Indulge me on a philosophical detour.  Everyone is busy living their own lives and scurrying around doing whatever it is they need to be doing.  That’s just how life is.  Sometimes two people will start at one place but have varying destinations.  Or other times two people in different locations will start on a journey with the other’s origin as their own destination, with a serendipitous passing in between.  And still other times two people will have a journey with no points in common at all.  (How sad.)  But possibly the most common is having two journeys cross paths at a single intersection.  And what if the two travelers happen on this intersection at the same time; one must yield to the other to allow for both to continue their journey safely.  If you really think about it this is the intrinsic nature of road intersections and traffic lights.  And it’s slightly wondrous to realize that traffic lights allow for everyone’s daily movements to be interwoven together to form the continual dance we call commuting.  (I swear that I’m really not stoned right now.)  And it’s all governed by some lights, wiring, and some computers which use three colors to speak a ubiquitous language to usher travelers towards their destinations.  Whoa, traffic lights … man.

I truly hate stupid intersections. These are the ones that are on a strict timer alternating back and forth to allow traffic to pass in different directions.  Even if there is no one coming from a certain direction, a stupid intersection will stop actual traffic to give the green light to … nobody.  (I want to shoot myself when I get caught in this.)  Gradually intersections became smarter.  Inductions loops were cut into the lanes near the approach of an intersection, and traffic controller system (the big green boxes sitting near every intersection) would process the data and control the intersection appropriately (i.g. changing the light only if there are cars waiting).  These controllers were eventually taught to change their operating mode for different times of day to help minimize waiting times even more.  

And for a time, things were good.  Until you’re driving down a road and getting stopped by a red light at every intersection and it’s taking 233 hours to travel a mile.  (This is another time when I want to shoot myself.)  To help remedy this, traffic lights were synchronized (all the lights changing at the same time).  But this would lead to inevitable stops inherent to the pattern of the synchronization.  Then traffic lights became coordinated.  (This is the bread and butter.)  A master controller talks to all of the individual controllers to create a cascading wave of green lights.  This would theoretically allow someone to zoom through town without hitting a single red light.  Secondarily it would also give one’s ego a victory.  (“Dude, I hit like 13 green lights in a row!”)  And depending on the time of day these cascading greens would be coordinated in the prevailing direction of traffic (i.e. rush hour in the morning vs. evening).  Not only does this save time and prevent traffic, but it also saves gas and limits pollution from energy wasted with start & stop driving.

Such coordination of traffic lights is not a trivial exercise.  God bless all those eccentric MIT nerds and their algorithms for keeping our roads flowing.  (If you’re at work and itching to waste some time, try out this online game to see if you can produce some cascading green lights of your own.)

As with any technological progress, “the people” clamor to know what’s coming next.  Transportation engineers are continually pushing research and development efforts to enhance “intelligent transportation systems.”  (Current implementation include electronic toll collection, traffic sensing technologies, and emergency vehicle notifications.)  But the holy grail is the driverless car.  Two of the biggest research initiatives towards this goal have been the EUREKA Prometheus Project and the DARPA Grand Challenge.  The Prometheus Project is over, but DARPA continues to encourage the development of technology for an autonomous vehicle.  Driverless cars would mean super smart computers on-board every car and in complete control all while in constant contact with every other car on the road.  There might not be any stopping at intersections.  Instead your car will “thread the needle” of crossing traffic at 100 m.p.h.  Remember the two-second rule for following distance?  That will become the 0.02 seconds following parameter.  It’s quite simple really: the biggest problem with the current state of transportation is the human component.  I’ve caught a glimpse of the future of personal mobility and you have nothing to do with it … except to be an uninvolved passenger.  I can’t wait.  ”Computer: drive me to the nearest toilet.  I need to go pee.”

