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Just How Long Can 24 Hours Be?
The Bathurst 1000 is very popular and is the place to go to see the best of Ford (OK, FPV) and Holden (HSV) in action on the track–you don’t need me to tell you that. But for two years (2003 and 2004), Mt Panorama was the site of another tough auto race – the Bathurst 24 Hour. This was Australia’s attempt at joining the ranks of the most demanding type of endurance auto race. You think it’s tough going around the Mt Panorama circuit for 1000 km (161 laps of tricky track)? Try going around it for 24 hours non-stop, which is four times, more or less, the time needed by the V8 Supercars to get around the 1000 km.
If you want to have a go at watching (or driving in!) a 24-hour auto race, you’ll have to head offshore to places where the tracks aren’t limited to the Fords and the Holdens. A number of other places in the world have these 24-hour endurance tests, and they might be worth adding to the bucket list of a motoring enthusiast.
24 Hours of Le Mans: This was the original 24-hour race, and they’ve been taking place on this very famous track since 1923. The original idea was bred in an era when other races were just trying to get faster and faster – as something new, the focus was on how long the car could keep going without breaking down. Porsche has been the dominant marque in this one.
24 Hours Nürburgring: A biggie that’s been about since the 1970s, and this year’s race was held not that long ago (25th/26th June). A Porsche 911 GT3 RSR scooped the big prize and set a new record for the number of laps completed. The winner wasn’t the only Porsche of note in the race: a Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid generated a fair bit of media interest, especially as this car shows just how fast and powerful hybrid cars have become. Some news outlets got a little disgruntled as to how this hybrid vehicle had a few restrictions placed on the design of its air intake, which reduced its performance somewhat – conspiracy theory, anybody?
Dubai 24 Hour: A newcomer to the scene that started up after the Bathurst 24 Hour collapsed. This one has a number of classes, each of which allows different types of car to race. If you want to see a car just like your mum’s Honda Jazz compete on the international circuit, you watch the A1 Class. If you like watching something bigger and more powerful, then the A5 and A6 classes for you. Other quirky classes include D1 (diesel only with up to 2000 cc displacement) and SP4 (hybrid and electric cars only). The most recent Dubai 24 Hour was won by a BMW Z4. The Dubai 24 Hour is one of the easier races to get into, as anyone can register and have a go, as long as they have a team and the dollars to do so, and the race organisers welcome amateurs, especially in the A1, A2, A3T and D1 classes (sound like you? – find out more at the official site).
2CV 24 Hour Race: The quirkiest of all the endurance races, this one is only open to these classic Citroëns. It’s held in Norfolk in England. No prizes for guessing which type of car wins these ones. The next one’s due in August 27/28, so if you’re likely to be in England at this time of the year, put it on your calendar (or at least some of it on your calendar).
US Research Confirms Cancer Risk – 25 years later
Some 25 years ago an Australian research report found that in countries with right hand drive vehicles there are more cancers and pre-cancerous growths on the right side of a driver. Now researchers at the University Of Washington in Seattle, USA have found that Americans have a tendency to develop the worst forms of skin cancer such as melanomas and merkel cell carcinomas on the left side of their bodies. The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology also said that there is an especially high incidence of cancers discovered on the upper left arm, which is consistent with left hand drive vehicles. It’s good to see that our American cousins have finally caught up with our thinking!
It seems therefore that driving in Summer conditions with the driver’s window open has a big impact on the incidence of skin cancer.
There are three simple solutions:-
1. Cover up – long sleeve shirts are an obvious answer.
2. Apply sunscreen to arms and exposed areas.
3. Keep the windows shut, as auto glass filters out much of the bad UV that can cause cancer. So drive with the windows up and the aircon on, and, whilst that may not be the fuel efficient or ‘greenie’ solution, it could save your life.
Breathing Easy In The Cabin
Many new cars rolling off the lines and into the showrooms have been fitted with particulate filters to stop cars emitting quite as many nasties that people can breathe in. You also frequently find pollen filters on the ventilation/air con systems, meaning that if you drive and suffer from hay fever, you are less likely to have your eyes streaming, forcing you to pull over, if you are stuck behind a trailer loaded with pollen-stuffed garden rubbish
It seems to be one thing that people are thinking about more these days: the air quality and what we’re breathing in. And there’s no getting away from it: cars and other motorised vehicles are the number 1 producers of carbon monoxide, NOx gases, ozone (fine in the upper atmosphere to keep out the UV but not so good down at ground level) and all the rest of it. But have you ever stopped to wonder how much of this stuff you’re breathing in when you’re in your car? After all, when you’re in a car, you’re usually sitting in a queue of traffic, and every single motor vehicle in that traffic (apart from the electric cars) is putting out a lot of air pollution.
