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Carbon Fibre
Lamborghini's open top Reventon Roadster revealed
By Gizmag Team
01:26 September 16, 2009 PDT
Lamborghini pulled the wraps off the open top version of its Reventón at the Frankfurt IAA yesterday and there was no disappointment, other than perhaps the price and production run. Each Reventón Roadster will be sold for 1.1 million Euro plus taxes and on-roads, and less than 20 will be built. Those with the money and influence to get a spot in the queue will obtain what Automobili Lamborghini regards as the “most extreme car in the history of the brand.” The 6.5 liter twelve-cylinder generates 493 kW (670 PS), catapulting the Roadster from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in 3.4 seconds and onwards to a top speed of 330 km/h (205 mph). Deliveries begin next month. Read More
VW shows 170 mpg tandem diesel hybrid two-seater
By Gizmag Team
04:51 September 15, 2009 PDT
Volkswagen rocked the automotive world at a lunchtime press conference on the first day of the Frankfurt Motor Show with a carbon fiber, half width, 1-liter hybrid electric diesel tandem two-seater car named the L1. When the car makes production in 2013, four years from now, it will almost certainly be the most fuel efficient car available with a combined diesel fuel consumption figure of 1.38 l/100km (170 U.S. mpg), thanks to its frugal motor combo, feather-like weight – 380 kg in total - and an aerodynamic drag co-efficient of just 0.195! Read More
McLaren MP4-12C delivers jaw-dropping looks, performance and economy
By Paul Lester
22:26 September 9, 2009 PDT
Supercars are 20 to the dozen these days and it takes something pretty special to elicit that all-important ‘wow’ factor from a modern production car. McLaren is one manufacturer who is most certainly capable of such feats of design and engineering, and while it’s debatable as to whether the original F1 will ever be usurped in terms of pure aggression and innovation, subsequent models suggest that it hasn’t lost its edge when it comes to jaw-dropping new designs. This claim is underlined with the release of the new MP4-12C, a car that most should agree from an aesthetics standpoint hits the ‘goldilocks zone’ between the sublime and the ridiculous. Read More
KEF Concept Blade loudspeaker reveals its cutting edge
By Tim LeFevre
19:09 May 24, 2009 PDT
Three years of exhaustive research, testing and experimentation has resulted in the KEF Concept Blade loudspeaker. In particular, the loudspeaker showcases KEF’s cutting-edge capabilities and commitment to furthering innovative design. Read More
Bellperre adds extra-bling to custom made mobile phone collection
By Mick Webb
18:00 April 26, 2009 PDT
The words “global economic downturn” are not are part of luxury phone maker Bellperre’s vocabulary, as evidenced by the release of its new high-end Nero Gold series. The Netherlands based company offers handcrafted tailor made handsets using “0% plastic”, and has now added even more precious metals and gemstones to the available mix. Read More
Ducati Desmosedici GP9 carbon fibre frame
By Mike Hanlon
17:24 April 13, 2009 PDT
Ever since designer John Barnard built the 1981 F1 McLaren MP4-1 chassis from carbon fibre, the world has become increasingly aware of this novel composite material that is very stiff, three times stronger and more than four times lighter than steel! Within a year or two, carbon fibre became the construction material of choice for F1 designers. Strangely, it has taken nearly three decades for a carbon fibre-framed motorcycle to take a race win at the highest level. The World MotoGP Championship kicked off this evening in Qatar, with Casey Stoner taking the first win on the carbon fibre-framed Ducati Desmosedici GP9. His emphatic win indicates yet another competitive-edge Ducati technology to back up its landmark desmodromic valve-train and traction control technologies. Read More
Wire Bike uses carbon fiber and Kevlar cables
By Paul Evans
07:05 March 9, 2009 PDT
Super light structural materials such as carbon fiber and Kevlar have incredible natural strength in tension but are much weaker in compression. A good example of this is how the carbon fiber suspension on a formula one car can resist several tons of downforce but explodes when crashed into a barrier. The concept of tension has been a familiar sight in large engineered structures such as suspension bridges and now the same concept has been applied to a bike frame. Read More
Bimota's DB7 Oronero: a sportsbike symphony in carbon fiber
By Loz Blain
06:59 November 24, 2008 PST
In its past reincarnation, Italian motorcycle company Bimota built a reputation around its ability to take the great Japanese and Italian engines of the time and put them into a chassis package that would actually handle - but when the brand relaunched in 2003, many wondered what relevance Bimota would have in an era when the vast majority of modern sportsbikes handle brilliantly straight out of the crate. But it seems there's still room at the top end of the market for bespoke chassis designers, which is a good thing because otherwise we'd never see revolutionary designs like the center-hub steered TESI 3D or the magnificent DB7 Oronero, which boasts one of the first all-carbon fiber frame, subframe and swingarm packages ever to grace a production bike. A truly pornographic piece of motorcycle art, the Oronero also promises breathtaking performance with a weight of just 164 kilograms being propelled by the 164-horsepower Ducati 1098 powerplant. Read More
The Climax bioethanol-powered supercar
By Darren Quick
23:36 October 19, 2008 PDT
Greener motoring doesn't usually mean high-performance, but bio-ethanol powered sports cars like the Lotus Exige 265E and Aston Martin's Vantage GT2 have shown that the two terms aren't always mutually exclusive. Now another British company is joining the ranks with the Climax mid-engine open-top two seater. Read More
The affordable, 100mpg, carbon-composite passenger car
By Loz Blain
11:12 July 17, 2008 PDT
Britain's Axon claims that its newly patented mass-production techniques will make carbon composite car frames and bodywork even cheaper than their metal counterparts - and only 40% as heavy. What a revolutionary technology this could be - the power to weight ratio of any vehicle on the planet could be dramatically increased for no extra cost! The company plans to release a highly affordable 500cc passenger car making at least 100mpg from a basic petrol engine in 2010, and Axon is confident its simple, lightweight solution to the fuel economy challenge will be highly competitive against the big competition in the Progressive Automotive X-Prize contest. Read More
Gary Noel
- November 22, 2009 @ 06:20 UTC
