Some people never learn

BMW 1 Series.

I have commented before on the fugliness of the BMW 1 Series.  I have commented before on the unsuitability of run-flat tyres on our roads as supplied by BMW on their cars.  I was actually beginning to think I was the lone voice in the wilderness - until the release of the newest version of the BMW 1 Series and I read the following comments from readers of a national daily in Australia:

“But that pig snout really puts me off.”

“Just as long as you don’t have to wake up in the morning and look at it.”

“The 1-series is ugly as hell!!!”

“They surely can’t be serious if they think the new 1 is a good looking car.”

“They need to start by building a car that is’nt drop-dead fugly!”

“Suggest they dump the run flat tyres to start with so the ride improves.”

Now don’t get me wrong.  I am not against BMW as a manufacturer, and I have enjoyed driving BMWs in the past.  I respect their engineering and road manners, but when the world is telling them something about their product and they choose to ignore it, they are showing an extreme reluctance to listen and learn.

Are you listening, this time, BMW?

CEA Race Day and Kid’s Helmets for Kids charity drive

Two great ‘public’ drive days were held at the Bira circuit this month.  First was the CEA (Kevin Fisher) “Race Day” on Sunday 9, followed six days later by Thomas Raldorf’s Helmets for Kids Charity “taxi rides” on Saturday 15.

These events were rare opportunities for members of the public to experience the thrills of traveling (as a passenger) in a racing car at speeds which are totally illegal on the open roads.  To be able to do this, the racing cars were fitted with passenger seats and full racing harnesses and helmets were worn by the hardy passengers.

 

 Ready for the ride of a lifetime.

Both of these events were well attended.  After getting out of the race cars, almost every passenger had the same response… “How good are the brakes!  I thought I was going to die at the first corner!”

In the racing situation, the brakes are not used until the last second in the approach to a corner, much closer than you would do in the public road situation.  In addition, racing cars run much larger brakes than the road-going models.

 

Thomas Raldorf thrills another passenger in the CEA Subaru.

The other responses were “the heat and the noise!” and “it shook my fillings out!”  No, the environment inside a racing car is very different from your road-going family chariot, but those who have now experienced it will remember it for the rest of their lives!

The racing cars included the CEA/Pizza Company Subaru Imprezza SuperCar (Thomas Raldorf), CEA Honda City (Dean Callister), Securitas Retro racing Ford Escort Mk 1 (Dr. Iain Corness), CEA Honda City (Thomas Raldorf/Tony Percy), Pizza Company Honda Civic (Tony Percy), Parker Mazda BT-50 Racing Super Pick-up truck (Michael Freeman), Audi R8 Super sports car (Jeremy), Ferrari F430 Super sports car, and a Lotus Elise (K. Kwang “Singer from AB Normal”).

The grand total raised was 60,000 baht, and the Pizza Company have said they will match it.  A brilliantly successful helmet for kids project.

 

Another passenger pleased to still be alive.

The CEA girls organized the seats.

What did we learn from the Korean Grand prix?

2011 World Champion Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) certainly showed his class once again in Korea.  From second on the grid, he stormed past pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and just inexorably pulled away from a pack which had lots of scuffling drivers.  Vettel has deserved his championship and shows no signs of just cruising to the end of 2011.

Second and third, Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and Mark Webber (Red Bull) put on a titanic race-long battle, with both drivers showing great fighting spirit, with passing and re-passing and clean driving being the order of the day.  Almost a first for Hamilton these days.  He has always had the tiger and the talent, and he used them both to advantage in Korea.

The same could not be said for some of the drivers further down the field, with Petrov’s (Renault) clumsy T-bone on Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) heralding what must be the last season for the Russian, no matter how many rubles he brings to the team.  By the way, the name “Renault” is being dropped for 2012, so the team will officially be called “Lotus”, while the current “Lotus” team will be called “Caterham” as the Tony Fernandez “Lotus Cars” outfit has bought Caterham, the manufacturer of the Lotus 7 replicas.  Confused?  Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it by half way through 2012.

