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Old 06-04-2012, 04:39 PM   #21
Anaraxes
 
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Default Re: Help Modern Cars

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Originally Posted by Phil Masters View Post
Leaving one to wonder what else will be configurable by the end of TL8.
Active suspension systems might trickle down. You could make them really "active" with a laser/radar like the ones we have for automated cruise control. Adjustable comfort/sport tuning is already somewhat common.

Cars that self-parallel-park seem to be a given; there are several models advertised and more on the way. There also seem to be a lot of backup cameras and sensors for warning. The US DOT has proposed regulation to require this feature on all cars by 2014. The same kinds of sensors might be able to watch your blind spot and prevent hazardous lane changes.

We've already got variable valve timing, and variable displacement by turning off cylinders. I don't know if TL8 will get sexy enough to have cylinders that change their actual displacement while in operation. Turbochargers sort of fit into this category. Is there an advantage to some sort of computer controlled supercharger, maybe to anticipate the "need for speed", or perhaps improve efficiency with fine-grained control?

I seem to recall a Porsche or two that had an automatically adjusting spoiler. Extend this to the rest of the bodywork on performance cars so they can get that extra downforce at high speeds, but cut back on the drag at low speeds when it's not needed. Mighty Morphing Power Sliders.

Electrochromic glass for adjustable window tint, and electrochromic paint for adjustable color. Nissan is supposed to be working on the latter. Apply it in separate pixels, naturally, so you can just download an image from your smartphone to the car body.
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Old 06-04-2012, 04:52 PM   #22
Anthony
 
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Default Re: Help Modern Cars

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Originally Posted by Phil Masters View Post
Leaving one to wonder what else will be configurable by the end of TL8.
Lot of stuff could be configurable except for there being no real reason to changes its configuration -- for example, there's really no reason to turn anti-lock braking off.
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Old 06-05-2012, 05:23 AM   #23
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Default Re: Help Modern Cars

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Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
I don't know if TL8 will get sexy enough to have cylinders that change their actual displacement while in operation.
I'm having a little difficulty imagining how that would work, but that may be my problem.

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Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
Turbochargers sort of fit into this category. Is there an advantage to some sort of computer controlled supercharger, maybe to anticipate the "need for speed", or perhaps improve efficiency with fine-grained control?
I get the impression that turbos moved from clunky truck diesels to cars when the electronics to control their behaviour developed enough. This could go further, I imagine.

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I seem to recall a Porsche or two that had an automatically adjusting spoiler.
The last review I remember seeing of a car with an automatic retractable spoiler pointed out that (a) it made no discernible difference to the car's behaviour, and (b) the driver had a button to deploy it at whim anyway. In other words, it was pure, 100% boy racer pose. Other body reconfigurations may end up in the same category.
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Old 06-05-2012, 05:40 AM   #24
johndallman
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Default Re: Help Modern Cars

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Originally Posted by Phil Masters View Post
I'm having a little difficulty imagining how that would work, but that may be my problem.
It's going to have to be by changing the cylinder at the head end: trying to change the stroke length without losing strength in the connecting rods or crankshaft sounds really hard. You'd change the head either by moving the top relative to the main part of the cylinder, or by changing the shape at the head in some way.

Going to a gas turbine sounds simpler, though.
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Old 06-05-2012, 05:44 AM   #25
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Default Re: Help Modern Cars

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It has been a quarter of a century since the last non-fuel injected car was built in the US and manual transmissions are pretty rare outside of heavy work trucks.
Even most sports cars are automatics.
Okay, the auto/manual issue is sufficiently discussed by other people, but regarding your claim that nobody builds non-fuel injected cars: AFAIK the modern gas engines use spark ignition. That post makes it sound that in the USA, either all gas engines are old, or taxists* drive exclusively gasoline and diesel.

