Ordinary cars usually have a silent exhaust note to make the car as comfortable to the driver as possible but this silence is not acceptable to the enthusiasts who wants to hear the exhaust note. Since the car makers adopted engine down sizing with turbo charging many of the performance cars such as the BMW M3 and M4 have a much muted exhaust note. To overcome the lack of sound from the exhaust BMW went so far as to create pseudo exhaust noise to be played from the car's rear speakers! it is true that if a sporty car has no sound it does not give the total sensation of driving a sporty car!
Imagine a silent Ferrari! No Ferrari fan will accept it for sure. Ferraris are known for their screaming engines with the high pitch exhaust note. Likewise for the V8 engine from Mercedes Benz which has the deep low burble. All of this makes for the driving experience to be unique and special. The one car company that kept true to the sporty feel of the is Jaguar with the F type. The base model 3.0 V6 supercharged F Type has a loud exhaust that farts when the driver backs off the throttle and the sound is even more pronounced in the V8 version.
Companies such as Akrapovic spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop special exhaust systems that accentuate the character of the engine. Each car maker has their own unique exhaust note due to differing engine configurations and also exhaust systems. the main thing is that the sound should be original in nature and not synthesised electronically via the car's speakers.
This is one of the reasons why electric cars are sometimes deemed to be boring because of the lack of sound however the amazing instant torque makes up for the lack of sound.
Friday, 29 January 2016
Thursday, 28 January 2016
Jaguar XE
Finally Jaguar came out with a model that can compete with the likes of BMW 3 series, Audi A4, Mercedes C Class, Infiniti Q50 and the Lexus IS. The last Jaguar X-type was nothing to shout about and it was a poor rebadge of the Ford Mondeo. It was really dull and did no justice to the brand. with the new management and new ownership under Tata, Jaguar has really gained back its lost glory. The new model line up is getting better with every new model that has been launched or soon to be launched.
The new XE will be a critical model for Jaguar since the BMW 3 series market is big and will potentially generate good profits for the company. It will also bring the age of the buyers down to a younger average age rather than the current average age of over 40. XE will definitely appeal to younger buyers and with the lower entry price it will be seen as a good alternative to the run of the mill 3 series, C Class and Audi A4. Jaguar went all out with the car design and technology by introducing several key innovations and also try to better BMW is as many areas as possible.
It is yet to be seen how well the car will sell in South East Asia since the Jaguar name has never been all that successful due to poor reliability and expensive parts. With the new sales campaign that offer free service and maintenance for 5 years, this should bring back some confidence in the brand. Die hard fans will no doubt believe in Jaguar but it is more about converting the newbies to consider buying a Jaguar.
Pricing-wise the car is definitely more expensive than the locally assembled 3 series, C Class and A4 but the slight price premium over these 3 competitors isn't big enough to deter those with the funds to buy such a car.
good job by Jaguar to inject some excitement into this segment of the market.
The new XE will be a critical model for Jaguar since the BMW 3 series market is big and will potentially generate good profits for the company. It will also bring the age of the buyers down to a younger average age rather than the current average age of over 40. XE will definitely appeal to younger buyers and with the lower entry price it will be seen as a good alternative to the run of the mill 3 series, C Class and Audi A4. Jaguar went all out with the car design and technology by introducing several key innovations and also try to better BMW is as many areas as possible.
It is yet to be seen how well the car will sell in South East Asia since the Jaguar name has never been all that successful due to poor reliability and expensive parts. With the new sales campaign that offer free service and maintenance for 5 years, this should bring back some confidence in the brand. Die hard fans will no doubt believe in Jaguar but it is more about converting the newbies to consider buying a Jaguar.
Pricing-wise the car is definitely more expensive than the locally assembled 3 series, C Class and A4 but the slight price premium over these 3 competitors isn't big enough to deter those with the funds to buy such a car.
good job by Jaguar to inject some excitement into this segment of the market.
Tuesday, 12 January 2016
Lexus, Infiniti and Acura
Toyota, Nissan and Honda all tried to position their cars further upmarket by creating a luxury sub brand to capture more customers who were looking for luxury when typical Japanese cars were not luxurious enough. However, the original reason for the creation of Lexus, Infiniti and Acura was to sell more cars to the US when the import quotas limited the volume of cars that could be imported into the US. By creating a second brand Toyota, Nissan and Acura were able to sell more cars to US. This worked well and Toyota, Nissan and Honda had to try to create something a little different from the run of the mill Japanese car.
