Carbon fiber is just one of those things that gets us excited. It’s unbelievably strong, light and has a cool factor that’s off the charts. It’s also no secret that it’s been used in high-end automobiles and racing now for the past 20 years. Audi is a company that is no stranger to the usage of carbon fiber, so it should be of no surprise that they’ve now decided to have a little fun with it. What you are seeing here is a set of skis that was developed by Audi Concept Design Munich in conjunction with the Head sports gear company. The idea was to take ideas from motor sport and winter sports technologies and combine them into what is perhaps the coolest pair of skis ever produced.

Head of Audi Motor Sport Wolfgang Ullrich stated,
“Thanks to its ideal combination of strength and light weight, carbon is used in motor sport for especially sensitive components that need to withstand the highest stress loads yet must at the same time be light in weight,”

The Audi carbon fiber ski features a wooden core combined with layers of titanium and aluminum enclosed in a carbon fiber casing which help the skies weigh in at around 200 grams less than standard models. The reduced weight allows for increased maneuverability and strength, allowing the skier to make smoother side to side transitions. Now usually we wouldn’t post about a set of skis, but since they combine two of out favorite things (Audi and Carbon Fiber), we felt the need to let you guys know.

Source: AutoEvolution

Chrome plating isn’t exactly something you do at home in your garage, since the process involves baths of cyanide, sulfuric acid and some form of chromium (usually chromium trioxide, chromium sulfate or chromium chloride). Never inexpensive, the cost of getting something chrome plated has skyrocketed as more and more restrictions are placed on the chemicals used. Today, when you find a shop that still does chrome plating, chances are that the prices will be astronomical, especially if the shop does first rate work.

So what options do you have for putting a chrome finish on small parts? You can’t just hit them with silver spray paint, because that never looks good. You can try painting them in a different color, but some things just look right in chrome. Besides, if you’re restoring an old car for the show circuit, you don’t exactly want to show judges your interpretation of what the designers had in mind.

Jay Leno gets all the good toys, so leave it to him to find a process that replaces chrome plating for small parts. Marketed by a German company calling themselves Chrome Solutions (www.chromesolutions.de), the process involves four steps. First, the item to be chromed is prepped by sanding and filling in any pits with a suitable material (solder, Bondo, etc.). Next, a base paint is applied via spray gun, as it the item were being painted instead of chromed. When the base paint sets up, a thin metal layer is sprayed on the item, with no regard for runs, orange peel or paint flaws. When this surface cures (shortly after application), a clearcoat is applied to protect the “chromed” surface. The cool part? The clearcoat, which is water based, can be tinted any shade you’d like to enhance the appearance. Make mine black chrome, please.

Originally developed for the mirror industry, the process adapts well to the automotive restoration business. You can’t tell from the video how durable the finished product is, and Leno himself admits that it’s not for use on large surfaces like bumpers. Still, for updating tired parts on a restoration, this may be just the lower cost, environmentally responsible solution that gear heads have been waiting for.

Update: Since I posted this article in July of 2010, there’s been an incredible amount of interest in Chrome Solutions. Unfortunately, the company seems to have gone out of business, since I’ve had no luck in tracking down any further information. The closest competitors I could find are Spray On Chrome and Alsa Corporation; for additional information on the products they produce, please contact the companies directly via the above links.

The author, with his first ride.

As an automotive writer, I get to drive a lot of different cars. Some are innovative, well built and deserving of praise; others, not so much. Over the past ten years there seems to be a trend of adding technology for technology’s sake, not because it improves the vehicle or enhances the driving experience. Sometimes, we have to take a step back and admit that what we thought was progress (Flooze, HD DVD, Sony Betamax), really turned out to be a step backwards.

When it comes to cars, here are my top five examples of how cars are de-evolving. If something works, stick with it, because change isn’t always for the better:

The death of cloth seats.

It's not faux leather - IT'S FRIGGING PLASTIC!!

Maybe I’m nuts, but I much prefer cloth seats over leather, and just a few years back nearly every manufacturer had decent cloth seats as an option. Leather is hot in the summer, cold in the winter (until the seat heaters warm up), a pain in the ass to properly maintain and uncomfortable on bare skin. Pleather, or any other name for vinyl, is even worse. In fact, it was the leather-or-vinyl option that kept me from buying a second VW Passat back in 2006. If you can make cloth seats for your EU customers, why not include them on US models? If the cloth is nice enough, I’d even pay a premium for it over the cowskin-from-a-test-tube shit currently offered.

