July 26, 2018
Witness
WHEELS
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Self-flying passenger drones are set to change city transport in the near future. More on page 2
MOTORING ACROSS KZN SINCE 1904
A crossover that handles Adding go-faster tupperware doesn’t normally deliver this much fun, says ALWYN VILJOEN “Its a seven-seater!” messaged Wheel’s resident petite driver, Shay Kalik, after driving in the new Hyundai i20 Active. She had proof too, with all the nephews and nieces piling in for the short drive into the complex. The nephews begged to play in the boot — not allowed, but the best endorsement a car can get from future clients. They had lots of space back there, with the luggage bay taking 285 litres or 1 001 with the rear seats flat. On public roads, the i20 Active seats five adults, with three seat belts and head rests in the rear. The driver’s seat adjusts high for the short testers and sinks low for the tall ones. The 1 368 cc petrol engine makes its peak 74 kW at 6 000 rpm and 133 Nm at 3 500 rpm.
Top speed is quoted at 182km/h but we stuck to the speed limits. The i20 Active is only sold with a six-speed manual, but the slick gear changes and short initial ratios make for easy cruising in town while long high gears make for good consumption. Power goes to the front, where 16-inch wheels add to the Active’s ground clearance of 170 mm, which gives a decent ride height to help deliver on the promises made by black plastic wheel arch linings, skid plates covering the sensitive under bits front and rear and a roof rack. The handling on dust is firm enough to be fun, but it is on tar where the Active’s suspension set-up comes into its own, giving the high riding hatch surprising levels of balance, even with a
Red or blue details — depending on the exterior colour — add to the visual appeal of the i20 Active’s cabin. PHOTO: QUICKPIC
smidgen of lift-off oversteer for the more adventurous. So, hat tip to the engineers who managed to tune this level of fun into the staid but proven combo of McPhersons and coils up front and a coupled torsion beam with coils at the back. Inside, red or blue trim on the gear lever console, gearknob and air vents distinguish the i20 Active from its siblings. The infotainment system links with the minimum of fuss to Android or Apple phones with USB and Aux ports right where you want them, in front in the middle of the console. Other creature comforts include automatic climate control, electric windows all-round, rear park assist and auto lights that light up the corners in turns. At R279 900, the i20 Active is a good deal more expensive than its natural rivals in function, if not also form — the Toyota Etios Cross and Renault Sandero. Hyundai’s higher prices include a five-year or 150 000 km warranty, to which is added an additional two-year or 50 000 km powertrain warranty, as well as a three-year or 60 000 km service plan. But the i20 Active’s surprisingly firm handling puts in a another league and in this case, you get what you pay for. • alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za
Hyundai has lifted the i20’s stance, added skidplates and bigger wheels below, a roof rack on top to create a faux cross over with a surprisingly fun ride, as well as a spare wheel in the rear so that one has confidence to explore that gravel road. PHOTO: QUICKPIC
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Big demand for State of Stance WHEN it comes to car shows in KZN, petrolheads have a firm favourite, the annual State of Stance hosted at the Pavilion Shopping Centre Westville this weekend. Maritzburg’s Desmond “Dizzy” Govenden will be the master of ceremonies and told Wheels the name refers to the lowered suspension most performance cars have. Govenden says young drivers often take a grinder to their coil springs to drop the suspension — or the car’s “stance” — but warned this destroys a car’s handling. He said the adjustable coilover suspensions that will be on display at the show, allows cars to hunker down for tracks
and can then easily be adjusted to provide ride height over speed humps for safe driving. “State of Stance celebrates the car culture with displays of precision driving, performance equipment and all the music and lifestyle activities that goes with the freedom of driving,” Govenden said. Now in its fourth year the State of Stance 2018 offers festival goers drifting, spinning, an SA Strongman Challenge, bike stunts. Static displays include a sound off, hot rods, custom bikes and dyno tests. The event will also feature some of South Africa’s most talented local artists, with thousands of patrons tradi-
