Posted by Alex Bale
Friday, January 18, 2013
We've known about this for a while now, the proposed link-up between Alfa Romeo and Mazda to co-develop replacements for the MX-5 and the Spider, but today, it's official. The contracts have been signed.
According to the statement released this morning, "The new Alfa Romeo roadster will be developed for the global market, and will be based on the architecture of the next generation Mazda MX-5. The agreement foresees for both Mazda and Fiat to develop two differentiated, distinctly styled, iconic and brand-specific roadsters featuring rear-wheel drive. The Mazda and Alfa Romeo variants will each be powered by specific proprietary engines unique to each brand."Well that's all good news. We've been bleating for years that Alfa's Spider needs to move back to its simple, rear-drive, lightweight roots and being based on a next-gen MX-5 is a pretty good start.And it's unlikely to be the only collaboration between Mazda and Fiat. Mazda, despite its global prominence, is a small company and needs to establish production and development programmes like this if it's going to prosper, long-term, while Fiat needs new platforms if it's to develop new, large, Alfa Romeo models. It seems to us that Mazda's excellent SkyActiv chassis (as tested this week under the impressive new 6 saloon and estate) would be a natural starting point for a new Alfa saloon...Just sayin'.
Posted by Alex Bale
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
It may not be the prettiest Lexus you've ever seen, but this LS-based contraption is almost certainly the safest Lexus, possibly the safest car, of all time.It's called the Safety Research Vehicle and Lexus is showing it off at the vast (and vastly important) Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The car has been built to demonstrate ongoing efforts around autonomous vehicle safety technologies and explain Toyota's approach to reducing global traffic fatalities and injuries. The vehicle, based on a Lexus LS, advances the industry toward a new era of integrated safety management technologies.The vehicle systems are capable of tasks such as scanning movement of objects around it, identifying a green light from a red light and measuring the trajectory of the vehicle on the road by using a 360-degree LIDAR laser on the roof of the vehicle which detects objects around the car up to about 70 meters; three high definition colour cameras to detect objects about 150 meters away, including traffic light detection using the front camera and approaching vehicles using the side cameras.
Radars on the front and sides of the vehicle measure the location and speed of objects to create a
comprehensive field of vision at intersections. There's also a distance measurement indicator located on a rear wheel measures travel distance and speed of the vehicle and an inertial measurements unit on the roof measures acceleration and angle changes to determine vehicle behaviour.
GPS antennas on the roof estimate angle and orientation even before the vehicle is in motion and the research vehicle is a testing platform aimed at the development of systems capable of enhancing the driver’s perception of their environment, assisting in the decision-making process and improving overall driving skills.“In our pursuit of developing more advanced automated technologies, we believe the driver must be fully engaged,” said Mark Templin, Toyota group vice president and general manger of the Lexus Division. “For Toyota and Lexus, an autonomous vehicle does not translate to a driverless vehicle, but rather a car equipped with an intelligent, always-attentive co-pilot whose skills contribute to safer driving.”Toyota has committed to new research toward an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), integrating the car with the driving environment. To accelerate development of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-roadside infrastructure communications, Toyota began full-scale operations in November at new 8.6 acre ITS proving grounds, located within the Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Toyota City, Japan. Modelled after urban roads, the driving environment replicates roads and traffic signals and simulates real-life traffic situations using other vehicles, pedestrians and control devices.The system is designed to help prevent accidents involving pedestrians and other vehicles using information continuously collected by the vehicle from other vehicles, infrastructure and pedestrians. Connecting people, vehicles, traffic environments and infrastructure with state-of-the-art electronic and telecommunications technologies will help move toward safer and more efficient traffic environments. The Toyota ITS Proving Grounds will assist the company work toward the early practical adoption of evermore reliable systems by repeatedly conducting testing that can be difficult to perform on public roads, with changing environments.
“The real value of research projects like this is reinforcing our focus on what a few years ago seemed an impossible dream and is now becoming more plausible,” Templin said. “We, at TMC and Lexus, consider the elimination of traffic fatalities and injuries the ultimate goal of a society that values mobility.”
