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(The Schwerbelastungskörper at rest. Photographer unknown. Source.)

During a seemingly endless nighttime hypertextual journey through Wikipedia — one that took us from Tempelhof to a crash course on Nazi architecture and inevitably on to Hitler's imagined future capital, Welthauptstadt Germania, a city that became a ruin without first having existed, and to Albert Speer, whose post-war gardening activities are worth detailing, which we will in a future post, i.e., if we still have the stamina to trudge through his excruciatingly long diary for the few relevant entries, before looping back to the start to then read about the Berlin Airlift, whose infrastructural and spatial organization, including the three air corridors above the blockaded Soviet Occupied Zone, we find so utterly interesting — we discovered the Schwerbelastungskörper.

It's a massive cylindrical block of concrete, standing 18 meters high and weighing in at 12,560 metric tons. It is located in the Berlin neighborhood of Tempelhof, where the eponymous airport is found. Under all that tonnage is a slimmer cylinder with a lower and an upper chamber, both of which were outfitted with measuring instruments. In profile, the whole structure would look like a mushroom.

But what exactly is it? And what are those instruments measuring?


(The Schwerbelastungskörper in motion. Photo courtesy of Stadtumbau Berlin. Source.)

The name is translated as “heavy load-bearing body,” although someone in the discussion page of the wiki article has suggested that “heavy load-exerting body” might be more accurate. It was constructed in 1941 to test how well the marshy ground upon which Berlin sits could handle the massive projects planned for Germania. More specifically, it was built to see how the landscape would react to Hitler's gigantic Triumphal Arch, whose opening would have accommodated the triumph in Paris.

The results were not encouraging:

The Schwerbelastungskörper sank 7 inches in the three years it was to be used for testing, a maximum depth of 2.5 inches was allowed. Using the evidence gathered by these gargantuan devices, it is unlikely the soil could have supported such structures without further preparation.

Hitler dismissed these findings, perhaps confident that the landscape can be subjugated with fine Teutonic engineering. But his Third Rome had to wait; there was a war to be waged.

Of course, history then happened, and the Schwerbelastungskörper remained where it stood, waiting for a city that will never come, sinking, still taking measures of the landscape, accumulating trash and graffiti, outliving its original function and its planned 20 weeks' worth of existence.

In 1995, it gained historic status and thereafter given some preservation work that continues today. And if we deciphered the BabelFish translation of this webpage correctly, the structure is to be turned into a history museum, a major component of a redevelopment plan to revitalize the surrounding neighborhoods.


(The Schwerbelastungskörper in sections, showing some of the measurement chambers and interstitial spaces under all that tonnage. Source.)

Meanwhile, we are reminded of an article published in The New York Times earlier this month about two full-size mock-ups of the future Freedom Tower, one built in California and another in central New Mexico, which “can be reached only over dirt roads in four-wheel-drive vehicles.” In order to see how well the facade and the structure perform under extreme conditions, they were subjected to simulated hurricanes and earthquakes, among other things.

Water jets simulating winds of 74 miles per hour were sprayed at the facade. During the 15-minute test cycle, each square foot of glass was hit with more than a gallon of water.

In another test, a dismounted airplane propeller was switched on to simulate even-stronger and more-scattered winds.

[...]

Hydraulic jacks were used to simulate the different horizontal sway of various floors, both fully occupied and empty. The surface was also chilled to 10 degrees (refrigerated piping was applied to the glass) and baked at 100 degrees (by heat lamps).

Gusts up to 167 m.p.h. were simulated by using pumps to pull air out of the chamber, creating a condition in which the external air pressure was far greater than the internal pressure. The process was reversed, too, by pumping air into the chamber, simulating conditions on the side of the tower away from the wind.

An earthquake was simulated by jacks pulling the mock-up in different directions.

And since everyone believes that the tower will be a prime target of terrorist attacks, the mock-up in New Mexico was blasted with an “explosion that shook the earth a quarter-mile away.”


(Future Pruned HQ. Photo by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.)

These near-analogues are actually not the only ones. Three years ago a mock-up of the WTC memorial fountain was also built, installed somewhat incongruously above ground in a suburban backyard in Canada. Of all places!