tionally turning the day’s Drift Arena into a dance floor at night. Weekend ticket have all been sold out at R240 each, but day passes are still available on Computicket. Saturday’s ticket costs R180, which includes access to the evening’s after party, and Sunday’s day pass costs R100, with no after party. VIP tickets are also available for the two days. Hilton Car Show August 4: Grace College hosts the Hilton Car Show, where the Midlands VDubs club will show their VW combis and Beetles. More info from Minnesh Harichand on 083 701 6762. Full weekend passes have long sold out, but day tickets are still on sale for the weekend’s State of Stance car show. GRAPHIC: SUPPLIED
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No metals in Noah car THE world’s first biobased, circular car has been successfully designed and built in the Netherlands by the Technical University of Eindhoven. The car, named Noah by the TU/ ecomotive student team, was designed as a city car and features two seats and a spacious trunk. The parts are made up of light and strong sandwich panels, based on natural fiber flax and Luminy PLA supplied by Total Corbion PLA. PLA stands for Poly Lactic Acid, which is a biobased and biodegradable polymer made from annually re-
newable resources. This is the first time that a car chassis and all bodywork has been made from natural and biobased materials, no metal or traditional plastics were used for the structural parts of the car. The parts are also recyclable, resulting in a 100% circular car, sustainable in all life phases. Noah is currently undertaking a European tour of car manufacturers, suppliers and universities to inspire others. The full electric car reaches a top speed of 110 km p/h and the battery range lasts up to 240 km. — WR.
Custom biking in Brazil Brazil’s former Formula One driver Tarso Marques these days builds custom motorcycle in his company, TMC Dumont. The name honours aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont, who Brazilians believe flew before America’s Wright Brothers managed to fly a plane at Kitty Hawk. Built strictly to turn heads (and deafen ears) rather than a safe ride, this bike features a 224 kW (300 Hp) Continental flat six engine lifted from a 1960’s-era aeroplane. PHOTO: TMC
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FOR THE LEXUS V8 ENTHUSIASTS WE OFFER • Pre-Wired Lexus V8 1UZ VVTI complete with automatic gearbox • Pre-Wired Lexus V8 3UZ VVTI complete with automatic gearbox • Brand new and second hand original spares and service parts • Our pre-wired original OEM mnagement is ready for installation with only 6 wires to connect • All units are bench tested
• Top Quality used low mileage engines and gearboxes for most makes and models of cars and light delivery vehicles • Heads • Turbos • Diffs • Lexus spares • New and Second hand • We stock local stock as well
MOTORING TRENDS
July 26, 2018
Cars that can fly Tilt wings and electric rotors promise to change transport ALWYN VILJOEN FACT — a decade from now, hopping into a drone that you hailed using the computer in your smart glasses would be the norm in all major cities around the world. Ten years hence, there will be as many sizes and brands of drones as there are car brands currently, with the Daimler Group one of the leading investors in this future of personal transport. Google is another, with its Kitty Hawk Flyer — a singleseat drone that is billed as recreational craft for use over water, but if prototypes being built by Russians entrepreneurs are any indication, more “drone scooters” will soon buzz over built-up areas too. The dozen drones and or flying cars unveiled to date come in one of two flavours — those that need pilot licenses, and those that don’t. The most exciting of the drones, the Blackfly by California-based Opener, does require its pilots to pass a private pilot’s written examination. Another is German firm Lilium’s “jet”, which has 36 ducted rotors to endow this flying car with precise, almost balletic control and a speed of 300 km/h. Lilium plans to sell this vertical lift-off plane (VTOL) in 2020 and operators will also need a pilot’s license. Flying cars More mainstream designs — if only because they make hovering cars as opposed to selfflying drones — are the Dutch PAL-V One; the Chineseowned, Massachusetts-based Terrafugia corporation; and Slovakia-based AeroMobil. These three companies have demonstrated cars with wings that require a pilot’s licence to fly, but won’t require an airport for take-off and landing and it will be licenced to drive on roads and highways. Robot drones Thinking bigger, Bostonbased Transcend Air Corporation is working on the Vy 400 — a tilt-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) six-seater aircraft designed to ferry people in and out of cities. The company said it plans an air taxi-style commuter service to operate the aircraft by 2024. The Vy 400 has eight propulsion systems, spread across two wings to provide multi-
