Superleague Formula at 300 km/h

Superleague Formula is a brand new and global Championship that connects two of the most popular sports in the world, motor racing and football. It's a combination of the two of the world’s most popular sports capturing the fervor of football with the excitement and thrill of motor racing.
The new idea kicks off in August 2008 with a V12-powered 750 horsepower single seater racecars bearing the colours of the world’s leading football teams.
Traditional rivals on the pitch will do battle at some of the world’s greatest racetracks. This is more than just a race, Superleague Formula will provide a spectacular entertainment package for all the family at each event.

source & image:

superleagueformula.com

SONY CDX-GT410U

Check out this, the SONY CDX-GT410U is amazing. It has on the front panel an aux in & USB input, it’s SAT radio and iPod control ready. Bring an EQ3 Stage 2 with 52W x 4 High Power, rear/sub selectable preout w/LPF. It’s supplied with a wireless card remote.
Flip-down detachable faceplate, the 13 segment FL display is more than enough. Switchable red/green illumination. Can play MP3, WMA, AAC, ATRAC3plus. It has MP3 ID3Tag indication (Title/Artist/Album). Multi-Session (MP3/ATRAC/WMA/AAC) ATRAC3 plus/CONNECT ready 24-bit DAC.
Pause function, UniLink control, CD Text, drive-S with 120dB S/N ratio
SSIR-EXA tuner, 18FM & 12AM presets, BTM (Best Tuning Memory). It’s 45 degree install and has a CEA-2006 power compliant.

Believe me, I have one and this Sony tuner is remarkable.

Parking Meters by SMS

A new system for parking meters payment was introduced in Lisbon, with this system you can pay your car parking ticket meter by cell phone just sending a SMS. The innovation was only possible with a creation of a partnership between the 3 mobile phone companies TMN, Vodafone, Optimus and the EMEL (public car parking company).

This payment technology is opened to all the cell phone users, including the foreigners who come to Portugal and have a roaming service. This new technology service is already used in some major cities of Europe, especially in the Nordic countries. Sweden was one of the pioneers in this type of payment.

source & image:
http://www.emel.pt/

Do you known UAE Desert Challenge?

Have you ever heard about UEA? And Dubai Rally? The first time I saw it was on TV, and enjoy it to see that there are other alternatives than Dakar. If you have a radical spirit, a couple of friends with the will of spending some days in the desert, and of course a big sponsor. This could be a challenger before you can measure your chance in Dakar.

usually it take place on the beginning of November. The total distance is about 2.210 kilometres. Less than Dakar Rally but at the same time much more tricky.

This event was created by Mohammed Ben Sulayem, that was a Rally racer in the '80's. Mohammed who has a record 14 FIA titles. is the main responsible behind the event. He has very experience as a competitor and an organiser.

The entire race is made on flat sand or dunes, no streets at all. Known Rally racers such as Stéphane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz, Nasser Al Attiyah, Tina Toerner, Marc Coma, Cyril Despres or Pal Ullevalseter.
This year rally was won by Stéphane Peterhansel on a Mitsubishi.

source & image:
uaedesertchallenge.com

The 2009 Rali Dakar will start in Lisbon!

It was confirmed on the 2008 race presentation, that rally Dakar will once again start from Lisbon. Since 2006 this mythic race started from the Portuguese capital making the 4th consecutive race in 2009. This year, cars, motorbikes and trucks will drive about 9.273 Km, crossing Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal. For this year race already signup about 600 vehicles, and will take place between 5 e 20 of January.

source & image:

abola.pt

BitCAR - Concept for a stackable city car

The quick development of the automotive industry has forced cities to adapt quickly, and huge structures, cemented streets, highways, parking lots have been built to meet the request of auto transportation, that keeps to grow. One of the targets was to turn around this thoughts and as an alternative of designing cities that adjust to cars, we have cars that can adapt to the citys.
check the animation link


These tiny electric vehicles for two passengers can be parked all over the city in stacks, which eliminates the residual space between cars. People simply take the first car out of the stack and drive away, and then return it to the back of another stack when they reach their destination.Car stacks can be included to the city's existing infrastructure, allowing for vehicles to be recharged while parked. Stacks could be located virtually anywhere within the electric grid, with critical mass in points such as airports, subway stops and train terminals, malls, etc. This design is a simple rotating system mechanism that folds over the configuration in a vertical position. Additionally, the back wheels are closer together, which allows the next car to be fitted.

source & image:

web.mit.edu

Slot Cars

Who doesn’t remember of spending hours around a slot car track, racing against other opponent and trying to do more laps in less time? The time went by and we forgot how nice it was. Some time ago the feeling came back and it’s fashion again.

A slot car is a power-driven miniature vehicle which is guided with a remote or cabled control in the track on which it runs. A pin on the bottom keep the car in the slot. We can find complex tracks that have the appearance of a real life racecourse, including miniature buildings, trees and people. Digital era bring tracks that enable racers not only race side by side but you can even change side to make use of the best side of tracks, electronic lap counters and great hand wireless controls.
Let your child's side come out and enjoy this excellent hobby.


Source & image:
en.wikipedia.org
slotcargarage.com

Last season race on Portuguese Ralicross!

Nothing better than watching a Portuguese rally cross race on a Sunday afternoon.

JoãoTabaio from the 1º division was the winner in this last race of the Portuguese national Rallycross...

"Skycar" M200G available soon!