Unlike the simulated Freedom Towers, however, this lobotomized fountain wasn't placed under structural duress. Instead, it was used primarily to help determine the ideal hydrological conditions in which the “billowing silvery curtains of falling water” do “not splash visitors or disintegrate in the wind or roar deafeningly or freeze in winter or clog up in autumn when the oak leaves begin falling in the surrounding plaza.”


(Photo by Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times.)


(Photo by Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times.)


(Photo by Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times.)

One wonders what actually happens to these structures and others like them after all the tests have been carried out?

One of the Freedom Tower replicas was built for $537,000. It would sound rather wasteful to have it scrapped and dumped in oversaturated landfills instead of being repurposed.

Give it to us, in other words, and we'll convert this representational “corner of three typical tower floors” into our new HQ, its “enclosed steel chamber” chicly decorated. When things are slow or when we need a little breather from mining the interweb, we will simply gaze through the laminated glass panes out to the waters of our ¼ fountain cascading down into a truncated void.

Architect and Landscape Architecture Magazine will come knocking on our armageddon-proof aluminum doors to do a feature. The article, of course, will come with hyper-glossy photos of us on another clicker-happy run through Wikipedia. We will be quoted pretentiously proclaiming that “Near-Analogues are the new prefabs.”

In any case, we also wouldn't mind flying off with the Schwerbelastungskörper and dumping it into some deltaic expanse. A pulverized mountain molded around a metallic skeleton bobbing about for solid ground in tenuous terrain. In metaphorical glee.

(Freedom Tower article spotted on del.icio.us/bfunk and then on del.icio.us/bldgblog.)

Take the road less traveled, as the Autoblog reader/E-Type owner who submitted this story to them did, and you just might stumble upon a 1971 Mazda Cosmo Sport for $36,000. No location is given. Unfortunately, the post does nothing but refer to the inaugural rotary sports car a Jaguar E-Type front with a ‘65 Oldsmobile rear.We like the BBC too, but not everything with bubble headlamps is a Jag-yoo-are.

Considering what some owners expect from theirs, like this ebayer from Washington state ($57,500), and this owner from an Australian auction (unsold at $82,394), this example seems like a good deal.

Florida customizer Eddie DeJesus knows all about understatements. How else could he describe a 1,600-watt, fully re-imagined '01 Chevy S-10 pickup as "nothing really elaborate?"

"It's a basic system," DeJesus says of the truck's A/V setup. "There are cars out there on the competition circuit that have a lot more equipment, a lot more elaborate systems, but our main concern was keeping everything well-balanced."

As a competition and show truck for DeJesus' employer, DLS America, the other goal for the S-10 was outstanding sound quality. "We really tried to create a home audio type of environment in the vehicle," he explains of the truck, originally built in 2004 with the help of DLS installer Joe Moreira. "We've made changes every year-this year it was adding the tube amplifiers-but we really just wanted to get the best possible sound quality that we could from what we had."

The truck has competed on the IASCA circuit for the past three years and was named World Champion in Pro Street at the '06 IASCA World Finals. It also took second place in Sound Quality at IASCA that year and has been among the top three entrants in the category at Finals every year. DeJesus is bringing the S-10 to CES 2008 and plans to take it on the road to several competitions in Mexico, Columbia and South America later in 2008. source

Highdown Car Audio & Security offer you dedicated skills, technological know how and unrivalled customer care to ensure your installation is carried out to the Manufacturers specifications at a time and place to suit you.

Kenwood Japan has released the MNA-350 Double Din Car audio system that comes with a CD receiver and GPS. The device can play Audio CD and MP3, WMA, AAC files from CD-R/RW discs. It also has a built in AM/ FM tuner, a 3.5 inch touchscreen, GPS functionality, and delivers an output of 50W x 4 channels. In addition, you can also hook up the optional KCA-iP501 iPod connector which allows you to control the Apple iPod using the touchscreen itself. The gadget also packs in a SD card slot for updating the navigation data and not for music playback. The Kenwood MNA-350 is now available in Japan for $835.

(The caption by National Geographic reads: “A truck travels along the highway leading to the Taklimakan oil field in the Xinjiang region. The rows of vegetation on either side keep sand off the road. The buildings that appear every few miles house workers who maintain the greenbelt.” Photo by George Steinmetz. Source.)

1) The Guardian on the “Eight Blunder” of the World. Is the Palm Jumeirah merely experiencing some growing pains or will it be a gangrenous toe that will infect the rest of Dubai, its future amputated?

