Overdrive

Wearable technology goes the next step!

In order to avoid misplacing his Opal transport card, a Sydney man has had the critical chip part of the card implanted in his hand.

The man, who has had his name officially changed to Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow says that his goal is to have frictionless interaction with technology, although he does not recommend that people try this without doing considerable research including identifying risks such as infection.

The only problem we can see is that he has had the chip implanted in his left hand where all the gates on Sydney trains are designed to have people present their cards with their right hand.

Originally aired on 5 August 2017. For past programs and individual segments visit www.drivenmedia.com.au

Dieselgate collusion? What can a driver do in an autonomous bus?

We take a look at the latest news stories including:

• EU investigating diesel collusion among Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, VW: report

• Chinese tech giant Baidu taps Microsoft to expand development of self-driving cars

• Start-up electric car company Lucid Motors is looking for buyers: is it Faraday Future 2.0?

• Automakers rally to kill proposed border tax

• 'It's shocking': Victoria's worrying culture of aggressive driving

We have a lovely chat about Rolls Royce’s image. Are they trying to cover more than just the elite?

And we look at the Darwin experience of driverless buses with drivers still on board. If they are not driving what useful things can they do?

We have a couple of reflections on the planning of our cities from a recent forum.

And in our panel discussion we take a jolly look at stories including:

• A working 6-speed gearbox made of LEGO

• TrainyMcTrainface: New train in Sweden named as 'revenge for BoatyMcBoatface'

Have a question or comment? Send it to [email protected]

Originally aired on 29 July 2017.

For past programs and individual segments visit www.drivenmedia.com.au

The naming of transport vehicles has gone too far

An express train running between two major Swedish cities will be named TrainyMcTrainface, after the railway company opened up the name to a public vote.

MTR Express, with Swedish newspaper Metro, opened up a poll to name four new trains running between the capital Stockholm and Gothenburg on the country's west coast.

TrainyMcTrainface, which received 49 per cent of the vote, was the most popular name.

Originally aired on29 July 2017. For past programs and individual segments visit www.drivenmedia.com.au

It’s a manual – the next challenge is an automatic then a CVT

A working 6-speed gearbox made of Legos

Originally aired on29 July 2017. For past programs and individual segments visit www.drivenmedia.com.au

What else could the “driver” do

We look at the Darwin experience of driverless busses with drivers still on board. If they are not driving what useful things can they do?

Originally aired on29 July 2017. For past programs and individual segments visit www.drivenmedia.com.au

A silk purse to a sow’s ear?

On June 3rd 1965 a brand new Rolls Royce was delivered in England. It was a phantom 5 model fitted with her limousine body and finished in a Valentines black.

The car was delivered to John Lennon, from the Beatles. Some years later, In think around 1967, Ringo Starr said that he should paint it psychedelic colours. John did this and a point in history had been reached.

Was it significant and where does it leave Rolls Royce’s image then and now.

Well who better to talk about that then now good friend Paul Murrell who use to be in marketing but has now been around for a while in motoring journalism.

Paul thanks very much for your time

Originally aired on 29 July 2017. For past programs and individual segments visit www.drivenmedia.com.au

Dieselgate collusion? What can a driver do in an autonomous bus?

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, where we mull over issues to do with cars and transport.

I’m David Brown

And in this program, we take a look at the latest news stories including:

• EU investigating diesel collusion among Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, VW: report

• Chinese tech giant Baidu taps Microsoft to expand development of self-driving cars

• Start-up electric car company Lucid Motors is looking for buyers: is it Faraday Future 2.0?

• Automakers rally to kill proposed border tax

• 'It's shocking': Victoria's worrying culture of aggressive driving

We have a lovely chat about Rolls Royce’s image. Are they trying to cover more than just the elite?

And we look at the Darwin experience of driverless busses with drivers still on board. If they are not driving what useful things can they do?

We have a couple of reflections on the planning of our cities from a recent forum.

And in our panel discussion with Brian Smith and Errol Smith we take a jolly look at stories including:

• A working 6-speed gearbox made of Legos

• TrainyMcTrainface: New train in Sweden named as 'revenge for BoatyMcBoatface'

Have a question or comment? Send it to [email protected]

Originally aired on 29 July 2017. For past programs and individual segments visit www.drivenmedia.com.au

When you want all-wheel drive but only when you need it

drive system link to the power of a turbo charged engine.

They developed a rally car that used this great grip and power.

But a permanent four wheel drive system uses more energy and wears out more parts.

Dieter Weidemann the head of Audi all wheel drive system talks of the energy efficiencies you could make.

• 80%

For a road car, it would be good to have four wheel drive only when you needed it.

Some old four-wheel drive vehicles had hubs that you could get out of the vehicle and turn the dial and it would disengage the drive to the front wheels. Later this became a switch in the cabin. But this was an all or nothing situation. You had to make a decision and it was a time consuming effort.

Dieter knows that when driving along a road the need for extra grip comes and goes.

• Many situations

Some manufacturer’s developed a “real time” system which automatically engaged all wheel drive when something adverse happened like losing traction on the front wheels.

Audi wanted to be more proactive.

