Technology

Five years on from Holden's shut-down, and a groundswell of Aussie manufacturing is being enabled by the latest 3D printing tech.

The demise of Holden can be blamed on multiple factors but high amongst them is Australia’s status as a right-hand-drive market. As General Motors itself admitted when it shuttered the brand, the “highly fragmented right-hand-drive markets” made it increasingly difficult to justify building cars with the steering wheel on the right side.

Does it reset the computer in my 2017 Ford Everest to factory settings if I disconnect the battery for ten minutes?

From phones to fridges, buying anything new in 2022 means you have to face the inevitable questions of "how much tech do you want to have?"

Q: What is the difference between torque and power?A: It’s the age-old question that still baffles many car enthusiasts, but it’s really not that difficult when you break it down. As in: Torque is the force produced by (in cars and trucks) either burning a hydro-carbon fuel in an engine or (increasingly these days) applying an electric current to an electric motor. Power is simply that torque multiplied by engine speed.Fundamentally, then, an engine’s torque is the measure of its muscle and how much it can flex. Power is how fast it can flex it across a given period of time. In a boxer, torque would be how hard he or she could punch; power is how fast they could produce those blows.In the car world, the fundamental difference between horsepower and torque is that torque is real. Power, meantime, is the theoretical result of a mathematical equation that amounts to torque multiplied by revolution speed.Want to dig a little deeper? Okay, torque is a twisting (as opposed to linear) force that wants to rotate something. In the case of your car’s engine, that something is the crankshaft. It’s torque that actually makes the car move and accelerate (as that torque is passed from the crankshaft, though the transmission, differential and, finally, the axles).How fast it accelerates is down to power which, again, is a measure of how fast the engine can produce that torque-force moment. (The equation is also referred to as hp vs torque, horsepower vs torque and power vs torque, but it’s the same science.)Think of it a bit like a huge cargo ship. If you want to accelerate it through water, you need an engine that produces massive torque to get all that mass moving and keep it moving. It won’t be fast (relatively) but it will move thousands of tonnes through water which (in a macro sense) is quite sticky and produces a lot of drag. If, on the other hand, you want to go water-skiing, you use a smaller boat that doesn’t require the same force to get it moving, and power it with an engine that produces a lot of power that can move the vessel quickly.Torque vs power in cars is interesting, because it greatly affects the way the car feels to drive. A low-revving engine (like a turbo-diesel) with a lot of torque for its displacement, won’t rev like a petrol engine so it won’t make as much power (even though it can feel muscular because of its torque).The flip-side is a small capacity petrol engine which doesn’t make a whole lot of torque, but revs to 9000rpm, thereby multiplying that modest torque by a huge factor to arrive at a decent horsepower figure.The concepts of torque vs horsepower are no different between conventional petrol engines and electric motors. In both cases, the torque is generated at the crankshaft (or output shaft on a motor) and is then transferred to the wheels. In fact, the theory holds true for whatever power source we’re talking about. Even when you spin a lazy-susan on a table, you’re applying torque (from your arm) to do so. A wind generator? Yep, that wind hitting the blades of the turbine is creating a torque force, too.Actually, the windmill analogy is also a good way to explain how power is dependent on the rate at which that torque is applied. The faster that wind turbine turns, the more power (in this case electricity) it makes. It really is that simple.Getting back to cars, vehicles with lots of torque tend to be relaxed to drive and don’t require either you or the gearbox to work too hard. A car with less torque but lots of power, meantime (a typical arrangement for race-cars) will require more use of the gears to keep the engine spinning fast and producing plenty of horsepower.Where the engine develops its maximum torque also has an effect here. Again, smaller motors that like to rev do so because their torque peak is high in the rev range. That contrasts with an electric motor which can muster its maximum torque at standstill, which is why electric cars feel so frisky as you leave the green light.Having maximum torque at super-low revs is also why EVs don’t (generally) need more than one gear to take them through the whole range of everyday speeds. Contrast that with a 50cc Grand Prix motorcycle form the 1960s and 70s. Obviously, with just 50cc of capacity, these were never going to be torquey engines and what torque they did make was concentrated in a very narrow rev band. So, to keep the engine producing as much torque (and, therefore power) as possible for as much of the time as possible, the makers produced these bikes with no less than 14 gears. The riders were kept busy but amazingly, these tiny engines would propel the machine and rider to speeds of around 180km/h.