2) Next American City on disaster urbanism in the wildfire country of Southern California and in the flood valleys of the Mississippi River.

3) The New York Times on cleaning the toxic landscapes of Fort Bragg, California with bioremediating mushrooms.

4) The Guardian on climate change, wasted money in the billions, doomed flood defences and abandoned villages on Britain's changing coastline. (See also Climate Ghettos and The Retreating Village.)

5) Der Spiegel on Berlin's Tempelhof a.k.a. the Mother of all Airports. Meant to be one of the centerpieces of Germania, Hitler's future capital, but actually completed by the Americans who used it as an army base, the site of the Berlin Airlift and photo-ops of arriving Hollywood stars, this mythic “inland sea with the yearning for faraway places” is now on the hands of voters who will decide today whether to keep it open or close it.

6) BBC News on gardening with moon soil. (See also Fake Moon Dirt.)

7) The New York Times on outdoor “living rooms” in Central Los Angeles.

Armed with grant money, hammers and some technical help, residents around the city have gone about spiffing up bus stops, among a number of other outdoor spaces, into something known as community living rooms.

The idea began several years ago in Oakland, where community organizers and residents got together to improve places where neighbors tended to congregate — the corner store, outside the barbershop — amid a decidedly downtrodden environment.

“The idea was to enable low-income communities to create their own social spaces and improve their neighborhoods without bringing on gentrification,” said Steve Rasmussen Cancian, the landscape architect who helped introduce the living rooms.

8) The Economist on shrinking eastern German cities.

(More on del.icio.us/pruned.)

The crossover SUV market has grown by leaps and bounds over the past couple of years. Along the way, a few vehicles have tipped the scales more toward car than SUV. The Infiniti EX35 comes to mind. Now, BMW is pushing the crossover idea further than ever by introducing the world's first crossover coupe. BMW calls it a Sports Activity Coupe.

The 2008 BMW X6 is a high-riding, four-passenger, four-door coupe, a combination of sports car and SUV. The X6 is offered in two twin-turbocharged models, with inline-6 or V8 power. Both engines provide ample power for everyday use and even for towing. The V8 makes the X6 a hot rod, but we recommend the inline-6 because it has plenty of pep and is more fuel efficient. Shifter paddles on the steering wheel add to the sporty character of the X6.

We found the X6 handles well on the road and on the track. It's better than any SUV but not as good as BMW's own sporty coupes and sport roadsters. It corners with little body lean, but the stiff suspension makes the ride somewhat harsh, especially with the Sport Package and optional 20-inch wheels. We recommend buyers test these options before they buy.

Inside, the X6's ambience is upscale, with lots of leather and soft-touch surfaces. BMW's iDrive control system is standard. It can complicate some interior controls, but programmable buttons are provided to ease control of some of your favorite functions.

Front-seat passengers have plenty of room, though visibility to the rear is restricted by a small, flat rear window. Two rear-seat occupants should be comfortable, too, provided they're not tall.

The rear hatch lifts up and the rear seat folds down to give the X6 a nice amount of cargo storage space. It's on par with other hatchbacks but isn't as good as an SUV. Also, the liftover is higher, so you'll have to lift cargo higher when loading.

It's hard to pigeonhole the X6. It rides high, so it doesn't handle as well as a sport coupe, and it doesn't have the cargo and people carrying capacity of an SUV. But overall it's a fine vehicle. Pricing is high, especially for the V8 model, so we'd recommend the six-cylinder model for anyone considering this vehicle.

Model Lineup

The 2008 BMW X6 is offered in two models, both with BMW's xDrive all-wheel drive. The X6 xDrive35i uses BMW's twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6 that makes 300 horsepower. It is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission that can be controlled manually via the shifter or a pair of steering wheel paddles. xDrive is meant for street use and lacks low-range gearing.

The X6 xDrive35i ($52,500) comes standard with leather upholstery, dual-zone automatic climate control, power tilt/telescoping leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, cruise control with brake function to maintain the set speed down hills, 10-way power-adjustable front seats, interior air filter, 60/40 split folding rear seat, power mirrors with tilt-down back-up aid, power windows, power door locks, remote keyless entry, power sunroof, six-speaker AM/FM/CD/MP3 stereo, auxiliary input jack, outside-temperature indicator, rain-sensing variable-intermittent wipers with heated washer nozzles, rear cargo shade, bi-xenon adaptive automatic headlights, theft-deterrent system, front cornering lights, fog lights, and P255/50R19 run-flat tires on alloy wheels.

