Ford’s Frugalest Engine

This week saw Ford launch production of their smallest petrol engine – a 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder, turbocharged, direct injection EcoBoost engine. 

Earlier this week saw Ford President and CEO; Alan Mulally, launch the production of Ford’s new EcoBoost engine. The new 1.0-litre prtrol engine, will give a combined cycle (average) fuel economy of 56.5mpg thanks to the use of just 3 cylinders, a turbo and direct injection technology. The engine will be available in two states of tune, producing either 99 hp or 123 hp, (the equivalent output of some 1.6 litre engines). At the same time it will only produce ultra-low CO₂ emissions of 109g/km and 114g/km respectively.

The engine was designed and developed by UK Powertrain engineers located at Dunton and Dagenham, in Essex. But production of the advanced new EcoBoost engine will be at Ford’s Cologne Engine Plant in Germany, which has seen a £110 million investment. The plant  which was designed at Ford’s Virtual Manufacturing laboratory at Dunton, will use efficient energy techniques and have a low carbon footprint. All energy used to manufacture the engines comes from renewable sources.

The Calogne plant will produce up to 350,000 units of the engine per year. But European production capacity could double to 700,000 units per year as production would increase with the addition of Ford’s new engine plant in Craiova, Romania, in early 2012. In the years ahead, Ford anticipates production would expand outside of Europe to deliver global capacity of up to 1.3 million 1.0-litre EcoBoost engines per year.

The 1.0-litre EcoBoost will make its debut early next year in the Ford Focus. It will also feature in the Ford C-MAX and Grand C-MAX, and later in the new Ford B-MAX which enters production in mid-2012. Alan Mulally said, “These engines are delivering the fuel-efficient vehicles customers want and value.”

2011 London to Brighton run celebrates triple anniversary

Crossing the finish line, Nigel Mansell with passenger Mike Penning MP in veteran Mercedes

Each year sees the London to Brighton veteran car run take place on the first Sunday in the month of November, (this year falling on the 6^th). It is the world’s oldest motoring event; this year celebrating its 115^th anniversary. It also happens to be the 125^th anniversary of the first automobile, and the annual run was appropriately opened by Jutta Benz, the great granddaughter of Carl Benz. She drove a 1880s Benz Patent-Motorwagen, and Mercedes, alongside Bosch, were event partner sponsors.

This year also celebrated the 75^th anniversary of the event starting from Hyde Park. An 1894 Benz driven by 17 year old Oliver Wright led 496 pre-1905 vehicles at official sunrise, 07:02am. The vehicles, ranging between 106 and 117 years old, then proceeded on the 60 mile route from central London to the finish on Madeira Drive on Brighton’s seafront.

Matt Roberts, with his 1897 Marot Gardon Tricycle was the first to arrive in Brighton in an impressive 3 hours and 25 minutes. His vehicle was the first of an astonishing 420 Veteran vehicles that managed to complete the historic route.

The run draws personalities from the world of television, stage, music and sport who participate in the annual run. This has even included royalty. Former racing drivers such as Paddy Hopkirk and former F1 world champion, Nigel Mansell headlined this year’s celebrities, together with others such as the impressionist Jon Culshaw.

The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run commemorates the Emancipation Run of the 14^th November 1896, which celebrated the passing into law of the Locomotives on the Highway Act. This raised the speed limit for ‘light locomotives’ (cars) from 4 mph to 14 mph and abolished the requirement for these vehicles to be preceded by a man on foot carrying a red flag.

However, the Locomotive Act was still widely known as the ‘Red Flag Act’ and a red flag was symbolically destroyed at the start of the Emancipation Run by Lord Winchilsea. This tradition is upheld today by members of The Royal Automobile Club (the events organizing and owning body), just before the start of the run.

Originally, 33 pioneering motorists set off from the Metropole Hotel in Central London and travelled to the Metropole Hotel in Brighton. But only 14 actually completed the journey. The first formal re-enactment occurred in 1927. The Run has taken place every November since, except during the WW II years and in 1947 when petrol rationing was in force.

The Royal Automobile Club of Pall Mall London has owned and run the event since 1930. In 1936 the Club moved the start of the Run to Hyde Park. But the modern route tries to stick closely to the original route.

Today the event attracts entrants from all round the world, with around 600 applications a year for around 500 available places. Many of the participating vehicles are imported to the UK just for the event. The rare and valuable Veteran cars, comprising of around 160 marques (with valuations between £25,000 and several million pounds), have to have been registered before 1^st January 1905. However the organizers have occasionally invited a small number of vehicles just out of period to join the celebration.

The London to Brighton run is the largest free spectator motoring event in the world. Vast crowds turn out in support of the world’s greatest and longest running motoring event; which last year brought £1.1million to the Brighton economy.

Driving Wars

DRIVING WARS

The Dave channel has long had a staple diet of broadcasting hand me down episodes of Top Gear and Fifth Gear. But the channel recently launched its own automotive show; Driving Wars. The show started on Monday 17^th October, but Dave being Dave, it’s often repeated, currently also shown on Wednesdays and Sundays. The show is inspired by console driving games involving carnage, crashes and explosions. It aims to allow contestants to transfer their gaming simulator skills to the real life world, using real cars to perform extreme driving challenges. But there’s a twist. The real full sized cars are radio controlled and the contestants still sit in a simulator.

The statement on channel Dave’s web page reads; “Think you’re a hotshot driver? Clean-up on driving games on your console and think you can handle the real thing? It’s time to step up to the simulator to test your mettle”.

The simulator is actually the converted cabin of an old Jaguar XJ6, located 700 metres away from the action, so the contestants are in perfect safety. The Jag’s steering system, accelerator and breaks are hooked up to sensors that translate their input movements, which are relayed by radio control to the real cars on the track. Robotic compressed air actuators and a steering motor in the cars then does the driving. Mini TV cameras in the car then transmit the high speed video link back to TV screens in front and behind the studio based Jag simulator.

The show is hosted by DJ and sports enthusiast Collin Murray and Abi Griffiths. Each week sees two rivalling teams of motoring experts (each composed of 3 contestants), from an automotive back ground, compete against each other. Such matches may see Motorcyclists versus Van drivers, Police versus Boy racers or Go kart drivers versus Truck drivers. Or even Driving gamers versus Automotive journalists.

The teams race against the clock to perform challenges such as negotiating obstacles before mounting a moving flat-bed truck, or use a ramp to jump 100 cars  at 60-70mph. Some of the more complex games involve driving round a track, partially off road; while trying to avoid been smashed off course by a 12 tonne truck or by what looks like an off road stock car jeep, (which are operated by stunt drivers). Or trying to navigate out of an industrial site populated by earth mover and grappling vehicles. There is even an assault course on narrow ramps up high off the ground, with the risk of the vehicle falling.

Attempts to use radio control for real cars has been done on TV before. It’s been pioneered on Channel 4’s Scrapheap Challenge, or the odd short feature on Top gear. It has been successfully employed as part of crash test safety features on fifth gear. But Driving wars pushes the concept further. It’s needless to elaborate on the fact that serious car wreckage and mayhem occurs. So it’s a good job the contestants are safely studio based, but it is perhaps much more difficult to drive the cars when your physically disassociated from the vehicle and don’t have a full 360 degree field of view.