In July of 2009 General Motors initiated a ‘viral’ marketing campaign with the unexplained and mysterious number “230″ set against a green background.  By no means was the campaign ground-breaking, but it did it’s job by placing Chevrolet into the media spotlight…briefly.  When the campaign concluded on August 11, it was revealed that the 230 would be the official US EPA city rating (miles per gallon) for the all new Chevrolet Volt.  Hazzah.  Ultimately I believe GM executives were hoping to “shock and awe” Americans with this incredible fuel efficiency to show that the US can keep step with Japanese automotive engineering prowess.  And kudos to GM for finally getting their act together and building a car for the future of America.  Though I still need to rap GM for not doing this sooner.  Instead the company grew addicted to building grossly marked-up SUVs for the past two decades.  Shoulda, coulda, woulda’s aside, this car might have made a gigantic media splash if this debut happened when gas prices were over $4/gallon last summer.  But it’s here now and coming to showrooms at the end of 2010.

First myth to dispell: the Chevy Volt is NOT a hybrid.  There are three main components to the Volt’s drivetrain: an electric motor, a stack of lithium-ion batteries, and a small (conventional) gasoline engine (about half the size of the one in a normal car).  A hybrid car has these same components and the power to the wheels comes from both the electric motor and the gasoline engine.  In the Volt, power is only coming from the electric motor.  The Volt’s gasoline engine is dedicated to charging the batteries which supply power to the electric motor.  If you’re thinking about eventually purchasing a Volt, you should be sure to understand this difference in drivetrains for it will stupefy your Chevy showroom sales associate and give you respect when it comes time to negotiate.

Another major point to understand of the Volt is that it can be plugged in.  Chevy engineers designed this car so it can charged in your garage overnight, and then do a 40 mile commute off of the batteries alone.  (After roughly 40 miles the gas engine will kick in to recharge the batteries.)  So if you drive less than 40 miles a day, it could be a long long time between visiting the gas station, resulting in a perceived infinite amount of miles per gallon.  This was the basis of contention when GM sought a ridiculously high fuel efficiency rating from the EPA.  The EPA had to reconsider the way it measures fuel efficiency.  230 mpg is a bit dubious and I can’t help but imagine that higher-ups from GM and the EPA met in a smoke filled room to “agree” on this rating.  Remember, “230″ is the number that GM would base a major advertising campaign around to debut the Volt.  So what’s wrong with a little government/corporate collusion to help out a domestic automaker?  Hmm?

So what is the real deal with the Volt?  It is actually an electric car.  Think of it as if GM took a Tesla Roadster (all electric) then added a gas engine under the hood to charge the batteries on the go.  (And also made it a four-door sedan.)  The Volt will recharge overnight using inexpensive power from a power outlet in your garage.  (Saving you money you would have otherwise spent at the gas pump)  

This car is a well thought out concept and will save commuters money while adorning them with green halos.  But there is one minor thing that I suspect the Volt will have a difficult time dealing with.  Winter.

Batteries do not perform well in the cold.  When it’s cold a battery will not measure the same voltage as it would at a normal temperature.  Inside these modern batteries is a careful arrangement of fluid, metals, and ions.  Colder temperatures will make the whole process lethargic.  To compensate, Volt engineers built a heater into the Volt’s batteries that would keep them at a minimum temperature while the car is plugged in.  If it’s not plugged in, the batteries will need to be heated before they can be put to use and in the meanwhile the electric motor will be in full use.  If you forget to plug in your Volt at night during the winter, you will miss out on a significant portion of those “free” 40 miles (that GM is touting) when you drive to work the next day.  Bummer.

How much for the Volt?  Expect it to cost in the mid $30k’s AFTER a hefty federal tax credit from Uncle You-Know-Who.  

The Volt: quite possibly a cause celebré for US automotive engineering.  I’ll raise a glass and toast to that.  ”May your batteries always be warm.”