The BlackFly uses eight small rotors spread across two parallel tilt wings to fly as fast and graceful as the fast little fly it is named after. California-based Opener is showing its vertical lift-off plane at this week’s 2018 EAA AirVenture Convention in Oshkosh. PHOTO: OPENER
Lilium’s engineers say their ‘jet’ uses 36 ducted rotors on tilt wings to lift off vertically and then hit up to 300 km/h in horizontal flight. PHOTO: ILIUM
The Google-backed Kitty Hawk Flier started as a single-seat drone scooter before being enclosed in its current state. PHOTO: KITTY HAWK
Terrafugia is based in the U.S. and now has Chinese backing to bring their vertical lift-off, straight flying car to market. PHOTO: TERRAFUGIA
No longer science fiction, Volocopter’s two-seater drone has been successfully tested by Dubai’s transport department. PHOTO: VOLOCOPTER
Chinese company Ehang’s has also successfully tested its fully autonomous 184 drone, despite the open rotors causing safety concerns. PHOTO: EHANG
The Siyaya of the future, a six-seat air taxi that Boston-based Transcend Air Corporation plans to have hovering in the air by 2024 — six years from now. PHOTO: TRANSCEND AIR
ple-failure security. It is capable of traveling 40 km on a charge at a restricted speed of 100 km/h. The drone that has been most written about after successful tests over Dubai last year is the Daimler-backed Vo-
locopter drone, which was created by Intel and German start-up Volocopter. As with the Lilium jet, the drone has multiple redundant rotors that ensure safety and a very stable flight platform. The Germans are compet-
ing with Chinese company Ehang’s 184 drone, which was also tested with success in Dubai in 2017, and while the open rotors have elicited many concerned comments, Ehang said the drone will be sold in 2020. • alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za
‘Better brains’ for cars
Our friend dly sales s team m is s equip pped to de eal with h all en nqu uiries and ha ave a weallth of know wledg ge in the moto orin ng field d. We pride e ou ursellves in n deliveriing exception nal serv rviice and d products to o our clie ents and thereforre have a stringent qua ality check process s in plac ce to make sure that every produc ct complies s with our requirem ments an nd is in to op order. Tel:
035 789 0464 Unit 1 No 13 Dianne 071 677 0799 035 789 0754 Betastraal Street Ntuthuko 082 704 5330 Craigh: 084 357 1082 Alton, Richards Bay Fax 086 459 6725 sales@eastcoastengines.co.za
UNIVERSITY of Cambridge machine professors have launched Wayve, a self-driving technology startup that makes artificial intelligence software for the next generation of self-driving cars. The company announced that they are pioneering end-to-end machine learning algorithms to make autonomous vehicles a day to day reality for everyone. They asked why aren’t autonomous vehicles on the roads today in a meaningful
numbers despite several technology companies and auto manufacturers having invested billions into solving the self-driving car problem over the last decade. Wayve said the industry has been doing too much hand-engineering and too little machine learning. “The missing piece of the self-driving puzzle is intelligent algorithms, not more sensors, rules and maps,” said Wayve Co-Founder and CEO, Amar Shah in a state-
ment. “Humans have a fascinating ability to perform complex tasks in the real world, because our brains allow us to learn quickly and transfer knowledge across our many experiences. We want to give our vehicles better brains, not more hardware.” “Building a self-driving system which can safely drive on roads is too difficult to hand-engineer,” said Wayve Co-Founder and CTO, Alex Kendall. “We’re betting
on technology like reinforcement and imitation learning; we think machine learning will provide the breakthrough to deliver autonomous vehicles for everyone, everywhere.” Professor Zoubin Ghahramani, Chief Scientist of Uber and an investor in Wayve said the team is pushing the forefront of machine learning adding state-of-the-art machine learning was essential for successful self-driving. — Wheels Reporter.
