Tag: idea

Laser spark plugs: bright idea or flash in the pan?

Filed under: Etc., Japan, Technology

The internal combustion engine for automotive use is highly engineered and run by advanced electro-mechanical systems that have been refined over a century of development. That fact hasn’t stood in the way of breathless reports about laser spark plugs being the next big thing. Fast Company goes as far as to disparage the gasoline engine as antiquated and filthy while calling exotic and expensive laser ignitors “the gas engine’s last gasp before the electric revolution comes.”

Laser spark plugs do sound pretty neat. In Japan, researchers at the National Institute of Natural Sciences have cooked up an exceptionally compact laser that’s robust enough for automotive use. With lots of strong ceramics and two different yttrium-based laser elements, one doped with neodymium and the other chromium, the lasers are capable of being pulsed more quickly and more accurately than current spark plug technology allows. Another benefit of lasers in the combustion chamber is the ability to ignite the air/fuel mixture with more power than a spark plug can reliably dissipate.

Modern engine management systems and direct fuel injection are capable of exceptional efficiency and more complete combustion than ever before, and gasoline contains a lot more energy per pound than any current automotive battery technology. While spark plugs might seem antiquated, they’re far cheaper than fitting lasers for ignition, and the ignition systems attached to those plugs continue to get more and more sophisticated.

None of this research work has been applied to an actual engine yet, making any claims of superiority mere academia at this point. The NINS work will be presented at the 2011 Conference on Lasers and Electro Optics that’s happening in early May. While there’s great potential for small lasers that can stand up to harsh environments, and the developers are working with suppliers and automakers, it’s not likely that your engine will be lit off by an Nd/Cr:YAG any time soon, despite what the car-haters who skim over engineering facts might have to say.

[Source: Fast Company]

Laser spark plugs: bright idea or flash in the pan? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 24 Apr 2011 14:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: Using an armchair as a replacement seat is a bad idea

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Canada, Humor

passenger armchair

Ottawa police were conducting roadside seatbelt checks as part of the Spring Seatbelt Campaign, when one of their stops brought an unexpected surprise. A green Chevrolet minivan’s driver got into some trouble thanks to the aftermarket passenger seat he installed. This was no Sparco or Recaro, mind you – the driver went with something more akin to a La-Z-Boy.

You see, an armchair resided where the passenger seat was once bolted down. An unrestrained armchair with a thought-deficient passenger riding shotgun. The 33-year-old driver was cited for operating an unsafe vehicle, and he was also charged with driving on a suspended license. The cops scored a two-for-one, and the passenger was lucky he didn’t have to pick windshield out of his face.

[Source: CBC.ca | Image: Ontario Provincial Police]

PSA: Using an armchair as a replacement seat is a bad idea originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 17 Apr 2011 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI convertible: Worst idea ever?

Filed under: Aftermarket, Etc., Subaru

blue 2011 subaru sti convertible custom made by dealership parked in a showroom

2011 Subaru WRX STI convertible – click for high-res gallery

Car dealers do the strangest things to their vehicles. Just think about how many cars are out there with awful vinyl and fabric roof add-ons, a generation after manufacturers nearly swore them off entirely. Manchester Subaru in Manchester, New Hampshire isn’t content to create some sticker-and-tape fake trim level on a top-dog 2011 Subaru WRX STI. Instead, the dealer has gone all Chainsaw Massacre on the rally-bred performance sedan. The result is a picnic basket of automotive woe.

At least the “handle” left after all the chop-shopping maintains a fleeting semblance of rigidity. The rest? Awful. There’s an ill-fitting tonneau, chopped door pillars and the STI’s trademark enormous wing still hangs off the trunklid. The worst part? This poor Subaru’s price is purportedly $75,000. Not kidding. Sure, there’s an “exclusivity” factor, but 75 large buys an awful lot of real high performance convertible; the kind that won’t corner like an overcooked noodle. The dealership reportedly commissioned five of these abominations, which is likely five more than anyone wants. Thanks for the tip, Jason!

Gallery: Subaru Impreza WRX STI Convertible

[Source: Manchester Subaru]

2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI convertible: Worst idea ever? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Teaching kids how to steal cars is a good idea

Filed under: Etc.

Child in truck

A recent workshop in Los Angeles offers something special for interested children: a class on the mechanics of car theft. Created by the non-profit organization Machine Project, the workshop is entitled “The Good Kids’ Guide to Being a Bit Bad: Cars edition.” It covers the topics of hot wiring, opening a locked door and getting out of a locked trunk… and we fully support the class.

Getting kids fascinated about “how things work” is a wonderful project, and when it involves cars, well that’s just a bonus. In this modern world, it’s so easy to overlook how things work on the inside, which makes it extra important for kids to develop a basic understanding of nuts and bolts while they’re young.

The instructors for the class also didn’t simply just talk about how a car door works, they showed the children and then let them try to open a locked door themselves. The same happened when showing the kids how to escape a locked trunk. The only lesson that wasn’t hands on was the hot-wiring of a car because of the risk of being shocked, which the instructor also demonstrated by shocking himself a few times.

The kids learned about some basic mechanical functions, got a dose of humor and hopefully the class created a desire in them to learn more about how the things around them function.

