The Tech Wheels Keep A Turnin’

Nobody asked me but . . .

In the future, tires and wheels will become smarter and safer. An example is Pirelli’s Safety Wheel System, which the company previewed last year on an SUV rim. The prototype wheel contains a hollow chamber filled with air. If the tire is punctured, a warning light on the dash comes on and a valve in the wheel allows air to pass from the chamber to the tire, maintaining tire pressure until you can safely pull over. This same system compensates for any natural loss of air from the tire, maintaining optimum pressures for nine to 12 months.

Then there’s Michelin’s revolutionary airless, integrated tire/wheel called the Tweel, a deceptively simple-looking hub-and-spoke design that completely eliminates an air-filled tire from the mix. Flexible spokes fused to a flexible wheel deform to absorb shock and rebound with remarkable ease, say Michelin engineers. Even without a cushion of air, the Tweel still delivers the weight-carrying capacity and ride comfort of a conventional wheel-tire combination. But don’t look for production versions for at least five years.

Available now to eliminate the leading cause of excessive tire wear and catastrophic failure—low tire pressure—is Pirelli’s X-Pressure system. A tiny sophisticated sensing system replaces the conventional valve stem cap. If the pressure in the tire drops by about 10 percent, the color of the top of the “Smart” cap changes from white to red. A set of four costs about $50. Future X-Pressure versions will be linked to your cell phone or your vehicle’s onboard information screen.

Farther down the road is Pirelli’s Cyber Tire, a tire with a memory. It communicates real-time information to the driver via the car’s onboard information system, including tire operating pressures and temperatures, dimensions of the footprint area, road-surface typology, and the vertical load exerted on the tire. As yet, the Cyber Tire doesn’t talk—but that could be next.

I’m Not Celling, but My Driving’s Smellin’

Nobody asked me but . . .

Further evidence that cell phones and driving don’t mix comes from a recent University of Michigan study. But if you are among the few who don’t “imbibe” in celling on the road, don’t congratulate yourself just yet. Because the UM Transportation Research Institute study found that talking with passengers, eating, drinking and grooming may be just as dangerous for drivers as placing a call.

Drivers who engage in any of the aforementioned activities showed similar decreased levels of driving performance as those using cell phones. All non-driving activities such as eating and talking were associated with more erratic steering behavior. Speed fluctuation, checking side mirrors and other measures of driving performance showed mixed results.

“The results of our study show that many of the other behaviors that drivers engage in . . . are potentially just as detrimental to driving performance,” said James Sayer, an assistant research scientist at UMTRI.

WASH AND WAX, SIR?

Nobody asked me but . . .
In my endeavors to keep up with the latest and greatest in automotive news around the globe, I surf a lot of international websites. Recently, I came across this item on a UK site. It is certainly reassuring to know that “free” enterprise is alive and well across the Pond. And after reading this item, you might want to contact Paul Dalton regarding a franchise for America.

Bugatti Veyron: keep it clean
Paul Dalton, the UK’s leading car detailer, has just launched the world’s most expensive ‘wash and wax’ for owners of super-premium cars including the new £840,000 ( that’s $1,500,000) Bugatti Veyron supercar

About the detail
• The Miracle Pinnacle Detail takes 64 hours to complete, over a period of 1-2 weeks
• It consists of 61 separate stages (excluding the preliminary paint measurement process), inside and outside the car
• At least four layers of Zymol Royale wax are applied, at 24 hour intervals; Zymol Royale is the world’s most expensive wax (£5,800 [$10,355] RRP) and was named after the famous Bugatti Royale
• Paul measures the paint before polishing to prevent too much paint being removed in the process
• No bucket and sponge is used; they are replaced by a warm water pressure washer and 100 per cent cotton towels
• The shine and protection of a Pinnacle Detail should last up to 6 months
• Paul has a fully equipped vehicle in the UK, but will travel anywhere; The Pinnacle Detail is available worldwide
• At £4,800 ($8,600), the 61 stage car detail costs just over £100 ($180) more than the UK’s cheapest hatchback, the Perodua Kelisa 1.0EX
About Paul Dalton
Paul worked at a Ford dealership before discovering a passion for detailing cars. He now has an extensive client list and has detailed hundreds of supercars and luxury cars.
“When the Bugatti Veyron was launched, I decided to create the ultimate detail to do it justice,” explains Paul. “Even a normal valet could devalue it, let alone the use of a bucket and sponge. Hence the Pinnacle Detail, the ultimate detail for the ultimate car.”

