipment. Bohlin was granted U.S. Patent 3,043,625 for the device.
In 1970, the state of Victoria, Australia, passed the first law worldwide making seat belt wearing compulsory for drivers and front-seat passengers.
An airbag moves up to 4500 mph within a second when triggered. A force of 200g is generated. They are designed to explode at an impact speed of 19 mph. The bag inflates within 40 milliseconds of a crash.
Ferrari makes a maximum of 14 cars every day.
The Worlds longest traffic hold-up was 110 miles long, between Paris and Lyon on the French Autoroute in 1980. A more recent contender for the title was a 100 mile long traffic Jam, near Hamburg in Germany in 1993.
The first known automobile was built in 1668, it was a two foot long steam powered model constructed by Ferdinand Verbiest, a Belgian Jesuit preist.
Luxembourg has the most crowded roads in Europe with 570 cars per 1,000 people.
The first car race ever seen in the United States was held in Chicago in 1895. The track ran from Chicago to Evanston. The winner was J. Frank Duryea, whose average speed was 71.5 miles per hour.
In 1924 a Ford automobile cost $265.
The first auto insurance policy is purchased in Westfield, MA, in 1897.
Interesting: a video showing what is claimed as world’s smallest car.
Was really in production, sold in UK
Runs on electric engine
134 cm (53 inches) long x 99cam (39 inches) wide
Weight 59 kg (130 lb) – yea! lighter than me
Top speed 61 km/hr (38mph)
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Lamborghini, or Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. as it’s officially called, produces some of the most exciting sports cars in the word. Some of the newer Lamborghini models are the Countach, the Diablo, the Gallardo and the Murcielago.
Fact 1: Lamborghini is named after the founder of the company Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916-1993). Ferruccio Lamborghini founded the company in 1963 when he was 47 years old. The factory is located in a small Italian village called Sant’Agata Bolognese near Bologna.
Fact 2: Ferruccio Lamborghini was a successful tractor manufacturer before he got interested in sports cars. His interest in sports cars made him buy many different high-performance cars including both Maseratis and Ferraris, but he was never really happy with any of them and therefore decided to built his own, perfect sports car,
Fact 3: Lamborghini used to be an independent company, but today it is a subsidiary of the German company Audi AG. Audi AG became the owner of Lamborghini in 1998. Lamborghini went bankrupt in 1978 and was sold to Chrysler a long time before Audi AG became the sole owner of the company.
