AUTO MANIA: by Dr. Iain Corness [email protected]

RHD Mustang is coming

RHD Ford Mustang.

Ford (America) has changed its mind about the Mustang, and for the first time will offer a factory right hand drive in 2015. Other RHD older Mustangs were changed over from LHD to RHD by conversion companies.
Ever since the mid-60’s when the first Ford Mustang saw light of day, Ford Motor Company declared that it was just too expensive to configure the Mustang into a right hooker, Ford is now going global with the iconic muscle car.
The Mustang will be sold in 125 countries next year, including 25 right-hand-drive markets such as Australia, Japan, and the UK, and hopefully Thailand.
“The Mustang is the heart and soul of the company and part of American culture,” said Raj Nair, the Ford group vice president, global product development. “Of all our models, it’s top of the list for brand perception and recognition.”
The Mustang has 7.6 million Facebook fans at last count (August 2014), making it the most “liked” car on the social media site, Ford claims.
The Mustang has also appeared in more than 3000 movies, including James Bond’s Goldfinger (1964), Steve McQueen’s Bullitt (1968), and Nic Cage’s Gone in 60 Seconds (2000).
Of the 400 Mustang clubs globally, more than half of them are outside North America.
Ford has sold more than 9.2 million Mustangs since the first one was built in 1964, but only 161,000 were sold outside North America. With this new RHD model, that will all change.
Many people will be struggling to understand the merit of a four cylinder Mustang: which will be available with four cylinder or V8 power. However, the latest four cylinder turbo engine has more grunt than many V8s (227 kW). It will also be much more fuel-efficient.
The V8 version which will be the enthusiast’s choice, will come standard with a “burnout” button - the option of a four-cylinder engine is intended to broaden the Mustang’s appeal, especially in Europe as the Mustang goes global for the first time.
 

What did we learn from the Spa GP?

Well, we learned (if we didn’t know already) Lewis Hamilton is not a team player. The collision with his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg was avoidable, the damage to his car could have been minimized if he had driven slowly to the pits, and he could have gone on to be an outright contender, as he has the talent - but he chose to take a very sulky and negative stance, literally taking his football under his arm and going home.
There will be much discussion in the media over the incident, with the British press on the side of Hamilton, and the German press siding with Rosberg, but from where I sat, it was totally avoidable. All that was necessary was for Hamilton to give Rosberg some racing room. He still would have come out of the corner in front, and they could have continued racing. For those with long memories and less bias, Rosberg’s maneuver is exactly in the style of Ayrton Senna who would position his car such that you either made room or got hit!
Finally, there is the factor that you can bang into anyone - but not your team mate, and that goes for both parties!
So to something less contentious - another sterling drive from the young Australian Daniel Ricciardo to make it his third win this season. The comparison must be made with his Red Bull team mate, the German driver once known as “The Finger”, who has no wins and 98 points and 6th in the championship, to Ricciardo’s three wins, 156 points and third in the title chase after the two Mercedes drivers. Vettel (Red Bull) was not driving smoothly, consistently with four wheels off the track surface on his way to 5th place.
Another third placing for Valtteri Bottas (Williams) shows just what a talent this young Finn is, as well as the Williams resurgence. Clever strategy, clever racing and a thrilling end to the GP with some very close racing with the senior Finn, Kimi Raikkonen who collected 4th in the Ferrari, and his best finish this year. Has Kimi woken up? We will know at the next race in Monza.
The other Ferrari began badly with the car refusing to fire up on the grid and by the time the mechanics had changed the battery and got it going they should have been clear of the grid, resulting in a 5 second stop-go penalty. None of this would have made his Latin blood run cool and he was definitely erratic towards the end of the race and his 7th place.
One driver who was unfairly penalized was Magnussen (McLaren) who was given a 20 second penalty for not leaving Alonso enough racing room in the last few laps, demoting Magnussen from 6th to 12th. Even Alonso said, “I know the Stewards acted on what happened, but I don’t think it’s that important when you are fighting for sixth and seventh places. You just try to have fun, with safety as well, but it was not a big deal.” (Think again on the ‘racing room’ situation in the Mercedes team!)
Magnussen’s penalty elevated his team mate Button to 6th. Button did show some flashes of brilliance towards the end but then seemed to give up and coast to the finish.
So, another exciting, and controversial Grand Prix. The next chapter will be at Monza September 7.

