Ford Escape

Ford’s 2010 Escape, the small SUV with the best crash test ratings of any vehicle in its class, is increasing its technology leadership with the addition of five new features that improve safety, reduce driver distractions and aid drivers by automatically parallel parking their vehicle.

The new Escape, in showrooms this summer, will add MyKey™ teen-safety technology, Integrated Spotter Mirrors – both offered standard (MyKey on XLT and above models) – optional Rear View Camera System and SYNC with real-time Traffic, Directions and Information. The new model also will be the North America’s first SUV to offer Active Park Assist, which uses an ultrasonic-based sensing system and Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) to position the vehicle for parallel parking, calculate the optimal steering angle and quickly steer the vehicle into a parking spot.

The new technologies build on Escape’s unsurpassed crash ratings – a “Top Safety Pick” award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and 5-star government ratings in all crash tests. The Escape, which Kelley Blue Book editors recently named one of the “2009 Best New Family Vehicles,” also is the only compact SUV to offer standard AdvanceTrac® with RSC® (Roll Stability Control) and a standard Safety Canopy® side curtain air-bag system.

“The Ford Escape is one of few vehicles that earned both full 5-star crash ratings and a ‘Top Safety Pick’ in the small SUV segment,” said Susan Cischke, Ford’s group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. “These new technologies will help to take the new Escape to the next level of safety and driver satisfaction.”

According to 2008 Ford market research data, nearly nine out of 10 Escape and Escape Hybrid buyers rank safety features – including the road-holding capability delivered by roll stability control – as one of their top purchase reasons.

Technology Transformation
Unprecedented for a carryover model, the Ford Escape’s technological makeover demonstrates Ford’s broader efforts to quickly and efficiently introduce new features along the consumer electronics industry’s development cycles measured in months.

“Our vision with SYNC, MyKey and other new technologies is to be a technology leader, making it affordable for millions – just as Ford has done with safety and fuel-saving technologies,” said Doug VanDagens, director of Ford’s Connected Services Organization.. “We are a car company that through market-driven, customer-focused innovation is learning to think and act like an electronics company, leveraging partnerships with fresh technology leaders.”

The 2010 Escape will feature:

Integrated Spotter Mirror (standard) – a consumer-friendly, affordable blind spot technology that consists of an outside rearview mirror designed with a secondary convex spotter in the top outer corner, which is aimed exclusively at the driver’s blind spot. When traffic enters the driver’s blind spot on either side of the vehicle, it is visible in the secondary convex mirror, helping provide the driver broader peripheral view.

MyKey (standard) – allows owners to program a key that can limit the vehicle’s top speed and audio volume. MyKey also encourages safety-belt usage, provides earlier low-fuel warnings and can be programmed to sound chimes at 45, 55 and 65 miles per hour. This feature is standard on Escape models featuring a message center cluster, including XLT and above.

Rear View Camera System – uses an exterior camera embedded in the rear of the vehicle that sends images to a video display in the rearview mirror or the navigation system screen to help enhance visibility directly behind the vehicle when it is in reverse. Ford is leveraging the affordability of high-quality video cameras to widely offer the technology with navigation systems.

Active Park Assist – uses an ultrasonic-based sensing system and Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) to position the vehicle for parallel parking, calculate the optimal steering angle and quickly steer the vehicle into a parking spot. The technology is a major leap forward in speed and ease of use compared with the camera-reliant systems offered by competitors. Ford’s system requires less driver interaction and reduces the risk of selecting a parking spot that is too tight. Ford’s Active Park Assist also works in downhill parking situations, unlike competing systems.

SYNC – Ford is expanding its connectivity leadership by introducing exclusive new SYNC real-time information features. The new Escape is one of the first vehicles to introduce this innovation – SYNC with Traffic, Directions and Information – which leverages industry-leading voice-recognition software, integrated GPS technology, and a customer’s Bluetooth-capable mobile phone. SYNC’s new services provide simple hands-free access to personalized traffic reports, precise turn-by-turn driving directions and up-to-date information including business listings, news, sports, and weather.

A recent study shows that SYNC’s hands-free system significantly reduces the level of distraction when drivers select a phone number or choose a song on their MP3 player compared with the same operations performed with hand-held cell phones and music players.

“We know people want to stay connected in their vehicles, so Ford is continuing to deliver that connectivity for them responsibly and safely,” says Susan Cischke, Ford’s group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. “Our SYNC research backs up what most of us instinctively know – that it is better while driving to place a call using a voice interface than dialing manually, because you can keep your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.”