2006 Porsche Cayman S

Nobody asked me but . . .

Porsche. There is no other car like it, and if you want one, you pay the price. These words kept reverberating through my brain as I hurtled up the FRD Drive on a road surface that is best described as Baja with pavement, dodging other cars, trucks, numerous errant-driven cabs and potholes. The former much more successfully than the last, which are mine-field like in their number, variety and severity. I was behind the wheel of a Porsche Cayman. Think Boxster with a roof or mid-engine 911, and two, yes two, useable trunks. But only two seats versus the 911’s two-plus-two-cats.

I really disliked the early Boxster from which the Cayman sprang. Designed at a time when Porsche came within a phenig of going bankrupt, the car reeked of a diet of bread and water (brot und wasser?), not the expected sauerbraten mit spatzen. In other words, someone had not used his noodle. Cheap, tinny, devoid of quality, the Boxster was the bare-bones “essence” of Porsche. Today things are back to normal at Porsche. And this model and a recent “win” in the industry-respected J.D. Power Initial Quality awards, prove Porsche has come full circle.

I’m in an S model, meaning it’s got a hotter engine and an MSRP of $58,900 plus $795 delivery charges. But wait. The bottom line on my car is $70,895, a result of numerous “must have” Porsche options. So it ain’t cheap. (And I direct your attention once again to the second sentence in this test.

Among those numerous options is a high-tech suspension that is as adjustable as a contortionist in a carny freak show. But it plays like a Stradivarius in its precision and tuning. I’m using the normal setting here on my way up north to the GW Bridge and New Jersey (Gees, I’m starten to sound lika NewYawker). The Cayman’s response to my every steering and braking request is laser-like. And it’s accompanied by instinctive seat-of-the-pants road feel that morfs the driver and car “as one.”

“I am Porsche. See me corner!”

Diving into and through this mid-Manhattan mayhem is also a great test of the Cayman’s ride. You can’t possibly miss all the potholes. I have worried that the Cayman might disappear into one of them. Yet despite what is a firmly damped suspension and what would seem to be minimal ground clearance and suspension travel, the Cayman survived unscathed. Some Teutonic tuning wizardry is obviously at work here.

The S’s 295 horsepower, flat 6-cylinder, which is derived from the 911’s similar engine, makes all the right sounds. Bellowing with authority when the pedal is to the metal and emitting that characteristic mellow but guttural melody that is the sheet music Porsches have played to since the first 911 was introduced in 1961. Flexible to the extreme, this 3.4-liter “boxer” engine can be lugged down to 2500 rpm in 6th gear and still pull strongly.

Performance? A 0-60 mph time of 5.4? seconds is flat-out moving. And it’s hard to knock the fuel economy: An estimated 20 mpg city and 28 highway.

The Cayman is endowed with the expected Porsche excellence in ergonomics, in-bred from years of competition. Seats are firm and supportive and the steering wheel adjusts for reach as well as rake. But the biggest news here for those who accepted a cheap plastic interior to get the early Boxster’s uniquely Porsche driving experience, is that the Cayman isn’t sack cloth and ashes. There’s a look, feel and sense of quality to every surface you can see or touch. Soft materials, excellent fit and finish. The sort of quality touches that mark the Cayman as truly the Porsche of mid-engine Porsches.

Bottom line? Read my second sentence for a third time.