Toyota was the first to do this with Lexus and they did a good job of improving the sound insulation, tuned the suspension to suit US driver's tastes and improving the quality of the materials used. Honda and Nissan followed up and did the same. The strange thing is that in Japan itself the local Japanese would not accept these luxury sub brands as they were just viewed as expensive Japanese made cars.
After so many years of producing these so called luxury models, it appears that Lexus and Infiniti are not different from the regular Japanese models. Lexus now have the RC-F and the F series high performance engines that are not available in any of the regular Toyota models. Nissan too have new high performance engines such as those found in the Q50 and new Q60 which are not found in regular Nissans. Having such models will allow Lexus and Infiniti to create some visible difference between itself and its mother brand. Honda on the other hand uses Acura more for the US market but the models are still very much the same as the regular Hondas sold in Japan with some minor cosmetic tweaks.
The Lexus RC-F and the IS-F models were definitely a breath of fresh air for Lexus seeing that their model line up was quite boring to say the least. They have been trying to benchmark themselves with BMW and trying to attract more younger buyers when Lexus has been often labelled an old man's brand. Infiniti also injected some excitement with their Q50 and Q60 models with powerful turbo engines. Both car makers trying to emulate German car makers with a front engine rear drive layout. The general acceptance of both Lexus and Infiniti outside US is growing and slowly they are chipping away at the luxury car market that is dominated by BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Porsche.
Toyota was the first to do this with Lexus and they did a good job of improving the sound insulation, tuned the suspension to suit US driver's tastes and improving the quality of the materials used. Honda and Nissan followed up and did the same. The strange thing is that in Japan itself the local Japanese would not accept these luxury sub brands as they were just viewed as expensive Japanese made cars.
After so many years of producing these so called luxury models, it appears that Lexus and Infiniti are not different from the regular Japanese models. Lexus now have the RC-F and the F series high performance engines that are not available in any of the regular Toyota models. Nissan too have new high performance engines such as those found in the Q50 and new Q60 which are not found in regular Nissans. Having such models will allow Lexus and Infiniti to create some visible difference between itself and its mother brand. Honda on the other hand uses Acura more for the US market but the models are still very much the same as the regular Hondas sold in Japan with some minor cosmetic tweaks.
The Lexus RC-F and the IS-F models were definitely a breath of fresh air for Lexus seeing that their model line up was quite boring to say the least. They have been trying to benchmark themselves with BMW and trying to attract more younger buyers when Lexus has been often labelled an old man's brand. Infiniti also injected some excitement with their Q50 and Q60 models with powerful turbo engines. Both car makers trying to emulate German car makers with a front engine rear drive layout. The general acceptance of both Lexus and Infiniti outside US is growing and slowly they are chipping away at the luxury car market that is dominated by BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Porsche.
Thursday, 7 January 2016
One person drone
The flying drones is the craze right now with so many people buying drones for recreation as well as for industrial or agriculture use. It all started with people using it for taking video or photography from an elevated position. Next came sports people using it to capture video from a high angle making for impressive video footage.
Then the US fire department used it with a Infrared camera to help detect fire hotspot during fire fighting. Then came the farmers who started to use larger drones capable of heavier pay load and with a fitted sprayer to help spray chemicals or fertiliser on their crops rather than doing the traditional crop dusting.
Now comes the single person drone which a person can fly inside the drone. This was bound to appear in a matter of time. At CES a Chinese company introduced the first single person drone capable of flying for 23 minutes at low altitude and is small enough to fit into a single car parking spot. It can fly at speeds of up to 63 mph. The technology will no doubt improve as the year goes by and it may be a reality that people may choose to buy a personal flying drone instead of a car.
The cost now is still too prohibitive for the average person at $200,000 each but with more companies jumping on this bandwagon the price will surely go down and advancement in technology will see the personal drones be more practical.
having 4 or more rotors the drone will be more stable than a helicopter and potentially safer than a helicopter. Don't be surprised to see larger personal drones flying around in the next 10 years.
Then the US fire department used it with a Infrared camera to help detect fire hotspot during fire fighting. Then came the farmers who started to use larger drones capable of heavier pay load and with a fitted sprayer to help spray chemicals or fertiliser on their crops rather than doing the traditional crop dusting.
Now comes the single person drone which a person can fly inside the drone. This was bound to appear in a matter of time. At CES a Chinese company introduced the first single person drone capable of flying for 23 minutes at low altitude and is small enough to fit into a single car parking spot. It can fly at speeds of up to 63 mph. The technology will no doubt improve as the year goes by and it may be a reality that people may choose to buy a personal flying drone instead of a car.
