Idhaya – Engineering & Technology Blog, Industrial & Mechanical Engineering Information

Heralded by some as the most progressive automobile of the entire Volvo lineup, both in body design and interior indulgences, the S80 saloon series has nurtured a well deserved reputation for its above average performance and reliability. As reliable and high-performance as many other Volvo engines have had a reputation for being, the S80 may still have stolen the gold medal in both categories based on the majority of critics’ reviews.

It may also be the coolest looking of the bunch.
A broad departure from the usually conservative, squared look of the Volvo classic vehicle, the S80 has incorporated a whole arsenal of curves, points, and ridges to beef up the style category of its body design. With tail lights that narrow at the corners like angry eyes and slick curves that melt into distinctive beltlines, the S80 is anything but the company’s traditional boxy look. There is a much more elegant, sophisticated feel to its sweeping lines, flowing roofline and overall smoothness that make the S80 a beautiful thing to look at.

And it has an interior to match. From the inception of its classic first generation models in 1998 to the futuristic second and third generation models of today, the S80 has carried the latest in electronics and gadgets including more than 40 computers and a built-in, completely integrated phone. It also comes with an optional GPS navigation system, and an optional refrigerator for when you just have to have a cool one.

The S80 gives you a choice of 3 different Volvo used engines to pick from. The 3.2 liter 6 cylinder Volvo engines have 235 horsepower and come with an impressive 27 mpg at highway speeds, for the mileage conscious. The T6 Volvo engines are 3.0 liters and feature a whooping 281 horsepower and all wheel drive. The largest and most powerful of the bunch are the V8 Volvo engines, with 311 horsepower and 4.4 liters of sheer strength. These beautiful Volvo engines also come with all wheel drive and are not too bad on mileage either, considering you get all this power for only 22 mpg at highway speeds.

The Volvo engines are transversely fitted, and are some of the cleanest in the world with 4 catalytic converters and cutting edge, environmentally conscious electronics systems. Also, with the power of the V8 Volvo engines behind them, these S80s can be some of the fastest saloon cars in the world, although the top speed is electronically limited. The S80 may be a luxury car with all the creature comforts a man could want, but at its baseline is a low vibration, smooth operation, high performance powerhouse.

If safety features are on your mind, the S80 has them all. From the body’s great foundation of torsional rigidity and a sturdy chassis, to the myriad exterior impact absorption systems, the S80 has a network of protective features that combine and interact to make your ride as safe as possible. There is a whiplash protection system, a side impact protection system, and an inflatable curtain that, together, contributed to this car scoring perfectly in crash tests involving frontal, rear, and side impacts. The S80 was awarded the IIHS Top Safety Pick Award in overall safety protection, both in 2007 and 2008.

When Ford released its first generation Taurus in 1985, no one could have known that in a few short years it would become the bestselling vehicle in the United States.
It started off humbly enough. Ford, in an attempt to compete with General Motors and Chrysler who had begun offering a wide array of front wheel drive vehicles, released a mid-size passenger vehicle to help the company along in its transition from Ford car engines with rear wheel drive to better, more modern Ford car engines with front wheel drive. What set this car apart though was its shape. While other cars of its time were boxy and wagon-like, the Taurus Ford was based on a rounded design model intended to improve aerodynamics and fuel efficiency.

At the time, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard (a vehicle pollutant restriction program by the United States government) was beginning to be applied more strictly. Along with its new fuel efficient Ford car engine, the Taurus Ford’s innovative jelly bean shape allowed it to meet the new requirement easily, as opposed to its more squared contemporaries. This avant garde contour was a catalyst that started an automobile design revolution in the United States and led to the smoother, more rounded vehicle models that roam today’s streets.

The combination of cutting edge design technology, a fresh, buyer preferred, front wheel drive Ford car engine, and an intuitive, user friendly interior made this car a smash hit. 2 million first generation Taurus Fords were sold and the car was given Motor Trend’s prestigious ‘Car of the Year’ award for 1986, as well as making Car and Driver magazine’s ‘10 Best Cars of 1986′ list. But that was just the beginning.

In 1992, after a drastic cosmetic and mechanical update—which included an upgrade of the Ford car engine in all models to V6 with automatic transmission across the board—the Taurus Ford became, by a wide margin, the official bestselling car in the entire United States.

It retained this title for 5 years and through a number of significant upgrades. In 1996, the Ford Taurus engineswas redesigned from the ground up, being given an even more streamlined, ovular shape, which would in theory afford the automobile even greater fuel economy and style. The public was not happy with this new shape, however, and—although the Ford Taurus would remain America’s bestselling car for 1 more year due to rental fleet sales—sales to private customers went significantly down.

The Ford company would redesign its beloved Taurus over the next few generations, replacing the ovular body structure and updating much of the interior, exterior, and Ford car engine design in order to revive the model. Today the Taurus Ford looks to be staging a striking comeback on the automobile market scene.

