Technology

New research from Germany proves that the ultra-bright lamps are a major road-safety bonus, with a reduction of up to 50 per cent in the after-dark crash rate.  Only two Australian-made cars are fitted with Xenon lamps — the Holden Caprice and Statesman — but a growing number of European and Japanese imports have the high-intensity lamps, the majority using them for both high and low beams.Despite criticisms from some Carsguide readers about excessive glare for oncoming cars, the ADAC in Germany — the equivalent of the Australian Automobile Association — is a strong supporter after detailed research over several years.  "If all vehicles were equipped with Xenon headlights, the number of serious accidents at night would be reduced by up to 50 percent, and the number of traffic fatalities by at least 18 percent," ADAC says after research in the Rheinland region.The advantage of Xenon lamps — which get their name from the gas used in the globes — is that they provide two to three times more light than halogen types. They can provide a longer range, although this is limited by law in Europe to reduce dazzling, and do a better job of illuminating at the side of a vehicle.“About half of all car drivers feel stressed by poor visibility, with serious accidents occurring particularly often in such circumstances. By illuminating the road better, Xenon can be proved to increase the feeling of safety,” says Tomas Plessinger, spokesman for Hella Australia.But they are not a universal or perfect solution to after-dark driving."The halogen headlamps used in Australian cars actually give better distance, but not the same precision as Xenon," says Plessinger.  "Also, they are expensive. If you look at typical European brands, such as Audi and Volkswagen and BMW, you will pay between $2000 and $3000 extra for a bi-Xenon light system."Plessinger says a factory-fitted Xenon lamp system must also be fitted with a self-leveling device and washers. This is to keep the light in the right space and prevent dirt from diffusing or re-directing the beam.  So he warns against retro-fitting Xenon, despite the proven advantages."The issue in Australia is to educate road users about the fact that the Xenon headlamp is build specifically for a Xenon application. It is illegal to retrofit any Xenon application into the existing halogen headlamp because they do not have the important cleaning and leveling systems. That's why Hella does not offer to its customers xenon retrofit kit," he says.Even so, Plessinger sees a growing number of Xenon systems coming in future.  "It has clear advantages. The research in Germany proves this.  "Hella and the car companies have developed a number of systems including dynamic bend lighting and an adaptive cut-off that automatically dips the high beam when a camera detects an oncoming vehicle."

THE other day the keyless entry on my Land Rover Discovery Series II TD5 jammed. The dealer asked if I was near a mobile-phone tower or shopping centre, I was near the latter. After going through a complicated process to reboot the system I was able to drive off. Is this a common problem in other makes or peculiar to this model?

Car safety is about to move forward again with a new airbag development.  Seatbelts are the new target for cushioned protection in a crash, with Ford and Toyota racing to get the first production models on the road.Ford is expected to be first into showrooms with the upcoming Explorer SUV for the USA, with Toyota to follow in 2011 with the Lexus LFA supercar.  There is no confirmation yet of any airbag belts for Australia, although Toyota admits the design developed for its $750,000 supercar will be migrated through the whole of the company."We don't know where or when, but in true Lexus fashion it will be 'trickle-down' technology," says Toyota spokesman, Mike Breen.  Lexus revealed a pyrotechnic seatbelt last year at the press preview of the LFA in Germany. There was no great fanfare despite its importance, with Lexus actually underplaying the development."We don't want to say too much yet because the car does not go into production until 2011. Someone else could beat us to be first with this development," says the chief engineer of the LFA, Haruhiko Tanahashi.  He was right, with Ford announcing soon after that it had developed an inflatable airbag for use in the Explorer.The two systems are very different, with Lexus choosing to continue with a pyrotechnic device to create the gas for the bag - with a linked electrical connection built into the belt buckle - and Ford going with a cold compressed gas.  The Ford bag inflates in 40 seconds but, because of the way it is used and because it is strapped against an occupant, the firing is relatively slow and much less violent than a conventional airbag.More detail on the Ford system is expected soon but there is no confirmation of its use in anything beyond the Explorer.  "We are looking at other vehicles. But there have been no decisions or announcements yet," says Sinead McAlary, spokesperson for Ford Australia.

