2012 Kia Rio brings 'start-stop' technology to masses

Ready for a wave of start-stop engine technology? Kia’s on the ball.

“The drumbeat of idling engines at stoplights is starting to be replaced by dead silence.

It's the result of more use of "start-stop" engine technology that shuts off the engine when the car is stopped for more than few seconds, then restarts it, in most systems, when the driver releases the brake.

Commonly used in hybrids, it's just now coming to conventional vehicles in the U.S. market -- mostly high-end vehicles. Though it requires some tricky electronic controls, in a conventional car, a start-stop system requires only a beefed-up battery and starter and a few other parts.

Enter the 2012 Kia Rio subcompact, due in showrooms next month. The most inexpensive car in Kia's lineup -- today, Kia will announce a Rio starting price of $14,350 with shipping -- will offer start-stop as the centerpiece of a $400 "Eco" option on the redesigned 2012.

Kia -- at a price for the masses -- joins BMW and Porsche, which offer start-stop in the U.S. on several new models.

“This could be the start of a start-stop wave,” says John O'Dell, a senior editor Edmunds.com, who sees it on more than half of all models within five years. "It's going to be very popular. It's a fairly inexpensive way to get a 3% to 5% fuel-economy increase."

That's a big deal as automakers race to find the cost-effective technology to raise average fuel economy to the required 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.

Why don't more cars have it? It's partly because of how the Environmental Protection Agency conducts its tests.

With only about six parts, start-stop was a fairly simple addition to save gas in the Rio, says Kia product planner Steve Kosowski. He says Rio owners will gain, even though they won't see it reflected in the window-sticker mileage rating because of the EPA's test procedures.

The non-start-stop Rio will be rated the same as its sibling, the 2012 Hyundai Accent, which doesn't have stop-start. But because the EPA test cycle used few stops long enough for the engine to shut off, Kia estimates that a Rio with start-stop would rate just .1 or .2 mpg higher for city driving, But Kia says it will have much more impact in the real world for owners who choose the option.”

Read more: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/09/kia-rio-priced-at-14350-brings-start-stop-tech-to-masses/1

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Kia to build the GT sports sedan?

 

Thanks to the strong public approval expressed at the Frankfurt Auto Show last week, it looks like Kia may be moving forward with producing their stylish GT concept car.

“While not officially confirming it, Kia's European boss Paul Philpott, during an interview with Autocar, said: "Almost everyone has accepted the GT as being the right kind of car for Kia, and that says we're ready to stretch the brand further. If we can get the same reaction globally as we did in Frankfurt then the GT can play a key role in moving the whole brand forward."

Autocar also stated that the GT is expected to see the light of day in 2013, after the brand has finished renewing its normal range of cars. Our bet is that a somewhat more subtle looking large sedan, with styling elements influenced by the GT concept, will be what Kia finally builds for the public.

The company already has the technical ingredients to produce such a car without incurring huge costs if it uses the rear-wheel drive platform of the Hyundai Genesis sedan and its range of V6 and V8 petrol engines.

The concept itself is powered by a 294kW 3.3-litre turbocharged direct injection V6 linked to an eight-speed automatic transmission. If Hyundai invests in producing such an engine by the time the GT is due for production then perhaps a V8 would not even be necessary.

Regardless of what happens, it seems Kia is at least intent on building more desirable, high-end cars to supplement its increasingly appealing range of budget beaters.”

Read more: http://www.iol.co.za/motoring/industry-news/kia-to-build-the-gt-sports-sedan-1.1142189

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Mazda set to unveil Skyactiv technology

 

Greater torque? Increased fuel economy? Yes, please!

“Mazda has often thought outside of the box when it comes to power.

Consider its adaptation of the Wankel rotary engine. Designed by German engineer Felix Wankel, Mazda began experimenting with Wankel-style rotary engines in 1961, finally offering a rotary equipped vehicle in 1967.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Mazda stuck with the more conventional internal combustion piston engine in the bulk of its vehicles, but it did continue with the rotary in the legendary RX-7 sports car. By 1993, in Canada the rotary-powered RX-7 had been dropped, but the company came back in 2003 with the Renesis rotary in the RX-8.

As mentioned, though, the bulk of Mazda's powerplants were and still are internal combustion piston units - and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

However, Mazda has been hard at work developing a more efficient kind of internal combustion engine. What it has arrived at is its brand new Skyactiv technology.

