Though i didn't have much of a chance to check these autobots during my school days, was highly interested in them after seeing the 1st Transformers movie,
It was interesting to see handsome Shia LaBeouf and Pretty Megan fox running around the robots or rather Autobots. These are definitely different than the cliche robot movie or the robocop fighting for 2 long hours.
First time when i saw the movie in a multiplex i could easily feel that i was having motion sickness. I had to get a last seat in the movie hall to see the movie again to understand what is happening.
The protagonist in this movie are called as Autobots a faction of sentient from other planet. The antoganist are called Deceptions. So whats so interesting about this humaniod robots , These can transform them into vehicles and other familiar objects. Autobots usually "transforms" into civilan vehciles
General motors has list of cars which features in the movie like Camareo , Volt, etc. I am not sure what made hasbro toys to think of tranforming robots which can tranform them to automobiles. But its pretty interesting, Marvel comics has used these characets for serious of their comic books.
Its Pretty evident that people are much interested in the transformers both the transformers1 and transformers 2 movie has been highly sucessfull ,Micheal bay's strength has taken these autobots to new a high.
I keep wondering when would be we really get this autobots, is the techonology viable to make real autobots. I have seen transformers of small size in toyrus and kbs. But when do we get an full fledged showroon where we can selected autobots like Prime . What would we do with that ? use it for the same puprose as depicted in Movie tranformers 2 to assist military ? . Should we create autobots which can used in tranportation and mining industry , Or should we use them to travel on surface of other planet and get the samples back to us ? What ever it might i am confident that we would soon see autobots in action
I had a wonderful experience when i got to drive Ford's Mercury sable. This vehicle is one of the best vehicle from ford in mid segment.
I got exited to see "Microsoft Sync" tag in dashboard of the car. I was just wondering what is Microsoft doing inside a car. It was interesting to see a way to store Seat setting and mirror arrangement. You can store the details for 4 different drivers. When ever a same car is been used by different family members the seating and mirror needs to be adjusted for each person. Mercury offers a way to store them , once you press the stored button seat,mirror gets adjusted as per the stored data interesting isn't it.
Apart the regular steering control i could find the options like calling somebody, Accepting a call and things like that. Ok Then i guessed Microsoft has to do something with this. Ford SYNC allows drivers to bring nearly any mobile phone and some digital media players into their vehicle and operate them using voice commands, the vehicle’s steering wheel, or radio controls
Microsoft Auto (also previously known as Windows CE for Automotive, Windows Automotive, and Windows Mobile for Automotive) is an embedded operating system based on Windows CE for use on computer systems in automobiles
Some of the features of the sync are
1. Make calls Make calls, browse your phonebook, see your call log, have your text messages read aloud and more , The female digitized voice "Samantha" will read the test message in easy understandable form . Interestingly it can recognize words like LOL
2. Control your MP3 player with the sound of your voice. Browse your music collection by genre, album, artist, song or playlist
3. Receive Turn-by-Turn Navigation, business search listings, real-time traffic and News, Sports and Weather
4. Know about your vehicle health, At least i can know if something is wrong with my vehicle before taking long trips
5.Connect to a 911 operator through your paired mobile phone after an accident in which an airbag deploys with 911 Assist
Vehicle : Toyota RAV4 Drive Cycle : US Urban/Highway Duration : 2 weeks Type : Compact SUV
Specification :
Engine : V6 Gasoline
Drive System : AWD ( All Wheel Drive)
Its Toyota again, I have a strong obsession towards Toyota ,When ever I want to trust a vehicle in unfamiliar driving condition I would only go for Toyota, The quality people
This time it was winter and Michigan winter is defiantly bad, the roads were buried by snow. I was thinking of taking some good SUV or rather compact SUV for this driving condition. After seeing many cars specifically stuck at the corners I didn’t want to drive a sedan. I went to rent my car, taking pride of my mechanical engineering background and interest in automobiles i requested for a 4 Wheel drive.
I insisted that I need a 4 WD in snow so that I don’t have to face the problem of traction in snow, I didn’t think much of driving in pavements as all the roads were buried in snow. The attended says he doest have a 4WD drive but he has a RAV4 with AWD(All wheel Drive). Now what, I got confused with the terms of AWD and 4WD. I had to accept my ignorance, So I asked him to explain what the difference between them is, and which one is better in Snow,
For most part after hearing I felt both 4WD and AWD are good to drive in snow, but AWD has little more advantage. I wasn’t bothered about fuel efficiency, I was just bothered how to drive safe in bad weather.
Here goes the explanation what I received for 4 WD and AWD
Four-Wheel Drive
1. There are actually two types of four- wheel drive: True four-wheel and full time four-wheel. In the first, all the wheels are turning at the same time because the transfer case redirects power to all four wheels. In other words, the front end and the rear end are driving at the same time. In traditional two-wheel drive the rear end would basically be turning and "pushing" the front end. In front wheel drive the front end would be turning,"pulling" the rear end.
