Wind tunnel testing on cars is nothing new, being a large part in developing the aerodynamics of cars for decades and, though we talk about a car’s slipperiness all the time, we rarely stop to ask just what it takes to test these things out. On its official blog, Lexus takes us on a tour of its aerodynamics laboratory at the research and development headquarters in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture, that is as amazing as it is bizarre.
The facility is fairly new, opening up just two years ago. In it’s 22-meter wide, 260 meter long looping test tunnel is a wind turbine capable of generating hurricane-level wind speeds of up to 155 mph. At one section of a tunnel, the air is redirected to a testing room by a set of precisely angled metal slats.
“We had the structural details fine-tuned, so the layout of the walls, the selection of materials, and location of vents and nozzles, all help make this lab one of the most reliable research facilities in the world,” said Toshiyuki Murayama, group manager of thermal management and aerodynamics at Lexus.
Air is directed through the slats to a testing room, where engineers evaluate the flow of air around a vehicle, visualizing it clearly with streams of smoke. The car is set on a turntable weighing scale, as the engineers monitor how the flow of air effects the weight distribution. The turnable also functions as a rolling road so they can simulate how air flows around the wheels while they’re at speed instead of just sitting statically.
Noise reduction tests are also being conducted as the Lexus engineers monitor the car from a safe observation chamber. If certain adjustments need to be made, they can tweak certain aspects on site or even temporarily affix stabilizer fins made quickly with a 3D printer.
“Every part of the car is designed within the margin of a millimetre,” explains Lexus RC F chief engineer Yukihiko Yaguchi. “We go through every possible layout of the ducts or the sizing of aerodynamic parts. All the details and conditions must be taken into consideration. It is no easy job.”
No, but it sure looks like a fascinating one.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.