He pulled on special gloves with female-style long fingernails, to see exactly how the switches and controls in the car would feel and operate for a woman. Now, closing out the noughties, Ford has a robot to do a similar job.The mechanical woman, called Ruth — it stands for Robotized Unit for Tactility and Haptics — does the final checking for Ford's engineers when they are developing a new cabin.Ruth is designed to bring a scientific approach to touch, checking for friction, roughness, softness and temperature around a vehicle's interior.She can 'feel' the components in a design prototype, checking everything from the resistance in buttons and knobs to measuring the spaces between trim pieces and even taking the temperature of various components. Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

To celebrate the first decade of the noughties, British online used car retailer Carsite, charted 10 significant moments from the past decade of motoring.  Included in the list is the retro revolution sparked by new Mini in 2001; the BBC's Top Gear TV show; the 400km/h+ Bugatti Veyron; hybrid electric/petrol cars; and the digital boom in private online car selling. However it was the introduction of the accurate automotive sat nav unit in 2000 that Carsite considers the most significant development to motoring in the past decade, revolutionising the way drivers navigate road networks.  It began on May 1, 2000, when the US government stopped the intentional degradation or Selective Availability of the Global Positioning System (GPS) signals available to the public. Civilian users of GPS were suddenly able to pinpoint locations up to 10 times more accurately than before.  At the same time, the first accurate satellite-guided navigation units for cars were brought to market. While early models were expensive and occasionally sent drivers into fields or off cliff edges, the sat nav unit became a global success and is now one of the must-have driving gadgets. Apart from the safety benefits of not having to drive with a map on the lap, modern satellite navigation units are now available with live traffic alerts, video and music playback, celebrity voices and even 3D rendering of landmark buildings. Ten years on and the sat nav market is still evolving and looks set for a major change with internet mogul, Google, expected to introduce free satellite navigation software to the mobile market.

Even better, it will plot the greenest route for any trip to minimise fuel consumption and harmful emissions.  Well, this car is coming. And coming fast.It is the focus of a major research project at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne that also involves many major Australian automotive companies, including GM Holden.  "The objective is that the car can help you to do your work," says Jun Han, professor of software engineering at Swinburne."The key objective is yes, to make the car connected . . . and to have all the information available and at the same time reduce driver distractions. The information is only available when you need it and when you asked for it."  He says cars will soon be bombarded by information from wireless networks over every road and route, as well as the same satellite connections used for navigation.They will also be linked to work and home computer networks for things such as calendars and contacts, allowing the driver and passenger access to an incredible range of information and "The car can talk to anything. Wirelessly or whatever. And there will also be vehicle-to-vehicle communication," Han says.The result is a new generation of interactive information systems that allow cars to do the thinking for you.  "Some cars already have certain fixed systems, like weather reports or traffic information. There will be a much broader range of services."Han says the systems could be operating in less than five years, once cars are equipped with the hardward to tap the information superhighway. Swinbourne already has pilot cars and is working towards a major on-road trial with up to 200 cars.  "It won't be too long. In Australia we are doing it, and in Europe particularly they are doing it," he says."I would imagine three to five years. The basic technology and connectivity is there. It's a matter of the software that's really to locate the services and do the intelligent matching.  "You can just add another board under the dashboard and it can happen. It doesn't have to be new cars. We are working to integrate sensibly with the current electronics in a car."The Swinburne project is part of of the work being done by Australia’s Co-operative Research Centre for Advanced Automotive Technology on  ‘context aware’ systems for cars, culminating in vehicles that are constantly working for and with their driver. "If your car knows when the fuel is low, it will link it up to the petrol stations. And link to your loyalty program," Han says."The current hot topic is emissions and CO2. So if you know where the traffic is, you might choose the best route in terms of carbon emissions. It might not be the best route for time, but best for the environment."  Hans says there is no plan to take control of the car, but to make travel easier and less distracting."You still drive the car around to get from A-to-B. We want to reduce the workload but also the distraction."  Han can also see beyond intelligent systems for cars to a transport network that involves cars, trains, trams, buses, trucks and even systems managing pedestrians.  “This would lead to greater transport efficiency and safety, while at the same time reduce vehicle emissions on a city-wide basis,” he says.

