Press Release:

Rinspeed’s Zero-Emission World Debut at the Geneva Motor Show -a Green “Fish” with Q-Factor

Thirty years after the movie thriller ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ hit the silver screen “sQuba” is the first car that can actually ‘fly’ under water.

Zumikon -“Dive it again, James!” If the situation gets too hot for the secret agent he’ll go underground -or under water. So demonstrated impressively by Roger Moore in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me” in 1977 when he dove below the waves in a sleek vehicle that moments before seemed to be an ordinary car. The only problem: The scene never really took place; it was an animation.

With the “sQuba,” the world’s first real submersible car, the movie fake now becomes reality for visitors of the Geneva Motor Show (March 6th -16th, 2008). Rinspeed boss Frank M. Rinderknecht (52) is known for his extraordinary automotive creations. The acknowledged James Bond enthusiast and Swiss automobile visionary kept revisiting this scene in his mind over and over: “For three decades I have tried to imagine how it might be possible to build a car that can fly under water. Now we have made this dream come true.”

And it is this submerged stabile flight at a depth of 10 meters that sets the “sQuba” apart from military vehicles. While the latter can go under water, they are limited to driving slowly over the submerged ground. Rinderknecht: “It is undoubtedly not an easy task to make a car watertight and pressure resistant enough to be maneuverable under water. The real challenge however was to create a submersible car that moves like a fish in water.”

It also had to be a sports car that was converted into a diving dream in the facilities of Swiss engineering specialist Esoro. In a first step the combustion engine was removed and replaced by several electric motors. Three motors are located in the rear. One provides propulsion on land, the other two drive the screws for underwater motoring. They are supported by two powerful Seabob jet drives in the front, which ‘breathe’ through special rotating louvers from HS Genion (for opening and closing the water intake). The rotating outlet jets were designed to be extremely light yet twist resistant by using high-tech nano materials, so-called Carbon Nano Tubes.

It is a sure bet that the “sQuba” will steal the show from any ‘Baywatch’ beauty on the beach. And easily, too: You drive the car into the water and the car floats. That is, until you crack the door to let the water in. Immediately the “sQuba” starts on his way to the underwater world. The occupants’ breathing air comes from an integrated tank of compressed air that divers know from scuba diving. Rinderknecht: “For safety reasons we have built the vehicle as an open car so that the occupants can get out quickly in an emergency. With an enclosed cabin opening the door might be impossible.” But safety wasn’t the only reason for choosing an open-top design: With an enclosed volume of just two cubic meters of air the vehicle weight would have to increase by two tons (!) to counteract the unwanted buoyancy, giving the “sQuba” the land mobility of a turtle. Without occupants the “sQuba” surfaces automatically.

It is even capable of autonomous driving on land thanks to a sophisticated laser sensor system from the Hamburg company Ibeo -without any help from the driver or passenger.

Power is supplied by rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries. Rinderknecht: “The ‘sQuba’ is a zero-emission car as documented by the rotating license plate in the rear. It produces no exhaust emissions. The Swiss are among the world’s pioneers in the area of hydropower. The ‘sQuba’s’ filling station is the water reservoir.” It is no surprise that the vehicle features powerful yet energy-saving LED lighting technology.

3-D foil elements with embossed fish and sharkskin patterns from Wetzel Processing Group and Hornschuch add visual pizzazz and streamline the exterior. Together with styling elements from Foliatec they create a harmonious velvety matt-white appearance.

For shore leave the “sQuba” relies on a stainless coil-over suspension from KW automotive and large Pirelli tires mounted on custom-made forged light-weight wheels from AEZ with 17and 18-inch diameters. But the “sQuba” is really at home in the water. To make the occupants feel at home there as well the innovative salt-water resistant interior from Strähle

+ Hess features genuine mother-of-pearl trim and diamond-plated non-slip inlays from KGS Diamond, normally used in high-tech abrasives. After all, ‘diamonds are a girl’s best friends.’ The high-tech VDO instrument cluster and controls create a futuristic ambiance and allow controlling all vehicle functions even while submerged.

Frank M. Rinderknecht and his partners -amongst them also the fleet specialist LeasePlan have created a truly unusual vehicle and in the process have thought of everything. Even the Motorex lubricants used in the ‘sQuba” are biodegradable. For the Rinspeed boss that is a meticulousness stemming from conviction: “The ‘sQuba’ lets me be one with the elements and lets me immerse myself in a new and fascinating world -with Q factor. It is our duty to protect this world in which we are guests to the best of our ability.” Isn’t it, Miss Moneypenny? -James couldn’t have said it better himself glancing at the sporty Swiss precision chronograph from C.F. Bucherer. Eau la la -shaken, not stirred

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Under the hood sits a 2.2L four-cylinder turbodiesel with MIVEC valve control, piezoelectric injectors and a variable geometry turbo. Maximum output stands at 200hp (150kW) and 420Nm of torque. For compliance with Tier 2 Bin 5 emission regulations in the United States, the clean power unit also uses a new catalytic converter system.