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MOTORING
July 26, 2018
Ultimate offroader U.S. defence research agency shows latest transport technology ALWYN VILJOEN THEY do love their acronyms in the U.S., where Darpa recently showed its GXV-T vehicle. Darpa stands for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the GXV-T refers to Ground X-Vehicle Technology, and its all ground breaking as far as transport is concerned — with shape-shifting tyres, in-hub motors and virtual windows and self-driving abilities. The agency recently gave its “military service transition partners” (read private companies tendering for military contracts) a chance to demo all the tech that went into the GXV-T. Reconfigurable wheel-track The most revolutionary kit on the GXV-T is the shape-shifting wheels. A team from Carnegie Mellon University National Robotics Engineering Centre (CMU NREC) demonstrated how the round wheels shift to a triangular track and back again while the vehicle is on the move, for instant improvements to tactical mobility and manoeuvrability on diverse terrains. Electric in-hub motor Hub motors are where electric drivetrains are all heading. These motors come in sizes that range from tiny motors in skateboard wheels to Chinese company Protean Electric’s Pd18 motor, which weighs 36 km and fits into an 18-inch rim, but makes 1 250 Nm and 75 kW. Two of these in the rear wheels add up to super car acceleration. QinetiQ, the U.S. company that designed the 20-inch hub motors for the GXV-T, did not reveal any specifications, but did state their system has three gears and a thermal management built into a system, which suggest their hub motor will be at least four times stronger than Protean’s Pd18 hub motor. Extreme suspension Pratt & Miller build the GXV-T’s multi-mode extreme travel suspension (called Mets) and said the system kept the vehicle up right at highspeeds over rough terrain. The Mets party trick is a high-travel suspension that extends over a metre upward and 76 cm downward to keep the vehicle level on slopes or slants that differ 1,8 m — a man’s
height — from one side of the vehicle to the other. The demonstration in showed off this suspension’s ability to hydraulically adjust the travel on each wheel to keep the vehicle level. Virtual windows In full combate mode the GXV-T has a windowless cockpit with an opaque canopy, but this does not pose a problem for the driver, as Honeywell International demonstrated with its enhanced 360-degree Awareness with Virtual Windows. The 3-D near-to-eye goggles, optical head-tracker and wrap-around Active Window Display screens provide real-time, high-resolution views outside the vehicle. On off-road courses, drivers have completed numerous tests using the system in roughly the same time as drivers in All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) with full visibility.
The GXV-T, which stands for Ground X-Vehicle Technology, is a platform that shows all the latest kit the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is testing for use by the American defence forces. PHOTO: DARPA
Virtual perspectives As any tank driver will testify, a slit in the armour plating offers limited visibility when driving — especially when moving rapidly through unfamiliar territory. Raytheon BBN Technologies showed its Augmenting Natural Experience (V-Pane) technology, which its said fuses data from multiple vehicle-mounted video and Lidar cameras to create a real-time 3-D model of the vehicle and its nearby surroundings. In a final Phase 2 demonstration, drivers and commanders in a windowless recreational vehicle successfully switched among multiple virtual perspectives to accurately manoeuvre the vehicle and detect targets of interest during both lowand high-speed travel. Self-driving CMU NREC technology demonstrated their Off-Road Crew Augmentation (Orca), which aims to predict in real time the safest and fastest route and, when necessary, enable a vehicle to drive itself offroad. In Phase 2 testing, drivers using the Orca aids and visual overlays travelled faster between waypoints and eliminated nearly all pauses to determine their routes. The team found autonomy improved either vehicle speed or risk posture, and sometimes both.
The prototype military GXV-T vehicle uses inhub motors and, while no specifications of the hub motors power outputs were made public, the current standard is set by China’s Protean Electric’s, which sells a Pd18 motor that weighs 36 km, fits into an 18-inch rim and makes a truck engine’s torque of 1 250 Nm and 75 kW of power. PHOTO: DARPA
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