The new German flagship has a handwriting recognition system, can plot the greenest routes to minimise emissions, and even has a satnav- linked systems to prevent upshifts on twisty roads or accelerating past a freeway exit.Three-dimensional maps from Google Earth, with roads superimposed onto the real-world view, will eventually also be available through the MMI system that links the driver to the car.There is luxury, too, in everything from diamond-stitched leather seat trim to ambient interior lighting with different colour schemes and the usual electric seats, multi-stage aircon, and concert-class sound system.  It all comes wrapped in a new body, with a chunkier, masculine look and signature LED running lamps in the nose.But Audi is making the running on technology and luxury as it works the angles to win customers who are currently committed to the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class limousines.  The A8 will probably cost a little more in Australia than the current model, which starts at $165,900."It will be here around the middle of the year. We're saying the second half but it will be in the early part of the third quarter," says Audi spokesperson, Anna Burgdorf.  "The lead cars will be the two V8s, the petrol and diesel. That's what we'll launch with here in Australia."She is slightly vague on exact details, but only because the new A8 was only revealed last week at an art-themed preview in Miami, Florida. Production will not begin for several months although Carsguide will have a preview drive report from Europe in February."It's too early for us to say. We are still planning the detail. We will definitely look at all that technology, but I cannot confirm it for Australia. It's all available, but it's a question of what we get and if it's standard or optional."  There is a similar response on pricing."There will be a small increase, because there are a host of new technologies in the cars. But it will be close to par with the current car," Burgdorf says.  The headline act for the new alloy A8 is the updated MMI system, called 'touch'. It allows written input of satnav addresses and the system can recognise Cyrillic, Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese and Korean characters.The latest satnav is linked to the stop-and-go cruise control, adaptive lighting and automatic gearbox, providing more driver support systems.  The MMI can also have an internet connection and onboard Wifi to create an onboard hotspot.Audi says the A8's V8 petrol engine is 13 per cent more economical and the latest diesel V8 has 800 Newton-metres of torque, allowing a 0-100km/h sprint in 5.5 seconds, 0.2s quicker than the petrol engine.  There is also an eight-speed tiptronic automatic and Audi's signature quattro drive.  The new German flagship has a handwriting recognition system, can plot the greenest routes to minimise emissions, and even has a satnav- linked systems to prevent upshifts on twisty roads or accelerating past a freeway exit.  Three-dimensional maps from Google Earth, with roads superimposed onto the real-world view, will eventually also be available through the MMI system that links the driver to the car. There is luxury, too, in everything from diamond-stitched leather seat trim to ambient interior lighting with different colour schemes and the usual electric seats, multi-stage aircon, and concert-class sound system.  It all comes wrapped in a new body, with a chunkier, masculine look and signature LED running lamps in the nose. But Audi is making the running on technology and luxury as it works the angles to win customers who are currently committed to the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class limousines.  The A8 will probably cost a little more in Australia than the current model, which starts at $165,900. "It will be here around the middle of the year. We're saying the second half but it will be in the early part of the third quarter,"  says Audi spokesperson, Anna Burgdorf.  "The lead cars will be the two V8s, the petrol and diesel. That's what we'll launch with here in Australia." She is slightly vague on exact details, but only because the new A8 was only revealed last week at an art-themed preview in Miami, Florida. Production will not begin for several months although Carsguide will have a preview drive report from Europe in February.  "It's too early for us to say. We are still planning the detail. We will definitely look at all that technology, but I cannot confirm it for Australia. It's all available, but it's a question of what we get and if it's standard or optional." There is a similar response on pricing.  "There will be a small increase, because there are a host of new technologies in the cars. But it will be close to par with the current car," Burgdorf says.  The headline act for the new alloy A8 is the updated MMI system, called 'touch'. It allows written input of satnav addresses and the system can recognise Cyrillic, Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese and Korean characters. The latest satnav is linked to the stop-and-go cruise control, adaptive lighting and automatic gearbox, providing more driver support systems.  The MMI can also have an internet connection and onboard Wifi to create an onboard hotspot. Audi says the A8's V8 petrol engine is 13 per cent more economical and the latest diesel V8 has 800 Newton-metres of torque, allowing a 0-100km/h sprint in 5.5 seconds, 0.2s quicker than the petrol engine.  There is also an eight-speed tiptronic automatic and Audi's signature quattro drive.

