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Page 1: Top 10 techno-cool cars

COVER STORY

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the hood or behind the dashboard. Thanks to the technologicalexpertise they acquired, those auto companies could often turn ona dime when governments, oil cartels, or some other deus exmachina suddenly put the screws on fuel economy, emissionscontrol, oil supply, or plain old safety. The technological rivalry wasquickened in recent years as microchips and other electronic wiz-ardry got about as cheap to toss around as confetti.

Many of these technologies are hatched in specialty compa-nies such as Robert Bosch GmbH (Gerlingen, Germany) andDelphi Corp. (Troy, Mich.) and tend to seep into the entireindustry all at once, making it hard to single out one or anothercar for special praise. Therefore, in IEEE Spectrum’s list of toptechnocars, we preferred ideas expressed in a unique exem-plar, preferably a vehicle from the current or the upcomingmodel year. We looked for significant jumps in performance,convenience, or comfort, rather than the incremental improve-ments that, chained together, account for most automotiveprogress over the long haul. We favored bold technologies,knowing full well that some might not trickle down to the fam-ily sedan for many years, if ever. Also, we wanted the stuff to becool. Engineers, after all, are entitled to salivate once in a while.

Top10Techno-Cool

Cars

Top10Techno-Cool

CarsSpectrum picks the 10 most technically

sophisticated cars for 2003 By Philip Ross

T he auto industry is quick to entertain new ideasbut slower to implement them. Although RobertBosch perfected diesel fuel injection in the 1920s,it was decades before the technology made it intothe mass market for gasoline engines. Mostly,

the auto industry waited for technology to prove itself else-where. Antilock brakes were first used in aircraft landing gear;GPS navigation in military and nautical applications; seat beltsand noise abatement in aircraft; and build-to-order sales in PCmanufacturing. Car companies, for the most part, contentedthemselves with the niceties of design—artfully molded sheetsteel, glowering grilles, white walls, and cup holders.

In defense of Detroit, there were sound reasons for thistechnological wariness. A fuel-saving gizmo costing more thanthe fuel it saved would make no sense. Safety features that weregodsends to sailors and aviators mattered less in cars, least of allto the drivers who had to pay for them. Neat inventions thatmade engineers salivate often left dollar-wise buyers cold.

For some time, though, this picture has been changing. Pres-sure came first from auto manufacturers outside the UnitedStates, where drivers often cared deeply about what went under

Page 2: Top 10 techno-cool cars

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Volvo Safety Concept Car

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As the first car equipped with Bluetooth wireless technology, the 9-3 links

all the car’s wireless devices that obey the driver’s voice—cellphones,

PDAs, computers—through a voice-control system. If you’re wearing a

headset, you can make a telephone call from up to 10 meters away. The car,

which lists for US $26 000 to $39 000, can access the Internet as well as satel-

lite navigation, including a guidance system that helps avoid traffic jams.

Other gadgetry includes a range of a driver’s own custom-set prefer-

ences for features ranging from the temperature controls to the rain-tol-

erance of the windshield wipers and whether or not the burglar alarm is

armed. Safety features, always a Saab

specialty, include head restraints that

move closer to your head during a crash,

plus air bags all over the place. Oh, yes, it

also has an engine: a 2.0-L, turbocharged

version of the four-cylinder Ecotec, made

by Saab’s owner, General Motors.

Saab 9-3

The Bluetooth-enabled cellphone

fitted in the Saab 9-3 can access

any other Bluetooth-enabled device

in the car, such as a PDA. TO

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Bluetooth connects it all together

Showcasing safetybeyond the box

The see-through A-pillars

[above] help eliminate the

blind spot created by the roof

supports in most cars.

Based on the S60 sedan, this two-door sport

wagon has, since 2000, been showcasing

futuristic safety technologies, which are

even proving practical in some cases. Surely pro-

duction cars will inherit at least a few of this

Volvo’s many tricks for conveying relevant visual

information to the driver, including night vision

and see-through A-pillars; controls that automat-

ically adjust seat, pedals, and even the floor when

the driver, for which it has been preprogrammed,

sits down; warning systems that cover blind spots

and use sound and light alarms; and rotating

headlights that follow the lead of the front wheels

as they turn.

Then there is a fingerprint access system that

locks out thieves and a heartbeat detector that

sniffs out left-behind infants and pets. In the worst

case—when a sensor detects a hostile life form,

Star-Trek style, hiding in the car—the driver can hit

a button that alerts the police. The truly paranoid,

with access to a freewheeling aftermarket, might

prefer to fit the button to an ejection seat.

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COVER STORY

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Honda Civic GX

Relying solely on natural gas, this Honda

has been languishing in fleets since its

introduction four years ago for lack of

enough “true” gas stations. In the 2004 model

year, Honda will break out of this niche by selling

the car for US $20 510 at retail along with a

home refueling station. The stations are to be

made by FuelMaker Corp. (Toronto), in which

Honda has a 20 percent equity stake, and will

feed off a home’s piped-in cooking gas to

recharge the compressed-gas tanks overnight.

