Heart of The Matter!!!

Chapter 8:

As we ended the last chapter, one particular memory came flashing in my head. It was of a particular event that made 'Mumbai' standstill for nearly 4 days. That was the very fateful day of 26th July 2005. Massive floods that had engulfed Mumbai & it's suburban areas in water, some almost neck deep. I was in school when the flooding began & since we were the senior students, we were tasked with taking the kids to safety through almost 2.5 feet to 3 feet of water that flooded our school ground. My Dad was back home from his Project, just a day before, Jetlagged. Even in that situation, he kept is calm & went to pick up my Mom from her office premise near Tekdi Bungalow area in Thane. The office was in an elevated level, hence did not face any trouble of flooding, but that was not the case with the areas around it. Some areas had almost 550-600mm of waterlogged. Such depths are enough to test some of the "so-called" SUV's of the current generation. That day, he not only had to risk driving through the waterlogged areas covering 200-250 meter stretches of dense, unclear water but also navigate through the field of cars stalled due to water. He did this because he had complete trust in our GreyGhost, Daewoo's Cielo (2000-2004).

 

The situation was such where either we could have made it through or could have ended like the endless cars around, Stalled & Rendered useless in the water. We made it through, but with damaged Brake Calipers. Lucky enough I would say. When home, I asked him why he took the risk of going through, as even new cars were completely damaged in the water? His reply was that he completely trusted the 1.5L 16V A15MF Engine manufactured by GM. He knew that it was as reliable as his Own Heart & would not give up in such a situation. He also added that the Love we provide to our GreyGhost over the years, made sure that she pulled us out of danger, after all, she was our first car in our family & we loved her like a family member.

 

When it comes to Cars or Bikes, The heart is what matters the most. Heart in this case is the Engine. Engines have pushed the vehicle from being completely relied on animals for movement to being self-propelled.

 

The most common type of engine is Petrol or Gasoline Powered engine. The first practical petrol engine was built in 1876 in Germany by Nicolaus August Otto. Various scientists and engineers contributed to the development of internal combustion engines. In 1791, John Barber developed a turbine. In 1794 Thomas Mead patented a gas engine. Also, in 1794 Robert Street patented an internal-combustion engine, which was also the first to use the liquid fuel (petroleum) and built an engine around that time. In 1798, John Stevens designed the first American internal combustion engine. In 1807, French engineers Nicéphore and Claude Niépce ran a prototype internal combustion engine, using controlled dust explosions, the Pyréolophore. This engine powered a boat on the Saône river, France. The same year, the Swiss engineer François Isaac de Rivaz built and patented a hydrogen and oxygen powered internal-combustion engine. The fuel was stored in a balloon and the spark was electrically ignited by a hand-operated trigger. Fitted to a crude four-wheeled wagon, François Isaac de Rivaz first drove it 100 meters in 1813, thus making history as the first car-like vehicle known to have been powered by an internal-combustion engine. In 1823, Samuel Brown patented the first internal combustion engine to be applied industrially in the U.S., one of his engines pumped water on the Croydon Canal from 1830 to 1836. He also demonstrated a boat using his engine on the Thames in 1827, and an engine-driven carriage in 1828. Father Eugenio Barsanti, an Italian engineer, together with Felice Matteucci of Florence invented the first real internal combustion engine in 1853. Their patent request was granted in London on June 12, 1854, and published in London's Morning Journal under the title "Specification of Eugene Barsanti and Felix Matteucci, Obtaining Motive Power by the Explosion of Gasses". In 1860, Belgian Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir produced a gas-fired internal combustion engine. In 1864, Nicolaus Otto patented the first atmospheric gas engine. In 1872, American George Brayton invented the first commercial liquid-fueled internal combustion engine. In 1876, Nicolaus Otto, working with Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, patented the compressed charge, four-stroke cycle engine. In 1879, Karl Benz patented a reliable two-stroke gas engine. In 1892, Rudolf Diesel developed the first compressed charge, a compression ignition engine. In 1926, Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket. In 1939, the Heinkel He 178 became the world's first jet aircraft. In 1954 German engineer Felix Wankel patented a "pistonless" engine using an eccentric rotary design.

 

Continued......

Moving On It's Own.

Chapter 7:

Continued......

 

Automatic

 

Most modern North American and some European and Japanese cars have an automatic transmission that selects an appropriate gear ratio without any operator intervention. They primarily use hydraulics to select gears, depending on pressure exerted by fluid within the transmission assembly. Rather than using a clutch to engage the transmission, a fluid flywheel, or torque converter is placed in between the engine and transmission. It is possible for the driver to control the number of gears in use or select reverse, though precise control of which gear is in use may or may not be possible.

