Aussie Motoring

With the Bureau of Meteorology predicting a hotter than average Spring this year, convertible owners will welcome a revolutionary new technology that reduces heat build-up in leather upholstery by around 25 degrees.

“The open-air motoring fan has to endure the same experience time and again,” says Tom Noble, General Manager Marketing at BMW Group Australia.

“You park your car in the sun with the roof open and the leather on the seats as well as the steering wheel becomes unpleasantly hot and hard to touch.

“This problem is now solved by SunReflective technology, used for the first time ever in the automobile industry.

“And it is perfect for a hot country like Australia,” says Tom.

Special treatment of the leather, naturally maintaining its superior features and qualities, reflects direct sunlight in the invisible waveband. As a result, the surfaces do not become as hot as usual and maintain a pleasantly low temperature.

Particularly large differences in temperature (25 °C and more) versus conventional leather are ensured especially with dark leather colours, depending on the intensity of sunshine. Even with light colours, the differences in temperature achieved are quite noticeable.

“Thanks to the revolutionary SunReflective technology from BMW Individual, convertible owners can now better enjoy the pleasures of open top motoring in Australia,” says Tom.

SunReflective technology is currently available on the exclusive BMW Individual Merino leather seats featured in the BMW Individual 6 Series Convertible.

The additional cost for SunReflective Technology is $500 and is currently available exclusively to BMW Individual customers.

There are so many diesel trucks and buses on the road today it’s not hard to make the mistake of thinking that diesels have any relationship to speed.

But then try telling that to Andy Green, an RAF pilot who has just driven a diesel powered experimental car across the Bonneville Salt Flats at 588.7 km/h. His average speed for the two runs was 563 km/h and that is the world record.

However, Andy might have found that a slow compared to the world record he holds for the absolute ground speed record. He has held that record since 1997 when he drove a jet powered car at 1228 km/h - a speed that took him through the sound barrier.

Driving at night can be one of the most hazardous of all times to drive. It is so easy to be dazzled by the headlights of an oncoming car and so be blinded to things that are in front of you.

While such things as thermal imaging have been available to people such as military pilots, police and even hunters the concept has never been available for ordinary drivers like you and me.

However, that has all changed change with the announcement from BMW that thermal imaging is now available in the top of the range 7 series as a $4000 option. The option will also soon be available throughout the entire BMW range.

For all the details on this break-through in night driving follow the link to BMW Night Vision

The day shift at Ajax Fasteners arrived for work this morning as the Administrators re-opened the factory. The major Australian car manufacturers have undertaken to meet the operating costs of the factory while the Administrators search for a buyer for the company.

As a spokesman for the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union pointed out, the problems faced by Ajax are indicative of a deeper problem faced by the industry as a whole.

Until that problem is solved trhe industry will continue to lurch from one crisis to another. I think the next major signpost to the health of the industry will be the August sales figures from Holden and Ford.

Both manufacturers have new models but will they appeal to the market place?

Talks to save Ajax Fasteners - the supplies of specialised screws and clips to the four Australian car manufacturers - broke down last week and workers at the Ajax plant were stood down on Friday.

Further talks were held over the weekend and late into last night but have collapsed again. The ABC is quoting an Australian Workers Union spokesman as saying that even though the major points of the rescue package have been agreed on the manufacturers can’t reach agreement on an amount said to be less than $1,000.

The furnaces at Ajax Fasteners will now be shut down and stand downs at car plants in Victoria and South Australia seem inevitable and could start as soon as tomorrow.

Kia has announced the first details of its new global flagship, the 2007 Opirus although it seems that global is a relative term because it’s only being released in a left-hand drive version.

Kia suggest that significant improvements have been made to the ride, handling, safety and refinement, while Opirus now weighs less and delivers higher performance.

On the outside the design certainly shows Kia’s linkage to its parent company Hyunda.

Inside, the 2007 Opirus has an all-new dashboard, instrument panel, dial cluster, center stack, floor console, integrated audio system and heating and ventilation controls.

New features include heated and cooled front seats, power-adjustable pedals, four-way lumbar support for the driver’s seat and a clearer trip computer display.

For the 2007 model, Opirus buyers will be offered a choice of three interior colors — two-tone Beige or Gray and one-tone Black, with contrasting accents in wood grain or aluminum.

The new car will come in what Kia describes as five new, more sophisticated colors.

A rescue package that was designed to keep the ailing parts supplier open has collapsed. Workers at the factory have been stood down and the Administrator says that the company will cease trading.

Ajax Fasteners, the parts manufacturer that supplies specialest screws and clips to all four Australian car manufacturers has managed to stay in business until at least Friday.

Aussie Motoring reported back on August 12 that the company was on the brink of collapse and if it did go the consequences for Ford, Holden, Mitsubishi and Toyota would be dire. (You can read that report here)

Somehow the company managed to trade through Monday and Tuesday but workers on the first shift this morning reported to work with the expectation of being stood down. However overnight the four Australian car makers managed to cobble together a plan that will see Ajax Fasteners last until at least Friday.

It seems that the Federal Government is about to announce a $1,000 subsidy for motorists who convert to LPG and, while that is certainly to be applauded, it does leave you wondering when the Government is going to stop being reactive and start being proactive.

There is little doubt, when you think about it, that those who have access to the data would have known that this fuel crisis was coming. The economic boom in China and the consequent drain on the world’s dwindling fuel supplies should have been foreseen and our elected leaders should have been preparing for it.

Instead we seem to be bumbling along and struggling to keep up with changes we should have known about.

This latest offer is good, there is no doubt about that, but where is the infrastructure to support a sudden lurch towards LPG.?

Just have a look at how many LPG pumps your local service station has? Ask them what the capacity of their LPG tank is and then wonder where they can find room to fit more?

How many LPG tankers are there on the road? Will there be enough to meet the demand if there is a sudden rush to take advantage of the subsidy?

And what else is the Government going to do to encourage motorists to use alternatives to fossil fuels?

Mitsubishi is now looking at cutting a further 100 positions at its plant in South Australia after sales of the 380 sedan fell well short of the monthly target. The company has a target of 1500 vehicles a month but only managed to sell around 800 in July.

It’s obvious that the car is not popular with the motoring public. The only 380 sedans that seem to appear in Aussie Motoring’s home town appear to be rentals.