Another driver who must be staring at a DCM (Don’t Come Monday) is Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.  Held up his team mate Fernando Alonso for too many laps until Alonso, who is not known to relinquish a fight, finally said “I give up, I give up,” two laps from home, while chasing Jenson Button (McLaren), as he had spent valuable time locked up behind Massa.  Felipe used to be fast, and can still pull out the odd ‘blinder’ in qualifying, but the race pace is not there any longer, and he always has excuses, which don’t wash any more.  “I'm not pleased because small problems prevented me from getting a better result,” was this week’s one.  A seat at Virgin for 2012?

The other Spaniard, Algy Wotsit in the Toro Rosso with his 7^th place might just be fending off relegation, while his team mate Buemi is definitely driving on thin ice, despite his 9^th place in Korea.  The driver most likely to pick up the second spot at Toro Rosso is rookie Ricciardo, currently at Hispania Racing and outclassing his much more experienced team mate Liuzzi (though why anyone would want Liuzzi on their team is beyond me).

Splitting the Toro Rosso’s was Rosberg in the Mercedes.  The more I see of him, the more he appears as just a journeyman, like Nick Heidfeld.  No real flashes of brilliance, I am afraid, and there are other talented Germans in the wings who would like to be Schumacher’s team mate, as make no mistake, Michael Schumacher has that seat for as long as he wants it.

Scotsman Paul Di Resta (Team Poppadum) continues to be the find of the season, scooping up another valuable point for the team, while Adrian Sutil, once described as another Schumacher, is another driver who may be looking for new overalls next year.

Finally, what is going to happen at Williams?  Once championship winners and now only also-rans.  Rumors that Raikkonnen wants to go to Williams next year.  If this is true, he should consult a psychiatrist without delay.

Next race is the inaugural Indian GP on October 30.  Let’s hope it isn’t a Halloween nightmare!

Would you pay $ 4.5 million for an old car?

Priceless!

Well, somebody did at a recent auction in the US, to buy the world’s oldest running car for a cool $4.5 million.  The car was an 1884 model De Dion, setting a new record for a car of its vintage.

The De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout - started off at $500,000 before immediately jumping to $1.0 m, with the final bid being $4.2 million but the lucky new owner had additional charges and auction house fees 10 percent on top of that to secure the transaction at the RM Auctions Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The provenance of the car showed it was originally commissioned by French entrepreneur Count de Dion, and was affectionately known as “La Marquise” after the Count’s mother.  The car was one of the participants in the first car race in 1887, reaching top speeds of about 60 km/h on straight sections.

The purchaser becomes just the fifth owner of the car in its 127 year old history.

China makes cheap cars, but the Chinese have expensive tastes

The marketplace is so huge, and the ordinary Chinese are becoming more affluent, that the Chinese manufacturers no longer have to worry about the world’s taste in cars, they can’t make enough home-grown ones to satisfy their own market.

However, at the top end of the Chinese market there is a growing demand as well.  The rich Chinese are growing in number every day, and the nouveau riche display their wealth by buying expensive motor cars.  Top end Mercedes, Porsche, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce and Bentley are the cars they wish to buy.

Bentley saw a 67 percent increase in sales to China in 2011 over 2010, doubling the size of increases in most of its other markets.  Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin are now building more cars for China than any other country.

The Chinese also do not wish to wait to display their new wealth.  They want to buy the car sitting in the showroom, and have it now.

Bentley chief executive Wolfgang Durheimer said, “The Chinese customer at present is not ready to wait for three months until you have built the car, he wants the car and if you don’t sell it to him, he goes next door and buys something else.

“For this reason, at present we are preparing to have cars shipped to dealers with a pre-specification that we think will meet customer demands.  We need to prepare some cars to have in the showroom ready to sell to the customer the next day.”

In China today, you don’t sell luxury cars.  People come into the showroom to buy them.

Big spend by Isuzu

New D-Max.

Isuzu Motors Thailand is going to spend 7.3 billion baht for a new facility to produce the new D-Max pick-ups.  This will be at Chachoengsao and the output will be 90,000 vehicles a year, adding to the almost 300,000 production from their other plant at Samrong (Samut Prakarn).

