Auto International Sport: February 2011

lunar rover amazing cars

The Lunar Roving Vehicle or LRV is a small dune-buggy car that permitted the Apollo astronauts to drive from the vicinity of their landing site on the moon to make geological observations, collect rock/soil samples and use scientific instruments at various moon locations. The Lunar Rover was first used during Apollo 15 which launched on July 26, 1971. This was the fourth lunar landing that permitted human exploration on the Moon's surface. The LRV was also used during Apollo missions 16 and 17.

The LRV weighed about 480 earth pounds (80 pounds on the moon). It could carry two astronauts along with their portable life support systems and scientific instruments. The LRV could carry about twice its own weight so there was plenty of room for the lunar material samples the astronauts collected. The LRV was designed for low speed and high torque. It was limited to 8 mph (3.5 meters per second) for safety reasons. Going over rough lunar surfaces could have been a danger to the crew. It could climb a 25 degree slope so it could more easily travel over the uneven surface.

The wheels on the rover were made of wire mesh (piano wire) with titanium cleats for treads. The engineers did not use solid or air-filled rubber tires because they would have been much heavier. The Apollo spacecraft could only carry a fixed amount of weight (mass) so the wire-mesh wheels were important for keeping the weight of the vehicle low.

lunar rover pic

lunar rover photo

lunar rover image

lunar rover photo

lunar rover pic

lunar rover wall paper

lunar rover picture

Aston Martin Rapide Concept

Aston Martin confirmed that the Cygnet luxury city car – originally shown as a concept car in March – is to go into production in 2011 at the company’s Gaydon headquarters in Warwickshire. It is derived from the Toyota IQ and its purpose is to allow Aston Martin to comply with the strict emissions rule by the European Union in place in 2012.It is time to think differently. Aston Martin is honest and we don’t make compromises” says Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez.

“Whatever we do, we do right. If we do performance, we do performance; we don’t downsize or compromise our sports cars. The Cygnet needs to satisfy the demands of emissions and space. It is a car without compromise, just like every other Aston Martin.

“Our customers need a small car for urban and city use, and they want the right tools for the right job, to downsize creatively without compromising intelligence, artistry and personality.”

Cygnet expresses a simple but fundamental idea: in the modern city, scale equates to speed and freedom. Just 118 inches long, the Cygnet gives the driver a new dimension of freedom, able to slot into gaps in traffic, exploit the smallest parking spaces, consume the least fuel and emit the lowest emissions, all while delivering exceptional levels of quality and comfort.

Cygnet is a product of Aston Martin’s experience in craft, technology and design. The future city will

present a very different luxury brand landscape, as social change and legislation increases the division between urban and anti-urban product categories. With the Cygnet, Aston Martin will be at the forefront of these changes, ensuring the company’s enduring brand image will continue to prosper in new market conditions.

Aston Martin hot car

Aston Martin back side view

Aston Martin wall paper

“Cygnet is small but luxurious, an Aston Martin tailor fit for the city,” says Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s Director of Design. With an almost unlimited palette of materials, colors and textures, each hand-finished Cygnet will be truly unique, a personalized space within the city. “Luxury is not constrained by scale.”

bmw m3 super sonic car

The BMW M3 is currently one of the most appreciated performance models on the market, stunning everyone with its balance and capability of being an everyday car but also offer some extreme thrills when you put your foot down. The 2010 BMW M3 is a phenomenal performer — providing speed, agility and comfort all in one package. Whereas the 3-Series impresses, the M3 astounds. Introduced in 1988, the M3 has quickly risen to become an industry favorite for combining the 3-Series’ unparalleled balance and handling dynamics with a smooth 414-horsepower V8 engine. Together, the M3 is nothing short of incredible.

bmw m3 super sonic car

Truly unprecedented, however, is the thrust and pulling force generated through this unique potential, conveying the supreme power of the engine through the variable M differential lock to the rear wheels. Acceleration to 100 km/h comes in just 4.8 seconds, and the car continues this mind-boggling performance with fascinating consistency all the way to its top speed of 250 km/h or 155 mph, where the engine electronics set an artificial limit to the ongoing power and performance of the new BMW M3.

The eight-cylinder nevertheless owes its most striking and distinctive forte to the high-speed engine concept so typical of BMW M: Revving all the way to 8,400 rpm, the new power unit offers supreme muscle and performance at all times.

bmw m3 super sonic car

Daihatsu Mira for sale

This is the Daihatsu Mira Custom, a kitted up version of the latest generation Daihatsu Mira that was recently launched in Japan. It’s got some pretty high spec stuff for a K-car, including automatic tilting side mirrors for convenience during reverse maneuveres as well as a very BMW-like engine start/stop button.

Both the Mira and Mira Custom use the latest generation Topaz NEO 660cc engines – the KF-VE and the KF-DET. The KF-VE features 58 horsepower at 7,200rpm, and 65Nm of torque at 4,000rpm, a big improvement over our local Perodua Viva‘s EF-VE 660cc DVVT engine that makes 47 horsepower and 58Nm of torque. Daihatsu says the KF-VE can manage 25.5km per liter with the 2WD drivetrain and CVT transmission.

The more exciting KF-DET engine makes not a huge amount of horsepower more than the KF-VE, but it’s 64 horsepower is gained at a much lower 6,000rpm. It shines in it’s torque figures though – 103Nm at a low 3,000rpm. Both the turbo and non-turbo variants of the Daihatsu Mira custom comes with either a 2WD or 4WD drivetrain and all use CVT gearboxes.

From the photos of these cars, perhaps some enterprising local bodykit designer can produce the first batch of cool kits based on Daihatsu’s work with the Mira Custom to spice up our local Perodua Viva cars.

Daihatsu Mira for sale

The Daihatsu Mira (also known as the Cuore, Domino or Charade outside of Japan), is a kei car-type vehicle built by the Japanese car maker Daihatsu. It comes with a variety of options and chassis variations, with the latest variant having four models: "Mira", "Mira AVY", "Mira Gino" and "Mira VAN". The Mira is basically an upgraded and renamed version of the Daihatsu Fellow. It was sold alongside the names of Mira and Cuore. The commercial version was dropped when the Mira was released in later years as a Charade. Out of Japan, the Mira also offer with 850 cc engine. In Australia, the two-seater version was known as a "handivan" and was later renamed as just Handi.

In July 1980, the Daihatsu Mira arrived to replace the Daihatsu Max Cuore. The second generation (L70) of the Mira was introduced in 1985, and the third generation (L200) in 1990. The third generation of Mira also sharing the identical look with the 1986-1992 Daihatsu Leeza. The fourth generation (L500) was introduced in 1994 and was still based on the same chassis as the L200. October 1998 saw the fifth generation (L700) introduced, 2002 the sixth generation (even though the Mira Gino (L700) was still in production until 2004), and in 2006 the seventh generation model.

honda accord sedan 2011

honda accord sedan 2011 top speed fast cars

honda accord sedan 2011 luxery cars high speed fast cars

honda accord cupee 2010

honda accord cupee 2010
At first glance, this vehicle may look like nothing more than the European Honda Accord Tourer. Closer inspection reveals that are not the casing. For starters, the U.S. sell Honda Accord front end has been grafted against the body. These flares specify that the circle imprints has been widened vaguely. Looking exactly behind the rear doors, it fast becomes deceptive that a few ultra inches of expanse metal and wineglass have been added to the body, suggesting the decisive artifact will be a few centimeters longer than the current European Accord Tourer.