Who Knew?

Who Knew? – Mazda Engine Cuts Fuel Use by a Third

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Mazda will soon introduce a new engine that uses technology that will increase fuel economy by 30 percent. The technology called homogeneous charge compression ignition has been studied by many manufacturers, but Mazda will be the first to overcome the quirks and put it into production.

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The SkyActiv-G direct injection gasoline engine uses compression ignition to boast efficiency combining the advantages of gasoline and diesel technologies. Most production gas engines have a compression ratio of 10:1 to 12:1. This engine has an exceptionally high 14:1 ratio, allowing it to squeeze more energy from every drop of fuel.

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Who Knew? – Volvo Offers Eye Protection

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For the upcoming solar eclipse NASA warns that except during the brief total phase of the solar eclipse that the only safe way to view the event is through a special-purpose solar filter. Volvo being passionate about safety has produced a custom eclipse viewer for XC60.

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The viewer is essentially a large shade made of ISO-certified 12312-2 material that clips onto the panoramic moonroof and allows occupants to view the eclipse without risk to their eyes, effectively turning the XC60 into a tiny observatory.

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Who Knew? – Ionic First Generation Mazda Miata Revival

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Hard not to love a car that is referred to as a roadster. Sometimes even harder to get original parts and keep it maintained. To help with this Mazda is going to be offering a factory restoration service for the NA MX-5 Miata. With over 400,000 sold in the US from 1989 to 1997, this little sports car still has a huge fan base.

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Usually a service only offered by a manufacturer of very premium brands like Ferrari or Lamborghini, this program from Mazda plans to fully restore these cars to factory-spec using genuine OEM parts. A current drawback is these “classic centers” doing the restoration are only located in Japan.

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Who Knew? – Good Neighbor Exhaust Sound Mode

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Who doesn’t love the sound of a throaty V8 exhaust? That is just part of the joy of having a muscle car. Well, turns out that early morning departures and late night arrivals to your home may have your neighbors thinking poorly of your joy of this sound.

Surveys reveal that along with power tools, barking dogs, and band practice, loud engine noise is among the most annoying. Seems early morning lawn mowing wins, but that throaty exhaust sound is right up there on the annoying factor for some.

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What to do to save face with your neighbors? Ford has introduced a solution on the 2018 Mustang. An industry first development called “Quiet Exhaust” Mode. Match that up with the new ”Quiet Start” and you have the ability to lower the exhaust sound by 10 decibels and be able to program what time of day it functions.

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Who Knew? – Eyes in Back of Your Head Exists

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Remember how Mom and some teachers had the ability to know what was going on all around them even when it didn’t seem like they were looking? Nissan has developed a group of monitoring technologies that together has Mom-like abilities to monitor, respond, and protect occupants of some of their new vehicles.

They call it Nissan Intelligent Safety Shield Technologies suite, and it offers far more than just a color picture on an in-dash screen.

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Who Knew? – Volvo Cars Committed to Cleaner Future

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Volvo Cars plans to sell one million electrified cars by 2025. It has announced that every Volvo model from 2019 will have an electric motor. It has been over a century since the invention of the internal combustion engine and now electrification is entering as the new player.

The technology to make it possible and the customer demand for electrified cars is driving Volvo’s commitment to introducing three levels of electrification in its model range. Mild hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and pure electric versions will be offered.

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Who Knew? – Hyper-Connected Intelligent Cars

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Hyundai is going to be working with Cisco (worldwide leader in networks and security technology) to create a platform optimized for connected cars. The program will help enable two-way communication internally between the car’s system and externally with road infrastructure, other vehicles, internet devices and the cloud.

Hyundai’s goal is to have the safest and most advanced self-driving vehicles on the market and a big step to that is having extraordinary networking and security. Areas that Cisco will assist in include:

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Who Knew? – Super Cruise, Cadillac’s Hands-Free Highway Driving

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Cruise control technology has come a long way. Cadillac’s new Super Cruise is the industry’s first true hands-free driving technology for the highway. Early cruise controls introduced decades ago were sort of neat. Set the speed and just cruise. If you ran into traffic you had to fuss with coasting or brake and resume. With today’s traffic in many places it could be more fuss than cruise.

Super Cruise uses LiDAR-based mapping, cameras, and real-time sensors to remove the fuss and it will even give you a nudge if it thinks you are not paying attention. This real-time data and precision mapping allows control of steering, braking and acceleration.

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Who Knew? – Volvo Auto Steering to Safety Goal

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The new XC60 has a few new features to help it achieve Volvo’s goal of no one seriously injured or killed in a Volvo by 2020. The safety features are designed to provide the driver with automatic steering assistance to help avoid potential collisions.

Volvo has been working with collision avoidance systems for years and is proud of achieving a 45% decline in rear-end front collisions in Sweden thanks to their collision warning with autobrake system. They hope to achieve even better results with the introduction of auto-steering features.

There are three new features. At speeds between 31-62 mph City Safe engages when automatic braking alone would not help avoid a collision. It will provide steering assistance to avoid collision with vehicles, pedestrians, and large animals.

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Who Knew? – Cadillac’s Talking to Each Other

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Some new Cadillac models are the first in the world to contain Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication. The vehicles are able to communicate with other (V2V) equipped vehicles to share information to alert drivers of upcoming potential hazards.

This technology allows the vehicle to get and analyze information that is beyond the driver’s field of vision. Kind of like the ability to see through traffic and around corners. It shares vehicles’ locations, speeds, directions and traffic conditions.

 

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Cadillac uses Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) and GPS and can handle 1,000 messages per second from vehicles up to nearly 1,000 feet away. If multiple vehicles are within range it can create a network of information to alert the driver of upcoming situations giving additional time to react.

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