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Filed under: Etc., Technology, Motorcycle, Humor, Russia

Ural Motorcycle on wood gas

Occasionally, we come across a technology that has just kind of been forgotten about. Take this Ural motorcycle. It runs on a substance called wood gas, which is the byproduct of incomplete combustion of carbon products like wood, hence it’s name. The fuel goes through a process called gasification in a wood-gas generator to produce combustible hydrogen and carbon monoxide. So basically, you’re burning wood to produce fuel.

This Ural has had a rudimentary wood-gas generator fitted, while an a number of other low-tech, scrounged items make up the rest of the side-car-mounted system. According to The Knee Slider, the top speed of the bike is a mere 80 kilometers per hour (about 50 miles per hour), while the fuel it runs on is quite bulky. Still, if you run low, just pack an axe and hope you run out of gas somewhere that’s wooded.

Wood-gas-powered vehicles might be uncommon today, but they were a normal means of transport in the past. Vehicles in Germany, Sweden, France, Denmark, Switzerland and Finland were converted to run on wood gas during World War II due to fuel rationing, while wood-gas is still used in rural parts of the world today. Take a look at the wood-gas Ural in the gallery provided by English Russia.

Russian motorcycle gets wood-power conversion originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 24 Aug 2013 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Aftermarket, Coupe, Europe, Maybach, Luxury

Maybach 57 S Coupe by Xenatec – Click above for image gallery

If you want a big luxury coupe – and we do mean big and luxurious – Bentley and Rolls-Royce would be glad to hook you up with a Brooklands or Phantom Coupe. But Maybach would be left shrugging their shoulders. That’s where Xenatec comes in. Back in May the German coachbuilder announced a partnership with Maybach to turn the über-Benz into a two-door coupe, details of which have just been released.

To turn the four-door limousine into a two-door coupe, Xenatec solicited the pen of one Fredrink Burchhardt. Don’t recognize the name? Burchhardt was the same talent behind Maybach’s last foray into coupedom with the high-speed, one-off Exelero. Xenatec and Burchhardt started with the Maybach 57 S and fitted new side panels, fenders, bumpers and replaced four doors with two longer ones. They also chopped down the roof and raked the windshields front and back at a steeper angle. But while the body and interior have been modified, the running gear hasn’t, so the existing 612-horsepower twin-turbo V12 carries over unchanged.

Only 100 examples of the Xenatec Maybach coupe will be produced, each built to order to the buyer’s specifications. That means just about any of the Maybach saloon’s features can be specified, as can a glass roof, 20 or 21-inch wheels, or – drawing from Xenatec’s background in ballistic protection – even armor plating. But don’t think for even a second that it won’t cost you, and cost you dearly, with a list price of 675,000 euros. Details in the press release after the jump, with a fresh crop of images in the gallery below.

Gallery: Maybach 57 S Coupe by Xenatec

[Source: Xenatec]

Continue reading Xenatec shows limousines the door with Maybach coupe conversion

Xenatec shows limousines the door with Maybach coupe conversion originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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