4:19 PM
redotstar
The Cadillac Sixteen was a prototype of a stylish and high
performance automobile first presented by Cadillac in 2003.
The vehicle was equipped with a 32-valve V16 concept engine
displacing 13.6 liters (~830 cu. in) and was mated to a four-speed,
electronically controlled, automatic transmission driving the rear wheels. The
engine featured fuel-saving Active Fuel Management technology, much
improved from its notorious ancestor, debuting in 2004 on some 2005 GM models.
On the Sixteen, it would seamlessly shut down twelve cylinders in light
driving, eight during strenuous driving, and only awaken the entire engine
under full acceleration. With this type of system, the engine was capable of 20
mpg Imperial under normal conditions. The engine was said to produce 1,000
horsepower (750 kW) using no form of forced induction. The car itself
weighs about 2,270 kilograms (5,000 lb). The car was conceptually related
to the Cadillac V-16 of the 1930s. The actual design of the car was a
combination of Cadillac's current "Art and Science" design theme and
1967 Cadillac Eldorado cues. Additional original design elements were
provided by an in-house design competition led by GM Vice President Robert
Lutz. The Sixteen has the Cadillac logo carved out of solid crystal on the
steering wheel and a Bulgari clock on the dashboard. Although the
Sixteen fell short (narrowly, by some accounts) f production approval, its
legacy is alive in Cadillac's future product planning. The subsequent
generation of Cadillac products, particularly the revised CTS, have
incorporated elements of the Sixteen's design. A scaled-down version of the
car, referred to as the ULS (Ultra Luxury Sedan) or XLS, with a standard V8 and
an optional V12, has been rumored for production since 2005, but was shelved in
favor of the Cadillac XTS.
The wheels features disc brakes with 16-inch rotors and six
piston calipers on the front and back wheels that ensure safety handling at
higher speeds. The exteriors feature the stylish body structure, mirrors, LED
head and tail lamps. The interiors feature the Tuscany leather seats, Bose
sound system, silk carpets, sporty steering wheel, instrument panels,
navigation system, vehicle safety system and DVD information system.
Untold zillions of molecules of iron, aluminum, and plastic
composites awoke at the flick of a human wrist on an ignition key. They were compressed
or stretched by the forces of combustion, they transferred heat from cylinder
walls to coolant, they transformed vibrations into noise, and they were
lubricated against the forces of friction. But before these molecules were
crafted into modern engines, virtual facsimiles of them were subjected to
vivid, lifelike simulations of these actions, the whole shebang conjured by an
artificial intelligence as sophisticated as anything conceived of in The
Matrix.
A year ago, the luckiest of these virtual alloy molecules
were grooving and grinding to the synthesized machinations of the first V-16
engine of the millennium. The mission to build an actual running engine for the
Detroit-show-stealing Cadillac Sixteen concept was launched in mid-March 2002.
At that point, Cadillac could have simply FedEx's a couple of V-8 crate motors
to a prototyping shop and subjected them to a welding-torch wedding. That
process could have produced a V-16 that would start, idle, and move the concept
car onto and off its auto-show runway.
Instead, GM decided to flex its advanced engine-engineering
muscle and highlight technology that would soon be appearing on the Gen IV
Corvette V-8 by designing and building a real V-16 from scratch-one that could
operate under load at redline on a dynamometer. No weld-'em-up motor could ever
withstand that.
The engine's refinement and output were supposed to get folks
thinking again of Cadillac as the Standard of the World. It's hard to beat a
smooth-firing sixteen for refinement, and it's tough to top 1000 horsepower and
1000 pound-feet of torque. But the engine also had to achieve the fuel economy
of a competitive V-12 while running on regular-grade fuel.
This daunting mission fell to Larry Cooper and about 10
people from the Power train High Performance Vehicle Group. They started with
the basic architecture of the next-generation Corvette's V-8, including its
variable cam timing-a first among pushrod engines-and a Displacement on Demand
system that shuts down cylinders to save fuel under low-load conditions.
Calculations of the cylinder pressures required to hit the
output targets suggested the need for a big bump in per-cylinder displacement,
so the bore and stroke were both increased by 6mm relative to the current
5.7-liter V-8. Small-block cylinder walls don't have 6mm to spare, so adjacent
cylinders ended up touching each other, and coolant could no longer flow in
between the cylinders. This complicates the cooling system, sometimes causes
the cylinders to go out of round as the engine heats up and cools down, and
presents dozens of other problems that don't spring instantly to the human mind
at the outset of such a project.
This is where the team engaged the General's considerable
computer-engineering might by sending the basic engine design off to be
thoroughly modeled, developed, and tested in the digital realm. In this cyber
world, the V-16 would be cold-started, over revved, bogged down, blown up, and
otherwise abused to the point of repeated destruction-all without ever staining
a floor.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom is a saloon automobile made
in England by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, a BMW subsidiary. It was
launched in 2003 and is the first model introduced during the BMW era.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé, and the Rolls-Royce Phantom
Coupé, are both based on the 2003 Phantom. It also won the Top Gear Car
of the Year Award for 2003.
The Phantom uses a unique chassis platform, body, interior,
and retains traditional Rolls-Royce design cues. The body is mostly aluminum.
Final assembly, including all body, paint, wood, and leather work, is completed
to each customer's individual specification at the Rolls-Royce plant in Goodwood, West
Sussex. The plant is close to the historic Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit.
The plant contains the paint shop, body shop, leather shop, woodworking shop,
assembly line, and executive offices under one roof. There are only three
robots in the factory. The robots paint the body, the paint is
polished by hand after the robots spray each coat. The coach lines, which are
exactly 3 mm (0.1 in) wide, are done, as well as all other work, by
hand, in keeping with the Rolls-Royce tradition. It has a 6.75 litre,
48-valve, V12 engine that produces 453 bhp (338 kW;
459 PS) and 720 N·m (530 lb·ft) of torque. The engine is
derived from BMW's N73 V12 power plant and is assembled by BMW. It uses direct
fuel injection, and is a drive by wire design, using valvetronic
technology. The power output is regulated by infinitely varying valve lift by
moving the rockers and rocker fulcrums via electric servos, rather than using
the throttle body. The throttle body is maintained for fail-safe operation.
The aluminum extrusions that are used to construct the
aluminum space frame are produced in Norway using hydroelectric
power, shaped and machined in Denmark and finally hand-welded in Germany. Car
has a power reserve dial indicating how much of the engine's power is
left available to the driver. The instrument cluster is not shared with any
other vehicle. Doors are remote operated. The rear doors are rear-hinged, a
style commonly referred to as suicide doors, but called 'coach doors' by
Rolls-Royce. Because of the rear-seating position in relation to the rear
inner-door handles, buttons are mounted on both C-pillars which operate
hydraulic motors in order to close the rear doors. An electronic lock prevents
the doors from being accidentally opened when moving. The car will
automatically brake to a walking speed if a coach door remains open when
driving off. The rear doors also house umbrellas that are stored
within the doors, and can only be accessed when the front or rear doors are
open. The fabric of the umbrella is coated with Teflon to assist in
shedding water when the wet umbrella is stored within the door. The
traditional Spirit of Ecstasy ornament has an automatic electronic
retraction mechanism to prevent theft and protect pedestrians in the event of
an accident. It may also be retracted by the driver at the touch of a button,
and retracted when the alarm is armed. The base contains a sensor which detects
movement, and will retract if tampered with.