 

Automatic transmissions are easy to use. However, in the past, some automatic transmissions of this type have had a number of problems; they were complex and expensive sometimes had reliability problems which sometimes caused more expenses in repair, have often been less fuel-efficient than their manual counterparts due to "slippage" in the torque converter, and their shift time was slower than a manual making them uncompetitive for racing. With the advancement of modern automatic transmissions, this has changed.

 

Attempts to improve the fuel efficiency of automatic transmissions include the use of torque converters that lock up beyond a certain speed or in higher gear ratios, eliminating power loss, and overdrive gears that automatically actuate above certain speeds. In older transmissions, both technologies could be intrusive, when conditions are such that they repeatedly cut in and out as speed and such load factors as grade or wind vary slightly. Current computerized transmissions possess complex programming that both maximizes fuel efficiency and eliminates intrusiveness.

 

This is due mainly to electronic rather than mechanical advances, though improvements in CVT technology and the use of automatic clutches have also helped. A few cars, including the 2013 Subaru Impreza and the 2012 model of the Honda Jazz sold in the UK, actually claim marginally better fuel consumption for the CVT version than the manual version.

 

For certain applications, the slippage inherent in automatic transmissions can be advantageous. For instance, in drag racing, the automatic transmission allows the car to stop with the engine at a high rpm,  known as the "stall speed" to allow for a very quick launch when the brakes are released. In fact, a common modification is to increase the stall speed of the transmission. This is even more advantageous for turbocharged engines, where the turbocharger must be kept spinning at high rpm by a large flow of exhaust to maintain the boost pressure and eliminate the turbo the lag that occurs when the throttle suddenly opens on an idling engine.

 

I know that I got a lot Technical for a while, but getting the technical baggage out was also necessary, as I feel that every one of us should understand the Core associated with any cars and bikes available today.

 

My goal through my blogs are not merely to assist you guys in making the right decision with your Car or Bike, but also make you aware of what it takes to keep it going through.

 

Through my personal experience, I can say one thing with utter Confidence, "If you love your Car/Bike like you love yourself, She will never betray you in your entire Lifetime". The passion & energy you pour in her, she returns you in the time of your need, by taking all the damage on her. Respect her, Try to feel her Heartbeat sync with your Own. That moment when you and your machine becomes one is the most rewarding moment for any Driver's/Rider's Life. These are the moments that we live for.

 

Since we are ending this chapter on our Heart, Let's start the next one with our Machines Heart.......

Keep on Moving!!!

Chapter 6:

Continued......

 

Automated manual / Semi-automatic, also called Automated-clutch manual, this is a hybrid form of transmission with an integrated electronic (electromechanical, electro-hydraulic, or electro-pneumatic) control system handling manipulation of the clutch automatically, but the driver can and still may be required to take manual control of gear selection. Most modern automated manuals with automated clutches can operate as conventional automatics transmissions in a fully automatic driving mode, removing the need for the driver to take any manual control of the gear selection. This is sometimes erroneously called a clutchless manual or a semi-automatic transmission. 

 

Modern automated manuals can simply and best be described as a standard manual transmission, with an automated clutch, and automated clutch and gear shift control. Many of these transmissions allow the driver to fully delegate gear shifting choice to the control system, which then effectively acts as if it was a regular automatic transmission. They are generally designed using manual transmission "internals", and when used in passenger cars, have synchromesh operated helical constant mesh gear sets.

 

Semi-automatic transmissions are conventional manual transmissions, usually operated with an automatic clutch or another kind of partially automatic transmission mechanism. However, they require full driver control of the manual gear selection, i.e., they are partially automatic, and partially operated manually, by hand. The driver must manually operate and is required to shift through the gear ratios via the H-pattern shifter. An example of this transmission type in automobiles is the VW Autostick semi-automatic transmission, a conventional 3-speed manual transmission, with a vacuum-operated automatic clutch, and an H-pattern shifter. Conventional semi-automatic transmissions do not have an automatic mode, unlike the more modern automated manual transmissions, which is an automatic transmission type containing both manual and automatic shifting modes, and use computerized gear shift and clutch control. Modern automated manuals are essentially automatic transmissions, which use the internal mechanical build and design of a manual transmission, but everything is electro-hydraulically operated. A clutch is also used in place of a torque converter, like in a manual transmission.

 

A dual-clutch transmission alternately uses two sets of internals, each with its own clutch, so that a "gearchange" actually only consists of one clutch engaging as the other disengages providing a supposedly "seamless" shift with no break in or jarring reuptake of power transmission. Each clutch's attached shaft carries half of the total input gear complement with a shared output shaft, including synchronized dog clutch systems that pre-select which of its set of ratios is most likely needed at the next shift, under command of a computerized control system.

 

There are also sequential manual transmissions that use the rotation of a drum to switch gears, like what is used on a fully manual motorcycle transmission. These can be designed with a manual or automatic clutch system and may be found both in automobiles particularly Track and Rally Race cars, motorcycles and quadbikes and scooter with centrifugal clutch.

 

Continued......