Safety Standard

The 2010 Ford Escape’s standard safety technologies also include:

* AdvanceTrac® with RSC® (Roll Stability Control) – the world’s only system with a gyroscopic sensor that actively measures and helps prevent both side-to-side “yaw” and roll movements

* Safety Canopy™ – a side air curtain technology offering protection for the first and second seating rows, and helps provide rollover and ejection protection with extended deployment in rollovers

* Personal Safety System® – a suite of seven safety technologies, including new dual-stage front air bags for the driver and front-seat passenger, side air bags and a front passenger sensor system

* Tire Pressure Monitoring System – alerts drivers when tire pressure is low. Properly inflated tires not only are important for safety – they also can help improve fuel economy.

2010 Ford Escape Hybrid

Power: 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder, 177 combined horsepower

Mileage estimate: 31-34 mpg                                  

Price: $32,260

Standard features include: integrated blind-spot mirrors; antilock brakes; stability control; auto-dimming rearview mirror; a power driver seat; dual-zone automatic climate control; four-speaker CD stereo with an auxiliary audio jack and satellite radio, Sync system (includes iPod interface and Bluetooth); leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls

By Jeffrey Weidel

In the business of manufacturing cars for over a century, Ford Motor Company built part of its longstanding reputation on its rugged trucks, developing the F-series long ago and making a bundle of money from its sales.

But when the company peers into its crystal ball to predict the future, the road ahead might be paved with hybrids.

Ford has made a definite commitment to producing hybrid vehicles, which now are capable of running up to 35 mph on their electric motors, a 10 mph increase from previous generations that switched to gasoline mode at 25 mph.

Five years ago, Ford vowed to produce 250,000 hybrids a year by 2010. But a little over one year later the Detroit auto manufacturer rescinded on that claim due to excessive costs and some other contributing factors. Yet that doesn’t mean Ford has backed off the whole hybrid movement.

For 2010, Ford has given both the Fusion and the Mercury Milan midsize sedans hybrid alternatives. The pair joins the Escape and Mercury Mariner, two compact sport utility vehicles that both have hybrid models.

Ford introduced the hybrid Escape in 2005, becoming the third company to unveil a hybrid model and the first to do so in an SUV. Five years later, the Toyota Highlander hybrid is its only real competition among SUVs.

Even though Ford has yet to move forward with a much-needed major redesign (an integrated blind-spot mirrors is the only standard addition for 2010), the Escape hybrid remains a quality vehicle. It gets between 31-34 mpg, which in the case of the Escape driven here for a week, means a fill-up doesn’t arrive until about the 400-mile range per tank of gas.

Equipped with a 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder engine with a combined 177 horsepower, the hybrid Escape was not the most exhilarating ride. Passing power is very average and the engine noise gets rather loud when acceleration is needed in a hurry. An additional 300 pounds for the hybrid drivetrain apparently contributes to the lack of power.

An alternative is purchasing an Escape that isn’t a hybrid. The savings will be around $6,000 off the $32,260 sticker price for the hybrid Escape, which is available in all-wheel drive.

 

All Escapes provide a simplified cabin that is easy to master and feature soft-touch material that adds to the overall comfort. The cabin offers solid room for all five passengers and the cargo area is fairly spacious for a compact SUV. Small storage bins and cubbies make the Escape very user-friendly as well.

2009 Ford Escape black

2009 Ford Escape

2009 Ford Escape Hybrid

2009 Ford Escape hybrid

2009 Ford Escape hybrid interior

2009 Ford Escape interior

2009 Ford Escape Hybrid

2009 Ford Escape interior

2009 Ford Escape red

2009 Ford Escape

2009 Ford Escape Hybrid

2009 Ford Escape Hybrid

turbo compound engine

A Turbo-compound engine is a reciprocating engine that employs a blowdown turbine to recover energy from the exhaust gases. The turbine is usually mechanically connected to the crankshaftbut electric and hydraulic systems have been investigated as well. The turbine increases the output of the engine without increasing its fuel consumption, thus reducing the specific fuel consumption. The turbine is referred to as a blowdown turbine (or power-recovery turbine), as it recovers the energy developed in the exhaust manifold during blowdown, that is the first period of the exhaust process when the piston still is on its expansion stroke (this is possible since the exhaust valves open before bottom dead center).