Personal gyroscopes

AirWheel

With the advent of the Segway a few years ago, personal mobility took on a new technology and direction. Now comes another using similar ‘balancing’ technology, called the AirWheel.
This is a very much smaller device, but don’t let the wheel’s compact design fool you. The machines are packed full of technology. Each unit has inbuilt safety precautions to allow a smooth ride every time. If the user jumps off the unit, the wheel automatically cuts its power and will continually beep to let you know the gyro is no longer in action. Also, the AirWheel units are waterproof for use in the rain and are optimized for riders seeking a cutting edge transportation method. The units are quite literally like nothing else available. When the unit has 10 percent battery left, it will continually beep to indicate the battery is low and telling you to dismount. The unit will never cut out, even if you do not hear the beep. The unit will then gently lean back so the user safely steps off. When going down hill or slowing, the kinetic energy is used to recharge the battery.
According to the manufacturer, riding the wheel is very similar to a push bike. When stationary, you will fall left or right, but once you lean forward, balancing is easy. AirWheel units are by no means age restricted, they claim to have customers aged from 5 years to 78 years old!
The Q3 is the most popular model. The twin wheels limit users falling left or right, even when in a stationary position! The Q3 even makes it easy to go backwards too. Most users will learn the Air Wheel X series within a day and the AirWheel Q3 dramatically quicker.
So that is the AirWheel, but another development is closer to a motorcycle, and is literally a one wheeled electric motorcycle and is called the Ryno.

Ryno

The Ryno has a single 25 inch motorcycle tire and reaches speeds up to 16 kph, uses a combination of gyroscope sensors and accelerometers to balance itself. That, combined with a strategic weight distribution and an intuitive acceleration and braking method, those who have tested it in the USA say this makes this motorized unicycle from the future actually feel safe.
It is an amazing looking creation which looks like a motorcycle where the front wheel has gone missing, and has had an interesting development. Ryno CEO Chris Hoffmann said, “My daughter drew a sketch of a one wheel motorcycle she saw in a video game and asked me to build it. She was 13 years old.”
He then went ahead and built it about seven years ago, and finally after four and a half years began the business model.
Rather than use a hand-throttle like a motorcycle, you move the Ryno simply by leaning forward as you would on a Segway or an AirWheel. Leaning forward on the handlebars forces the sensor-balanced wheel to adjust its position for balance, which propels you forward. Braking is as easy as leaning back, but there’s also a hand brake a la standard motorcycle design.
The Ryno takes about six hours to charge up fully using a 12 volt DC charger. That gives it a range of about 16 kilometers per charge at top speed. Real-world usage - stopping, starting, and going at pedestrian speed - will probably yield quite a bit more than that. The removable, rechargeable batteries also power the Ryno’s LED headlights and light-up dash display.
It’s hard to describe what it feels like to ride the Ryno, but the main takeaway is it’s much easier and safer than it seems. The vehicle really does balance itself without a hitch, and getting the hang of leaning forward and backward to accelerate and decelerate takes only a few seconds.
Indeed, the self-balancing skills of the Ryno are reported to be impressive to the point of being miraculous. With the vehicle turned on and no one seated on it, Hoffmann pushed down as hard as he could on the handlebars while standing in front of it. It didn’t even budge on its single wheel as the gyro and motion sensors kicked in. Of course you can still tip it over from side to side fairly easily, but obviously your legs are there for stabilization.
A lot of what feels safe about riding the Ryno has to do with weight distribution. The entire vehicle weighs 73 kg, with the wheel-and-motor portion accounting for most of that. That makes it feel extremely bottom-heavy and rooted to the ground. It also makes it easier to pick up. The lightweight seat and frame, which are made from a combination of metal tube and 3D printed parts, rocks back and forth on the wheelbase and absorbs shock.
Will the Ryno catch on? Personally I think riding the unicycle looks ‘safer’ than standing on an AirWheel or Segway, but it is much bigger to make riding on footpaths a problem. As daily transport, they all suffer from leaving the riders basically unprotected if not on dedicated bike lanes, and bike lanes are not a feature of Thailand’s roads.
However, as a pointer towards the future of personal mobility, I believe these gyroscopic transport devices will be the way to go.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I mentioned that in the early T-Model Fords there were three foot pedals. I asked which one was the accelerator? A trick question, I’m afraid. None of the three was the accelerator, as the early T’s had a hand throttle!
So to this week. A novel powerplant was used in a car driven by Graham Hill at Le Mans, where it was placed 10th outright. What was the registration number?
For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].