The cost now is still too prohibitive for the average person at $200,000 each but with more companies jumping on this bandwagon the price will surely go down and advancement in technology will see the personal drones be more practical.
having 4 or more rotors the drone will be more stable than a helicopter and potentially safer than a helicopter. Don't be surprised to see larger personal drones flying around in the next 10 years.
self driving cars
Seems like the latest topic at CES show taking place now in Las Vegas is autonomous driving technology. Several car makers are displaying their potential capability in this field. Mercedes, BMW, Tesla, Volvo and many others are trying to show that they can do it too.
It is definitely a hot topic and it has been on the lips of many auto makers and industry observers since early 2015. VW also put a video on Youtube to show their self driving car on testing. Self driving cars has been a topic of conversation for many years but regulations in several countries restrict it as the technology has not been proven. It is very much a catch 22 problem whereby if no one allows you to have it, how do you prove that it works?
Field testing for such technology is endless and there are so many areas where the system can fail and how would insurance companies react to this? if a car that is self driven and gets into an accident, will the insurance company pay out? How much real life testing must be undertaken before regulatory bodies and insurance companies can agree to allow such a system to be used?
As more cars are now able to be connected to the internet, the next point will be about cyber security for cars. If a car that is capable of self driving, a hacker could easier hack the system and utilise the car to commit crime or even harm innocent people. there are many legal issues that will come up and the auto makers will have a lot on their plate to deal with.
the idea of a self driving car is still good nevertheless as we have seen numerous accidents that resulted from tired or drunk drivers or people using their phones while driving. the self driving car will allow a tired or a drunk person to get home without actually driving. And for business people they could use their phone while the automated system can drive them to their destination.
this autonomous driving will be the way of the future, the question is how soon before it will become mainstream. Tesla is already offering this in their cars via the wireless software update. It is a bold step to be the first but it is certain that bugs and software glitches are bound to follow.
It is definitely a hot topic and it has been on the lips of many auto makers and industry observers since early 2015. VW also put a video on Youtube to show their self driving car on testing. Self driving cars has been a topic of conversation for many years but regulations in several countries restrict it as the technology has not been proven. It is very much a catch 22 problem whereby if no one allows you to have it, how do you prove that it works?
Field testing for such technology is endless and there are so many areas where the system can fail and how would insurance companies react to this? if a car that is self driven and gets into an accident, will the insurance company pay out? How much real life testing must be undertaken before regulatory bodies and insurance companies can agree to allow such a system to be used?
As more cars are now able to be connected to the internet, the next point will be about cyber security for cars. If a car that is capable of self driving, a hacker could easier hack the system and utilise the car to commit crime or even harm innocent people. there are many legal issues that will come up and the auto makers will have a lot on their plate to deal with.
the idea of a self driving car is still good nevertheless as we have seen numerous accidents that resulted from tired or drunk drivers or people using their phones while driving. the self driving car will allow a tired or a drunk person to get home without actually driving. And for business people they could use their phone while the automated system can drive them to their destination.
this autonomous driving will be the way of the future, the question is how soon before it will become mainstream. Tesla is already offering this in their cars via the wireless software update. It is a bold step to be the first but it is certain that bugs and software glitches are bound to follow.
Wednesday, 6 January 2016
Faraday Future FFZERO1
when someone mentions electric car you will think Tesla, Karma Fisker or the Nissan Leaf. Here comes a new kid on the block the Faraday Future FFZERO1. It is different from the current line of electric cars. This concept is based on a modular platform where the chassis can be stretched to accommodate more batteries and drivetrain to suit different outer shells for different types of cars such as sedan, SUV, MPV, compact or supercar. The idea is simple but yet innovative. It also boasts a new level of internet connectivity and have sufficient computing power for autonomous driving. The interesting thing is that the car boasts a 1,000hp electric motor that is capable of 0-100km/h in 3 seconds.
The car is still in the concept stage but with their amount of funding they have received it looks like a very possible reality in the next 2 years. Building a car from scratch is never easy but with enough resources and technical support it is likely that this car will see daylight before 2017.
Check out the video link below for an insight into their concept.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAXoVSXnNTg
The car is still in the concept stage but with their amount of funding they have received it looks like a very possible reality in the next 2 years. Building a car from scratch is never easy but with enough resources and technical support it is likely that this car will see daylight before 2017.
Check out the video link below for an insight into their concept.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAXoVSXnNTg
Tuesday, 5 January 2016
No tuning allowed!