Synthetic motor oil is what places like Gypy Lube try to up-sell to unsuspecting patrons who are innocently looking for cheap (and necessary) preventative maintenance on their cars.  Instead of paying $25 for a conventional oil change, it’s completely possibly to have synthetic motor oil pumped into your car and be charged $71 billion dollars at the counter.  Holy bailout Batman!

Here’s the real story.  Gasoline is not perfect.  It contains many contaminants and unwanted particles that can build up inside the engine.  Engine oil acts as a passive cleanser to lift these unwanted particles and hold them until the oil filter can screen them out.  The filter or the oil doesn’t last forever and it is a universal automotive recommendation to change your oil and filter every 3,000 miles or 3 months.  

Conventional engine oil is distilled from crude oil pumped out from beneath places like Saudi Arabia.  The resulting engine oil has lots of different sized molecules, all of which were formed millions of years ago.  Synthetic oil is made from a chemical process in a laboratory resulting in a nearly all the molecules having the same size.  (But it’s expensive.)  This uniformity gives the oil special chemical properties that allow it to hold more of the unwanted or contaminant particles in solution, potentially extending the amount of time between oil changes.  The synthetic oil also has less viscosity, or it glides more freely between engine parts to possibly allow for better performance and gas mileage (but typically only in high-performance engines).  

Another job of the engine oil is to dissipate heat.  When engine oil comes in contact with a relatively hot piece of the engine, heat will be exchanged to the oil.  Synthetic oil does this more efficiently because of its uniform nature.  (For example, female socialites would be efficiently more annoying if they were all Paris Hilton, fortunately their diversity contributes to their tolerability…barely.)

Drawing from my informed wisdom, I opine that the average driver does not need to switch to synthetic oil to protect their engine.  Conventional oil does the job just fine.  But if you truly need something to talk about at the water cooler, be my guest and choose from among the following well branded choices: Mobil 1, Castrol Syntec, Valvoline SynPower, Pennzoil Platinum Synthetic, Quaker State Ultimate Durability Full Synthetic, and Lucas Synthetic High Performance.  The award for best product name goes to Pennzoil for naming a transition metal that has nothing to do with the product except the label.

So who would benefit from synthetic oil?  Basically anyone who spends time on a race track.  And for everyday drivers who own cars with turbochargers I would recommend it.  The turbo is a very particular piece of equipment that uses the engine’s oil to dissipate heat and maintain lubrication.  The turbines in a turbo are designed to spin in excess of 80,000 RPM (that’s more than five times the red line of a motorcycle engine!).  You don’t want this to seize up.  The greater viscosity will help guard against this in cold and hot oil environments.

While we’re talking about oil, let’s cover that mysterious 10W-30 label and what it means.  The “10W” stands for winter and the “10″ is an indication of the lowest temperature your car will be able to pump the oil from a cold start.  (As determined by the Society of Automotive Engineers or the SAE.)  The “30″ indicates the viscosity of the oil at 212° F.

Now wasn’t that fun?  I’m parched.  Who’s up for some Lipton Platinum Ice Tea?

Shock absorbers.  It’s one of those pieces of technology we each depend on every time we drive our cars but their praise is never sung.  And as long they are functioning properly the ride is smooth they don’t need a fleeting thought.  Usually the only time they are ever mentioned is in a sentence spoken with extreme irritation or disappointment (i.g. “The mechanic had to replace my shocks”).  

The wheels on a car are not mounted in a fixed position.  (That would be a VERY bumpy ride.)  Between the wheel and the car is a heavy duty spring.  It allows the wheel to make two corrective movements.  

1) If the car hits a bump in the road, the wheel will be forced up toward the car to lessen the upward movement for the car and its occupants.  

2)If the car hits a pothole, the spring will force the wheel down (faster than gravity) into the void to catch the vehicle and control its “fall”.  

