Yet another item in our winter related series, the Heated Windshield Washer Fluid System promises to make windshield scraping a thing of the past. If you’re like us, when it’s really cold, you just sit in your frozen car with the wipers stupidly and noisily going back and forth over a thick layer of ice, which you’ve sprayed multiple times with your useless blue wiper fluid. Of course the fluid doesn’t do anything, it’s just as cold as the ice on the windshield but you’re too lazy to get out. So you wait. But if you had this system, in 30 seconds the fluid would be heated to 143º F and 150º F, quickly melting all that ice away and allowing you to remain lazy. It draws 2 Amps of power on average and turns itself off when the car is off. Also in the summer months, warm washer fluid will do a better job of removing insects and grime, so the $90 you’ll spend to get this will work year round.
The video above shows craftsmanship and engineering prowess of such a degree that I remained transfixed for the duration of the 10 minute video. It shows a Spanish man machining every single part of a tiny V-12 engine and then proceeding to assemble the thing. Here are some details on the engine:12 cm3 of displacement (making it a… 12mL engine?), the diameter of the cyllinder is 11,3 mm and the stroke of the pistons 10mm. It runs on compressed air though it could conceivably run on gas; the guy didn’t want to “contaminate” the air with combustion gasses. There are 261 parts, 222 screws and it took him 1,220 hours to complete. It’s a one-off creation, is not for sale and is meant to instruct viewers on the inner workings of such an engine.
It’s no point repeating it on every single article, we all know winter’s pretty much already here. At least for those of us who don’t live in or near the tropics, this presents us with many issues. And none is more pressing than that of dealing with cold cars in winter. Most people get remote car starters and let things idle until toasty enough to drive away in. But that’s wasteful, people! Much better to plunk down this large electric heater with a programmable clock. Set what time you expect to be in your car and 20 minutes prior it will begin blasting hot air through its two tilting vents. Not sure what time you’re leaving? There’s a remote that works up to 200 feet away as well.
Sure the engine won’t be warm but that can be done in 2 or 3 minutes rather than the much longer time it takes to get the inside warm as well. You save gas, save the planet a little and everyone’s happy. The Car Interior Preheater can then be recharged through AC or with an included car charger.
The advent of GPS navigation devices, elaborate car stereos and touch screen interfaces have made staying focused on the road, while driving, more difficult than ever. Gone are the days when choosing between AM or FM was your biggest distraction. So at CEATEC a company called ALPS is showing off a concept design for a steering wheel that features touch sensitive pads in lieu of a complicated array of buttons.
Adjusting the volume of your music, or skipping tracks, is as easy as making swiping gestures just like on your smartphone. By centralizing all of these commands into one area, there’s less hunting and pecking for the driver as they look for a specific button. Which in turn, keeps their eyes on the road. The steering wheels could even incorporate handwriting recognition. Making it easier to enter a destination into a nav unit instead of battling with less than perfect voice recognition.
So it turns out the Chevy Volt isn’t the most technically advanced vehicle to come out of GM’s Tech Center recently. At auto shows and other exhibits around the world, the company has actually been showing off a handful of flying cars. Including this Chevy Sonic that SlashGear stumbled across at the Texas State Fair. While it gently soars around a room with ease, the full-sized vehicle unfortunately can’t accomodate a single passenger. Because instead of steel and aluminum, it’s made from lightweight foam filled with 5 or 6 cubic meters of helium. Making it neutrally buoyant. And in lieu of a gas powered engine under the hood—or a hood altogether—a lightweight battery powers a set of electric motors with carbon fiber propellers, allowing the vehicle to be steered through the air via a wireless remote.
In addition to the flying Chevy Sonic that made an appearance in Texas, earlier in the year, at the Seoul Motor Show, GM also showed off a flying version of the Camaro. And to be perfectly honest, the video I’ve embedded below is still about 1,000 times more entertaining than that other movie released this Summer that also starred a yellow Camaro.
Most people’s fascination with paper craft ends at pterodactyls or ninja stars in grade school. Not Jonathan Brand. After restoring three vintage cars with his father, he decided to build his own from scratch. A 1969 Ford Mustang to be exact. But instead of steel or fiberglass or all the other ingredients that usually go into building a car, Jonathan’s making his from paper. Using 3D software he’s able to flatten out a model of the car into printable sections that can then be painstakingly folded and glued together.
And when I saw every component of the car, I mean every, single, component. From sparkplugs no bigger than your finger, to the doors complete with handles and window rolls. The tires and the rims are even separate components, with perfect attention being paid to even the tread. It’s a monumental undertaking for a piece of art, and if you happen to live in New York you’ll be lucky enough to see it in person. The exhibit, entitled ‘One Piece At A Time’, will be on display from September 20th to October 29th at the Hosfelt Gallery.
To get your name in the Guinness Book of World Records you usually have to do something pretty over-the-top. Tightrope walk across Niagara Falls, wear a beard made out of bees, grow your fingernails to some asinine length or built a model car with over $2.7million dollars worth of precious stones and metals. And given I can’t see Robert Gülpen’s fingernails in this photo, I’m assuming he’s making his Guinness attempt with that last one.
This 1:8 scale replica of the Lamborghini Aventador took Robert 500 hours to create, and besides a body made from carbon fiber, it also features pointless details like diamonds in the rims, seats, steering wheel and headlights. Interestingly enough, the real Aventador, which went on sale this Summer, will cost you $379,700. Robert’s version, which lacks a working engine and most certainly doesn’t come with a stereo or air conditioning, will go on the auction block at Sotheby’s with a starting price of €3.5 million, or $4,789,000+. And while it’s not confirmed, Robert’s next effort will be a Hot Wheels-sized model of the McLaren MP4-12C that will sell for just over $1 billion.
Can’t decide between a weekend getaway spent at a relaxing campsite or cruising around a lake? Now you don’t have to! Or at least, you no longer have to bring both a canoe and a camping trailer since the Sealander, created by industrial designer Daniel Straub, actually floats on water. Its wide, bowl-shaped design not only provides stability while floating, but it can easily navigate shallow waters without running aground. It also means you don’t need a trailer or a boat launch to get it in the water. Backing it up to a sufficiently cleared shoreline should be more than enough.
The inside of the rather compact, but light, trailer is designed to be completely modular, allowing it to be configured for cooking, cleaning, eating, sleeping and even on-the-water activities like swimming or fishing. A small electric outboard motor provides the propulsion while out on the water, while the trailer’s double sealed air chambers on the bottom ensure you’ll never have a miniature Titanic on your hands. Available sometime in 2012, in various designs and configurations, starting around $20,400 (€15,000).
The Pagani Huayra has been often mocked on Top Gear for being nearly impossible to pronounce, but I’m sure they’ll have a few nice things to say once they get behind the wheel. What it’s lacking in pronounceability, I’m sure it more than makes up for with performance — and having a really cool key! eGarage had a chance to see it in action, demo’d by Horacio Pagani himself, and it’s actually a miniature version of the supercar that splits apart. One side is the key itself which is inserted into the dashboard to start the car, while the other side is a USB flash drive that can be used to hold music, and presumably interface with the Huayra’s stereo, assuming it actually has one.
And even though aluminum is often used because it’s relatively light, it looks like this key still has a bit of heft to it given its size.
Related Tags: automotive, winter
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