In several countries the Ministry of Transport or Department of Transport do not permit any type of tuning for street cars. Some are very strictly enforced to the point where the car can be impounded if the car is found to be modified in any manner.
Here are some of the countries where tuning is tightly regulated or not permitted at all:-
- Singapore (very strict on the types of modification and must clear the LTA or Land Transport Authority)
- China (yes! very ironic since more than 80% of the world's tuning parts are made in China), the owner of the car has to carry a license with a picture of his or her car. Upon inspection if the car does not look the same as the one in the picture, the car can be impounded and the owner slapped with a heavy fine!
- South Korea (motorsport is almost dead in South Korea with the exception of the underground activities that take place. It is very rare that you see a tuned car or even a car with aftermarket wheels in South Korea)
I can understand why Singapore would impose such strict rules. Singapore imposes strict rules on nearly everything but it is a tiny island which the Government will want to make it as safe as possible. China is a strange story because when you look at the car accessories or tuning parts in any auto store shelf, most of it is made in China. Then again, the factories in China make parts for business rather than actually do any sort of tuning themselves. Many China car owners are still relatively new to car ownership and they wouldn't know much about tuning with the exception of pasting ugly stickers on the car.
South Korea being one of the key players in the automotive industry seems to be lagging behind in motorsports and tuning. I still cannot figure out why South Korea does not allow tuning. Tuning and motorsports is part and parcel of development and also to grow the automotive industry. Like Japan, US, Great Britain and Germany, motorsports and tuning is a huge industry and one can see the innovation that comes with it.
this brings my next point to India. Recently I watched a short video clip on Youtube featuring a "pimp my ride" episode in India. It was more comedy than informative. Unlike the US version which is very outlandish with their crazy wide body kits, excessive use of LCD monitors and numerous speakers and loud interiors. The Indian version shows a car that was decked up with a ridiculously ugly body kit with out of date wheels and heavy promotion of Indian supplier's products. the funniest part was the performance tuning where a micro compressor (an air suction device) and an after market air filter is fitted to boost power. these two items at most will increase 2-3 horsepower. The host went on to install a big tachometer with a shift light and racing seats and a sports steering wheel. The entire cost of modification was no more than $2000 including the scissor doors, bodykit, wheels, bucket seats, sports steering, air filter, micro compressor and some fancy stickers. At least they made someone happy thinking that he will go fast...
Here are some of the countries where tuning is tightly regulated or not permitted at all:-
- Singapore (very strict on the types of modification and must clear the LTA or Land Transport Authority)
- China (yes! very ironic since more than 80% of the world's tuning parts are made in China), the owner of the car has to carry a license with a picture of his or her car. Upon inspection if the car does not look the same as the one in the picture, the car can be impounded and the owner slapped with a heavy fine!
- South Korea (motorsport is almost dead in South Korea with the exception of the underground activities that take place. It is very rare that you see a tuned car or even a car with aftermarket wheels in South Korea)
I can understand why Singapore would impose such strict rules. Singapore imposes strict rules on nearly everything but it is a tiny island which the Government will want to make it as safe as possible. China is a strange story because when you look at the car accessories or tuning parts in any auto store shelf, most of it is made in China. Then again, the factories in China make parts for business rather than actually do any sort of tuning themselves. Many China car owners are still relatively new to car ownership and they wouldn't know much about tuning with the exception of pasting ugly stickers on the car.
South Korea being one of the key players in the automotive industry seems to be lagging behind in motorsports and tuning. I still cannot figure out why South Korea does not allow tuning. Tuning and motorsports is part and parcel of development and also to grow the automotive industry. Like Japan, US, Great Britain and Germany, motorsports and tuning is a huge industry and one can see the innovation that comes with it.
this brings my next point to India. Recently I watched a short video clip on Youtube featuring a "pimp my ride" episode in India. It was more comedy than informative. Unlike the US version which is very outlandish with their crazy wide body kits, excessive use of LCD monitors and numerous speakers and loud interiors. The Indian version shows a car that was decked up with a ridiculously ugly body kit with out of date wheels and heavy promotion of Indian supplier's products. the funniest part was the performance tuning where a micro compressor (an air suction device) and an after market air filter is fitted to boost power. these two items at most will increase 2-3 horsepower. The host went on to install a big tachometer with a shift light and racing seats and a sports steering wheel. The entire cost of modification was no more than $2000 including the scissor doors, bodykit, wheels, bucket seats, sports steering, air filter, micro compressor and some fancy stickers. At least they made someone happy thinking that he will go fast...
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