According to Mazda, even though the internal combustion engine has been undergoing constant development for more than 120 years, the units are ineffectively using a large amount of the volatile energy found in fuel.

In a recently published technology paper regarding the new Skyactiv technology, Mazda wrote that most of the energy loss in an internal combustion engine is primarily thermal in nature. The losses could be attributed to the exhaust, cooling system, and engine and transmission surfaces.

To rectify the situation, Mazda's research and development team focused on improving the engine's thermal efficiency, and also worked to reduce internal engine friction and overall weight.

Mazda set out to optimize six engine factors, including compression ratio, air-to-fuel ratio and combustion timing. Mazda decided that compression ratio would be the most important factor of all - and with Skyactiv developed an engine to run with a much higher 14: 1 compression ratio (in North America, where it has been tuned to run on 87 octane fuel, it's 13: 1) than would normally be found in an everyday automobile.

How Mazda has effectively engineered a high-compression engine intended for the daily grind becomes a slightly technical discussion. Basically, Mazda reduced combustion duration, reduced weight and internal engine friction and designed pistons with special crowns.

Those initiatives, together with an intriguing new 4-2-1 exhaust manifold designed to quickly move hot waste gases away from the engine - preventing it from being forced back into the combustion chamber - greatly increase thermal efficiency.

What does this mean for drivers? There will be greater torque over a wide range of revs, and fuel economy should improve by 15 per cent.

In the technology paper, Mazda Motor Corporation's executive vice-president Seita Kanai said: "Our mass production development division worked together to engineer the best possible architecture with incredible efficiency, dramatic performance and the best quality we've ever had.

"We could then, for example, make the cylinder larger, smaller, multiply it by three, four, six, etc. (and) create a range of engines for any future application."

In Canada, the newest Skyactiv-G (G is for gasoline, there is also a D for a diesel) engine will debut in the refreshed 2012 Mazda3, arriving here in October.

Mazda has designed all new lightweight bodies and chassis to accommodate the new and larger 4-2-1 manifold, but in the 2012 Mazda3, the Skyactiv-G engine will only have a compression ratio of 12: 1 - and not the touted 13: 1.

Mazda Canada's national manager of public relations Sandra Lemaitre said in an e-mail to me: "The reason for this is due to packaging constraints on the exhaust manifold when this engine is used in the Mazda3 legacy platform (and not with the new Skyactiv body and chassis).

"The 2012 Mazda3 will have the Skyactiv-G 2.0-litre gasoline engine with the Skyactiv-Drive six-speed automatic transmission (or) the Skyactiv-MT six-speed manual transmission mounted onto a current vehicle platform in order to make Mazda's latest technologies available to customers as quickly as possible."

The next vehicle to get Skyactiv will be the all-new 2013 CX-5, which will be launched in the first quarter of 2012. Lemaitre confirmed the Mazda CX-5 will be the first of Mazda's new generation of vehicles to adopt the full range of Skyactiv technologies, including the new platform.”

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/cars/Mazda+unveil+Skyactiv+technology/5411921/story.html#ixzz1Y9A4LXXk

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Edmunds.com Names Mazda3, CX-9 Number 1 by Consumers

Edmunds.com names Mazda3, CX-9 number 1 by consumers.

A popular online destination for today’s vehicle shoppers, the website develops its annual list of top customer satisfiers by relying on reviews submitted directly by current owners themselves, making Mazda’s performance particularly notable.

“A longtime favorite among the Edmunds editors,” the Mazda3 earned its top spot in the “Sedan under $20,000” category for its “combination of sporty handling, great value and extensive list of standard features,” as well as its “stylish interior” and standard manual transmission. Significantly, the latter was called out for “its smooth shifting” and “the way it reinforces the Mazda3’s sporty feel.”

This latest honor also represents an Edmunds hat trick for the Mazda3—earlier this year, it outperformed all rivals to win the 2011 Edmunds Best Retained Value award in its segment and also was named to Edmunds’ own Top Recommended list. And that’s in addition to garnering 2011 Top Safety Pick status from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and being recognized with a spot among this year’s “Coolest under $18,000” vehicles, as determined by Kelley Blue Book’s KBB.com

“Adding a little spice to a class of otherwise sedate vehicles” in the “SUV $25,000-$35,000” segment of the Edmunds.com list was the CX-9, which is “actually fun to drive and feels more nimble than its practical silhouette suggests.” As a result, consumer reviews of the Mazda crossover included comments like:

“The CX-9 balances room (which it has plenty of) with a car that you enjoy driving.”

