Safer Roads For American Drivers

We sometimes find difficulties when driving at night because of the unseen things on roads especially if your headlights are malfunctioning. Now, night driving may soon get a little bit safer. It should be safe since it’s a part of our everyday lives to drive during nighttime. And we are greatly at risk if we cannot see the road we are driving. However, the British company Astucia changed it all.

The British company has invited a SolarLite road stud, which could replace conventional reflective road studs. These studs illuminate the road by bouncing back the light that touches them but these new SolarLite road studs simply store the sun’s light to provide light during the night. These lights are produced via small light emitting diodes (LED). This new technology increases visibility from 90 meters (sorry, the Brits were doing the measurements) to nearly 900 meters. “To put this in terms of reaction time, that’s a difference of having to react in 3.2 seconds versus 30 seconds when driving 60 mph,” Kicking Time revealed.

Astucia said the LED studs have been deployed on the dark streets as well as on 120 stretches of road in the United Kingdom. And according to latest report, the car and road accidents were decreased by 70% especially during night time. Now, if the result of the SolarLite studs gained more than 50%, then I guess the new safety studs will definitely give American roads security and it would be worth the cost.

A Hyundai Surprise

All the best gifts from the auto industry were unwrapped during the marvelous events at the LA Auto Show. It was the unveiling of the future! One of the best surprises revealed during the show is no other than the much awaited concept from Hyundai… the Genesis Coupe concept. Check out some quotes and details courtesy of AutoSpectator.com.

“Concept Genesis Coupe is the most thrilling, most emotional Hyundai yet. When it hits the market in early 2009, we aim to deliver a driving experience that challenges cars like Infiniti G37, at prices more like Mitsubishi Eclipse,” said John Krafcik, the vice president of product development and strategic planning, Hyundai Motor America.

“The mission for Concept Genesis Coupe was to create a pure performance car with a design that would capture the imagination of hardcore automotive enthusiasts,” said Joel Piaskowski, the chief designer at the Hyundai Design Center in Irvine, Calif. “With its aggressive look from just about any angle, I think we have been able to do that.”

Concept Genesis Coupe specifications:

• Configuration: Front engine, rear-wheel drive sports coupe
• Wheelbase: 2,820 mm / 111 inches
• Overall length: 4,666 mm / 183.7 inches
• Overall width: 1,902 mm / 74.9 inches
• Overall height: 1,386 mm / 54.5 inches
• Wheels: 20-inch, five-spoke
• Tires: Hankook 255/35 ZR front and 275/35 ZR rear

Preliminary production car details:

• Engine type: V6
• Estimated horsepower: more than 300 horsepower
• Estimated torque: more than 250 lb. ft.
• Displacement: 3.8 liters
• Block material: high pressure die cast aluminum
• Cylinder head material: aluminum
• Valvetrain: Dual Over Head Cam (DOHC)
• Valve timing: continuous variable valve timing
• Estimated 0-60 mph: under 6 seconds
• Transmission type: 6-speed manual

Volkswagen to Donate $5.75 Million to Stanford University

Volkswagen of America will be giving out millions of cash… but for a good cause! The company announced a donation of $5.75 million to Stanford University to establish the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Lab (VAIL) to the Stanford University campus!

According to TheAutoChannel.com, the VAIL and corresponding CarLab research and teaching program housed at VAIL, will help to accelerate automotive-related research on campus by increasing the opportunities for collaborations between VW and Stanford and by building a global community of academic and industrial partners committed to the future of automotive research.

“The VAIL will be a solid foundation on which Volkswagen researchers and Stanford scientists will be able to find new ways to explore automotive technology. The work done at VAIL will help to further develop the future of mobility and autonomous driving that we started with our partnership on the DARPA Grand Challenge vehicles, Stanley and Junior,” says Dr. Burkhard Huhnke, the executive director of Electronics Research Laboratory, Volkswagen of America, Inc.

According to my source once again, Volkswagen will contribute $2 million to Stanford to build the structure housing VAIL and will give $750,000 every year for five years to support research and teaching activities in Stanford’s CarLab.

“The success of Junior and Stanley in the DARPA Grand Challenge events shows that when Stanford collaborates with great partners in industry, such as Volkswagen, we can create significant new technologies. Transportation is a vital part of life and our goal as engineers is to find innovative ways to meet important human needs,” says Jim Plummer, the dean of Stanford Engineering.

Volkswagen and Stanford University’s alliance began with the two highly-triumphant vehicles in the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Grand Challenge races with a top place victory during the 2005 Grand Challenge. They finished second-place at the recent 2007 Urban Challenge event in Victorville, CA as well.