• Make a system

But for it to work the system has to think and react quickly

• 500 milliseconds

Audi have now launched this system in the Q5 and SQ5 models in Australia.

How they predict your needs is not clairvoyance but a clever use of information and a very quick response.

They have 15 algorithms evaluating different operational conditions in your car.

Here’s how one of the algorithms work.

• Press the throttle

They will even take into account the weather, cold weather is more likely to mean wet or icy roads, the frictional resistance of the road, or what sort of driver I am. If I am a dynamic driver they engage the four wheel drive earlier.

But Just how much then is the system operating.

Dieter’s team has developed an ap to show what is happening and how often the system is used.

We drove the car carefully over a dirt road. All wheel drive was engaged 34% of the time.

Then drove down a typical two-lane country road in Australia.

In 111km the car had all wheel drive engaged for 6% of the time. But it has been used on 18 specific occasions. This might be locations of poor grip, tight corners, overtaking

Here is the plot of the road and the times we engaged all wheel drive.

Here are the times when we were in dynamic driving mode. This does not correspond with every four wheel drive engagement because the car is giving intense consideration as to whether we need the extra grip.

Travelling 94% of the time in two wheel drive we have been far more efficient without having to compromise the safety value of having all wheel drive when we needed it.

Originally aired on 8 July 2017. For past programs and individual segments visit www.drivenmedia.com.au

Better looks, more features and improved all-wheel drive technology

Audi has just launched its second generation Q5 medium sized SUV along with the hot version SQ5.

Four of the top 6 best selling Audis in Australia are SUVs. So clearly this is an important car for them. New looks, and they say more features and new technology to make the all-wheel drive work better. Sounds good so we drove the news models from Melbourne to Adelaide typically on secondary roads to see if they lived up to expectations.

The range comes with three engines.

2 litre diesel. 140kW and 400 Nm. Strong off the line with low down torque. On the open road it is adequate without running like a stallion.

2 litre turbo petrol engine with more power 185 kW and nearly as much torque 370Nm. It runs more freely giving more confidence when overtaking for example.

Both two litre engines come with 7 speed tiptronic dual clutch transmission.

The diesel is rated at 5.3 l/100km

The Petrol gets 7.3 l/100km in the laboratory tests.

Hot SQ 5, unlike the previous model does not have a high-performance diesel engine. This one is a turbocharged petrol with 260 kW and 500 Nm. It still goes very well helped by an eight speed tiptronic automatic gear box with sports mode. It ran with wind in its hair.

Audi gave a bit of a wink when asked if the hot diesel might come in the near future. Which is either good news or I can't read nonverbal signals.

The high horse power is great if you can show it which is not often.

Fuel consumption is rated at 8.7 l/100km combined cycle.

All models are very sure footed on the open road at touring speeds. Vehicle noise is really quite minimal and there is a general ambiance of well-constructed luxury.

In recent years engines have been getting more powerful but vehicles have also been putting on weight with extra features and more electronics. But with lighter metals and better packaging the Q5s are lighter with the diesel engine model losing 90kgs. It all helps with driving performance and fuel economy.

They have a new development in the all-wheel drive system which means that you only get all wheel drive when you need it so most of your driving is in the more economical two-wheel drive. We will do a separate video on this impressive bit of technology.

On the outside it looks better, more purposeful and masculine. The old model looked functional but by modern standards a bit bland.

The new vehicle is 34mm longer, the same width, 6mm taller and a 12 mm longer wheel base.

Inside has usable space except for the rear passengers when you have a big person in the front. That is a common feature with this style of vehicle.

Some good driver safety assistance with adaptivecruisecontrol, distancewarning, hilldescent, parkassist,cross trafficassist at the rear and exitwarning so when you go to get out you don’t door another car or worse a cyclist.

The interior has functional simplicity but not adventurous styling. There is a good eight point three -inch Multi-Media Interface screen and Audi’s fantastic digital dash board. The information is crystal clear and easy to read.

The side storage areas in the doors are easy to get to but not well designed for holding bottles and the cup holders, back near the arm rest, are cumbersome to use.

Theseatshavebeenredesignedfromthegroundup and felt good even on a long drive.

There’s 550litres luggage capacity that’s up a smidgin, 10litres, for the previous model. Flatten the second row of seats and you get 1550 litres of space.

Apartitionnetandluggagecompartmentcoverarestandard, with fourlashingpoints.

Moving up the models or picking some options can add features to your vehicle.

It is good that most of the safety features are included in all models.

There is an adaptive air suspension with up to 220mm of ground clearance. The ride felt softer on the road.

In this program, we take a look at the latest news stories including:

• Rolls Royce skips hybrids to go straight to EVs

• VW's pricing for it's electric hatch

• Honda's mystery engine

• Land Rover's new Ranger Rover

• Mercedes Benz X-class

• Crowd-sourcing maps for self driving cars

We discuss the evolution of the motor car through a photography exhibition covering the history and glamour over the years.

And we discuss some quirky stories including flying cars, a digital archive of London's transport, and Tesla's electric trucks.

Have a question or comment? Send it to [email protected]

Originally aired on 22 July 2017.