The problem with a spring is that it oscillates.  If a spring were attached to the ceiling with a weight, and someone pulled the weight down and released it, the spring would probably bob up and down (oscillate) for a minute or two.  Various forms of friction (such as wind resistance) slow the weight down and eventually bring it to a standstill.  The friction is damping the spring system to bring it a halt.  This is exactly what shock absorbers do.  Shocks absorbers damp energy from the spring to bring the entire system to a motionless equilibrium.

Usually mounted inside of the spring, shock absorbers look like a telescoping tube.  Inside the tube is a combination of oil and gas separated by some pistons.  The gas will expand and contract, but oil does not.  As the piston moves inside the damper, oil rushes past it and produces friction proportional to the viscosity (thickness) of the oil.  (The higher the viscosity the stronger the friction.)  This friction is the fundamental damping force.

Now what if the viscosity of the oil in the damper could be changed on the fly?  The suspension would no longer be passive and would be considered semi-active.  Magnetorheological dampers contain oil with special particles suspended in the fluid.  When these particles are excited by a magnetic field, they tend to clump together and this clumping greatly increases the experienced viscosity.  

So when is it preferable to have greater viscosity in the dampers?  In racing situations it’s preferred to sacrifice comfort for quicker response from the suspension.  With just the flick of a finger, a sport mode can be activated which turns on electromagnets in the dampers and instantly delivers a stiffer and sportier ride.  And it’s just as easy to switch back for the more comfortable ride.

What car do you pick up to experience magnetorheological dampers?  I recommend the Cadillac XLR.  This technology is on a number of different sports cars, but only the XLR looks like it deserves dampers from Geordi La Forge’s garage.  Kudos Cadillac.

I wish I could say exactly how it feels to drive with magneto dampers, but I will admit I have never had the pleasure.  I then appeal to any of my readers to entrust their XLR to me for one day to enable one of my car reviews.  (I prefer “Radiant Silver” but would be willing to drive “Elektra Blue Tintcoat.”)

In the last couple of months Shell (Royal Dutch Shell) has introduced their “all-new Nitrogen Enriched Gasolines” containing the latest and greatest additives from their R&D.  And of course a huge marketing campaign was initiated to promote it.  It included radio spots, tv commercials, and on-line advertising.  

My problem is with Shell’s choice of words when describing how the active cleaning molecule (containing nitrogen) reduces engine gunk.  In their press release Shell claims this new additive is “designed to seek and destroy engine ‘gunk’.”  Or on some of the YouTube videos featuring aloof and affable scientists, the language is “it seeks.  it destroys.  it protects.”  When matched with the cool computer graphics of flames and edgy video cuts, you would think that Bruce Willis had come out with his own line of gasoline.  But for a lot of people I think Shell’s choice of words is misleading at best and possibly deceptive.  Some people might get the impression that Shell scientists have figured out a way to program nano-bots to ride chariots of nitrogen and conquer the evil engine gunk.  Actually that sounds really exciting.  Think of how much more engaging driving would be if you knew that there were millions of microscopic Russell Crowes fighting for the unsoiled freedom of your Coliseumesque engine cylinders.

Obviously I think there needs to be less snake oil and more fact in this kind of advertising.  And I’m sure that the marketing team at Shell is always dancing on the line of what the government regulators will allow.  The other possibility is to ensure the viewer is properly educated.  Maybe a disclaimer could be shown warning that this advertisement is only appropriate for viewers familiar with molecular chemistry and mechanical engineering.  That sounds like an ideal solution.

Or maybe the individual can’t be trusted to stay wise to cunning marketing ploys and the government is needed to step in and regulate with a big rubber stamp.  How about we don’t allow companies to market boring products as exciting ones.  I doubt there’s anyone who sits and waits for Friday night to come around so they can get together with their friends and rave about million year old hydrocarbons mixed with an inert gas.  But millions of people will rush out to see Brussel Crillis and see the latest CGI fueled blockbuster.  (I’m one of them.)  And on opening night there may be a curious spike in Shell gasoline purchases.  Hmm.