The X6 xDrive50i ($63,000) has a twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8 engine that produces 400 horsepower. It uses the same six-speed automatic and comes with xDrive. Standard features include 20-way power multi-contour front seats, a navigation system with voice activation and real-time traffic, and a load-leveling suspension.

Several option packages are available. A ventilated seat package ($1100) for the xdrive50i adds front ventilated seats and an active driver's seat that subtly changes the contours of its left and right halves periodically to reduce body fatigue. The same package for the xDrive35i ($2100) also has 20-way adjustable multi-contour seats. A Cold Weather package ($900) has a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, retractable headlight washers, and a ski bag for the rear seat passthrough. A Premium package ($1750) adds a universal garage door opener, auto-dimming rearview mirror, power folding and auto-dimming exterior mirrors, four-way power adjustable lumbar support for the front seats, a digital compass for the rearview mirror, ambient lighting, a rear storage system, a Bluetooth cell phone link, and BMW Assist emergency and concierge service. The Premium Sound package ($2000) has a 600-watt audio system with 16 speakers and two subwoofers, digital equalizing for each seating position, a 6-disc CD/DVD changer, and an iPod and USB adapter. The Rear Climate package ($900) includes rear side window shades, four-zone automatic climate control, and privacy glass. A Technology package for the xDrive35i ($2000) adds a rearview camera and the navigation system.[source]

The Air Car caused a huge stir when we reported last year that Tata Motors would begin producing it in India. Now the little gas-free ride that could is headed Stateside in a big-time way.

Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM) confirmed to PopularMechanics.com on Thursday that it expects to produce the world’s first air-powered car for the United States by late 2009 or early 2010. As the U.S. licensee for Luxembourg-based MDI, which developed the Air Car as a compression-based alternative to the internal combustion engine, ZPM has attained rights to build the first of several modular plants, which are likely to begin manufacturing in the Northeast and grow for regional production around the country, at a clip of up to 10,000 Air Cars per year.

And while ZPM is also licensed to build MDI’s two-seater OneCAT economy model (the one headed for India) and three-seat MiniCAT (like a SmartForTwo without the gas), the New Paltz, N.Y., startup is aiming bigger: Company officials want to make the first air-powered car to hit U.S. roads a $17,800, 75-hp equivalent, six-seat modified version of MDI’s CityCAT (pictured above) that, thanks to an even more radical engine, is said to travel as far as 1000 miles at up to 96 mph with each tiny fill-up.
read the full story at : popularmechanics.com

(Boulder timeline. All images courtesy of the Annely Juda Fine Art Gallery.)

Beginning in 1978, when a spherical chunk of oak got lodged in a stream as he was moving it to his studio, the sculptor David Nash has documented its long riverine journey.

“For 25 years,” Nash writes, “I have followed its engagement with the weather, gravity and the seasons. It became a stepping-stone into the drama of physical geography. Spheres imply movement and initially I helped it to move, but after a few years I observed it only intervening when absolutely necessary - when it became wedged under a bridge.”







The journey is so extraordinary — made more so perhaps by the fact that it's so well-documented — that we can't help but quote the rest of Nash's accounts:

During the first 24 years it moved down stream nine times remaining static for months and years. Sedentary and heavy it would sit bedded in stones animated by the varying water levels and the seasons. Beyond the bridge its position survived many storms, the force of the water spread over the shallow banks did not have the power to shift it. I did not expect it to move into the Dwyryd river in my lifetime.

Then in November 2002 it was gone. The 'goneness' was palpable. The storm propelled the boulder 5 kilometres, stopping on a sandbank in the Dwryd estuary. Now tidal, it became very mobile. The high tides around full moon and the new moon moved it every 12 hours to a new place, each placement unique to the consequence of the tide, wind, rain and depth of water.

In January 2003 it disappeared from the estuary but was found again in a marsh. An incoming tide had taken it up a creek, where it stayed for five weeks. The equinox tide of March 19 2003 was high enough to float it back to the estuary where it continued its movement back and forth 3 or 4 kilometres each move.

The wooden boulder was last seen in June 2003 on a sandbank near Ynys Giftan. All creeks and marshes have been searched so it can, only be assumed it has made its way to the sea. It is not lost. It is wherever it is.