The 3 liter Ford car engine that is featured in this model comes with a double overhead camshaft design—a configuration used by many engines of today that usually includes multiple valves in each cylinder.

The diesel engine has a long history that is intertwined closely with economic and other issues of the time. The diesel engine was created by Rudolph Diesel. He conceptualized the diesel engine and thought up the principle of its operation. He thought up the concept of the engine that compresses air to the degree where there is a resulting rise in temperature.

The concept followed the principle where when the air enters the chamber with the piston the air ignited due to the high temperatures. This causes the piston to move down and eliminates the need for an ignition source. When Diesel designed his engine it was in a time when there was a demand for a more fuel efficient engine as the steam engine was no where close to efficient.

It was on February 27th, 1892 that Diesel filed a patent in the patent office in Germany for his method and design for the combustion engine. He sourced contracts from companies that manufactured machines and began his experimentation stage. During this stage he constructed working models of his design in an attempt to construct the most efficient engine of that time.

It was in the year 1893 that he was successful in putting out the first model that was able to run with its own power and with an efficiency of approximately 26%. This was more than double the efficiency of the steam engines of that time and was a great stride for the efficient engine and a great start to the engines of today.

It was in February of 1897 that he accomplished a great achievement and produced a diesel engine that ran at 75% efficiency. This was the first one of its kind that was deemed suitable for practical use and was demonstrated at the Exhibition fair in France in the year 1898. This engine in particular was run on peanut oil and in Diesel’s vision was great for the small business owners as well as farmers as it used an economical fuel source that was a biomass fuel. It was his use of a biomass fuel that continued until the 1920′s and is starting again today.

In the past the diesel engine was not considered to be small enough for anything but use that was stationary in nature as they were very heavy and cumbersome. Common uses were on ships and industrial uses. Rudolph Diesel disappeared in 1913 and it was not certain whether he died a natural or unnatural death. Many thought his death was related to the politics of the time and the vast knowledge he possessed and was willing to share with enemies of the German government of the time.

In the 1920′s the engine was redesigned into a smaller and more compact version. This allowed it to be used for a wider range of applications and even in the automobile industry. The development of the diesel engine continued and it was made better and better by other inventors such as Clessie L. Cummins who worked out many of the bugs of the diesel engine such as those concerning size and weight as well as the instability of the fuel system.

To know who invented the first car you must first define what car is. Some said steam-powered coaches are cars and people like Daimler-Benz (who started Mercedes Benz) say that cars are light carriages for personal transport with three or four wheels, powered by a liquid-fueled internal combustion engine. As you see the definition of a car can be different, and therefore the automobile could have been invented by any number of people at different times in history.

The first written record of a self-propelled vehicle was Leonardo da Vincis. He toyed with the idea in the 15th century. He even designed and drew several different so called car models in his notes. for more detials:-www.buy-a-car-with-no-credit.com.Sadly Leonardo did never came to building anything. The steam engine was considered to be invented by James Watt in 1765 and was perfected by both English and French scientists over the next century.

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, William Murdoch and Richard Trevithick all came up with steam-powered beasts that were so huge and heavy that they need a fully flat surface to move on. In fact, iron rails were installed on roads in Paris and London for the next 120 years so these cars could move on them. They were basically a smaller versions of trains.

During the Steam Era you could find all sorts of funny car inventions. In the United States, Oliver Evans invented an amphibious vehicle that can travel on wheels and on water with the help of a paddle wheel. Ivan Kulibin of Russia designed a car with modern day features such as flywheels, brakes and a gear box. Oddly enough, it was it was human-pedalled. Etience Lenoir invented something he called a hippomobile that proved to the masses that automobiles can handle long trips. He drove all the way from Paris to Jonville Le-Pont.

One of the first to mass-produce cars was Karl Benz. His cars appealed to many due to being able to move at 45 km/h (28.2 mph). In France, Panhard et Levassan was the first ever company to be formed exclusively for the sole purpose of making cars. The Duryea brothers (Frank and Charles) were the first automobile manufacturers in the United States, and they were swiftly followed by Ford and Winton.

A special mention goes of course to Henry Ford. Contrary to popular belief, he didn\’t actually built cars. Well, his company did, but what he personally invented and perfected was the manufacturing line in car building. He used one worker for one task and had an ingenious system of dropping the car\’s body on its wheels. He also added modern features such as the car radio after getting the idea from private jets.

There were different eras to the automobile\’s history. And each brought different improvements to the car. In the Vintage Era, internal combustion engines and the overhead cam engines were modified. for visit detials:-www.divorce-rebuild-your-life.com.
A prime example of this is the Austin 7. During the Pre-War Era, fully-closed models were produced for the first time and trunks were added. The Post War Era gave birth to cars which have more resemblance to modern automobiles. Arty and sleek cars, like the Mini Cooper, have left a memorable imprint on automobile history.

Whether you\’re driving a luxury car, a sedan or a piece of junk that can hardly be called a car, it\’s a nice feeling to know how far the car has evolved from being steam-powered coaches to modern practical vehicles.

