Solar Powered Rickshaws ready for the streets of India

Posted by Bradley Wint on January 11th, 2010 at 11:07 am

If you thought only car makers were finding new ways to power vehicles, the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has developed an electric/human-powered hybrid Rickshaw to help drivers get to their destinations faster. On top of that, they are also promoting zero-emissions transport by ditching the regular fuel supplies such as petrol or diesel.

The Soleckshaws are battery powered and can reach speeds up to 9 mph with a distance of about 25 miles per charge. The good thing about this is that drivers won’t have to plug their vehicles into a wall socket and wait for it to recharge. Instead they can head to assigned stations, exchange the drained battery for a new and fully charged cell for a small fee, thus saving them on lost trips. Also, the Council was in favor of electric power to help drivers reduce their pedalling time. According to them, an average drivers gets only 1600 calories a day due to the constant pedaling, which is well below the 4,000 calories needed. This puts them at risk of getting TB due to malnutrition. With battery power, they can more easily retain those needed calories.

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Aston Martin One-77 wins 2009 GOOD DESIGN TM award

Posted by Bradley Wint on January 11th, 2010 at 9:49 am

The Chicago Athenauem Museum of Architecuture and Design has selected the Aston Martin One-77 as one of its winners in the 2009 GOOD DESIGN TM awards.

Competing against other entries like the 2030 NASA Mars Landing Rover, water purification systems and other innovative structures, the One-77 was selected because of the number of highly innovative features, body invention and design. The One-77 features a number of totally new aero design concepts which have helped increased its speed, plus look good.

With only 77 being built and already pre-sold, it’s quite an exotic vehicle.

[Via: Aston Martin]

The Swiss issue a $290,000 speeding ticket

Posted by Ilia Lou on January 9th, 2010 at 11:46 am

An unnamed driver of a Ferrari Testarossa was fined $290,000 for speeding in Switzerland. The driver was going 35 mph over the speed limit of 50, and because of his wealth, he was given a record breaking speeding fine. Even with his $20+ million however, $290k seems a bit steep, it’s over double the last record breaking fine of $107k.

The court clerk stated that the driver can appeal this decision, so we’ll see later on what happens with that.

[Via: Askmen.com]

JMW Motorsport to Spearhead Aston Martin Racing GT2 program

Posted by Bradley Wint on January 7th, 2010 at 10:08 am

JMW Motorsport, runners up in their debut Le Mans Series GT2 season in 2009, will be competing with the Aston Martin Vantage GT2 in the 2010 Le Mans Series and Le Mans 24 Hour, having become Aston Martin Racing’s official global GT2 Development Partner.

The Essex based team, headed by Team Principal Jim McWhirter, will become an official Aston Martin Racing partner and will work closely with the Banbury-based team on a three year programme to help develop the Vantage GT2.

JMW Motorsport are retaining their strong partnership with Dunlop who have renewed their long term commitment to the team as Development Partners in the GT2 programme. The JMW Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT2 will feature in Dunlop’s 2010 Le Mans Design Competition.

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Garmin Voice Studio: Give Yourself Directions

Posted by Peter Loeser on January 6th, 2010 at 9:33 pm

Garmin has introduced some new features to its nüvi GPS navigators at this year’s Consumer Electronics show.  Among the new features is one that allows users of certain models to download software from Garmin’s site record themselves giving basic directions.  At least, that’s Garmin’s intention for the new technology.  Users are limited as to what commands they can record (well sort of) and text-to-speech is not available.

The basic idea is for users to personalize their devices with their own voices.  Typically it would be used for commands like “turn right in 200 feet’, or “take exit 9″.  I don’t imagine there is a way for the software to determine if you’re really saying what you should be saying during the recording, it seems as though users are free to, *ahem*, express themselves in whatever ways they should so desire.  You can even trade custom voice commands with other drivers.  I can think of a few friends I’d rather not do that with…  Needless to say, if you’ve got one of these make sure none of your prankster friends manage to get access to your recording software.  You could be in for a confusing (or possibly offensive) surprise!

[Source: AutoBlog]

Ken Block has switched cars, from Subaru to Ford

Posted by Ilia Lou on January 6th, 2010 at 3:18 pm

If you ever searched for anything Rally related on YouTube, then you most likely have herd about a guy named Ken Block. His Gymkhana skills have been exposed to millions of YouTube users around the world, along with his car, a modified Subaru Impreza WRX STi. However, Ken needed a new car since he’s now going to compete in the World Rally Championship.

So, what is his weapon of choice? Modified Ford focus RS and the rally Fiesta. The cars have been prepared by M-Sport, and are lighter, better handling, and more powerful than the standard cars. You’ll see these cars racing soon, with the one and only Ken Block at the wheel.

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Flavio Briatore’s ban overturned

Posted by Bradley Wint on January 5th, 2010 at 12:03 pm

Flavio Briatore has come out on the winning end of his appeal to have his ban overturned, after he was exiled for life for plotting with driver, Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash in order to give Alonso the first place position in the 2008 Singapore GP.

The French Court found that the actions on the part of the FIA were illegal. Also on the winning end is Renault F1’s ex Director of Engineering, Pat Symonds. This is a big victory for Briatore, even though he now has some damage control to do. With regards to his financial claims, he was only able to recover  £18,000 of the  £900,000 he wanted.

[Image]

Aston Martin DB7 Pizza Car, No Joke

Posted by Bradley Wint on January 5th, 2010 at 11:10 am

We definitely have accepted that economic times have been rough for the past year. As a result, the Job Market has taken quite a beating resulting in many people unemployed, while others are doing jobs which they would not even consider in favorable circumstances.

Now, it’s not 100% confirmed whether the driver used it as an actual delivery vehicle, but according to the photographer, the car has been parked at the same spot quite regularly in the Santa Monica area. The regularity possibly means the guy might be an actual pizza delivery driver. At least your pizza is delivered in style.

[Via: Jalopnik]

Another Renault Megane CC teaser image, confirmed Geneva debut

Posted by Bradley Wint on January 5th, 2010 at 10:33 am

Renault has published the first official teaser image of their new Megane CC (Coupe/Cabriolet) and has confirmed that it will make its debut at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show.

It will go on show in Switzerland on March 2, as well as at L’Atelier Renault on the Champs Elysées in Paris, France, on March 5. Click on the image above to see the higher res teaser photo.

[Via: Renault]

We need a favicon, so how about you all make us one?

Posted by Bradley Wint on January 5th, 2010 at 10:00 am

Hey there. It’s been a while since Carthusiast has been online. However we still don’t have a favicon, and our minds are pretty much blank of ideas.

We want to extend the offer to our fans to make up a pretty favicon. If you have the skills to make a pretty 16×16 icon that uniquely represents us, we will be very happy to use your icon and will also send you $10 via PayPal for the effort. However, don’t think you can slap together some crap in Paint. We need an icon that is very detailed and crisp, something unique and innovative.

T0 send in your entries, just send the 16×16 icon either in .ico or .png format to bradley.wint@carthusiast.com before February 15th 2010. The winner will be notified via e-mail (please use a working address), and we will send you your money.

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