New Ford Ranger tops pick-up crash testing

New Ford Ranger.

The new Thai-built Ford Ranger pick-up just recorded the highest ever scores for a pick-up in the Euro NCAP safety ratings and the score of 89 percent even puts it right up amongst the safest sedans. For adult occupant protection, the new Ranger scored 96 percent, putting it alongside the Mercedes-Benz M Class luxury SUV. Even the pedestrian safety rating at 81 percent is one of the highest ever recorded.

The Australian arm of FoMoCo is delighted, as much of the design for this all-new pick-up was done in Australia, though it will be built here in Thailand at the Ford Plant on the Eastern Seaboard, and according to reliable sources, the vehicle was designed from the outset to be a five star performer.

Of course, the proof of the pudding in Thailand will be the safety statistics of Ranger pick-ups versus 125 cc motorcycles!

What did we learn from the Abu Dhabi GP?

Well, we learned that for the first time Lady Luck deserted Sebastian Vettel. Has his charmed life in F1 come to an end? Has Red Bull run out of red rags to spur its drivers to victory? However, it was none of these, but Mr. Pirelli will be having a few questions to answer as to how one of its tyres suffered instant deflation. However, it will take a forensic pathologist to take the scraps of rubber that were left to work out just what happened. Michael Schumacher also had a puncture and was unable to complete the slowing down lap. So all that we know from Abu Dhabi is that Pirelli make some tyres that are miles better than their other tyres and get punctures.

With this silly rule that all drivers must race on both the ‘fast’ tyre and the ‘slow’ tyre, this is like saying that at some stage in the race all drivers must race with one hand tied behind their backs. This is not “motor racing”. It is time that the FIA stipulated one tyre for the entire race for everyone.

After Vettel’s demise on the first lap, Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) seized the opportunity that Pirelli had given him and remained comfortably ahead of the chasing pack, led by Fernando Alonso (Ferrari). Having been the quickest runner all weekend, it was a deserved victory for Hamilton.

Drive of the day, in my opinion, came from Alonso. He did not have the fastest car, but by dint of a brilliant start, hauled himself (from fifth on the grid) up to second on the first lap, where he stayed for the entire race. In the past I have been critical of Alonso, but his drives this year in the Ferrari have been exemplary.

Third was Mr. Consistency, Jenson Button (McLaren), who has matured so much in the past 12 months. Button had his problems during the race. “It was a difficult race for me, as I had a KERS Hybrid issue, which is admittedly very rare for us. After about 15 laps it stopped working - and that doesn’t just affect your power out of the corners, it affects engine braking too. Fortunately, my engineer came over the radio and told me they’d found a way to make it work again - but it meant pushing lots of buttons on the steering wheel every couple of laps because it only returned intermittently. So I’d arrive at a corner and not know whether I had any engine braking because I had no warning. So selecting the right spot at which to brake was tough.” Button and Mark Webber (Red Bull) had spirited dices and showed that clean wheel to wheel racing is possible, something that Felipe Massa (Ferrari) is yet to learn.

Having two DRS zones one after the other just makes for a pass, quickly followed by a repass. Order unchanged. The way F1 is going, with the totally inept decision-making, they may as well institute a compulsory Safety Car period every fifteen minutes, interspersed with watering the track. Next step is to get rid of the bitumen and make the tracks on dirt, and then call it Speedway F1. There’s far more action in speedway!

How did we go in the Nitto 3K Series at Bira?

Securitas Escort in close company

The Nitto 3K Series promoted the fifth round at the Bira Circuit a couple of weeks ago. Despite some Bangkok competitors being unable to come down because of the floods, there were still around 100 cars and trucks racing.

Close racing was evident in all categories, and these ‘club’ style meetings are providing good entertainment for the spectators and at B. 50 to enter represents the best value for money motor racing around.

We compete in the Retro series (pre 1985) and the usual trio of Henk Kiks (B-Quik Porsche 944 supercharged), Gavin Charlesworth (EBC Brakes V8 BMW E30) and Urs Schonenberger (Proton Trading BMW E36) all were very equal at the front, with one win each during the two day meeting.

Our Securitas Retro Escort Mk 1 had a high speed misfire that defied diagnosis all weekend, but despite this we still came home with a third and a fourth class place trophies, and enjoyed some very close racing. Our weekend was made even more pleasurable with a sausage sizzle on the Sunday put on by the Sausage King people. Thanks, Barry!

The next Nitto 3K meeting will be on December 10 and 11. Mark it in your diaries!

Light weight technology.

Much publicity has been given to the new engine technologies, with manufacturers offering hybrids and even pure electric cars to provide financial savings in running the family vehicles.