Obviously we know what has happened to it — it's been scooped up by a reclusive oil tycoon to adorn his secret garden like a pilfered Grecian kore. Resting on a pedestal, accumulating monetary value, periodically acting the part of a showpiece to entertain guests.







It would be unsurprising to hear someone remark that the boulder is at the mercy of the elements, although we're more apt to say that it is the river that is at the mercy of this artifact, under the weight of human agency, and of Nash's relentless gaze and choreographic machinations.

The river turned into a Picturesque folly; the passing of time, the same physical forces that smooth out rocks and bend rivers turned into a constructed view.

(Spotted at Some landscapes and then later at Topophilia.)

(Watch the desert unburden itself on YouTube here or here or here or here or here. Take your pick.)

A motorist in Al Ahsaa City, Saudi Arabia captured these few minutes of the earth exhaling. It's lo-res, cinematically shaky but still a sight to behold, wondrous and sublime. As it must be commented on — for it's hardly unnoticeably — we are told that the soundtrack is an exaltation of one or several of the divine's multitudinous attributes but we are sure it's a paean to the hidden but knowable geological forces at work eternally shaping the landscape. And just slightly off camera are a flock of demoiselles about to re-enact Busby Berkeley's famous pyramid fountain of lascivious ladyflesh. Of course.

In the Archives:
Earth-Fountain
Earth-Fountain Redux
Granular Blitzkrieg
“A wound in the geological bowels of the earth”

The Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano set a new benchmark of excellence in the sports car world after it was introduced at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show. This stunning new all-aluminum two-seater is summed up rather succinctly by its own name and delivers everything that this promises. Fiorano after the circuit Ferrari uses to hone the performance of its track and road cars; GTB as in Gran Turismo Berlinetta after the most famous Ferrari berlinettas ever built; and 599 to reflect the displacement of its V12 engine divided by 10.

The Ferrari 599 GTB was designed with several specific objectives in mind: to surpass the intense driving pleasure of such renowned models as the F40, to guarantee stunning performance courtesy of its highly innovative content and technology transfers from the F1 single-seaters, and to deliver superior standards of roominess, comfort, ergonomics and safety. The result is the absolute pinnacle of achievement in terms of thoroughbred Ferrari sportiness and technology.

599 GTB Fiorano's Styling and Personalization Options

The 599 GTB Fiorano is a strikingly sculptural car. The design is so supple, in fact, that each new angle brings something new to light. Its forms say it all about its extreme sportiness yet still retain a unique sophistication.

A balance has been struck in the interior between the car's sporty vocation and the feeling of intimacy and safety that only skilled hand-crafting and detailed personalization can achieve. The passenger areas of the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano are trimmed in sumptuous leather while the driver area and controls boast more high-tech detailing in carbon-fiber and aluminum.

In addition to the steering wheel and manettino, the central rev counter with a choice of red or yellow background and solid aluminum passenger controls, the new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano also boasts attractive new styling cues including a central grip to provide extra support for the passenger and new adaptive racing seats featuring carbon-fiber side rests. Other standard accessories include front bi-xenon headlamps and rear LED lights, dusk and rain sensors, dual-zone climate control, electrically adjustable steering-wheel column, hideaway radio/CD player and key with integrated volumetric anti-theft device with motion sensors.

The Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano also benefits from an already vast choice of personalization options available for every Ferrari model. Four areas are covered by this program: Racing and Track, Exteriors and Colors, Interior and Materials, Equipment and Travel.

Interior and Materials options include a new Enzo Ferrari-inspired carbon-fiber steering wheel with LED rev display which can be specified along with a special carbon-fiber trim kit for the door panels, instrument panel, gear stick surround and sill kick panels. Various types of leather trim are also available for the seats and interior too. Travel and Equipment accessories include front and rear parking sensors, iPod-friendly set-up, satellite anti-theft system and a luggage set specially tailored to fit this model.

The Music of the V12 Created for the Enzo

The technical specification of the engine speaks for itself: 366 cu in displacement, a specific power output of 103 bhp/liter (a first for a naturally aspirated production engine of this displacement).