Such steps are necessary because the GX’s

1.7-L, four-cylinder engine was from the first op-

timized for natural gas, unlike “flexifuel”

designs that also burn gasoline. That means it

can take full advantage of the fuel’s high octane

level, providing excellent performance and

superlow emissions (and 20 percent less green-

house gas, too). Among the technical tricks

used to achieve all this is a continuously vari-

able transmission. A tankful will carry it more

than 300 km in the city, 420 km on the highway.

The natural gas refueling station

for the Civic GX can hang on the

wall of a garage.

Compressed hydrogen fueling stations like this

one [right] will be set up in California.

Honda FCX

The FCX is the first car for the U.S. market that

is powered purely by fuel cells. It meets zero-

emissions standards by exhaling water

vapor—no noxious fumes and no greenhouse gases.

In the coming year, Honda will lease about 30 of the

four-seaters in California and Tokyo, areas where it

plans to set up fueling stations selling compressed

hydrogen gas.

The proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells,

provided by Ballard Power (Burnaby, B.C., Canada),

put out 78 kW. When supplemented by an ultracapac-

itor, whose porous electrodes afford far more surface

area per gram than do the nonporous plates of con-

ventional capacitors, the car can accelerate about as

well as Honda’s Civic. The ultracapacitor also stores

energy recouped during braking, when the motor

runs backward to function as a generator. The 156-L

fuel tank goes under the floor, rather than in the

trunk, so the driving range is about 350 km, yet cargo

capacity is normal. Honda made two crucial techno-

logical decisions: to achieve zero emissions, it opted for

hydrogen rather than natural gas, and to avoid a hybrid

(gas-electric) design, it went with the ultracapacitor

rather than batteries.

Refuel it at home with an optional $1000 (natural) gas station

Fuel-cell powered, ultracapacitor equipped

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Cadillac is the first U.S. marque to sport keyless entry and ignition [top left]. Other

electronic goodies include suspension management at the touch of a button [bottom].

This all-new two-seater, descendant of the

1999 Evoq concept car, uses several high-

tech features to control the ample output of

its 4.6-L, V8 engine, in a rear-wheel drive config-

uration. The most novel feature is a ride-damping

device based on an electrorheological fluid, whose

viscosity changes from one millisecond to the next

as an imposed magnetic field affects a suspension

of magnetic particles. It fits into Delphi’s suspen-

sion-management StabiliTrak system, which is

also used in other Cadillacs, to sense changes in

the road surface electronically and manage damp-

ing and roll control accordingly. These controls,

and the chassis itself, are to be shared with an

upcoming Corvette, which presumably will be

tuned more for tight control (and less for smooth

ride) than the Caddy. A third feature is the radar-

enhanced automatic cruise control, which main-

tains a constant speed until the car gets too close

to a vehicle in front of it, at which point it slows

down enough to maintain a constant distance. The

XLR, estimated to sell for US $75 000, is the first

U.S. marque to carry keyless entry and ignition

(pioneered in 1999 by Mercedes-Benz), in which a

card in the driver’s wallet opens the car and lets

him start it up by simply pushing a button.

The Multi-Media

Interface in

the center console

[left] controls

a cellphone,

navigation, climate

controls, and

the feel of

the car’s

suspension.

Computer controls galore

The most wide-ranging computer-coordinated electron-

ic systems are to be found in this US $73 160 Audi,

whose Multi-Media Interface controls a mobile tele-

phone, satellite navigation system, tautness of the air sus-

pension system, as well as audio, heating, air conditioning, and

assorted goodies, all with a dial and some buttons. Other

standout features include its aluminum-rich construction,

making for a light package, even given the extra machinery

needed for its four-wheel drive. Also nifty are an override that

lets the driver take direct, temporary, manual command of the

automatic transmission’s gear-

box and shift, plus a radar-

enabled cruise control that

maintains a constant distance

from the car in front (a feature

available in several other high-

end cars this year). Like the

Cadillac XLR, the A8 allows for

keyless ignition, but goes it one

better by offering a fingerprint-

sensing pad, not only to thwart

impostors but also to set up a

particular person’s desired seat

configuration, radio channels,

and other favorites.

Cadillac XLRSuspended on electrorheological goo

Audi A8

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Diesels, until recently famous for

fuel frugality but infamous for

smoke, are being tamed all over

Europe. Fiat’s Stilo 1.9JTD is one of the

best-mannered of them all. Available in

Europe for ¤15 360, it incorporates both

a new diesel engine, produced in con-

junction with parent company General

Motors Corp., and a particulate filter.