Tri Petch Isuzu, the marketing arm says that 40 percent of the production will go for export, mainly to the Middle East and Europe.  The remainder will be for local sales, and the new D-Max range will cost between 465,000 and 994,000 baht.

The new D-Max range is scheduled to be released this month.

What did we learn from the Japan GP?

We learned that the world driver’s championship has now been well and truly won by young Mr. Vettel in the Red Bull.  He has been the stand-out driver all year and he deserves the title.  And I sincerely hope that now he has won, perhaps he will stop waving the index finger at every available TV camera.  There is a fine line dividing youthful enthusiasm and arrogance.  However, he has changed it to two fingers, one on each hand.  Will somebody please tell him?  He was also very lucky not to be penalized with his veering start technique to push Button on the grass.  His third place in the GP was enough to clinch the crown.

Although the spoils went to Vettel, for me, the drive of the day came from Jenson Button (McLaren Mercedes) who steered his car into first place and held the position to the flag.  He is also currently in second place in the driver’s championship, and now undoubtedly the “Number 1” driver at McLaren.  Sorry all you Hamilton fans out there.

Another well-deserved second outright in the race by Fernando Alonso (Ferrari).  He is certainly driving with intelligence, an ability which is not seen in all the current drivers.

Fourth was Mark Webber (Red Bull) who has been outclassed by his young team mate all 2011 season.  If he wasn’t the “Number 2” at Red Bull before, he certainly is now.

Fifth was the controversial Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), who has seen his standings slip all year, and has become more and more frantic in his driving and botched passing maneuvers.  Yet again he managed to hit Massa (Ferrari) and yet again knocked the end plate off the front wing.  Some magnetic attraction perhaps?  An interesting observation that came from the ex-Ferrari F1 driver Eddie Irvine (Jnr), relayed to me by Eddie (Snr) after the race, is the thought that perhaps Hamilton is sitting too low in the car and just doesn’t see the proximity of the cars around him.  That might just explain it.

An observation about these ridiculous front wings on the cars this year.  They are wider than the front wheelbase, so the end plates are obviously going to be the first part of the car to be hit in any close encounters, leaving shards of carbon-fiber everywhere, resulting in another Safety Car period.  Am I the sole voice of reason here?

Sixth, and even a mid-point race leader at one stage, was Michael Schumacher (Mercedes).  The old master seems to have a new lease of life and he has left his team mate, the young pretender, Nico Rosberg wallowing in his wake.  If Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn could only deliver a car with championship winning capabilities we would be seeing the ‘Schumacher leap’ once more.  Perhaps in 2012?

Despite the upbeat comments from the BBC commentators, I did not see this as a “cracker” of a race, I am afraid.  Despite KERS and DRS there was a dearth of overtaking, and the final positions depended on how well your team ‘guessed’ the tyre strategy.  Does Pirelli really think that tyres that fall to bits in 10 laps are a good advertisement for the brand?  I don’t.

Finally, the Japanese fans were ecstatic to see Kamikaze Kobayashi seventh on the grid after qualifying, a position that he could not even vaguely defend during the race.  There was some controversy about his grid position after qualifying, and I am enough of an old cynic to say that there could have been some ‘influential figures’ suggesting that the Japanese driver’s high grid slot would attract more Japanese spectators.  Corruption in ‘Le Sport Pure’?  Surely not?

Chery popping in Thailand

Chery Tiggo.

One rumor doing the rounds is that the Chinese company Chery will be assembling their range of cheap cars here.  This stems from the fact that an agreement was signed in 2008 for the Chery QQ and the Tiggo SUV to be assembled in Thailand from CKD kits.

Chery already has assembly plants in Malaysia and Indonesia where they produce the Tiggo and the Cross mini-MPV.

So, despite an agreement signed three years ago, the rumor of Chery assembling here looks like just that - a rumor.

In the meantime, Chery has done very badly in the ANCAP (crash safety testing), and the western world is looking with great hesitation at the Chery offerings.  Chery has a lot to overcome in the marketplace before assembling cars here, I’m afraid.

Anyone want to buy a SAAB?

