There are a lot of people who aren’t happy with the way things are in Formula 1 at the moment, beyond just the fans. So much so that there was a meeting held by the F1 Commission on Tuesday to discuss a radical overhaul in the rules and regulations of the sport to be implemented by next year. Ferrari, a big proponent for changing things up, brought attention to these talks by releasing a design concept of just what the future of Formula 1 could hold.
Think of it as a “For your consideration” ad for motorsport instead of the Academy Awards. Accompanying the picture is Ferrari asking “Would it be possible to come up with an F1 car which not only is technologically advanced, but also captivating to the eye and aggressive-looking?”
The F1 concept was conceived by the Ferrari’s central design team in an attempt to make a Formula race car more aggressive and striking to look at, but still roughly staying in the ballpark of the technical regulations, something that would captivate the spectators better. It’s certainly impressive, but we haven’t yet met the F1 driver who would agree to having his head bolted onto the bodywork of the racer.
This is similar to the Red Bull X1 car that the team dreamed up fpor the Gran Turismo racing game series, only that car was an exercise to see what car they could design that was unbound by the sporting rules.
From what’s been reported, we know that the sweeping changes, including increasing the output of the six-cylinder engines to 1,000 horsepower and using wider tires, are on hold until 2017. Some proposed cost cutting changes were also on the table, which would help financially struggling teams stay in the game, likely in response to this year’s fall of Marussia and Caterham.
The extended time frame means the changes proposed could be given the proper time to be implemented instead of hastily applied, potentially causing more problems than they’d solve. Until then, it’s just another day at the races.
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.