Ferdinand Porsche played an important role in the development
of airplanes and racing cars, and the construction of tanks for
the Wehrmacht. He is an automobile engineer with more than
a thousand patents to his name. He was appointed chief engineer
at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart in the 1920s. Later on, he set
up his own engineering workshop and designed among others
the Volkswagen. At the plant where Volkswagen was made,
Wolfsburg, he was chief of operations and at the end of the war
he was interned by the Allies.
He was released a few years later and started building his first car
with his son, Ferry Porsche. The car was named the Porsche 356
and it was a sports car and a reminiscent of the Volkswagen.
It had the same four-cylinder boxer engine that was rear-mounted,
just like the VW. It was far from being a powerful sports car,
developing only 40 bhp and a maximum speed of 87 mph (140 km/h).
First produced as a convertible and later as a hard top it distinguished
by the very elegant and innovative body. It was developed in the
workshop of Erwin Komenda, a master of restrained streamlining
who had been in charge of sheet metal and design techniques at
Porsche since the VW Beetle. The new style of closed coupe was
designed by Komenda and it soon became the embodiment of the
sports car, thanks to its fastback.
This tradition was continued by Komenda and Ferdinand “Butzi”
Porsche, the founder’s grandson, with the 911.
The 911 became easily recognizable: it had attractive sloping
bonnet and what later became characteristic “frog eye” headlights,
curves running from the top edge of the windscreen to the rear bumper
and a straight waistline. From a functional and technical point of
view it was more like BMW 1500, although it retained the stylistic
features of the original Porsche. The new 911 will become the
foundation stone of Porsche’s identity, even though the design
was not always appreciated. During the 1970`s and 1980`s, the
designers attempts to distance Porsche from its legendary design brought
the company to the edge of disaster. The more modern 924 model,
“a people’s Porsche”, developed with Volkswagen, as well as the
928 were far from fulfilling the expectations.
In the 1990`s, the company realized that what for over twenty years
was perceived as a straitjacket, it was in fact a market
advantage. During the 1990`s, Porsche became highly
profitable since they now knew that the typical Porsche features
were timeless. Nearly forty people now worked in the design
department on further developments of the long-running 911.
These developments included the 911 GTI, a powerful combination
of sports and racing car, put forward by the in-house designer
Anthony R. Hatter. In 1999, chief designer proudly presented the
new Boxster which enabled Porshe to establish a second
independent range of models.
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Due to the demand of having a car wherein everyone can consume less fuel and will not contribute to the air pollution, the hybrid car was finally created to meet this end. And due to the rapid advancements in the gasoline engine, the hybrid car has become extremely popular.
A hybrid car is a means of transportation using two power sources; it uses a rechargeable energy storage system found on board and a fuelled power source as the vehicle’s driving force. The hybrid car pollutes less and uses less fuel.
Back in 1899, Ferdinand Porsche have developed and led the way to the very first working hybrid-electric vehicle. Other people followed suit in Ferdinand Porsche’s invention. Many people who became interested in the hybrid-vehicle concept have been continually making hybrid cars. However, there was no major car manufacturer who invested in the hybrid concept and mass produced hybrid cars until the late twentieth century. The hybrid technology was mainly utilized in developing diesel-electric submarines during that interim period.
The diesel-electric submarines mainly operate very much the same as a hybrid car. However, the submarines main goal was to conserve oxygen rather than spend less fuel. During the later years, submarines have evolved and have begun using the nuclear power as a substitute for diesel.
During the 1990’s, the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight were the first successful hybrid cars available in the market. It was two of the pioneers in the hybrid car concept which virtually changed the way the world thinks about cars.
An idealistic inventor, Victor Wouk, manufactured a hybrid electric and gas motor vehicle that siphoned fuel at half the amount as practically all the other cars being built then. He built the hybrid car thirty years before the Toyota Prius got the attention of the U.S. as an energy-anxious nation.
The account about the hybrid car and its inventor, who died in May, 2005, at age 86, is unfamiliar among even the most avid fans of the growing hybrid car association. In terms of hybrid car knowledge, it is in fact America that should have led all other countries. Wouk said that the government program that he developed about hybrids was unknown to everyone.
Victor Wouk founded and sold two successful electric industrialized companies in the late 1940s and 50s and in 1962 he was approach by Russell Feldman, one of the founders of Motorola, who recognized the pollution from the automobile as one of the biggest problem of the environment and he wanted to discover the possible solutions with regards to this problem. But his experiment did not work much for the possible solution.
Having an idea, Wouk pondered the problem throughout the 60s and ultimately reached a clever solution. He combined the low-emission benefits of an electric car with the power of a gasoline engine to produce a hybrid vehicle. But Wouk did not get any response to his ideas for creating a hybrid car; in fact he was heavily criticized for not believing in a full-electric system.
With the help of his colleague, Charlie Rosen, who shared his belief about hybrid cars, gave him the chance to prove his ideas of creating the hybrid car as one of the solution to the rapid health cost of auto-pollution. And now the impressive capabilities of the invention of Wouk, the hybrid cars, can now be a very great help in terms of less fuel consumption and less air pollution.