Not like UFO's witnesses at Roswell, Moller International can actually confirm its flying saucers. With this latest innovation, the M200G. It runs on an eight-rotary engine to maintain power. Like the company's M400 model, the M200G will run on a variety of fuels, including ethanol and gasoline. The vehicle is expected to carry up to a 250-pound payload and can allegedly reach top speeds of 100 miles per hour.For more information on purchasing a M200G.

Believe or not, this could be the future, remember the Jetson family, after all it could be a future reality for all of our families.

source & image:

moller.com

TOYOTA Supra HV-R hybrid wins Tokashi 24-Hour Race

Toyota had made history by winning the Tokashi 24-Hour Race with a hybrid car, i'm talking about the Supra HV-R hybrid race car. It's the first time ever that a Hybrid race car has won a competition. The Supra’s success follows an entry last year when Toyota was the first car manufacturer to enter a hybrid vehicle, the Lexus GS450h, into the Tokashi 24-Hour race finishing 17th overall. By entering hybrid systems into racing events, Toyota engineers hope to discover ways to make hybrid systems, such as those fitted to the Toyota Prius production car, more efficient and lighter. It needed only two years of competition to rise into the top.
This race car is based on the Japanese Super GT races using modified and equipped special racing hybrid system. To improve the system’s energy regeneration and operating efficiency during the race, two distinctive technologies were incorporated:

A four-wheel energy regeneration and drive system was adopted which includes in-wheel motors in the front wheels in addition to one 150 kW rear-axle mounted electric motor.
Thanks to this energy regeneration system with the 3 motors/generators, the vehicle could efficiently recover a greater amount of energy during rapid deceleration and breaking from high speeds.
In light of the fact that racing involves repeated acceleration and deceleration under peak performance, a quick-charging capacitor system was adopted instead of the usual rechargeable batteries.

The TOYOTA Team name is "SARD", and has for drivers the Portuguese Andre Couto, and 3 Japanese, Katsuyuki Hiranaka, Akira Lida and Tatsuya Kataoka. And they run a class GT/TP1 Engine Modified (Super GT version 3UZ-FE engine Enginedisplacement 4,480ccAir restrictor 29.6mm i2Maximum output 480ps min/6.800rpmMaximum torque 510 Nm at 5.600rpmElectric motor Front motor: 10kW i2 (in-wheel motor)Rear motor: 150kWVehicle weight 1.080 kg

source & image:
automobilsport.com

The Porsche museum

Started in Stuttgart as an ambitious project, the construction of the Porsche museum, is the most spectacular construction project in Porsche company’s history. Dynamically designed, apparently floating exhibition body, with a total of around 21,000 cubic centimeters of concrete and 4,000 tons of concrete reinforcement. The museum will be the business card at Porsche headquarters in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen and will represent the Company both inwardly and outwardly. The entire historical and contemporary knowledge of Porsche gathered in one location, on floor space of around 21,000 square meters. Expects that the building will be completed in the second half of 2008. The exhibition will also be dedicated to the era of Professor Ferdinand Porsche and his development work in the period between 1900 and 1948, all gathered. At the same time, as the main theme of the exhibition, is the product chronology of the Porsche sports car, which will be supplemented by more in-depth topic areas that are of particular significance for the Company’s history and philosophy.

A historical workshop will borne, and will give visitors an insight into the restoration of the exclusive sports car. In future, this workshop will not only feature the restoration and servicing of own exhibits, but will also focus on customers’ historical Porsche vehicles. In addition, the Company archive will be housed in the new museum. In addition to a restaurant and coffee bar in the foyer, there will be a conference area on the top floor as well as an exclusive restaurant, which will be opened independently of the museum operation and may also be leased by external interested parties.Originally, 170 architectural offices from all over Europe applied to build the new museum at Porsche-Platz. The sports car manufacturer invited ten of these offices to compete, from which Viennese architects Delugan Meissl emerged as the winner in February 2005.

source & image:

automotoportal.com

Hybrid Philosophy

While the automotive world industry hugs hybrid technology, for Lexus is much more than the latestey technology . It's part of a philosophy. As a corporation, they have been developing and consistently improving hybrid technology for years, allowing allowing to raise the sixth generation of hybrid vehicles. With each improvement, Lexus Hybrids take even less from the world, while giving more to the driver. Luxury hybrids are all certified as Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles (SULEV), attention to detail and superior production you expect from a Lexus.From the begining that Lexus Hybrid production, take great care at each step to try to minimize the impact on the environment. That's why Lexus Hybrids have a lightweight body design and are exceptionally lean in their use of raw materials. Sophisticated computer modeling helps to ensure that environmentally sensitive innovations won't compromise the quality of the vehicle. This not only enables a Lexus Hybrid to run cleaner and conserve natural resources, but leaves less scrap metal at the eventual end of its life. Lexus even recovers all hybrid batteries so that they can be properly handled.The more you know about Lexus Hybrids, the more you'll like the elegance and eco-living can coexist in our planet.

Source & Image:
lexus.com/hybriddrive

European New Car Assessment Programme

Check the latest results for the latest car models, and compare them.How safe is your car, check the safety of your own car.More than ever before, safety sells cars. For all car buyers it is a key element of their purchasing decision. It's essential that motoring consumers can obtain reliable and accurate comparative information regarding the safety performance of individual car models. By law, all new car models must pass certain safety tests before they are sold. But legislation provides a minimum standard of safety for new cars,On the other hand Euro NCAP encourage the manufacturers to exceed these minimum requirements. There's a section the site tha contains an explanation of how Euro NCAP's different crash tests are performed and how safety ratings are reached.

Source & Image:

http://www.euroncap.com/