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Press Release

Lexus LF-A Takes on Roadster Form – An Open Version of the Supercar Concept Revealed

January 13, 2008 – Detroit, MI – The engineers and designers at Lexus continue to use their groundbreaking LF-A premium sports car concept as a medium for expressing their ideas about what a high-performance sporting vehicle not only can be, but should be. In this latest expression of the LF-A, they have removed the car’s top to create a high-performance roadster.

The LF-A Roadster is based on the sturdy yet lightweight carbon-fiber and aluminum body used for the LF-A coupe, which helps maintain the structure’s strength and rigidity even without a top.

Like its coupe counterpart, the LF-A Roadster is powered by a high-revving V10 engine that approaches 5.0 liters in displacement. The V10, capable of more than 500 horsepower and test-track speeds greater than 200 mph, is mounted in front of the passenger compartment but behind the front-axle centerline in what the LF-A’s engineers refer to as a “front-mid” configuration.

The engine is connected via a torque tube and propeller shaft to a transaxle that is controlled by paddle shifters. The torque tube is a structural member that adds rigidity to the drivetrain and chassis while also reducing vibration.

Styling is rooted in the Lexus L-Finesse design philosophy, conferring the LF-A Roadster’s front end with a compact, low-profile, aerodynamic shape. Like its coupe counterpart, the LF-A Roadster stands just 48 inches tall, but the Roadster configuration adds a speed adaptive rear wing.

The rear is marked by a pair of wrap-around, arrowhead-shaped taillights that bracket a pair of large grilles. These grilles vent the heated air from the car’s two rear-mounted radiators into the LF-A Roadster’s aerodynamic wake. The radiators are fed cool air by two large intake ducts mounted just above the rear wheel wells. This aft radiator positioning not only allowed the designers to keep the car’s front profile low and tight but also aided the LF-A’s chassis engineers in their search for optimal weight distribution.

Helping to provide balance and scale to the design, which features an overall length of 175.6 inches and a wheelbase of 102.6 inches, are high-performance tires on turbine-styled alloy wheels. The front tires are 265/35R20s, while the rears are 305/30R20s. Like the LF-A coupe, the brakes consist of 14.2-inch cross-drilled, vented discs up front, and 13.6-inch cross-drilled, vented discs at the rear. The front brake calipers are six-piston units and the rear calipers use four pistons each.

An “F” logo, located on each front fender of the Roadster, indicates the vehicle’s status as a part of the new “F” marque. The name is derived from the original “F” designation for the first Lexus LS prototype. That vehicle was internally coded “Circle-F,” with the “F” standing for “flagship.” The Circle-F designation further evolved into the code name Flagship One, or F1, and the first F1 concept developed into Lexus’ first vehicle, the LS. Since then, the “F” code has come to signify a special vehicle program within Lexus that falls outside the normal engineering and development process. In addition, Fuji Speedway is the IS F’s home circuit, and the shape of the F-logo was inspired by many of the track’s turns. The all-new Lexus IS F sport sedan is the first production vehicle to carry the F marque.

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With regulators both in Europe and the U.S. seeking tougher environmental standards, carmakers are keen to downsize their product ranges. The problem for GM, according to BusinessWeek, is that it has no premium compact car platforms. Its current small car arsenal is based around budget platforms developed by its engineering team in South Korea.

One solution is to use a chassis from its Opel division in Germany, and possibly making it RWD too. The other problem is what brand to launch it under. Some of the brands under consideration include Buick, Saab, and Saturn, but no decision has been made yet.

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Also Perodua would launch its Kembara replacement model by the mid of this year but expected sales to be modest at 300 units per month as the focus would be more on the Viva. The Kembara will not be a high volume model. Photo below shown the posible Kembara replacement model.

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The KERS system is basically a CVT connected to a flywheel that engages on deceleration, recuperating some of the energy that would otherwise be converted to heat in the brakes. This spins the flywheel up, which continues spinning until called upon to boost acceleration. Under the new rules, which go into effect in 2009, the driver can only use the boost provided by the KERS system for a predetermined amount of time and at an established rate, much like the ‘Push to Pass’ technology in Champ Car World Series racing. This – especially in combination with the lack of traction control – will hopefully help with the difficult overtaking situtation currently plaguing Formula 1.

Although it sounds relatively simple, the actual construction of the KERS unit is a marvel of complexity and compactness. Packing a flywheel and a full CVT transmission capable of withstanding Formula 1 rigors – and transmitting enough torque to meaningfully improve a car’s performance – into a 5kg package, the KERS is also dimensionally compact, an obvious necessity for applications inside the already tiny space of a Formula 1 car. The ‘variator,’ as the CVT portion of the KERS unit is called, operates at over 90 percent mechanical efficiency. The efficiency of the entire unit will remain cloaked for some time, as the flywheels will designed and built by the individual Formula 1 teams themselves.

The other primary benefit to the highly efficient mechanical system is that unlike the energy-storing systems we encounter in road-use cars such as the Prius, there are no batteries involved. No batteries means the drivers are safer, less weight and space are occupied and the KERS system is even more environmentally friendly, since it won’t be made of – or involve the disposal of – highly toxic lithium-based batteries. The system is even being eyed for application in consumer vehicles, since its flywheel-based nature makes it ideal for stop-and-go traffic use.

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Below is the photo of the new facelifted Mazda RX-8 Type RS. Also check out the previous news here.

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