“Nothing compares to the Mazda’s driving dynamics or what you get for the money.”

“It’s nice having extra room and all these cool options (rearview camera, blind-spot monitor, power liftgate, Bose audio, GPS).”

And the CX-9, much like the Mazda3, has been a strong performer in other third-party studies, too, including the 2011 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance vehicle ratings. The CX-9 was named “Best in Class” in the Midsize and Large Crossovers segment in the publication’s annual survey of the industry’s top products.

Which is a further reason your local Mazda dealership should be a top stop on your way to buying a new vehicle this year.

Read more: http://www.mazdainthenews.com/mazda3-cx-9-rated-no-1-by-edmunds-com-consumers/

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Is texting while driving really worse than drunk driving?

Is texting while driving really worse than drunk driving? That’s the question that  Christopher Neiger from “How Stuff Works” asked. Read more to find out his conclusion. 

Texting, or short message service(SMS), is a quick form of communication that allows users to send 160 characters or less to and from their cell phones and smartphones. A study by the Pew Research group in 2009 and 2010 reported that out of the number of Americans who have cell phones, 58 percent of adults and 66 percent of teens use them to text [source:Motavalli]. With these high percentages of Americans using text messaging every year, many are bringing the habit along with them when they drive. The same Pew study showed that 34 percent of teens who use their phone for texting said they've done it while driving, and 47 percent of adults who texted said they had done it while driving, too [source: Motavalli].

In 2008, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that almost 6,000 fatalities and over half of a million injuries were due to accidents caused by drivers who were distracted [source: Motavalli]. The study wasn't focused on texting, but it does show the seriousness of driving while distracted. Like many other driving distractions, texting involves a certain amount of mental attention as well as physical application which may be why 28 states have banned drivers from texting while operating a vehicle [source: Motavalli].

But is there really proof that texting while driving is more dangerous than drunk driving? Even though research is just now being done to measure the effects of texting while driving, some in the automotive industry and others in research circles say that texting is definitely more dangerous than drunk driving. Mainly because taking a driver's eyes off the road significantly cuts down on his or her ability to react to changes.

In 2009, Car and Driver conducted a driving test with their editor-in-chief and an intern to prove or disprove that texting while driving was more dangerous than drunk driving. The first step of their experiment was to test and measure the reaction times of both drivers while driving sober with no distractions, and then while reading and sending text messages on their cell phones. A light mounted to the front windshield simulated a car braking in front of them [source:Austin].

As they read and sent text messages, their response time was measured based on the time it took between when the brake light came on and when the driver applied the brakes at both 35 miles per hour (56.3 kilometers per hour) and at 70 miles per hour (112.7 kilometers per hour) [source: Chang]. Both drivers had a longer response time while reading and sending the text messages when compared to driving without any distractions. After the initial test, both drivers then consumed alcohol and reached the legal driving limit for intoxication in their state. After running the same test again while driving drunk, response times for both drivers were better when the driver was drunk, compared to when they were reading or sending text messages while sober. Car and Driver writers mentioned that the test was performed on a closed airport runway, with no road signs and no turns. Although this test was performed on a closed course, slow response times due to texting could result in serious consequences in real-world driving situations.

Another test conducted by the Transport Research Laboratory in London took it a step further. It found that drivers who texted had slower response times, were more likely to drift in and out of lanes and even drove worse than those who were driving while high on marijuana [source: Nugent]. The study found that reaction times for those who texted while driving were 35 percent worse than when they drove without any distractions at all. When driving while intoxicated, the reaction time was only 12 percent worse than when the driver was sober and driving without any texting distractions [source: Nugent]. The researchers also found that there was a significant decrease in ability to maintain a safe driving distance between vehicles while texting and steering control dropped by 91 percent compared to driving without distraction [source: Nugent]. One of the study's commissioners eventually concluded that texting while driving is one of the most dangerous things a driver could do while behind the wheel of a car.

Read the full article: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/texting-while-driving-worse-than-drunk-driving.htm

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