Pity those dealers in the world with a showroom full of SAAB’s.  Ever since General Motors gave the company the flick, it has been in diabolical financial troubles since then.

The company was then allied with the Dutch group Spyker, a company that produces luxury sports cars, but that marriage of convenience did not work, and now Swedish Automobiles (the owner of SAAB) hopes it has sold Spyker to an investment group in the US.

Swedish Automobiles also has tried selling itself to a Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov, but that fell through, but a loan given to SAAB by Antonov needs to be paid - which will be done with the proceeds of the Spyker sale.

In the meantime, SAAB can’t pay its bills, the staff can’t get paid, SAAB is staving off bankruptcy proceedings, and it is also trying to appease the Swedish government, and needs approval for financial dealings from GM, which still holds preferential shares.

So there we have it.  SAAB has always produced solid, dependable motor cars, but right now it would be a brave man that buys one.

Forget Road Rage - we’ve now got Sat-Nav Rage

Six out of 10 sat-nav users have fallen victim to Sat-Nav Rage - losing their temper with their dashboard gadget. The survey which interviewed 2,000 male and female drivers across the UK has found that millions of motorists have ended up shouting and swearing at their navigation system.

Unclear directions, annoying voice-overs, out of date and expensive maps, and taking them on unnecessary round-about journeys are most likely to test a driver's patience. One in ten has ended up stopping the car in frustration whilst one person even admitting to throwing their sat-nav out of the window.

The majority polled get annoyed by being sent in the wrong direction and 44 percent are adamant they aren’t taken on the quickest route. Three in 10 hate having to put up with it losing GPS signal and a quarter struggle to keep the device stuck to the windscreen. But that’s left half swearing, shouting and getting worked up when attempting to get to meetings or holiday destinations, with partners often in the firing line.

20 percent of those polled say that map updates are too expensive, which might explain why a whopping 51 percent have never updated them. Interestingly, a further 11 percent didn’t know they had to update their maps.

The way of the future is smartphone navigation apps and 70 percent of those polled say that these apps will substitute dedicated sat-nav devices in the future, with 40 percent saying they’d never buy a dedicated sat-nav device again.

“The conclusion we draw from the survey is that whilst sat nav is here to stay, the dedicated sat-nav device is out of date, expensive, inconvenient and not very user friendly. It’s only a matter of time before the more convenient and wallet friendly smartphone navigation application takes the top spot.”

Whilst a quarter of those surveyed admit they blindly follow what their sat-nav says, more than half (51 percent) have tried to outwit their sat-nav with one in five having then ended up lost, and one in twenty finding themselves stuck down a narrow road.

The top 10 sat-nav annoyances:
It takes me in the wrong direction
I’m pretty sure it doesn’t take me the quickest route
The annoying voice
It often loses GPS connection
The maps are out of date
If frequently falls from the windscreen
Map updates are expensive
It’s difficult trying to input post codes
It’s slow
It’s difficult trying to get it to stick to the windscreen.
Do you have a sat-nav device? Do you agree?

Charity Drive next weekend

The Giant-killing Securitas Mk1 Escort

Ever wondered what it is like inside a race car?  Well, on Saturday October 15, you can find out first-hand.  Thomas Raldorf of the Pizza Company/CEA race teams is bringing a couple of the team’s race cars to Bira, and we are joining the group with the Securitas Mk1 Ford Escort Retro race car.

Thomas Raldorf dreamed up this charity event, and all moneys raised are going to purchase motorcycle helmets for poor schoolchildren.  As we all know, motorcycle accidents are very common here, and children can be injured.  Broken legs and broken arms heal very quickly, but broken brains do not.  However, the severity of head injuries is so much less if they are wearing helmets.

The ‘fast taxi’ drives start at B. 500, and I can guarantee you that you will get an experience you will talk about for the rest of your life.  All safety precautions will be carried out, and you will be strapped in a race seat, complete with helmet.  We have run these events before, and I can assure you on the safety angle, as well as the ‘thrill’ angle.  You won’t regret it, and at the same time making sure a disadvantaged child is protected.