However, there are other ways to reduce running costs. Reducing vehicle weight is one very important factor. Traditionally, the automotive industry has reduced weight primarily only by downsizing, a strategy that has succeeded in cutting the weight of a typical car from 1700 kg to 1300 kg over the past 20 years.

Simple physics will tell you that a car with a lighter body can use a lighter engine, less massive suspension, and a less elaborate structure. These secondary weight savings can roughly double the benefits: for every 5 kg saved by reducing the weight of the body, another 5 kg can be saved by downsizing other parts of the car.

That was also the principle Colin Chapman instilled into Lotus. However, most auto engineering design centers of a few years ago, felt that to produce lightweight cars would require expensive lightweight materials. Whilst this might be fine for low volume production (like Lotus), it was not a practical goal for the mass market. It was easier to build more powerful engines than it was to reduce weight. But that was before the world became the victim of escalating petro-mania.

In 1993, energy technologist Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute suggested that major automakers could use existing materials and technologies to produce an ultra-lightweight, highly fuel-efficient vehicle. The ‘supercar’ he envisioned would incorporate lightweight plastics, computerized controls, and a hybrid powerplant. It would weigh roughly 500 kg and achieve well over 150 miles per gallon. Lovins felt it would, however, need a revolution in the industry to change the engineering concepts of ‘power’, rather than ‘weight’.

But as lightweight materials have become cheaper to manufacture and use, their adoption in production cars has become more widespread. Magnesium and aluminium alloys created car parts that were cost-competitive with conventional components. An example is that BMW with their Vision ED concept uses a magnesium block and they took 10 kg off the weight of the engine.

BMW are not alone in the weight loss department. Bentley have produced the new Supersports, which boasts a zero to 100 km/h time of 3.9 seconds, despite its weight of 2240 kg. However this all-up weight is over 110 kg lighter than the base model Bentley (if there ever is such a thing as a “base model” Bentley)!

The Bentley exercise shed weight by firstly tossing out the rear seats (26 kg saved), then another 45 kg was saved by replacing the sumptuous leather front seats with new carbon fiber bucket seats (sourced from the Bugatti Veyron). Carbon fiber disc brakes saved another 39 kg.

The Supersports features the same twin turbo 6.0 liter W12 (ex-VW) engine to other Continental models, and covers zero to 100 kph in 3.9 seconds.

Amory Lovins’ concept was made public 17 years ago, but the technology direction he proposed has now been shown to be on the right track (and that’s not racing track, but the everyday highways). Hybrids are definitely here, and Toyota and Honda are expanding this technology throughout the range of their vehicles (take a look at the tail end of the next Camry you see - it just might say “Hybrid”.)

Fuel economy is becoming increasingly important in a world that is afraid of crude oil shortages and increasing prices as the world’s economic crisis hopefully passes. For example, BMW’s Vision ED will return 3.8 liters per 100 km. The production BlueZero vehicles from Mercedes-Benz are also under 5 liters per 100 km, as are VW’s Blue Motion range.

The winds of change are upon us. Stylists are less important. Engineers are more important, and technology will reign supreme.

Autotrivia Quiz

Quiz Car

Last week I mentioned that we are all familiar with traffic lights (even though largely ignored in Thailand). The world’s first traffic light was installed in Detroit in 1919, and I asked when was the first three-color traffic light installed in the UK, and where? It was 1928 in Wolverhampton.

So to this week. Look at the photo. What is it? Who designed it? What year is it? What engine does it have?

For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].

Falken sticks with Porsche

Falken well wet.

Tyre manufacturer Falken has announced it will return to the ALMS (American Le Mans Series) next year with a 2012 specification Porsche GT3 RSR run by Derrick Walker. 2011 drivers Wolf Henzler and Brian Sellers also are expected to return to the squad. “The new chassis makes us one of the first teams in the world to have one of these incredibly sophisticated race cars,” explains Andrew Hoit, Falken’s vice president of marketing.

The ALMS Falken team secured two class victories in the 2011 series, winning at Baltimore and the very wet Mid-Ohio round. The ALMS confirmation follows Falken Europe’s recent announcement to return to the Nrburgring 24 Hours and selected with VLN races with a Sven Schnabl-run Porsche 997 GT3 R in 2012. “Motorsports takes on multiple meanings for Falken,” added Nick Fousekis, Falken’s director of motorsports. “We use all forms of racing to help test, develop and market our products. Obviously, winning is the ultimate goal, but it isn’t the only one. What we learn at the track helps make Falken products that much better at the consumer level. For this reason alone, Falken will remain deeply involved in motorsports and performance.”