Friday, August 20, 2010

Uniquely Designed and Structured Vehicles

Porsche, Mercedes Benz, Rolls Royce, Ford, Honda, Toyota, GM along with few others are the most popular cars in the world. If you think these cars are cool, then check out the list below if they deserve to be the coolest cars in the world.
sQuba

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sQuba is a unique Swiss car developed by Rinspeed Company. This amazing vehicle is regarded as the world’s first car that can be driven - both on land and under water. That’s really cool - a car that can be a submarine. The creation of this wonderful car was inspired by the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Loved Me. The basis of this car is the Lotus Elise.
Features:
  • The sQuba is a zero-emission
  • It’s all electric vehicle which uses three electric motors, one for land travel and two for water.
  • It drives on land powered by its electric rear-wheel drive powertrain, utilizing rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.
  • It floats on the surface until the operator floods the interior to submerge it.
  • It can be submerged to a depth of 10 meters or 33 feet
  • It’s powered by twin electric-powered propellers supplemented by two Seabob water jets. Underwater, it ‘flies’ like a submarine, as it is not designed to drive along the surface at the bottom of the water.
  • Its top land speed is 120 km/h (75 mph).
  • On the surface of water, the top speed is 6 km/h (3.2 kn; 3.7 mph)
  • Underwater it is 3 km/h (1.6 kn; 1.9 mph).
  • It can transport a driver and passenger in its open cockpit.
  • The open cockpit design is intended to allow the occupants to escape easily in case of emergency.
  • Underwater, the occupants breathe air carried in the vehicle through scuba-style diving regulators.
  • If the car has no occupants, it will surface automatically.
  • The vehicle’s interior is water and salt resistant so that it can be driven in the ocean.
Aerocar III

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Aerocar, which is often called the Taylor Aerocar, by Aerocar International, was an American roadable aircraft. It was built and designed in 1949 by Moulton Taylor in Washington, USA. It is considered the most successful and probably the most famous “flying car” design to date. Six examples were built but Aerocar never entered production.
Features:
  • Aerocar utilized folding wings that allowed the road vehicle to be convertible into flight mode in five minutes by one person.
  • As an aircraft, the road transmission is simply left in neutral
  • On the road, the wings and tail unit were designed to be towed behind the vehicle. Aerocars can drive up to 60 miles per hour and
  • It can attain a top airspeed of 110 miles per hour
  • As of 2008, of the six examples built, only one is still flying
  • It can accommodate one passenger with one pilot
OneCAT

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OneCAT (Compressed Air Technology) of India’s Tata Motors, is an upcoming compressed air car. OneCAT can be powered by air or combined gasoline/diesel/ethanol or electric plant and regenerative braking.
Features:
  • OneCAT contains air tanks that can be filled in four hours by plugging the car into a standard electrical plug.
  • Developer also plans to design a gas station compressor, which would fill the tanks in three minutes
  • It is a 5 seat vehicle with a 200 liter trunk.
Hy-wire

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Hy-wire or Hydrogen drive-by-wire is a concept car from General Motors which was introduced seven years ago This awesomely designed car will be powered by hydrogen fuel cells and will used drive-by-wire system. A school child suggested the name Hy-wire. It will be commercially available by 2010.
Features:
  • Its fuel cells are capable of producing 94 kilowatts of power continuously without refueling on a saltwater solution and up to 129 kilowatts for short periods.
  • The fuel cell itself is supplied with hydrogen from 3 tanks of compressed hydrogen located in the skateboard holding 2 kg (4 lb)
  • Hy-wire has a top speed of 160 km/h (100 mi/h)
REVAi

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Nothing seems extraordinary with the ordinary-looking REVAi which is also known as the G-Wiz i. What makes this car extraordinary? Well, it is currently the top-selling battery electric car not only in India but in the world.
Features:
  • The REVA is a small 3-door hatchback measuring 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) long, 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) wide and 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) high.
  • REVAi can accommodate two adults in the front and two children in the rear.
  • Its back seats can fold down to provide cargo space.
  • The maximum passenger and cargo weight is 270 kg (600 lb).
  • This car is intended for city trips and commuting, particularly in congested traffic.
Amphicar

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The German made Amphicar is an amphibious automobile which is the first such vehicle mass-produced for sale to the public. It was designed by Hanns Trippel and manufactured by the Quandt Group. Only 3,878 vehicles were produced but it is still among the most successful amphibious civilian autos produced, and still often prized and preserved as novelty collectible automobiles today.

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Features:
  • It could achieve speeds of 7 knots in the water
  • On land, it can achieve speed of 70 mph (110 km/h)
  • Two Amphicars successfully navigated the Yukon River in Alaska in 1965
  • Two Amphicars crossed the English Channel enduring 20-foot waves and gale-force winds in 1968
Schwimmwag

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The 166 Schwimmwagen of Germany is the most numerous mass-produced amphibious car in history. These were amphibious all-wheel-drive off-roaders, used extensively by the Germans during the WWII. Its name literally means ‘floating or swimming’ car.
Features:
  • Schwimmwagen is a four wheel drive only on first gear (and reverse gears with some models)
  • It had ZF self-locking differentials on both front and rear axles.
  • On the water a screw propeller could be lowered down from the rear deck engine cover.
  • For reversing in the water there was the choice of using the standard equipment paddle or running the land drive in reverse
Walterman Aerobile