The event takes place at the Bira Circuit on Highway 36 on the Saturday morning 8 a.m. until noon, and the kind people at Bira have donated the track hire for this worthy cause.

Sound systems explained by JBL

Ferrari 458 Italia

Many years ago, in my previous life, I owned a Porsche 911 Targa.  Undoubtedly the best car I have ever owned, and I wish I had it still.

However, it had one huge deficiency - the sound system was quite inadequate.  Even with the targa top in place, as you accelerated, the music from the speakers was drowned out.  Jokingly I used to say that it needed a string from the accelerator pedal looped around the volume control, so that as you depressed the pedal, the volume would increase.  That was 30 years ago, but this month I found out that the clever JBL people had worked out just how to do the accelerator string thing - by electronics!  JBL Professional® Premium Sound System have produced a tailor-made system developed and tuned specifically for open versions of sports cars, and in this case, the Ferrari 458 Italia Spider.

Conceived for the Spider, the powerful 11 speaker system uses stiff, lightweight materials such as carbon fiber, Kevlar® and aluminum to deliver stunning audio performance, whilst achieving rigorous weight targets.

Accounting for the specific acoustic challenges of an open-topped car, JBL’s engineers have developed an alternative architecture to the Berlinetta derivative.  By using small and lightweight technologies such the 100 mm Kevlar speakers, JBL has ensured that both the driver and passenger are immersed in authentic sound.

Powering the array of carefully positioned speakers is a Class D 640 Watt DSP amplifier.  Utilizing 8 channels, JBL has extracted the highest levels of performance ensuring a premium listening experience for both occupants.  Three 80 mm ALumaprene speakers are used in the doors and centre to deliver balanced frequency response.  Extremely stiff, they are also highly responsive and provide excellent sound across the front of the car.  The stringent demands for lightweight construction led JBL engineers to use carbon fiber for the door woofers.  Highly stable across temperature ranges experienced in open topped cars and coupled with light Neodymium magnet systems which deliver virtually distortion-free bass performance in the 20 to 200 Hz range, these custom speakers offer dynamic sound reproduction often difficult to achieve in the challenging car environment.  Complimenting the Kevlar speakers in the rear are a further pair of 25 mm metal matrix tweeters that deliver brilliant treble tones.

Now here is the amazing bit, the JBL engineers created bespoke equalization (or EQ) which compensates for changes in the acoustics whether the roof is open or closed.  When the roof is opened, the levels across the frequency range seamlessly and automatically change to maintain the acoustic performance and compensate for the additional external noise entering the cabin.

458 Italia interior

This latest sound system continues the successful cooperation between Harman and the Italian sports car manufacturer that was formed in 1997.  The Ferrari 458 Italia Spider system extends the JBL Professional offering that is already available in the 458 Italia, California and most recently, the FF.

And just in case you get lost while immersed in the sound of Beethoven’s 8^th Symphony, the Harman people also equip the Ferrari 458 Italia Spider with the latest infotainment and navigation technology.  All Ferrari models feature a Harman hard-disk-based GPS navigation system with map and arrow display.  The hard disk offers access times which are much quicker than conventional alternatives using data on a DVD.  Bird’s-eye perspectives and an automatic intersection zoom feature are included, as are dynamic route and destination calculation and extensive points of interest (POI), with verbal route guidance available in a choice of five languages (including Italian).

Horsepower versus handling

Classic Mercedes Fintail

Many years ago, in the early 1960’s when the Mercedes 180 D was coming to the end of its production run, we put one up against a Ford Galaxie on our (un)official test track up, around the top and down a mountain in Brisbane, Australia.  At that time, the 180 D was certainly not thought of as a performance machine.  The Galaxie, on the other hand had seven liters of all-American V8 up front and you could accommodate a cricket team inside, with just a little squeeze.

For some good reason (unknown by this stage 40 odd years later), we decided to send these two cars around the test track in the late hours of the night, when all good policemen were home in their beds.

The Galaxie was all tyre squeal, tyre smoking acceleration and angles of lean in the corners reminiscent of the America’s Cup yachts.  It was a very large handful.