The 1.2-L, four-cylinder engine

begins with the known trick of pre-

injecting fuel in order to increase tem-

perature and pressure, then takes it further, splitting the injection into a

series of closely spaced, smaller injections. The carefully timed dribble of fuel

burns ever so smoothly, eliminating irregularities of combustion and thus

heightening performance while reducing noise and emissions. Further

cleanup comes in the particulate filter, a silicon carbide structure coated with

catalysts that trap 90 percent of diesel particulates, enough to eliminate all

smoke. When the filter feels it’s full up—after about every 700 km—it heats

itself enough to oxidize the trapped particles into carbon dioxide and water.

Mercedes-Benz SL500Braking by wire

The SL500’s by-wire braking system, the first in a mass-

produced car, equips the driver with a more sensitive, com-

puter-assisted response to crises. The usual hydraulically

controlled brakes are no longer prime; the brake pedal you push is

like a mouse click to a computer. This, in turn, controls the hydraulic

pressure applied individually to the discs on each wheel’s brakes,

according to algorithms that account for g forces, wheel speed,

steering angle, and engine output, as well as the driver’s responses.

If, for example, the driver’s foot suddenly shifts from the accelera-

tor to the brake pedal, the system goes straight into crisis mode.

To address the worry about software bugs and electrical snafus,

first voiced when by-wire controls appeared in aircraft many

years ago, Mercedes also includes a hydraulic backup system

for the front wheels, forgoing any savings in weight or cum-

bersome connections that the system might have provided. The

braking system links seamlessly to a stability control system and

an active suspension system, which helps keep all parts of the car

on the ground when taking a corner. That ride-smoothing savvy

comes with a powerful 5-L V8, which is to be followed in about a year

by a juiced-up model equipped with a 5.5-L, turbocharged version of

the engine. Mercedes says the new engine in its US $98 000 auto-

mobile will be half again as powerful, at around 450 hp (335 kW).

The brake-by-wire system in the SL 500 relies on electronic signals relayed from the

brake pedal to the actuator to the electrohydraulic brakes at each wheel.

Fiat’s 1.2-L four-cylinder diesel engine [right] cuts the smoke by

ensuring smooth and more complete burning of the fuel.

Fiat StiloA smokeless diesel

COVER STORY

Electrohydraulic brakes

Actuator

Actuator

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Chevrolet Trailblazer

Anew engine technology that switches half

the cylinders on or off, depending on load,

will debut later this year in the 2004

models in a range of General Motors’ large and

medium-sized SUVs. The SUVs will use the pow-

erful Vortec V8 engine, and although GM hasn’t

named just which models will get it first, the

Chevrolet Trailblazer is a logical choice. GM

recently loaded it up with more pulling power

than ever before, and it would be nice not to

waste all that muscle when idling at a red light.

GM’s “displacement on demand” technol-

ogy uses a solenoid to switch a valve that shuts

off half the cylinders. The process is managed

by computer, unbeknownst to the driver, so as to

keep the engine near its optimal load and its

subsidiary systems coordinated—the throttle,

transmission, and emissions controls, for in-

stance. The company claims a fuel savings of

8–25 percent, depending on driving conditions.

Need power on a hill? Then use

all eight cylinders. But if the load

is light on a straightaway,

GM’s “displacement on demand”

engine saves fuel by firing only

four cylinders instead of eight.

Toyota Prius Five years after its introduction in

Japan, Toyota’s five-passenger Prius

remains the most family-friendly

hybrid on the market. Capturing the hearts

of drivers as diverse as vehicular engineer-

ing consultant Victor Wouk and Hollywood

bombshell Cameron Diaz, it squeezes more

growl from the liter than the rest, while cut-

ting emissions—this fall it won a tax deduc-

tion for clean operation, the first such con-

cession in the United States. The green

trick is accomplished by using an electric

motor to top off the output of a small (1.5-L)

engine. When more power is needed, the

gearbox draws on nickel metal-

hydride batteries to drive an electric

motor, and when more than enough

power’s on tap, the excess goes to

charge the batteries. A power-split-

ting gearbox yokes engine, generator, and

motor either in parallel or in series, depend-

ing on circumstances.

In parallel, the engine, the motor, or

both drive the wheels; in series, the engine

drives the generator, which in turn drives

the motor. This flexible arrangement keeps

the engine running at optimal load. Further

efficiencies stem from using the motors as

generators to recover braking energy and

from sculpting curves on the undercar-

riage, even in out-of-sight areas, to reduce

aerodynamic drag. Mileage, estimated by

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

at 5 L/100 km (45 mpg), on the highway,

actually reaches 4.7 L/100 km (50 mpg)

in city traffic; some users report more

than 3 L/100 km (75 mpg) in particularly

snarled traffic.

Four or eight cylinders on-the-fly

Hybrid lists for a mid-range $20 480, with delivery

The Prius packs a gasoline engine and an electric

motor in its engine compartment [right]. The

display indicates power flow from the batteries to

the motor [above] or from engine to batteries.


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