CVT transmissions.

The only good CVT is a dead CVT...

Want to make the world a better place? Gather every CVT transmission that’s ever been built, put ‘em on a boat, tow it to the middle of the Atlantic and then sink the boat. Yes, I know about all of the theoretical advantages that a CVT offers, but in ten years I’ve yet to drive a single example that felt like it was working properly. Every single CVT I’ve ever driven feels like a slipping automatic transmission or a manual transmission with a burned-out clutch. They don’t make smooth, linear power, they don’t maintain the motor at peak torque and they aren’t more pleasant to drive. In fact, I probably use more gas with a CVT since I have to rev the living snot out of them to make anything that approximates forward motion. I’ll make this pledge right now: I’ll take the bus before I’ll ever consider buying a vehicle with a CVT.

Hybrid nav / entertainment / information systems.

Give me back my radio, dammit!

Maybe I’m a dinosaur, but I like a radio with control knobs and buttons. I don’t want to access a touch screen to change a radio station, I want to press a button. Likewise, I don’t want to scroll through 37 screens to kick up the bass a bit. And nav systems built into cars? That’s so 2000: these days, everyone has a GPS-enabled smart phone with an intuitive nav system that actually has current and useful maps. Why am I going to spend ten minutes programming a GPS system for an address I can drive to in five? Kill these systems and give me back a place to put my iPhone.

The death of the manual transmission.

This is NOT how you shift a transmission.

Manual transmission offerings are declining faster than BP’s popularity at an EarthFirst! convention. I don’t care home much faster a computer can execute a gear change; when it comes to sports cars, I want to row the gears myself. I’ve spent a lot of time learning to rev-match on a downshift, and I enjoy the feel of the shifter going smoothly from gate to gate. I’m not fond of executing a shift via computer, because there’s no sense of accomplishment and no way to take pride in your driving ability. Of course the damn computer is going to get the shift right – where’s the fun in that? And manufacturers, if you’re going to turn us all into mouth-breathing, slushbox-driving-lemmings, at least standardize how paddle shifters and shiftable automatics work. I”m tired of having to learn a new system every time I get behind the wheel.

Water based paints.

Cheese rind, far more durable than today's auto paints.

Yes, I know they’re better for the environment and I know they reduce harmful VOCs. They also suck monkey ass when you compare them to old fashioned lacquers and enamels. Take my Acura TSX, for example: it’s a great (but soul-less) car except when it comes to sheet metal and paint. If you sneeze around the car, you’ll dent the door or the hood, and the paint has the durability of hardened cheese rind. The TSX is the only car I’ve ever owned that can get stone chips in the driveway. I don’t mean to single out Acura, since they build fine automobiles, but there has to be a way for manufacturers to provide quality paintwork without punching a hole in the ozone layer or killing off spotted owls. If you can figure out how to simulate leather out of a test tube, then I’m pretty sure you can give me better quality paint.

I could rant on about other things (like throttle by wire and event data recorders), but I’ll cut myself off before I sound like Andy Rooney from 60 Minutes. Let’s hear it, RideLust readers – am I on to something here or do you disagree? What are your top five examples of automotive de-evolution?

Either the U.S. government is waging a personal war against Toyota or years of cutting corners have finally caught up to them.

A few hours ago the NHTSA announced the launch of an official investigation into complaints received regarding the rapid frame corrosion of relatively late model Toyota Tundra pickup trucks. According to reports, 20 complaints have been lodged so far detailing excessive rust damage and the NHTSA is concerned by the evidence that the rapid deterioration has resulted in fairly serious issues like spare tire separation and brake system defects.

As of right now, the NHTSA’s inspection only pertains 2000-2001 model year Tundras and an official recall has yet to be issued. Toyota has not issued an official statement on the matter but they are expected to comment later this week after all the relevant documents have been shredded.

Source: TundraHeadquarters

The House has passed a bill, the Advanced Vehicle Technology Act of 2009, that might just lead to future new cars being made out of plastic. It still has to go through the Senate, but are we contemplating a future where we’re all driving polycarbonate cares with panel gaps larger than the federal deficit? Possibly … the bill calls for nearly $550 million per year in research into fuel-efficient cars and trucks that reduce dependence on petroleum. One of the funded projects is to have the Department of Energy demonstrate the production of “cost-effective lightweight materials such as advanced metal alloys, polymeric composites, and carbon fiber;” that is, plastics. Is the government going to require that your next Ford be an oversized Power Wheels car? More after the jump.