On the other hand, the Mercedes just chugged its way up, across and round and down, with no dramas and was minutes quicker than the big Ford.  We could hardly believe it, but there it was on our watches.  Down the mountain in particular, the Galaxie was a huge handful, while the 180 D just instilled more and more confidence as we explored its handling capabilities.

Now I know of an immaculate 200 D (the model after the 180, complete with the tail fins) for sale in Pattaya and hopefully still there.  The owner tells me it has had a recent full service, new tyres, battery, and new air con units.  Tinted glass, new leather seats, etc.  Correct Blue book, taxed and insured.  Baht 535,000 contact serutiovs@yahoo.com or phone 081-834-3260.  If you are after a real classic, give him a call.

Is this the future?

Mercedes F125 Concept

According to Mercedes-Benz, their car of the future will have emissions-free hydrogen motoring with cloud computing, 3D displays and partially running on Auto-pilot.

The F125 concept - named to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Daimler-Benz company, also integrates with the social media of 2025, making this car your complete mobile city office.

The styling as portrayed in this model is futuristic with gullwing doors and uses much in the way of lightweight materials to give the hydrogen car a 1000 km driving range.  The car of the future also talks to the driver, with voice, touch and gesture controls as well as the ability to remotely control settings and entertainment features.

The cloud computer control system is always connected to the internet (so it can’t be used in Thailand!), allowing users to access websites, information and entertainment, including photo albums and music libraries housed on servers.

The front passenger gets a 17 inch display that can be controlled by gestures rather than having to push a button or twiddle a knob, however I wonder what the M-B computer would make of a couple of raised fingers in a V shape?

Primary safety features are embodied in the car with electronics to provide advanced crash avoidance systems, which can interface with traffic lights and transport centers to warn the driver of obstacles or potential incidents at intersections.

The power will be supplied by a hydrogen fuel cell, which emits no carbon dioxide to make it a zero emissions vehicle, while at the same time the fuel cell performs a chemical reaction to create electricity to drive the electric motors.  M-B does not consider that it will be necessary to have back-up or hybrid power.  Hydrogen storage integrates the tanks in the structure of the car, allowing the manufacturer more freedom in their placement.

The batteries will be new generation lithium-sulphur batteries - claimed to hold more charge per kilogram than other batteries, bringing weight reductions - allowing the car to be recharged via induction pads and driven for up to 100 km just on the batteries, without the output from the hydrogen fuel cell.  Peak power is 230 kW and 170 kW can be delivered constantly, which is enough to produce acceleration times of 4.9 seconds for the zero to 100 km/h sprint from the four electric motors housed near each wheel.

“With the F125 we want to show that large, comfortable and safe saloon cars have an excellent future, partly because they are able to operate with no emissions,” said Professor Dr Thomas Weber, member of the board of management of Daimler.

“The legend of the S-Class will continue into the future thanks to intelligent solutions that always have the customer's needs in mind.  The new research vehicle illustrates and underlines this claim to leadership with innovative ideas and traditional Mercedes strengths in the areas of design, safety, comfort and performance.”

What did we learn from the Singapore Grand Prix?

Well, we learned (if we didn’t know already) that street circuits are boring.  They may be technically very challenging for the drivers, but that does not translate into very exciting for the spectators.  Because of the novelty factor of the race under floodlights, Singapore was better than Valencia - but only just.

There was no doubt in anyone’s minds as to who was the driver of the day (sorry - night).  Vettel’s effort was flawless in his Red Bull, and currently he is head and shoulders above everyone.  He drives with pin-point accuracy and a maturity well beyond his years.  He will win the championship again this year and he deserves it.

His team mate Mark Webber fluffed the start, yet again.  Two weeks ago I suggested he spend the time before the Singapore GP practicing starts.  He didn’t listen, and so cocked it all up again.  When will these drivers listen to age and experience (me)?