“The initial focus for VAIL will be vehicle safety, mobility and environmental performance. Already signed up for space in the facility are the research groups of computer science and electrical engineering Professor Sebastian Thrun, leader of the Stanford Racing Team that fielded Junior and Stanley; mechanical engineering Associate Professor Chris Gerdes, whose research group is studying cleaner combustion and advanced vehicle dynamics control; and communication department Professor Clifford Nass, whose research studies the psychology of making cars safer and more enjoyable,” Plummer added.

Ford Leads ‘Em All

 

We all know that Volvo is synonymous with car safety. And recently, it has shown once again that if you need a safe car, Volvo is one of the best picks. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently named its Top Safety Picks and Ford and its subsidiary Volvo has eight vehicles on the list. That shows that the Dearborn automaker is improving the safety of its vehicles probably with some good help from the Swedish automaker.

The Volvo C70, Ford Edge, Taurus X, Lincoln MKX, Volvo XC90, Volvo S80, Mercury Sable, and the Ford Taurus all received the Top Safety Pick award from the Institute. That means that these vehicles have all passed the IIHS’ frontal, side, and rear crash tests. They also have the needed ESC which is of great help to drivers in keeping them from accidents.

Adrian Lund of the Institute has this to say about the advantage of having an ESC. “Vehicles should be designed to provide good occupant protection when crashes occur, but now with ESC we have the possibility of preventing many crashes altogether. If all vehicles were equipped with ESC, as many as 10,000 fatal crashes could be avoided each year.”

This year marks the first time that the Institute has included pickup trucks on their list of safe vehicles. “Pickups are among the top selling vehicles in the United States,” said Lund. “They’re also more likely than in the past to be used as family vehicles, so equipping them with the latest safety features is important,” added Lund.

Honda on the other hand and its luxury division Acura has seven vehicles in the list. These are the Honda Accord, the Honda Odyssey, Acura, MDX, Acura RDX, Honda Pilot, Honda CR-V, and the Honda Element.

Kia Names New CEO

A car maker needs to have a line up of executives and officers in order to become not only productive but also have a profitable reputation. We have seen several reshuffles of officers in the car industry these past few months. There are executives coming from another car maker who decided to transfer to another car maker because of his expertise. Toyota executive like Jim Press later became a Chrysler vice president since he was able to make a huge profitability rate for the Japanese car maker. And now, several car makers are looking for more chief executive officers in order to sell more. One huge example of this is Kia Motor America, which has a new CEO.

Len Hunt, a Kia Motors America officer, was promoted to become the president and chief executive officer. Mr. Hunt has been one among the most productive executive vice presidents and chief operating officers for KMA for the past two years, and he replaced B.G. Lee who has returned to Korea.

“This decision reflects a solid vote of confidence in the leadership of Len Hunt. He has put together and empowered a team of seasoned professionals to help Kia flexibly meet the changing U.S. market situation, and he is the right choice to lead the company going forward,” said E.S. Chung, the president and CEO of Kia Motors Corporation (KMC).

Kia Motors America is one among the most famous brands in the US car market with cars coming from South Korea. It is also a brand of Kia Motors Corporation in sales, marketing and distribution based in the US. It also offers a complete range of vehicles including 630 dealers throughout the United States.

2008 Green Car Of The Year To Be Announced At The Los Angeles Auto Show

The Los Angeles Auto Show is another marvelous event to look forward to this year. Expect it to be a blast as always! During this event, new concept and future cars will be unveiled, and some of the latest cars will be recognized with the awarding ceremonies to take place during the show. One of the much awaited awards is the Green Car of the Year! Jay Leno will be one of the jurors who will pick the winner of the auto industry’s top green honor.

The nominees for the said award were trimmed to only 5 entries according to an announcement by Green Car Journal, the leading automotive environmental magazine. The ultimate green winner will be proclaimed on the 15th day of November all through Press Days at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

“There has been significant movement in the auto industry toward making mainstream models ‘greener’ in recent years, with notable milestones in fuel efficiency and low emissions. This is especially evident with hybrids, where gasoline-electric hybrid technology is being applied to popular models in the most important vehicle classes where consumers are shopping,” says Ron Cogan, the editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal.

“The fact that all five Green Car of the Year(R) nominees are hybrids this year is a clear indication that the auto industry’s significant investment of time and resources into gasoline-electric hybrid technology is paying off,” explains Cogan. “Hybrids were not a specific focus during our nomination process. There are many pathways to achieving efficiency and emissions goals, and hybrids, while popular, represent just one of these.”