Now that you’ve made the jump, let’s all take off our tin-foil hats and take a step back. We reported just a few days ago that the US is a world leader in advanced lightweight steel components, so don’t fret about flimsy plastic unibodies – we’re likely to stick with mainstream metal frames for a long, long time. Body panels and interior materials are another thing: lots of cars throughout history have tried to use composite or plastic panels, Saturn being the most recent and directly applicable one. While those were known for huge panel gaps and thermal expansion woes, the idea is fundamentally sound: hanging nonstructural body panels onto a steel frame is old hat. It’s also lightweight, and the plastics can now be made from renewable sources like soybeans. Hopefully with some research dollars American petrochemical companies (who, by the way, welcome the use of “lightweight plastic and composite intensive vehicles” as it’ll boost their bottom line) can come up with something better than the flimsy polycarbonate pieces on the old Saturns. The result should be weight savings, less environmental impact, and greater fuel economy. What’s not to like? Bring on the Power Wheels!

Press Release:

Research and Development to Spur Innovation, Increase Energy Efficiency through Plastic and Composite Materials

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) represents the leading companies engaged in the business of chemistry. ACC members apply the science of chemistry to make innovative products and services that make people’s lives better, healthier and safer. ACC is committed to improved environmental, health and safety performance through Responsible Care(R), common sense advocacy designed to address major public policy issues, and health and environmental research and product testing. The business of chemistry is a $689 billion enterprise and a key element of the nation’s economy. It is one of the nation’s largest exporters, accounting for ten cents out of every dollar in U.S. exports. Chemistry companies are among the largest investors in research and development. Safety and security have always been primary concerns of ACC members, and they have intensified their efforts, working closely with government agencies to improve security and to defend against any threat to the nation’s critical infrastructure.

For all of you citrus-loving Prius owners out there, orange is the new green. Yokohama has developed a green, eco-friendly, gas-saving tire made out of oranges. Yup, those spherical objects that make your Orange Julius taste good and prevent scurvy are being recruited to help save the earth from performance driving. They’re called “db Super E-Specs” and they are most notable for replacing 80% of the synthetic, petroleum-based rubber in normal tire with a special compound made out of orange oil. If you really want to buff up on your green credentials, be sure to cover the back of your hybrid with pun-laden stickers that note that the Yokohamas are produced in a zero-emissions factory and have 10% less rolling resistance (we used to call rolling resistance “grip” before it became politically incorrect to have a car that could handle) than a conventional tire. What’s the catch? They cost a bit more, and they’re only made in three sizes that are compatible with several hybrid and compact cars. We assume they’ll stay in niche sizes, as we don’t know many hypermiling Nissan GTR owners.

[Source]

Source: Getty

Bet you wouldn’t have guessed that the US is a world leader in utilizing high-tech processes to produce some of the world’s most advanced steel for use in domestic cars. “Buy American!” ideologues aside, guy-on-the-street polling would probably reveal that most Americans think we get our advanced steel products from some country we either defeated or saved in WWII. Simply not true – if we do one thing right, it’s heavy high-strength metal. (We’ll pause here to let you crank up the Springsteen.) We’re not just talking stainless – the US is leading the way in incorporating such exotic steels, like dual-phase (DP) or transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP), which let domestic automakers build cars that are both safer and more fuel-efficient.

These new steels let Detroit break out of the impasse. In fact, the new steels are so precisely controlled as to be almost fully customizable – you can pick strength, deformity, and other characteristics and it all gets sorted out at the foundry. So that’s all well and good, but why is does it matter? If you’ve been to Pittsburg recently, you’ll note that American steel manufacturers are hurting because of super-cheap foreign competition. By adding unique value to a product you can’t buy anywhere else, suddenly American steel manufacturers are relevant again, and the supply chain for domestic automakers shrinks accordingly. No doubt foreign competition will get wise quickly, but a head start with technologies like these give American manufacturers the cutting edge. Hopefully Detroit will fully capitalize on the trend.

[Source]

It kind of makes sense that lead is still the primary material used to make wheel balancing weights, as one of the heaviest metals and relatively cheap, but with the countless studies showing how the toxic metal causes severe health and environmental damage, perhaps it would make more sense to ban the stuff and come up with a less deadly alternative. That’s the main point of a new proposal by the E.P.A., which has overturned the previous agency policy of kissing the feet of lead industry lobbyists studying the issue further and is now going to follow the lead of European nations (who are of course way out ahead on this issue) and finally ban it from our roads. You see, the little SOBs keep flying off folks’ wheels, landing in estuaries and such, leading to frogs with 12 legs and an uncanny taste for Taco Bell nacho cheese … that sort of thing.