Unfortunately, it seems to be the conclusion of many studies from around the world that riding in a car (either as passenger or driver) is the second-worst way of getting around when it comes to personal exposure to pollution levels (motorbikes cop it the worst). In case you’re curious, the modes of travel that scored the best were subway (underground railroad), walking, and biking on a cycle track out of the main stream of the traffic (above-ground trains, buses and biking on the road were in the middle). However, many of these studies found that how you set your car’s air conditioning, windows and the like has an effect on how much yuck you breathe in.
So what do you do if you don’t really want to give up your car? Apparently, the best way to minimise pollution inside the cabin of your car is to have the air conditioning on (or the climate control) and to have the windows up. The second best option is to have the windows open. The worst option is to have the windows closed and the air vents open. As far as I can tell, the research on air pollution inside car cabins didn’t look at convertible vehicles or vehicles with sunroofs – they tend to stick with “typical” cars and use things like Toyota Corolla sedans. Common sense would suggest that opening the hood of a convertible would improve conditions and make riding in a car more like riding a bike on-road, at least pollution-wise (now, there’s a good reason, if you needed one, for buying a convertible!), and that opening the sunroof as well as the windows, assuming that it’s not raining, would do you good.
Apart from using the air conditioning and opening the windows, what’s a driver to do?
- Switch to an electric car, as these don’t produce as many nasties when going slowly. The fewer vehicles there are producing noxious gases on the roads, the better off we’ll all be. Also, many of the gases that get into a car’s interior are produced by that car.
- Make sure your car is well serviced. Cars that have engine problems or that have been neglected tend to pump a bit more awful stuff into the cabin.
- Go for diesel. Modern diesel engines are fitted with those particulate filters to reduce the amount of ick getting into the air.
Of course, if you’ve been smoking in the car, your personal exposure to air pollution will be much higher, and a lot of that smoke will linger in the car to be breathed in later. You’ve heard it before: QUIT SMOKING. Even if you take the subway to work.
Electricity and Peugeot make Serious Grunt.
Electric cars are somewhat of a novelty on our roads, and yet they are likely to become more and more common as people become aware of their value. No emissions, for a start. And it’s not very hard to plug in a cord at home or a commercial outlet in order for you to charge up your electric powered mode of transport. But how sporty can you get with an electric motor? And just how feasible is an electric motor for generating serious grunt? I mean there are some of us that may well be addicted to the electric motor’s smellier and noisier cousins. Surely an electric powered motor vehicle couldn’t match a petrol or diesel-donk. Could it? Recently, Peugeot’s latest EX1 gob-smacked the latest Paris motor show. Read on, and you’ll find out why.
Silencing any critic who might suggest an electric motorcar is as slow as a wet week might not be an easy task. However, it could well be made easier when discovering that Peugeot has created a new meaning for ‘plug-in power’ with its EX1 sports car prototype!
Made from carbon/honeycomb composite to optimise weight and rigidity, the very sleek looking Peugeot EX1 has a low centre of gravity and a suspension set-up that ensures a very high level of road holding. Particularly from the front, the EX1 looks very sporty, even a little aggressive and reminiscent of a bat mobile.
What slings this little rocket along is the two electric motors that produce 125 kW each. Effective straight away is the twist of 240 Nm of torque at the front and the rear axles – which not only provides an ideal weight distribution, but also unbeatable all-wheel-drive traction.
Being just a two seater, one would think that the EX1 might be a little light in an accident. It may well be, however Peugeot note that the little high speed roadster incorporates a specially designed passenger cell, which has sufficient overhead clearance to include a roll-over protection bar. They also state that you can drive this daily to work with out a helmet.
The Peugeot’s futuristic looks are exemplified by the way the driver and passenger climb into their seats through reverse-opening doors. An awesome go-kart like experience is promised when both occupants sit virtually at road level. Two joy sticks control the car’s steering.
Unlike many other prototype vehicles, this is one prototype that is in full working order. And the Peugeot EX1 holds many world records – already. Standing-start acceleration is phenomenal in the EX1, and so in the class for vehicles under one tonne, the Peugeot EX1 holds the ⅛ mile, ¼ mile, 500 metres, ½ mile, 1 kilometre and mile world records. The very swift time of around 3.5 seconds from 0 – 60 mph (0 – 96 km/h) is in petrol supercar territory.
Certainly, the Peugeot EX1 would suggest that electric cars are from dull. It’s amazing what the very first light bulb has turned into! Thomas Eddison would be extremely proud, I’m sure!
Level 2, 9 Help Street