Wouk and Rosen put up a new company particularly to developed their hybrid car idea and make it possible to be in the market and be used as an everyday car that belched far less harmful vapors than contemporary vehicles.
The Prius
Ever since the Toyota Prius was released in the market, it has been able to remain as the premier choice of hybrid cars available. It is true that old hybrid cars looks more like an alien car and cost far more than the conventional car. However, because of the latest technology installed in newer versions of hybrid cars, it looks more like a conventional car and is far cheaper than its predecessors. It is a fact that hybrid cars today looks very much like conventional cars. However, it will enable you to cut fuel consumption in half.
For example, the Honda Civic Hybrid car looks very much like its conventional version. However, when you look at it closely, the hybrid version of the Civic is able to conserve fuel much better than its gasoline counterpart. The Civic Hybrid can get you 50 miles in just one gallon of gasoline.
During the year 2004, Ford has developed and introduced the very first hybrid SUV, which is the Ford Escape Hybrid. A year later, Toyota also introduced their line of hybrid SUV called the Highlander Hybrid.
Because of the growing demand for hybrid cars, other car manufacturers are now following the footsteps of the other companies who already released a version of their hybrid car in the market. For example, Nissan is now planning to develop and introduce a hybrid version of the Nissan Altima.
Nowadays, over 300,000 hybrid cars are running on American roads wherein 95 percent of them are Japanese made. The hybrid vehicles are truly very different technology that can both save money and our environment.
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There’s more to renting the car than just reserving it and paying for it, to make sure that you get the best deal follow these steps and tips.
STEPS:
1.Choose three to four car rental firms that fit your wants and needs, do this either through the phonebook, or through the internet, remember to scan every possible firm before you make a choice, you don’t want to overlook the best car rental because you got bored from looking
2.Contact the agency and ask about their special offers, location, availability, pickup sites, rates, special rates, hotel and airline partnerships, extra charges, insurance, everything you can think of that can help lower what you have to pay for your car rental, or what would make the car rental more convenient for you.
3.Choose a pickup point; find one that is near you so it won’t be a hassle, some car rental companies pay for the cab ride you have to take, some pick you up at your home or at the airport to take you to your rental.
4.Pick a car, depending on your needs, find a car that could fit all the people you’ll have in it, and if you’re alone just use a compact, some rentals charge higher for larger vehicles.
5.The next thing to do, after you’ve totally decided on which to take, remember to reserve it, some car rentals include the reservation fee on the overall rent, some make it out to be an extra fee, you should also look out for this when get a car rental.
TIPS
For the best deals for your money here are some tips when looking, finding and taking out a car rental.
1.When getting a car rental check for available upgrades at no charge, you’d want the best deal so you’d want the best car, to do this, you should go pickup your car early in the morning, when the other cars haven’t been returned yet, this way there would be a shortage on economy cars and the firm might just give you an upgrade for a lower price.
2.Get an internet car rental. These types of rentals offer internet only discounts, and sometimes even accepts find a car at your own price methods where you just give them your budget and they’ll find the best deal for you, plus you wont have to go anywhere to get a rental.
3.Fill the gas tank before you return your car, car rentals will charge you, at an inflated price, the cost of the gas needed to fill the tank.
4.Look for packages like fly-drive-stay or fly-drive, these will get you great discounts on rentals, and what’s more you won’t have to worry about other details like a hotel or an airline, everything’s there. You can find these packages on must travel agencies.
5.If your frequent flyer discount or free flight is about to expire, there are some car rental companies that offer to exchange these discounts to discounts on your car rental, although its more cost effective to just fly with your frequent flyer discount, if its going to expire anyway, why wait?
These are just a few of the things you’ll need to know, but always remember to be pesky, ask questions, ask for discounts, the only reason why people don’t get better value for the things they buy is because they’re too shy to ask.
Written by admin on July 6th, 2009 with no comments.
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Gas Saving Tips
Are you tired of the continuing rise in gasoline price?
If you are, you’re not alone. In this article, you’ll
find a few excellent tips designed to help you save
a bit of your hard earned money.
First, its always best to purchase your gas either
first thing in the morning or late at night. The
reason for this is because gas is denser at a cold
temperature, so you’ll basically be getting more for
your money.
Secondly, check your local gas prices to find the
best price available. You can check your local gas
prices online as well, which will prevent you from
wasting gas while driving around to look for the
best price.
By keeping your car well maintained, you can help
improve fuel consumption. By simply tuning your car,
you can decrease your fuel consumption by up to 20
percent. Also, you should keep your tires properly
inflated and aligned. Tires that are under inflated
will cause fuel consumption to increase by 6 percent.
You should also make sure that you change your oil
and air filters on a regular basis as well.
Other tips to keep in mind are to drive by staying
in the posted speed limits, as the faster you drive
you will use more fuel. Whenever possible you should
use overdrive, as this will help fuel and also
improve the wear on your engine. You can also
combine your errands by making a list of things that
you have to do, as the more you cold start your
engine, the more fuel you’ll be using.
By taking the time to do these tips, you’ll be
amazed at just how much fuel you can save. Gas
prices are becoming ridiculous these days, which
is why you want to do your part to converse little
drop that you can.
Written by admin on July 6th, 2009 with no comments.
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