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A flying car or roadable aircraft is a vehicle that can be used on the road and in the air like the Waterman Aerobile. The flying car on the above picture is on display at the Smithsonian.
Parajet Skycar

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The Parajet Skycar, which is manufactured by Parajet, is a prototype flying car. This vehicle is British made. Parajet Skycar will be commercially available to the public by 2010 for £50,000.
Features:
  • Parajet Skycar utilizes a paramotor and a parafoil for lift
  • Should the engine fail, the vehicle can glide back to the ground.
  • Should the canopy rip, an emergency reserve parachute would be deployed.
  • It requires three minutes to convert it from a car to an aircraft.
  • The prototype runs on biodiesel and is fully road-legal.
  • The main body consists of a modified dune buggy.
  • It has a top speed of 80 mph and a maximum range of 180 miles in flight.
  • On the ground it has a top speed of 112 mph and a maximum range of 249 miles.
Transition

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The Transition is a roadable aircraft currently being develop in Massachusetts, USA by Terrafugia. First customer delivery, as of March 2009, is planned for 2011 with an estimated price of $194,000.
Features:
  • This carbon-fiber vehicle will be powered by Rotax 912S piston engine
  • It is planned to have a flight range of 400 nmi (460 mi; 740 km)
  • It will use automotive grade unleaded gasoline
  • It is expected to attain a cruising flight speed of 115 mph (100 kn; 185 km/h).
  • It does not come with an autopilot.
  • It can carry two people plus luggage
  • On the road, it can drive up to 65 mph (105 km/h).
  • The Transition Proof of Concept's folded dimensions of 6 ft 9 in (2.1 m) high, 6 ft 8 in (2.0 m) wide and 18 ft 9 in (5.7 m) long are designed to fit within a standard household garage.
  • It can fold its wings in 30 seconds and drive the front wheels
  • When operated as a car, the engine powers the front wheel drive.
  • In flight, the engine drives a pusher propeller.

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An operational prototype was displayed at Oshkosh in 2008 and its first flight occurred on March 5, 2009.
Haynes Aero Skyblazer

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The Haynes Aero Skyblazer is a flying car of the future under development. The Skyblazer development team proposes the use of a single turbofan engine to provide thrust in the air and to generate electricity to power electric motors for ground travel.
Features:
  • On the road, the wings fold completely into the body of the vehicle, which will fit into a single car garage and regular parking space.
  • In the air, the vehicle will have STOL capabilities and be able to use almost any public use airfield.
  • It has cruise speed of 300 mph and a range of 830 miles.
  • The vehicle can accommodate I pilot and 3 passengers
  • It can attain maximum speed of 404 mph (648 km/h)
  • Range: 837 miles (1,343 km)
  • Service ceiling: 29,000 ft (8,839 m)
  • Rate of climb: 1,250 ft/min (6.4 m/s)
M200G Volantor
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The M200G Volantor, designed by aeronautics engineer Paul Moller, is a flying saucer-style hovercraft. M200G Volantor could cost under $100,000. Volantor is a term coined by Moller meaning "a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that is capable of flying in a quick, nimble and agile manner.
Features:
  • It uses a system of eight computer-controlled fans to hover above the ground.
  • It is a circular craft with seats in the middle for two passengers and a control panel.
  • It is 3 feet (0.9 meters) tall and 10 feet (3 meters) in diameter.
  • The fans allow for vertical take-off landing
  • The eight separate engines exist for redundancy, allowing the craft to continue flying if one engine goes out.
  • If two engines go out, the craft will make a ‘survivable hard landing’.
  • The engines can be powered with ethanol, diesel or gasoline fuels.
  • The computer system monitors stability and the vehicle has only two controls, one for speed and direction and the other for altitude.
  • The computer system also prevents the machine from flying higher than 10 feet (3 m) above the ground.
  • It can travel over any terrain up to 50 mph or 80 km/h
Bugatti Veyron

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The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is fastest and most expensive car in the world. This magnificent and elegant-looking car is worth $1.7 million.  It is a mid-engine grand tourer developed by the German car-manufacturer Volkswagen and produced by the Volkswagen-brand Bugatti Automobiles SAS in France.
Features:
  • The Veyron features an 8.0 liter W16 engine — 16 cylinders in two banks of eight cylinders
  • Each cylinder has four valves for a total of 64.
  • The engine is fed by four turbochargers and displaces 7,993 cubic cm, with a square 86 mm by 86 mm (3.4 in × 3.4 in) bore and stroke.
  • The transmission consists of a dual-clutch Direct-Shift Gearbox computer-controlled manual gearbox with seven gear ratios, with magnesium paddles behind the steering wheel and a shift time of less than 150 milliseconds.
  • It can be driven as a full automatic transmission.
  • It features full-time permanent four-wheel drive
  • The top speed hit 407.9 km/h, which equated to nearly one-third of the speed of sound at sea level.
  • As the car approached the top speed, the tires will only last for about fifteen minutes
  • Veyron is using approximately 600 to 1001 horsepower with a 0 to 60 time of 2.5 seconds putting it at the fastest street legal car on earth
  • It consumes 40.4 liters per 100 kilometers in city driving and 24.1 liters per 100 kilometers in combined cycle.
  • At full throttle, it uses more than 115 liters per 100 kilometers, which would empty its 100 liters fuel tank in just 12 minutes.

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