The act of keeping your food and beverages cold while on road trips and/or camping out of your vehicle has come a long way from “the olden days” (i.e. the ’70s and ’80s) of relying on the melted soggy debris of an ice-packed esky.That was pretty much the standard of portable camping-related refrigeration when I was a kid. (Ah, those were the days…)Now, a car fridge, car fridge freezer, or portable camping fridge, is a sophisticated but user-friendly contraption with an internal thermometer, internal lighting, multiple programmable settings, and more.They run off power from your car’s battery or, better yet, off your car’s dual-battery system. Car fridges come in a huge range of sizes (small, not so small, large, and huge), styles, and prices (from dirt cheap to bloody expensive).A portable fridge for car is an invaluable addition to your car-camping set-up because it provides a comprehensive and flexible solution to the problem of maintaining fresh and refrigerated food and drinks while away from a household power source.The car fridge market in Australia is huge and full of every portable fridge, and portable fridge freezer for sale you could ever imagine, and at various price points and, as with all products, of varying degrees of quality. There's something for everyone, whether you’re keen for a mini car fridge that might sit between driver and front passenger, or some other kind of bigger 12V car fridge, perhaps mounted on a car fridge slide* in the rear cargo area of your SUV or in the tub of your ute. (*Scroll down to “What is a Car Fridge Slide?” for more details on those.)Most popular portable fridge compressors run on electricity by way of a 12V supply (from your car battery or caravan set-up for your caravan fridge, or solar panels) or 230V mains power, and those 12V car fridges are the ones we’ll focus on in this yarn. The best car fridge or portable car fridge for you depends on several crucial factors (including what size of a portable fridge or fridge freezer you need, what power source you will mostly use etc) so, in an effort to take the confusion out of finding your own ultimate portable fridge, here’s our guide to car fridges.Small will suit some campers, while big, bigger and biggest will suit others.Director of Melbourne-based Aussie company Bushman Fridges, Gary Kottmann, told CarsGuide: “We always recommend getting the smallest fridge you can get away with, rather than the biggest fridge you can fit in the car. “For most campers, something between a 40L and 60L fridge is a good size to start with. This makes the fridge big enough to hold plenty of goods, but not too heavy to carry, and it won’t take up too much precious space in the car or use a lot of power.”According to Gary, anything in range of a 15L–25L small chest fridge “is considered small and is best suited for day-to-day use or up to a weekend for one person.”A 40–60L (medium chest fridge) is the most popular size for camping for a young family or couple. “You can live out of a fridge this size for two or three days so it's perfect for a long weekend,” he said.An 80L+ (large chest fridge) “is designed for longer term camping or larger families”.“Anything over 80 litres is great for lots of storage, but keep in mind the extra weight when deciding where the fridge will be placed,” he said.Now, what internal configuration will suit your lifestyle needs? Single zone (one section which can be used as a fridge or freezer only) or dual-zone (two sections which can be used as a fridge or freezer).Single-zone fridges – which have one main compartment and can be used as a fridge or as a freezer – are the most popular type and are usually set at 4˚C as a large fridge. “If you cryovac your meat - removing the oxygen from the packaging to extend the shelf life - you can keep this in the fridge section,” Gary said.“However, if you decide that you want to have access to a fridge and a freezer at the same time - rather than one or the other - a dual-zone fridge is for you. A dual-zone fridge is usually divided into two separate sections. Each section can be used as a fridge or freezer."If you run your fridge off your vehicle’s starter battery, you run the risk of draining that main battery. To avoid that – and for a better 12V fridge arrangement – you’ll need at least one auxiliary battery, which will run your fridge and any other 12v accessories, which is why many campers have a dual-battery set-up in their vehicle. Also, to keep everything charged and operating it’s a good idea to have a battery charger as well or battery pack, so read our battery-related yarns in Adventure for guidance on those subjects. So, what’s the best battery for a car fridge?Gary, of Bushman Fridges, said campers need a deep-cycle battery. “These kinds of batteries are specifically designed to run appliances such as fridges."