Not enough space on your computer to store all your photos, movies, and what-nots? Well, why don’t you go the route of buying a hard drive? But instead of hopping over to Best Buy, why not buy a hard drive that will make you the envy of all your friends?
For a ’reasonable’ starting price of just $104.99, you can leave all the Western Digitals on the shelves and score these hard drives courtesy of Porsche Design and LaCie.
The former, as you may know, is the retail and merchandising brand of German automaker, Porsche, whereas the latter is one of the world’s foremost designers of hard drives. Perfect combination, right?
These new hard drives feature a minimalist design with brushed aluminum cases. They are the perfect data storage device to complement your laptops, but better yet, they come in two models with a variety of storage spaces to fit your needs and whims. There’s the P’9220, which comes in 500 GB, 750 GB, and 1TB capacities, and the P’9230, which comes in 1TB and 2TB capacities.
Imagine if you had one of those Acer Ferrari Liquid E mobile phones or even the Asus Lamborghini VX7 laptop, you’d be the poster boy of automotive fandom amongst your buddies. Maybe after you purchase this hard drive, you can score one of those printed mousepads of an Audi R8 to complement your technological homage to high-end European auto brands.
We love going fast and we love pushing the limits to see what our vehicles are capable of. The Bonneville Salt Flats provide a perfect setting for speed junkies of all kind to come and find out what they are capable of achieving. This dry lake bed has been dominated in recent times by the internal combustion engine and even jet power, but an older form of powering four wheels is about to take center stage once again.
The U.S. Land Steam Record Team will be attempting to beat the current record in their newest steam powered vehicle. In 2009, Team Inspiration from Great Britain broke the 1985 steam record by hitting 148.308 mph. The previous official FIA record of 127mph was set in 1906 by American, Fred Marriott, driving a Stanley steamer at Daytona Beach.
Driver and car designer, Chuk Williams, in conjunction with Cyclone Power Technologies will be the latest steam pioneers when they attempt the record breaking run in August 2011. The state of the art streamline design is projected to hit a top speed north of 200 mph, which would undoubtedly seal its position in the history books. We look forward to reporting more on the attempt once the team makes it to Bonneville.
Hit the jump for more details on the U.S. Land Steam Record Team
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Last year, Lamborghini began talks about dropping their manual transmission in favor of a fully automatic line. This idea was christened in the Lamborghini Aventador and its new ISR transmission, and will live on in all of the brand’s future supercars. According to the company, every single one of their supercars will now carry a fully automated seven-speed single-clutch transmission. It may seem as if Lamborghini is tucking its tail - among other things - in between its legs, but Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini’s R&D director, suggests the change actually makes sense for the brand’s customer base and will improve the car’s performance.
According to Reggiani, just 1 to 2 percent of the cars being produced out of their Sant’Agata Bolognese factory are equipped with three pedals. He adds that a manual transmission is "a break in the electronic chain of command that harmonizes absolutely everything that happens between engine combustion chamber and tire contact patch. The only way Lamborghini can guarantee soothing smoothness in city driving or back-thumpingly explosive acceleration on a winding road is for every system in the car to be interconnected. You can’t rely on a driver to always shift gears without glitches."
Full story after the jump.
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In the ever-changing landscape of technology in the auto industry, automotive suppliers have entered into a sort of arms race to develop the latest and most technologically advanced systems in the world. TRW is one of them and the auto supplier is looking into developing a new type of steering wheel that if it pulls through, could become the future of steering wheels as we know it.
The days of struggling to get into a car thanks to a larger-than-usual steering wheel will be a thing of the past. That’s because TRW is developing a folding steering wheel concept that retracts back into the dashboard, giving drivers a bigger - and unobstructed - space to get in and out of the car without the hassle of sliding on their seats until they get comfortable enough to scoot their way in and out of there. This concept wheel is more useful for the elderly and the constant struggles they face in what should be a menial task. Think arthritis and rheumatism is hard enough, try getting in and out of the car with those symptoms.
Basically speaking, the wheel is made up of two small handles that fold inward anytime the car is turned off giving drivers enough space to navigate in and out of the seat without the hassle of bumping their knees on the wheel. Better yet, when the driver gets inside the car, the wheel pops back out depending on the driver’s position.
All told, it’s a pretty unique technology that serves the purpose of giving drivers, especially the elderly, more space to move around the space they’re given and to a larger extent, provide an easier grasp and handle on an integral piece of equipment that has long needed a fresh take.
40 years after Mazda first introduced its then innovative new rotary engine power source, the Japanese automaker is looking into breaking new ground with their latest powertrain system.
According to Autocar, the next-generation engine, codenamed the ‘16X Renesis’, has been in development since 2007, but it was only recently that a new wrinkle was divulged about this new powertrain. Instead of the long-held practice of using traditional spark plugs to ignite the engine, Mazda is looking into using laser beams to serve the purpose of igniting the fuel and air mixture inside the engine.
With the increasing advancements being made in the country on the controlled use of high-powered lasers, Mazda is looking into tapping into this new breakthrough by using these ceramic-made lasers. These lasers measure only 9 mm in diameter and 11 mm in length, measurements that can easily fit into a car engine and take up less space than the space-mongering spark plug.
While full-scale testing on this new system is still far from finished, the belief is that by using lasers instead of spark plugs, the engine would be able to run leaner and control the timing of the engine’s ignition. This, in turn, could dramatically cut down on emissions and, thus, improve the car’s fuel economy.
Full story after the jump.
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