The McLaren team is an interesting one.  The very fast, much vaunted Lewis Hamilton disconnects the brain yet again.  Does he do it as the starting lights go out?  Or does it only happen after a few laps?  And in the other side of the garage, the only fast, and under-rated, Jenson Button keeps his cool, drives with intelligence and brings home the results.  Far from being the Number 2 driver at McLaren, he is really now Number 1.  Now the team has to accept this, and work out how to put enough fuel in their racing cars.  This is Formula 1, the peak of motor sport.  Perhaps I should send them a whisky bottle of 91 octane that my local shop sells to the motorcycle taxi drivers.

Scuderia Ferrari is having its problems too.  Alonso is getting the most out of the car, while Massa really is only a Number 2, and his poor lap times get him back in the mid-pack, where he gets attacked by Hamilton (again/as usual).

Another driver who is showing bucketfuls of talent is Paul di Resta in the Team Poppadum finishing in 6^th position.  A huge future ahead for this rookie, who is easily outpacing his more experienced team mate Adrian Sutil, who is supposed to be the great ‘talent-in-waiting’.

The next team down the results sheet was Mercedes GP, where the other great talent-in-waiting Nico Rosberg couldn’t get to grips with the circuit at all.  “I was struggling with the rear end in the race, and our car just really didn’t suit this demanding track.”  The car or the driver, Nico?  His team mate, Michael Schumacher, claimed the opposite, saying, “…my car and the tyres worked well, and therefore the pace was very good.”  Unfortunately he clobbered Perez (Sauber) resulting in a crash he described as, “It’s probably one of those race incidents which look more impressive from outside than from inside, as I am totally OK and my impact in the end was not too heavy.  It was a pity because I will look ahead to the next races and hope to have better endings there.”  Ah yes, Michael, we know what you mean about happy endings.  Perhaps he has been to the Suzuka massage parlor?

Kamui Kobayashi in his Sauber can always be counted upon to be in the thick of the action, and did not let us down in Singapore.  “I was very surprised when I got the drive through penalty, because I didn’t see any blue flags.”  A couple of meetings ago he used the excuse that he was Japanese and had small eyes - this time he didn’t bother opening them at all.

Next race is the Japanese GP October 9, telecast at 1 p.m. Thai time.

The Internet application to safer driving

Harman’s Human Machine Interface

At the Frankfurt motor show, the Harman company unveiled a suite of advanced driver assistance features for safer, but connected, car applications.

Harman’s new generation of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are designed to integrate seamlessly with their range of in-dash solutions for intelligent cars of the future.

The Harman ADAS features address safety and convenience in revolutionary new ways:

Situational Human Machine Interface (HMI) - As more Internet-based content and information makes its way into the car, there is a need to ensure data and services are displayed in the most intuitive and least distracting manner.  Harman has introduced a personalized and context-aware HMI that ensures that a driver keeps his hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, while still enabling the maximum convenience and flexibility to on-line information and entertainment.  Harman’s innovative approach to in dash displays means different screens can be served up to the driver depending on the information needs of particular driving situations such as daily commuting, personal errands, or a weekend road trip.

Augmented navigation - Harman is pioneering new navigation solutions that combine live motion video with route information on a single display screen when approaching areas with complex conditions, helping the driver with better navigation support.  By overlaying images from car-mounted external cameras with advanced software visualization graphics, drivers can get a more accurate and realistic view of the road ahead and benefit from more clearly marked directional cues for off-ramps, roundabout exits, or even points of interest.

Park Assistant - Harman has introduced a revolutionary new camera-based parking aid that goes beyond today’s single, rear-mounted view or multi camera top view.  Harman mixes real camera data with virtual reality modeling to offer complete surround views of the perimeter of the car from virtually any angle, greatly improving parking accuracy.

“Our vision is to combine vehicle efficiency, safety and convenience with the utmost in digital connectivity and entertainment,” said Michael Mauser, Co-President of the Infotainment and Lifestyle Divisions at Harman.  “We are continuing our tradition of addressing the complex systems in the automotive field with highly integrated solutions.  These new features are designed to take full advantage of the capabilities in today’s more connected, intelligent, and networked automobile to make the driving experience better and safer.”

So the technology that M-B is touting for their 2025 F125 concept, is already here, it will just take some time for that technology to be affordable and specific enough for motoring in 2012.