When a blowdown turbine is attached to an engine it will not reduce power due to exhaust gas flow restriction, since a blowdown turbine is a velocity turbine, not a pressure turbine as is a turbo supercharger. The exhaust restriction imparted by the three blowdown turbines used on the Wright 3350 Duplex Cyclone is equal to a well-designed jet stack system used on a conventional radial engine. However, the blowdown turbines recover about 550 horsepower at METO (maximum continuous except for take-off) power.

Turbo-compounding was used on on several airplane engines after World War II, the Napier Nomad and the Wright R-3350 being examples. In the case of the R-3350, maintenance crews sometimes nicknamed the turbine the "Parts Recovery Turbine" due to its negative effect on engine reliability. Turbo-compound versions of the Napier Deltic, Rolls-Royce Crecy, and Allison V-1710 were constructed but none was developed beyond the prototype stage. It was realized that in many cases the power produced by the simple turbine was approaching that of the enormously complex and maintenance-intensive piston engine to which it was attached. As a result, turbo-compound aero engines were soon supplanted by turboprop and turbojet engines.

Some modern heavy truck diesel manufacturers have incorporated turbo-compounding into their modern designs. Examples include: theDetroit Diesel DD15 engine that claims 5 percent better fuel economy with an additional 50 hp "free" compared to their previous engines, and Scania , in production from 2001.

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automobile symbols

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mercedes benz e class

This is a short story of how we sometimes arrive at the truth. Letting go of deep-seated childhood emotional responses is hard. Growing up in the fifties in Austria, Mercedes was my true God. My father had a friend with a 300 SL Gullwing, and I spent hours walking around it, absorbing each detail. There was an old Tatra streamliner in the neighborhood. Aerodynamics, efficiency, and speed are my triggers. In 1985, I bought one of the first W124 300E sedans in LA, in part because its Cd. of .28 was the best in the world then, as well as its 140 mph top speed.  Just yesterday, in Part 3 of the History of Automotive Aerodynamics, I concluded the survey of current production car aerodynamics record-holders with the 2010 Mercedes E-Class coupe, honoring its widely disseminated Cd of .24, lower than even the 2010 Prius. Looking at the picture of that E Class coupe this morning triggered a totally unexpected upsurge of that old lust, something that I thought was long extinguished, and I actually went to the Mercedes web site for strictly personal reasons. I expected that Mercedes would be trumpeting the coupe’s .24 Cd proudly. Not so, and for a good reason.

In fact, there was no reference to it anywhere. I remember how proudly Mercedes was of the W124′s sleekness in its ads and brochures. What gives? I had to download a pdf with technical specs, and there it was, buried in small print: Cd of .28. It’s 1984 all over again.

I found the answer buried deep on Mercedes’ German web site: the .24 Cd only applies to the E 220 CDI Blue Efficiency model, that isn’t even going to be available  until later this spring, and in then in Europe only. It must be lowered and have lots of aerodynamic tweaks. Google “Mercedes E-Class Coupe coefficient of drag”, and you’ll see that every magazine, web site, newspaper and of course wikipedia has repeated Mercedes’ Cd of .24 virus endlessly.

I’m still surprised with that unexpected surge of Mercedes lust; but it came for a reason: I’m totally over Mercedes now, and I’m here to proclaim to whoever listens: the 2010 Mercedes E-Class coupe has a Cd of .28, the same as a 2001 Camry, a 1995 Mitsubishi Diamante, a 2003 Saab 9-3, and a 1998 Chrysler Concorde.

The 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

2010 Mercedes Benz E-Class

W212 Merc

2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Mercedes Benz E-class 2010

E-Class sedan at the

Mercedes-Benz E-Class MercedesSport variety of exclusive products including front apron and spoiler, and side edges, and optional rear roof spoiler, a diffuser-look rear apron insert grille and fog lamps, 18-inch light alloy wheels in painted version in high-bicolor black luster is protected by a clear lacquer coating and the bear logo MercedesSport, with a stiff sporty suspension damping and stabilizer transversely and shorter springs to lower the suspension up to 15 millimeters, sport braking system with perforated brake discs and brake calipers gray Mercedes-logo Benz, and others.

In the interior, features more than MercedesSport E-Class is a sport grippy four-spoke steering wheel with perforated leather and contrast the silver lining is available with optional paddle shift and a heater, a stainless steel pedal cluster, stainless steel entrance panels illuminated by white and bearing the logo MercedesSport , and black velours floor mats with silver borders and contrast stitching, logo also MercedesSport.

automotive engineering

Modern automotive engineering is a branch of vehicle engineering, incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, softwareand safety engineering as applied to the design, manufacture and operation of motorcycles, automobiles, buses and trucks and their respective engineering subsystems.

