Showing posts with label New Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Technology. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Prius: Too Quiet!


For shoppers, it might be a great idea to take advantage of the current Volkswagen Deals going on right now.  But if you want the best selling hybrid to be parked in your drive way, then you still need to check out the Prius from your local Toyota dealership.  Plus, Toyota just announced that the models sold in Japan will feature an optional noise making system under the hood!  Just imagine, all the years that car makers spent trying to get their cars quiet and now it is announced that the hybrid models are too quiet and are causing pedestrian accidents.  Some sources estimate that hybrid vehicles are twice as likely to be involved in an accident with a pedestrian as a regular gasoline engine vehicle.  Toyota isn't the only one working on this issue, and places like Greensboro Chevy Dealer have thought of ways to increase the noise on the new Chevy Volt.  Other cars that will likely have the same issue are just about every hybrid car as well as the new Nissan Leaf electric car. 

The hybrid trucks are a bit noisier than the cars, so the Chevy Silverado Hybrid shouldn't need to have noise emitting speakers installed under the hood.  And with the hemi engine popularity at Dodge Reading, none of their line up should be too quiet!  Beginning at the end of this month, consumers in Japan can spend $148 and have speakers installed under the hood of their car so that their eco-friendly Prius will make the same amount of noise as regular cars.  The success and popularity of the system in Japan will likely determine whether or not the system is made available in the United States. 

So why is the Prius too quiet?  Well, because engineers have advanced the technology so much that the car is usually running on just the electric engine, people outside the car can't even hear that the vehicle is turned on, it is that quiet!  Good luck to the hybrid engineers to make the car louder and still retain those precious miles per gallon!



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Monday, August 16, 2010

Infotainment: Made to Last


When you go and take advantage of current Ford Incentives, chances are you plan on driving that vehicle for at least three years if not longer.  How long do you own your cell phone before upgrading it?  Most cell phone contracts are only two years, and many consumers are in the mindset that they have to have the best thing available, meaning they might change their phone every 6 months or so.  Well, consumers are not able to go out and buy a brand new vehicle every six months; it just doesn't make sense!  But auto makers are realizing that no one wants to have the technology in their new car from VW Peoria suddenly outdated and over priced.  We bet the people who first purchased Sync as an option on their new Focus from Saginaw Ford Lincoln Mercury dealer are frustrated because not only is Sync far more capable than it used to be but it also comes standard on the entire line up; no optional fee!

Ford is now offering MyFord Touch in their vehicles, which allows users to download applications similar to those you have on your smartphone.  Stitcher is one of the applications that will first be available, and it allows its users to manage a collection of talk-radio programs.  Currently, Ford is working with TeleNav Inc., a company that makes GPS systems for cell phones.  TeleNav is hoping to have their navigation system be used with Ford's Sync system.  San Francisco and Silicon Valley are going to become increasingly popular areas as it won't just be cell phone executives visiting the software firms, but now corporations like Ford, Chrysler, and Toyota are in the infotainment race and want to create partnerships with these smart firms like Pandora Media Inc.  Some people worry that all the technology available in the cars will increase driver distractions, but many auto brands have disabled several features while the car is in motion.  You have to program everything while the car is in park and Sync is fully voice activated.






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Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Innovation Taking Higher Steps...



As technology moves forward, making it inevitable to have a vehicle that is not a safety conscious car. As the years go by, the better we are coming up with fuel efficiency to computers in cars with the usb ports. None the less, new technology is important to the automaker and consumer. Delphi Technologies has released the multimode Electronically Scanning Radar making safety in a new dimension. It enables the Adaptive cruise control with collision warning, brake support and collision mitigation with brake support. What does this all mean? Most dealers could assist you if you do not already know,Greensboro Nissan Dealer can make any technology questions easier on you. With some of the technology that come in vehicles even Peoria VW Dealer might have to assist twice in teaching you all the perks that come with these new space age vehicles. Bluetoothing, Navigation, hard drives and phone books that are now in vehicles Birmingham GMC Dealers almost want to make classes to inform all their customers all the features their vehicle can do.

Delphi Technologies is constantly revolving the technology, spinning out new features to better driving to hopefully prevent collisions. The Electronic Scanning Radar (ESR) provides two different measurement modes. While at the same time the Electronic Scanning Radar has long range coverage that provides accurate range and speed data that can detect object in the wide mode. The mid range coverage can alert you to vehicles to cutting in front of you and will alert you to pedestrians or any other vehicle that is across the width of the vehicle it is equipped in.

Where can you find this technology? What vehicles is it already in? What does it really mean? Well, while most of us are a little under radar when it comes to auto gurus, it doesn't take us long to catch on. This new Electronically Scanning Radar is featured on the new Ford C-Max and the Volvo S60. Then I'm sure it will fade into every automaker's vehicle because when technology is this good, it usually gets around. The Volvo S60 collision mitigation system features the full speed range of adaptive cruise control plus collision warning with full automatic braking power. This system uses both camera and radar indications to warn any driver of a potential collision with another vehicle or pedestrian and will brake if the driver is not capable to. Cars will soon not need people to drive, they will just need to be in the driver’s seat.

Cars will soon be of the "space age" with all the awesome programs and gadgets that will be on them. As for me, my new car doesn't even have a key, I do not have to even get the FOB out of my purse. Making getting in the car that much faster.