The history of automobile industry began in the early 1769, with the inventor Nicolas J. Cugnot who French engineer was found out the first vehicle that run on roads. This automobile was steam powered, three wheeled military tractor. This vehicle had a small range of distance covering capacity, which could run only for a maximum of fifteen minutes. They also required a sufficient starting time. However they were not fit to run on roads due to the bulk load of the steam engines. The steam engine driven automobile was first designed by Oliver Evans in the US.

Internal combustion engine based car powered by fuel gas came into existence in the year 1806. In 1838, Scotsman Robert Davidson invented the first electric locomotive that run on an average speed of 4 miles per hour.

Lack of fuels discouraged the manufacture of combustion engine based automobiles. Then the internal combustion engine automobile which used oxygen and hydrogen mixture came into existence with the Swiss engineer Francois Isaac de Rivaz. Later, automobiles which run on hydrogen came into existence in 1826.

The first man to produce automobiles was Karl Benz in Germany in the year 1888 under license from Benz. How ever the Duryea motor wagon company was invented by brothers Charles and Frank Duryea.

By 1990 various national automobile industries emerged in countries like Belgium, Germain and Nagant. With that the export industries started their work in Paris, cars and trucks were exported to other countries like Tunisia, Egypt and Iran. Though, there were breakdowns, fuel was not sufficient. Proper roads to run cars were very less. Later after 1960, automobile industry seemed more integrated with high technologies, where Japan was a serious car producing country.  

The major change after that was the design of automobiles with safety means. More safety and security features came into existence after 1960. By 1964, the most famous Pony car was manufactured, which is known as Ford Mustang of the present era. More other cars were manufactured after that.

The only country to dominate the automobile industry in the history was the US, with no recognized competitors.

However, other automobile industries from countries like Japan and other European nations which are known as technologically advanced countries started with their momentum slowly and increased their automobile industry productions after the Second World war in 1945. Within short time, the US automobile industry was piled up with the foreign automobiles of Japan and Germany.

The automobile trends reveal one thing clearly that, in the developed countries like US, the production of automobiles is stagnating due to global depression and fall of car markets. The global economic crises on the other hand, led to the complete halt to the production of cars with the reducing car buying demands. Many countries switched to more economical fuel saving cars in this period. Whereas, in developing countries like India and Brazil, the increase as well as the demand in the automobile production owing to the domestic needs is gaining popularity which is the key factor for its growth.

In ye olde days, 1325 AD to be more precise, an engineer was defined as “a constructor of military engines”. Back then engineering was divided into two categories: Military Engineering and Civil Engineering. The former involved the construction of fortifications and military engines, the latter concerned non-military projects, for example bridge building. This definition is now obsolete, as engineering has broadened to include a myriad of disciplines.

The exact origin of the word ‘engineering’ comes from the era when humans applied themselves to skilful inventions. Man evolving further in the world invented devices such as the pulley, the wheel and levers. The word engineer has its root in the word engine, which comes from the Latin word ingenium, which means “innate quality particularly of mental power”. And thus the word engineer emerged as a person who creates nifty and practical inventions.

Today an engineer is described as someone who has acquired and is applying their scientific and technical knowledge to designing, analysing and building useful, helpful and functional works. This would involve structures, machines and apparatus, manufacturing processes as well as forecasting their behaviour in particular environmental conditions. This is all accomplished with functionality, operational economics and safety to life and property forefront in mind.

Engineering is a broad discipline with many subdisciplines dedicated to various fields of study with regards to particular types of technologies or products.

Engineers may begin their career being trained in a specific discipline, but because of the engineering jobs they take-on, they often become multi-disciplined having worked in a variety of different fields.

The field of engineering has traditionally been divided into the following engineering job categories:

- Aerospace Engineering

- Chemical Engineering

- Civil Engineering

- Electrical Engineering and,

- Mechanical Engineering.

However, since the human race has been swiftly advancing with regards to technology, new branches of engineering are being developed. Engineering jobs can now also be found in the following fields:

* Computer Engineering,

* Software Engineering,

* Nanotechnology,

* Molecular Engineering,

* Mechatronics and many more!

Although all these fields may be defined differently, there is generally a great overlap, particularly in the fields of physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Engineering jobs usually entail applying physics and mathematics to problems in order to discover viable solutions or to make improvements. Where a number of different solutions are available, engineers evaluate these options and the required outcome in order to identify the best route to follow.

The earliest recorded civil engineer was an Egyptian known as Imhotep. It is believed that Imhotep designed and built the great pyramid of Djoser, also known as the Step Pyramid. Imhotep was one of Pharaoh Djoser’s officials and it is possible that he was the first person to make use of columns in architecture. The Step Pyramid was built in Egypt in about the time period 2630 – 2611 BC and can be found at Saqqara.

Imhotep would probably be absolutely fascinated with the leaps and bounds engineering has taken in the last 4000 years – although he might have a few secrets to share himself!