Some of the engineering attributes/disciplines that are of importance to the automotive engineer:

Safety Engineering: Safety Engineering is the assessment of various crash scenarios and their impact on the vehicle occupants. These are tested against very stringent governmental regulations. Some of these requirements include: Seat belt and air bag functionality. Front and side crash worthiness. Resistance to rollover. Assessments are done with various methods and tools: Computer crash simulation, crash test dummies, partial system sled and full vehicle crashes.


Fuel Economy/Emissions: Fuel economy is the measured fuel efficiency of the vehicle in miles per gallon or litres per 100 kilometres.Emissions testing the measurement of the vehicles emissions: hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and evaporative emissions.


Vehicle Dynamics: Vehicle dynamics is the vehicle's response of the following attributes: ride, handling, steering, braking, and traction. Design of the chassis systems of suspension, steering, braking, structure (frame), wheels and tires, and traction control are highly leveraged by the Vehicle Dynamics engineer to deliver the Vehicle Dynamics qualities desired.


NVH Engineering (Noise, Vibration, and Harshness): NVH is the customer's impression both tactile (feel) and audible (hear) feedback from the vehicle. While sound can be interpreted as a rattle, squeal, or hoot, a tactile response can be seat vibration, or a buzz in thesteering wheel. This feedback is generated by components either rubbing, vibrating or rotating. NVH response can be classified in various ways: powertrain NVH, road noise, wind noise, component noise, and squeak and rattle. Note, there are both good and bad NVH qualities. The NVH engineer works to either eliminate bad NVH, or change the “bad NVH” to good (i.e., exhaust tones).


Performance: Performance is a measurable and testable value of a vehicles ability to perform in various conditions. Performance can be considered in a wide variety of tasks, but it's generally associated with how quickly a car can accelerate (i.e. 0-60 mph, 1/4 mile, trap speed, top speed, etc), how short and quickly a car can come to a complete stop from a set distance (i.e. 70-0 mph), how many g-forces a car can generate without losing grip, figure 8, recorded trap lap times, cornering speed, brake fade, etc. Performance can also reflect the amount of control in inclement weather (snow, ice, rain).


Shift Quality: Shift Quality is the driver’s perception of the vehicle to an automatic transmission banana event. This is influenced by the powertrain (engine, transmission), and the vehicle (driveline, suspension, etc). Shift feel is both a tactile (feel) and audible (hear) response of the vehicle. Shift Quality is experienced as various events: Transmission shifts are felt as an upshift at acceleration (1-2), or a downshift maneuver in passing (4-2). Shift engagements of the vehicle are also evaluated, as in Park to Reverse, etc.


Durability / Corrosion engineering: Durability and Corrosion engineering is the evaluation testing of a vehicle for its useful life. This includes mileage accumulation, severe driving conditions, and corrosive salt baths.


Package / Ergonomics Engineering: Package Engineering is a discipline that designs/analyzes the occupant accommodations (seat roominess), ingress/egress to the vehicle, and the driver’s field of vision (gauges and windows). The Package Engineer is also responsible for other areas of the vehicle like the engine compartment, and the component to component placement. Ergonomics is the discipline that assesses the occupant's access to the steering wheel, pedals, and other driver/passenger controls.


Climate Control: Climate Control is the customer’s impression of the cabin environment and level of comfort related to the temperature and humidity. From the windshield defrosting, to the heating and cooling capacity, all vehicle seating positions are evaluated to a certain level of comfort.


Drivability: Drivability is the vehicle’s response to general driving conditions. Cold starts and stalls, rpm dips, idle response, launch hesitations and stumbles, and performance levels.


Cost: The cost of a vehicle program is typically split into the effect on the variable cost of the vehicle, and the up-front tooling and fixed costsassociated with developing the vehicle. There are also costs associated with warranty reductions, and marketing.


Program timing: To some extent programs are timed with respect to the market, and also to the production schedules of the assembly plants. Any new part in the design must support the development and manufacturing schedule of the model.


Assembly Feasibility: It is easy to design a module that is hard to assemble, either resulting in damaged units, or poor tolerances. The skilled product development engineer works with the assembly/manufacturing engineers so that the resulting design is easy and cheap to make and assemble, as well as delivering appropriate functionality and appearance.