“Batteries are rated in Amp hours (Ah). It is important for you to know that a deep cycle battery should only be drained up to a maximum of 60% of its rated output. “For this reason we generally recommend a 120Ah battery for a medium-size camping fridge that has a rated usage of 1Ah per hour. This will get you three days of running time without flattening the battery completely (1Ah per hour x three days = 72Ah).”ARB offers a fridge freezer power pack which features a 15Ah lithium battery for up to a claimed 18 hours runtime.When you’re out and about your camping fridge relies on 12-volt power, from a dual battery set-up in your vehicle (again, to avoid draining your vehicle’s starter battery), as well as power from a solar panel if you’re on a longer-distance and -duration trip, so you’ll effectively have a solar fridge or solar-powered fridge.Your choice of solar panel is important if you’re looking to pursue a bit of solar powered fridge camping.“For a 120Ah battery, we recommend around 200 to 250 Watts (W) of solar panels,” Gary said. “This will easily keep your battery charged even on partly cloudy days. The other option for charging your second battery is using a small petrol generator with a battery charger, although this is a more expensive option than solar. “That’s why many savvy campers who are looking to keep their costs down now choose to go down the solar power route.”For more on the right solar panels for camping fridges, check out this guide. Gary said campers should seek out an efficiently designed fridge. “Look for a lot of air vents! The key to an efficient fridge is getting out the heat, so the more ventilation around the compressor area the better. “It’s also a good idea to check the manufacturer’s specifications for average power usage. This is measured in Amp Hours (Ah) and is usually averaged over a 24-hour period. “Ideally, a good 40L to 60L camping fridge will use less than 1.5 Ah per hour, averaged over 24 hours at 25˚ ambient temperature.”A 12V fridge doesn’t need to run all day long, so switch it off during the cool of the night to conserve power and if you’re camping at a powered campsite, plug your fridge into a mains power outlet.Take your car fridge game to the next level with a fridge slide. Systems may differ but the principle remains the same: the fridge slide is bolted into your vehicle and provides a secure and stable base on which the fridge can be slid backwards (towards the rear of the vehicle, so you can access food and drinks) and forwards (locked back into place for travel).High-quality examples have a flat mounting base and roll fore and aft on sealed roller bearings, aimed at smooth operation and preventing dust ingress. They have locking mechanisms so the fridge can be locked into place.There are even examples, such as the MSA 4x4 fridge drop slide, which can be slid out from its secure locked position, and lowered 30cm in one motion, enabling full access to your food and beverages.The good news is that there is also a stack of fridge-related accessories, including canvas transit bags, fridge barriers (strong steel mesh cages in which to house car fridges), full extension fridge slides (designed to carry 120kg of load – 80kg on the front tray and 40kg on the rear tray), and more.Car fridges range in price from $200 or so for a basic, no-frills 20-litre fridge freezer, to just under $900 for a 15-litre Bushman Roadie portable fridge freezer and through to a 60-litre stainless-steel weatherproof ARB Elements fridge/freezer, “the ultimate 4WDer’s fridge”, according to ARB, which has a $1600-plus price-tag, and upwards to $2500 for an 85-litre fibreglass Evakool Infinity fridge/freezer.Portable fridge freezer brands include ARB, Bushman Fridges, Dometic/Waeco, Engel, Luna, XTM Kings, and more.Where to buyBeyond the usual suspects – Aldi, BCF, Bunnings and Anaconda – it’s well worth checking out mobs such as Bushman Fridges, ARB, Ironman 4x4 and others for top-quality products.Maintenance/repairsYour portable camping fridge will cop a real hiding during its ‘life’ but specific warranty and maintenance terms and conditions will depend on your fridge maker and supplier.We recommend that car fridge repairs be undertaken by authorised and specialised personnel.Gary said a long warranty is a clear sign of a manufacturer’s confidence in a product. “It also means you’ll have peace of mind should something go wrong on your trip. While no one wants that, it pays to be prepared for any possible situation when camping. We would recommend a three-year warranty as a minimum. Anything less than this could be a risk.”Reputable businesses and brands have well-established processes and sales and service networks in place, so that should make your decision about which brand to buy a bit easier.There are plenty of portable, camping or car fridges for sale online but remember cheap does not mean cheerful, so do your research, read a car fridge review (or 100 of them) from reputable sources, ask advice from those who know (i.e. mates who camp a lot) … and you should be right.Note: Thanks to the staff at Bushman Fridges for their assistance with this yarn.

Until now the most vocal car brands supporting synthetic fuel development have been Porsche and Lamborghini, but now Ford has thrown its weight behind the cause.

It can take hours to charge an electric vehicle, but this team of Harvard scientists reckon they can reduce that time to three minutes

Do you know if you can still buy the DVD to update the sat-nav in a 2009 Toyota LandCruiser? If so, can you please head me in the right direction of where to get one.

If Tesla boss Elon Musk achieves his goal to bring fully self-driving cars to the world by the end of this year, then we may as well call it quits as a species.