[Source: BoingBoing | Image: Cookie Flores/Flickr]

Teaching kids how to steal cars is a good idea originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disposable traffic cones, an idea whose time has come? [w/video]

Filed under: Etc., Safety, Videos, Design/Style

Disposable Cone video screenshot

Guy Griffith’s disposable traffic cones – Click above to watch video after the jump

You don’t really think about traffic cones very often, unless they are forcing you into a detour or stuck in your wheel well because you missed that last apex. Though we may not think of them, they’re all around us, and one man wants to make them disposable.

Two things that Guy Griffith knows: he is a horrible website designer, and he loves inventing. His current product is a clever disposable traffic cone, and it’s apparently gotten the attention of the White House. It’s almost a shame Griffith didn’t get to talk to the previous administration, because should he have gotten hold of then-President George W. Bush himself, the call may have resembled a Saturday Night Live sketch come to life (watch the video and you’ll catch our drift).

Critically, Griffith’s cones are not simply cheap ($2.95/piece) and designed to fall apart after one use, they appear to be strong and durable despite being made from paper and industrial-strength staples (you weigh down the cuff with sand to keep them from blowing away). For anyone that’s ever outfitted a racetrack or construction company with cones, you know that the orange rubber pylons are surprisingly expensive, and they’re heavy to lug around, so Griffith might just be on to something.

If you question the strength of Griffith’s pointy items, then click past the jump to watch the video all the way through to the end (and then be sure to watch a second video on his website).

[Sources: SafetyCones.net, YouTube]

Continue reading Disposable traffic cones, an idea whose time has come? [w/video]

Disposable traffic cones, an idea whose time has come? [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Paddock Hack is a New Zealander’s idea of good TV

Filed under: Etc., Videos

Paddock Hacks – Click above to view teaser after the jump

So there are a lot of farm animals in New Zealand – last we checked there were at least six sheep for every one human. And they graze in paddocks, essentially giant sweeps of countryside. And when the sheep aren’t around, or, it appears, sometimes even when they are, the average New Zealander likes to engage in a sport called “paddock hacking.” That is when you take a clapped out junker and fly that sucker over and through and into anything else occupying the paddock. Think of it as 24 Hours of Lemons meets Home on the Range. With sheep.

Now, since we can’t find any official information on Paddock Hacking, we’ve pieced this together from what’s in the video above. That video was sent to us by a New Zealander who’s working on a pilot for a television show on the subject. We have no idea what kind of season-long dramatic arc you can get from Death Race cars and trucks rampaging over green antipodean hills, but it’s fun enough for now. Follow the jump for the action.

[Source: White Balance Pictures]

Continue reading Video: Paddock Hack is a New Zealander’s idea of good TV

Video: Paddock Hack is a New Zealander’s idea of good TV originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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eBay Find of the Day: Gulf Racing DeLorean is a very bad idea

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Auctions, Specialty, Design/Style

Gulf liveried DeLorean – Click above for high-res image gallery

Don’t get us wrong. We love ourselves some DeLorean, and we’d argue there may not be a more iconic motorsports paint scheme in history than the classic Gulf Racing livery. But sometimes, two rights make one horrible wrong. Such is the case with today’s eBay Find of the Day.

Call us purists if you must, but DeLoreans should all be left in their bare unfinished stainless steel suit. And so it’s a rather good thing that this otherwise fine example of the breed isn’t actually painted at all – the horrid coating you see in the images below is actually a vinyl wrap. Thank God for small miracles.

Looking past the unfortunate wrap, what we have here appears to be a very nice gullwinged coupe with under 10,000 miles. It’s got the preferred five-speed manual transmission, has been updated with an Eibach suspension kit and it’s been otherwise completely refurbished by the experts at DeLorean Motor Company.

At the time of this writing, the top bid sits at just over $15K and there’s five days left. Happy bidding (and happy removal of its vinyl wrap…)!

Gallery: Gulf liveried DeLorean

[Source: eBay Motors]

eBay Find of the Day: Gulf Racing DeLorean is a very bad idea originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chevy turns to crowdsourcing for next commercial idea

Filed under: Europe, Marketing/Advertising, Chevrolet

Chevrolet’s Spark Some Fun commercial – Click above to watch video after the jump

Chevrolet Europe has posted a call for commercial ideas at Idea Bounty. You, in the role of Creative Agency, are tasked with composing a brief for the Bowtie brand’s next spot that will “communicate that Chevrolet is both passionate and practical.” If your idea is chosen, Chevrolet has enlisted the services of MoFilm.com and producer John Landau to turn that idea “into a consumer facing TV ad.”

There’s quite a bit of background for you to get through first, making sure that you know Chevrolet “cars inspire passion in our customers lives everyday” and that the company believes people “buy our cars because they want a trusted partner to stand behind them, doing the everyday things with a little more flair and enjoyment.” Once you get that locked in, your job is to write a 30- to 60-second script that shows “that the Chevrolet brand and it’s vehicles are both passionate and practical.”

You need to register at Idea Bounty for the complete specs, but you’ll find samples of the kind of creativity Chevrolet wants after the jump. You have until August 9 to prove you’re one of the best Mad Men out there. Thanks for the tip, Stacey!

[Source: Idea Bounty]

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Chevy turns to crowdsourcing for next commercial idea originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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