* == and whoever else needs to drive a lot.
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Old 06-05-2012, 08:51 AM   #26
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Originally Posted by Phil Masters View Post
I'm having a little difficulty imagining how { dynamically changing cylinders } would work, but that may be my problem.
Me, too, which is why I was doubting it'd be TL8. The "easy" version might involve a nested cylinder that can slide, but I don't know if you can seal that sufficiently. Materials that can morph their shape would be cool, but I don't know of any that are strong enough for engines.[/quote]

Quote:
I get the impression that turbos moved from clunky truck diesels to cars when the electronics to control their behaviour developed enough. This could go further, I imagine.
Turbos are driven by exhaust pressure from the engine, so they give you more power when you're demanding power and slow down when you take your foot off the gas. One drawback is "turbo lag", since it takes a while to spin up. Switch it to a supercharger, so the compressor is driven by an electric motor, and then you can control it. Maybe anticipate the need for power and spin up the turbine faster. Or when you take your foot off the gas, you're still forcing air into the cylinder, which means either continuing to put in extra gas you didn't want to burn, or dealing with changing mixture. As with the rest, I'm just speculating here. Maybe there's some advantage to be gained by more precisely shaping that air/fuel/power curve to what was desired.

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The last review I remember seeing of a car with an automatic retractable spoiler ... it was pure, 100% boy racer pose. Other body reconfigurations may end up in the same category.
Quite likely, at least as long as they're driven by people. I'm not sure I'd trust most drivers (including myself) at the speeds where you actually need that extra downforce. But how much longer are cars going to be driven by people?

There's also perhaps a fuel-efficiency angle. Reducing Cd is important for that reason -- but are there compromises that have to be made with a static shape that could be improved if the car could change its shape? Again, I don't know enough of the aerodynamics of cars to know the answer.

If we take shape-changing to more of an extreme, I can recall once having to drive a rental Nissan Cube down a Western highway (75 mph limit) while it was windy. Cubes aren't so good at that; reconfiguring the roofline and sides might have been good, as I didn't need the interior space just then. More fancifully, what about relatively constant crosswinds (which effectively change the way your car is "pointed" and thus have different drag patterns) or even reacting to gusts?

An ultimate in reconfigurable cars would solve the problem of having to buy an SUV or pickup because you sometimes haul stuff. Or even if your sport couple could stretch out to be more sedan-ish to make the trunk bigger when you make that trip to buy something that comes in a big box. (Infiniti G37 sedan, 13.5 cubic foot trunk; G37 coupe, 7.4... even though the coupe is only four inches shorter, but two wider. The coupe shape costs a lot of interior space.)
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Old 06-05-2012, 08:58 AM   #27
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Default Re: Help Modern Cars

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Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
regarding your claim that nobody builds non-fuel injected cars: AFAIK the modern gas engines use spark ignition. That post makes it sound that in the USA, either all gas engines are old, or taxists* drive exclusively gasoline and diesel.

* == and whoever else needs to drive a lot.
The US formulation is just "taxi-drivers". a "taxist" would just as likely be someone who prepared tax forms for a living (which happens to be a moderately common from of seasonal employment).

As to spark-plugs, only diesels do without them to my casual understanding. Fuel injection v. carburators is about the air-fuel mix and not ignition anyway,
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Old 06-05-2012, 09:31 AM   #28
Anaraxes
 
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As to spark-plugs, only diesels do without them to my casual understanding. Fuel injection v. carburators is about the air-fuel mix and not ignition anyway,
Yes. Though there are some more obscure categories, like glow-plug ignition. And for compression ignition, there can be hair-splitting as to whether "diesel" implies fuel injection after the air is compressed (and already hot), as opposed to mixing the fuel/air cold and then compressing it until it ignites (what GM is calling "Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition", though I think the main point of that program is that it uses gasoline rather than diesel fuel).
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Old 06-05-2012, 09:47 AM   #29
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Default Re: Help Modern Cars

Anaraxes, I've seen video of a concept car which is basically a flat bed over the fuel/engine/batteries/suspension. This means that the floor is quite high off the ground, but (combined with drive-by-wire) means that even swapping the side of the driver's position is a trivial operation - and replacing body shells needs less than half an hour.

Of course this only gives you different seating/cargo/door arrangements, and doesn't do much about all-up weight and performance.
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Old 06-05-2012, 09:44 PM   #30
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Default Re: Help Modern Cars

Obviously the condition and age of the vehicle play a large roll of how it performs. I have owned cars that were blowing oil, grinding brakes and veering all over the road because the stabilizer rod was broken.

I simply thought there may be some easy access stats out there. I looked online but really didn't find what i wanted. Handling and acceleration are at least as important as top speed, especially where the campaign will be happening.

And in a campaign where life and death come down to what you drive, the darwinism will weed out the flaws of specific vehicles. I just thought it would be cool to have some real info on the subject to throw at the PCs.
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