This one is the P-NUT, a futuristic Honda designed exclusively for city runabout use.  It's a tiny three-seater with a full see-through roof that has been designed to take any type of advanced powerplant, from new-age petrol engines and plug-in batteries to a hydrogen-powered fuel cell that generates its own onboard electricity.The P-NUT - its name means Personal-Neo Urban Transport - was appropriately revealed in one of the world's most congested cities on the opening day of the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show.Honda said it is a response to the growing number of people living in cities instead of traditional suburban sprawls.  "A new generation is discovering the benefits of living in urban centers that provide convenient access to business, entertainment and social opportunities," the director of Honda USA's design division, Dave Marek, said at the car's unveiling.The P-NUT is the size of the tiny Suzuki Alto already available in Australia but has a cabin with passenger space equivalent to a Toyota Camry. Among the advanced systems in the car are a heads-up dashboard display and a minimalist steering wheel.There is no production plan yet but the P-NUT could easily join Honda's future model plan with minor changes. Mercedes-Benz has already proven the global demand for dedicated city cars with its tiny Smart, an upright two-seater which has been a winner in London and Paris.

Forget voice activation, in another 20 years cars will use mind control to turn on things like the indicators, adjust the radio volume or move the seat.  If that's not crazy enough, some cars will imprint your genetic DNA to become a part of you.Others will use high-tech polymers that change a car's shape and colour to accommodate the driver's needs.  These far-out sci-fi ideas are being presented as part of the Design Challenge at this week's Los Angeles Motor Show.Called Youthmobile 2030, this year's challenge has attracted more than 30 young designers who have cut loose to create what they think we'll be driving in 2030.Youthmobile 2030 snared gifted young designers from Audi, Honda, General Motors, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota.  Technology is a key component of the Youthmobile 2030 cars so the concepts connect with a new car buying generation aged between 16 and 23 raised on mobile phones, web cams and on-line communities.Top StoriesNissan wins LA Show designHyundai Sonata YF unveiledVolkswagen Up grows for LA showHonda P-NUT a tasty solutionCadillac an Aussie designMind control at LA ShowGM Car Hero gameMazda Souga shows future styleAudi eSpira and eOraNissan V2G grids upToyota link targets studentsHonda Helix   

It will also challenge your skills against the car's autonomous drive systems. Its designers say the concept will actually teach a beginner to drive or challenge the experienced driver to improve their skills. Getting started is easy.Drivers can enter their destination into the navigation application on a smart phone and the car takes care of the rest. It will let you ‘play along’ and try to match the skill level of the system. As you become more proficient, the Car Hero ‘unlocks’ vehicle controls to the point where the autonomous system is overridden and the driver is in complete control.This is where things start to get interesting. As the Car Hero gamer demonstrates skill and mastery, the car's ‘transmorphable’ architecture turns up the intensity by creating a more challenging driving experience.Car Hero's configuration will reward a driver's increasing skills by gradually changing from a four seater, to three seats and then the ultimate challenge, a single-wheeler. Car Hero also has peer-to-peer applications like ‘friends drive’ where anyone can come along for a digital joyride.GM likens the experience to having a Twitter with wheels. For those bored and stuck in peak hour traffic, ‘fantasy drive’ gives the driver access to insane environments such as running with the bulls in Pamplona or taking on ace US rally driver Ken Block in a drifting contest.