Howdy-
The following is from an online mechanical engineering newsletter I get.
Check out the "30 Meter" car: a VW Golf [the obligatory VW connection!] that
can stop from 100kph (about 62 mph) in 30 meters. That's like 1.31g's!
I got another item this week but can't forward directly (yet): an
announcement that the VW Lupo will become the first road car in the world to
get titanium road springs. They're really odd looking, with only about 5
turns, and very steep rise on them. Weigh like 3 pounds instead of 9. How
long before someone starts making them for us enthusiasts?
The article:
Wolfgang Ziebart, head of Continental's Automotive Systems Group, told the
gathering that the company sees the greatest impact of automotive
electronics not so much in equipping mechanical systems with electronics,
as with suspension controls and electronic steering, but more from
connecting different systems in a car to gain greater and new
functionality.
A specific example is Continental Teves' 30-Meter Car Project. The design
effort was to develop a car that could stop within 30m (98 ft), about a 20%
improvement, from a speed of 100 km/hr (62 mph) while not adversely
affecting other characteristics. This was recently demonstrated on a VW
Golf. One example of the electronic strategy was controlling brake damping
in proportion to the applied pedal force. Future work could have the brake
systems "talk' to the steering to optimize braking in turns.
For a video on the 30-Meter Car, and other automotive electronics
developments, visit http://www.conti-online.com.
Ron
