Rock Solid Shifts.com

Coffee powered car

[Green Machines]-Evidently Coffee grounds can be put through a process to achieve some sort of bio fuel.  The process is called “gasification”.   So, someone actually built a car that runs off of Coffee beans.  Once the bio fuel is produced it is sent to an internal combustion engine to convert the energy into motion.  The car is neither efficient or fast, and doesn’t have good range.  It is even 50 times more expensive than gas if you buy coffee beans outright (instead of using the left overs from making coffee.)

Anyways with that said, I don’t know if there was any point to building this car.  It sure was cool to read about though.  Check out the full article at gas 2.0

Popularity: 8% [?]

Are we re-living history?  Twenty-five years ago the release of the Buick Regal T-Type and Grand National sported V8 power with V6 fuel economy.  And that may be understated.  These cars’ economic V6 engines utilized turbochargers to boost power past that of V8 engines.  These engines were powerhouses, just ask any drag racing veteran.  They will tell you.  And don’t forget, this is all while reducing fuel consumption.

Nothing new right? Well, Ford has come out with technologies to use in conjunction with this concept to increase it’s benefits.  Instead of spraying fuel into the intake ports, it is injected directly into the cylinder at extremely high pressure, 35 times that of a regular fuel injected engine.  Ecoboost also takes advantage of a twin independent variable valve timing system, and an advanced turbo charging system.

O.k. that’s the technology.  Here are the benefits:  20% better fuel economy and 20% less CO2 emissions.  the variable valve timing and high pressure direct ignition system allows for the combustion of the fuel in the most efficient and cleanest way.

By using small, low inertia rotors that spin at high speeds Ford EcoBoost engines can deliver the same strong low-end torque ,characteristic of the popular diesel engines, and the power everyone craves across the full engine speed range.  Ford states that “turbines are carefully selected to ensure that maximum torque can be achieved at 1,500rpm or lower, with the absolute minimum of delay when the driver wants quick acceleration in traffic.”

The option to downsize (this is my favorite).  With less friction, less wieght, more power, and more efficiency downsizing is always a better option.  For example Ford will adapt its Ecoboost concept to a three-cylinder 0.9 and 1.2-liter engines for the Fiesta and upcoming Focus. At 1.2-liters, the engine will still be capable of about 135 horsepower and 135 lb-ft of torque from about 1500 rpm.  The lighter weight engines cuts front axle weight and will produce better handling as well, a win win win for everybody.

I love the idea of these engines.  I only hope the reliability can be maintained, and the maintenance remain at normal levels.  Do me a favor and leave a comment if you drive a car with an ecoboost and tell us all what you think.

till next time.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Chevy Volt Review

Rock Solid Shifts – What exactly is the Chevy Volt?  A swirling array of rumors and claims confuse many, which lead them to ask this question again.  A better question would be what does this car mean to me? And what does it mean to the future of the automotive industry?

First, the 2011 Chevy Volt solves the problem electric vehicles have always faced: limited range.  Unless you are far from the norm, you understand just by looking at your own driving habits that most trips in a car are short range, with an occasional long distance trip.  Pure electric vehicles do a fantastic job at the first half, despite common belief.  Their efficiencies are high and operation costs extremely low.  With the Volt you get the best of both worlds.

Second, the lithium Ion battery is superior to the others except in one aspect: price.  However the mass production of the Chevy Volt serves as a beacon to where the automotive industry is headed, which is cheaper batteries.

Motor Trend Full Review Here with test drive and commentary from the chief engineer.

Popularity: 11% [?]

2008 Ferrari 612 Staglietti

Those are two words that you might have thought would never be in the same sentence.  However, Ferrari has confirmed that they have been experimenting with hybrid technology and plan to use it in a few years.  What?!? is Ferrari trying to be conservative and go green?  Not a chance.  In fact it’s the opposite.  They are designing something even more extreme.  The hybrid system, according to the source, will be used to improve the performance in the handling and acceleration department.  Two torquey electric motors powering the front two wheels provide for an extremely flexible and dynamic distribution of power to the wheels where and when the car needs it.

This is suppose to come as an option in the replacement for the 612 Scaglietti comming no sooner than 2014.  I will anxiously await that day to find out the success of the project.  I could speculativley say that the added weight of batteries and motors might not be made up by the extra control and power that the setup allows, but we will just have to wait and see.  On second thought… How could I doubt Ferrari?

Popularity: 12% [?]

Nope.  They still don’t.  Maybe I am publishing this just as a reminder, bringing to the forefront the real facts through all the talk about green initiatives and advancement, not to mention all the misleading advertising.  I don’t think we are as far along as most think, and here is why.  This article from Autonews refers to a study that reveals the true “green” status of electric cars.  Half of the energy produced in the US still comes from coal.  So, while there is no exhaust that pours out from a tailpipe, electric cars’ energy sources produce twice the carbon dioxide and many times more pollutants, such as particulates and smog components, than Natural Gas.  So, currently, although it may not have the perception of such, gasoline cars are more “green” than EV’s.

This study is not new information, just a reality refresher.  Don’t get me wrong though.  The progress is in the right direction.  However, additional focus is needed in shifting away from coal, a dirty black energy producer, in order take advantage of storing energy in batteries.  And the more this is accomplished the more we are on are way to build a sustainable and healthy society.  Chevy Volt Review

Popularity: 7% [?]

UGLY is hopefully on its way out, along with crappy driver’s experience, for green automobiles.  Nobody ever said what we should drive and what we want to drive had to be different.   Although that is how I personally felt with the Insight and the Prius.  Things got a lot better with the release of Hybrid versions of existing models.  That’s for sure.  Honda’s CR-Z, however, is a different kind of step toward integration. It takes us further away from “green inconvenience”, and I have a feeling things are only going to get better.

The word on the street is that Honda will use a specially built high performance version of either the 1.8-Liter or 1.5L  i-VTEC engine that is found in the civic coupled with Honda’s IMA (integrated motor assist), a fancy way of saying it has an electric motor too. No, I’m not exactly wowed by that combination either, but the good news is that the car only weighs a measley 2,800 lbs.  I’m definately not going to bash those specs, because  a torquey electric motor for muscling the car off the line and a powerful high-end i-VTEC could be a killer combination for an outstading performance car, not to mention the 6-speed manual transmission.

Price range estimates vary from $15,000-$17,000 to $16,000-$19,000.  Honda will unveil all the information we seek in the Detroit Auto Show in January 2010.

Automotive Search Engine Research, Information, News and more….

Popularity: 8% [?]