Perhaps most surprisingly, the groups that use and produce these weights aren’t screaming bloody murder. Maybe they sense that getting on the wrong side of a “lead issue” isn’t the best PR move, after that recent Chinese toy scandal. Steel and zinc are two alternatives that industrial weight manufacturers can switch to with relatively little disruption, although because these metals are lighter, they will lead to thicker and more expensive weights. Even Wal-Mart is voluntarily on board, saying they feel it’s “the right thing to do.” Look, when Wal-Mart signs on to a public health move, you know it’s a done deal. Anyways, bully to politicians, the EPA, and the relevant industries for actually doing the right thing here.

[Source]

Image courtesy Powertec Engineering

Whatever you think of the current Nurburgring hoopla/controversy, its undeniable that the Radical SR8LM is an unbelievable car. And while a lot of that is simply its bantamweight nature, another reason is the head-explodingly badass Powertec Engineering RPA Macroblock V8 lump nestled under the bodywork. Heavily based on Suzuki’s GSX-R 1300 Hayabusa engine, it’s a seriously developed and extremely lightweight powerplant that is begging to be shoved into anything it might possibly fit into, and possibly some things it won’t (you will get massive RideLust bonus points if you engineer a Macroblock R/C car, even if it is absurdly nonfunctional). But while the insane Mosler-esque visions we’re having of dual-RPA engined CRXs doing 4-wheel burnouts are almost pornographic in nature, the reality of the engine in its Radical SR8LM application is almost as titillating.

Radical SR8LM

To be clear, this is a Hayabusa-derived motor, but it’s not simply two longblocks sharing a commonly geared crank or some such nonsense. The block itself is custom-milled, relying on the 1300cc engine’s basic dimensions but otherwise bespoke. The heads are directly pulled from Suzuki’s parts bin, however, and adapted to mate up to the dry-sump block. Let’s go through the numbers – it weighs 194 lbs dry and makes up to 450 HP in its Stage 3 2.8L version. That is a naturally aspirated 160 HP per liter, no doubt assisted by the engine’s ability to spin to 10,500 RPM before bouncing off the limiter. At those engine speeds, the damn thing probably sounds like some sort of otherworldly choir of massively oversquare (84mm x 63mm) pistons and rods doing their reciprocal dance of power. And this is all stuffed into what is essentially a LeMans Prototype-class vehicle that is completely street legal, at least in the UK. Are you still with me? Take a cold shower and watch this video of an older 2.6L RPA-based car, the standard Radical SR8, run around Nurburgring (the SR8LM Nurburgring run keeps getting pulled off of Youtube, so this will have to suffice). Then take another cold shower, just for good measure.

[Thanks to Powertec Engineering for the information.]

Despite their urgency to rid themselves of the under-performing brand, Ford apparently has no qualms helping themselves to Volvo’s wealth of cutting-edge technology. Fresh on the heels of the 2009 Ford Focus’ impressive win with the IIHS, Ford is again making headlines for yet another achievement in the field of automotive safety with the 2011 Ford Fiesta.

Apparently, over 50% of the new Fiesta’s body structure is constructed out of lightweight, incredibly high-strength Boron steel (which, for all you Liberal Arts majors, basically means that it’s indestructible up to 100,000 miles when – in keeping with the rich Ford tradition – it will begin to rapidly decompose). Unlike the Volvos from whence the technology is pulled, however, the super steel compound was only used in select key areas, including the Fiesta’s floor structure, front rails and beams, and the integrated “body-side reinforcement.” Essentially an extremely complex roll cage, the primary structural components of the body-side reinforcement include the slim A-pillar, the intrusion-resistant B-pillar, the rocker panels to which the B-pillar is fixed, the stabilizing rocker baffles, side roof arch and the lower A-pillar.

To demonstrate the Fiesta’s impenetrability, Ford Fiesta Movement agent Ryan Dembroski recently traveled to the “Will It Blend?” studio in Orem, Utah, to put a piece of the Fiesta’s Boron steel to the Blendtec Total Blender test. Having decimated objects including an Apple iPhone, marbles and magnets, Tom Dickson, founder of Blendtec and host of the popular YouTube videos, tried but failed to crack, cut or crush the steel. Check out the video below to view the results of Dickson’s experiment for yourself.

Source: Ford