With true four-wheel drive, the operator decides when they need the extra traction of all four wheels and manually (either by inside switch or outside wheel lugs) turns on the four- wheel-drive. When all four wheels are engaged the vehicle should not be driven on dry pavement. It is designed for snow or mud now. There are two settings for four- wheel drive: Low and high. High is for driving at speeds above 30 to 45 miles per hour on a highway. Low is for driving at slower speeds that need more traction, such as deep snow or mud on a back road--or sometimes your own driveway. Some vehicles have what is called full time four- wheel drive. These vehicles have an additional set of gears in the transfer case, which allows it to be driven on hard surfaces such as a dry road.
All Wheel Drive (AWD)
2. All wheel drive is controlled by the vehicle's internal system. When the vehicle senses loss of traction it will switch from two-wheel drive into AWD, so it is considered a full time system. The other difference between all wheel and four- wheel- drive, is AWD wheels turn independently from one another. This makes it better on a hard surface or dry pavement. The power is split evenly between the front and rear axle. An AWD vehicle has the ability to increase traction no matter what condition the road is in. Some AWD vehicles allow the driver to choose a high or low mode.
Comparing AWD and Four-Wheel Drive
3. Driving a four- wheel -drive vehicle or an AWD in the snow definitely gives an advantage as far as traction is concerned. While AWD is convenient, especially for those who drive in more urban settings, there are pitfalls. In four- wheel drive the amount of torque sent to the different axles has a set ratio, but in an AWD vehicle the system will send the torque to the wheel with the most traction. Sometimes it may send all the power to one axle only. In addition, AWD is definitely less fuel efficient as it is engaged all the time, as compared to four- wheel drive which is engaged only as needed. Cost is also an issue with AWD, as repairing the system is more complicated Oh coming back to the Rav 4, its again one the best cars I like from the Toyota’s stable, It’s a very designed compact SUV, unlike other SUV of its size like Hyundai Santa fe, Saturn Vue, Ford Edge the acceleration and control of the vehicle is good. Infact acceleration, braking and control in RAV4 is much better compared to all the above vehicles.
I would defiantly like to have this car during a long drive, you can enjoy the weekend drive with the cruise control on. If you are looking for a compact SUV this would just go head of the competitor Honda CRV
Vehicle : Toyota Prius Drive Cycle : US Urban/Highway Duration : 2 weeks Type : Electric Hybrid Vehicle
Specification :
Engine : Toyota Hybrid System Gasoline Engine : 1.8L dual VVTi Electric Motor : 80 Hp
Transmission : 1 speed Planetary Gear box
I have been interested in Hybrid vehicle for quite some time. I enjoyed the fun of building a small hybrid "go-cart" model car during my engineering days. It was an amazing experience building a car with a hybrid concept. This was one of the strong reason why i rented this car for my regular usage
I should accept the fact that i was immensely satisfied when i took the hybrid car key in my hand. one of the many myths that it requires a special skill to drive a hybrid vehicle , oh its completely false. But i should accept the fact that the user guide is always handy. One would be surprised that there is no ignition key , i was struggling for few minutes finally to release i should "plug" the key rather than turning them "on". Even after plugging the gasoline engine is not switched on , don't worry its electric hybrid.
Prius main concept is internal combustion engine is allowed to run only when engine is at an efficient speed and load. So when you start prius it initially runs of electric motor for a speed say 15 mph, and the engine then starts after certain speed is passed.
The power flows for each unit is wonderfully displayed on the dash board which is pretty interactive and keep the driver engaged
Prius uses the planetary gear box arrangement for transmitting power from both the engine and motor. The same system is also used to drive the generator (Motor) during the regenerative braking, which charges the battery
Unlike other gasoline engines which work on otto cycle Toyota hybrid works on modified Atkinson cycle. lets see this sometime later in other blogs.
So why do we need this technically complicated vehicle , is it eco friendly ? is it fuel efficient ? is it quieter ? the answer is yes yes yes yes and Yes !!! it has an amazing fuel efficeny and is definitely the most fuel efficient vehcile currently in us. during my drive i could easily achieve 49 mpg. the best part is the you can see the same in dash board too , its interactive isnt this cool ?
Okies lets forget the technical part of the vehicle , lets come to utility of the vehicle . i was surprised to see such a huge boot space for this toy looking car. I did take my friend out for picking grocery , the boot was big enough to hold 2 months of whole grocery what do you need above this ????.
The car also has a small LCD display to assist the driver during reverse. The small camera fitted in ID plate displays the image in screen front of the driver
The 3rd generation prius is much more intelligent and its much more improved , it has an option of solar roof for charging batteries and also has parking assistance t. Its also has an amazing crash prevention.
Its not only a car but also a wonderful toy.
Finally the car isn't for the aderline rush but yes it quieter, its efficient, its eco friendly and its the best of its kind . Do not forget its in fact from Toyota the quality you can trust.