Twin overhead camshafts per cylinder bank boast continuously variable timing on both inlet and exhaust cams to optimize torque delivery and drivability at both low and high revs. A twin-plate, low inertia clutch in unit with the engine also helps lower the centre of gravity. Chain driven distribution reduces noise and is maintenance-free. The Fiorano's engine delivers a maximum torque of 446 lb-ft at 5,600 rpm and means that the car pulls well at all engine speeds. The new model's breathtaking sportiness is due in part to record maximum revs for an engine of this displacement (apart from the Enzo). Its maximum power output is 620 bhp at 7,600 rpm with a maximum engine speed of 8,400 rpm. Particular attention was also paid to fuel consumption which is the same as in the previous model, under similar use, despite a significant leap in performance. Development work for the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano also focused specifically on the distinctive sound the engine makes, reducing mechanical resonance in favor of a pure V12 soundtrack from both the intake manifold and the exhaust system. This not only enhances driving pleasure but makes for a quieter ride inside the cabin itself.

(Photo by Rene van der Hulst.)

This is the Soil Lamp, designed by Design Academy Eindhoven student Marieke Staps and recently exhibited during Milan Design Week 2008.

Quoting the project brief, in Dutch:

Gratis en milieuvriendelijke energie voor eeuwig. De lamp werkt op modder. De stofwisseling van het biologische leven produceert genoeg elektriciteit om er een led op te laten branden. De modder zit in verschillende cellen. In deze cellen zitten koper en zink om de stroom te geleiden. Hoe meer cellen hoe meer stroom er geproduceerd wordt. Je hebt enorm veel mogelijkheden binnen deze techniek. Het enige wat de lamp nodig heeft is zo nu en dan een scheutje water. Ik heb voor het materiaal glas gekozen omdat ik de techniek zichtbaar wil maken. Door de mooie simpele vormgeving kun je de lamp in elk interieur en elke tuin plaatsen. De vormgeving is een direct gevolg van de techniek.

And this is how BabelFish translates it:

Free and environment-friendly energy for eternal. The lamp works on mud. The stofwisseling of biological living produces enough electricity to launch LED there to burn. Mud is present in several warrants. In these warrants are present purchaser and zinc conduct the flow. How more warrants how more flow is produced. You have enormously many possibilities this technique. Some what has the lamp necessary is this way now and then scheutje water. I have chosen glass for the material because I technique makes visible will. By the beautiful simple design you can place the lamp in each interieur and each garden. The design is an direct consequence of technique.

So essentially, then, the metallic strips of zinc and the cornucopia of minerals and organisms in the damp soil chemically react with one another to initiate a constant electrical current that lights up an LED.

A few questions:

1) Is it an actual working model or just another concept model, a Gravia Lamp v2.0?

2) If it's a working model, how does it work actually? We'd be interested in seeing some flow diagrams and numbers. And what kind of soil mixture?

3) And if it does work, can you take the metallic body and LED out of its lower 3/4 glass enclosure, remove the test tubes and the soil contained therein, and then impale it into the ground — will the LED still glow? Can a generous benefactor of the arts (perhaps Dia) manufacture for us several thousands so that we can run amok with these geological illuminations in Canada's trillion-barrel tar pits or Russia's still untapped gas fields, away from amateur astronomers and other light-sensitive nighttime fauna, making new earthly constellations of future negative contour lines and rhizomatous pipelines? Because why should this alternative energy light fixture be installed only in parks, gardens, driveways, streets and indoor rooms everywhere?

4) Does it work in bacteria-laden moon soil?

In the Archives:
Fluorescent Field
Petroleum Sublime

(Spotted at food for design.)

DeLorme Earthmate GPS LT-40 debuted today with its Teseo chipset and 3D cockpit view which also marked the announcement of Street Atlas USA 2009 DVD and Street Atlas USA 2009 PLUS DVD. Both versions, as well as LT-40 GPS receiver support UMPC’s says DeLorme which is nothing more than saying “this camera supports YouTube”.

However there are some real new features one of which being the NavMode option. NavMode has a more sleek GUI and offers a 3D view. In addition, the LT-40 has something called a ConstantLock Signal Retention where signals as weak as -159dBm are routinely acquired and maintained without sacrificing positional accuracy while STMicroelectronics’ and DeLorme’s Kalman filtering maintains its fix even amid tall buildings, and in high radio frequency (RF) areas.

Stuttgart/Beijing -- Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, has extended its third model line by the addition of the top of the range Cayenne Turbo S. The Turbo S, the most powerful Cayenne of them all, is driven by a 4.8 liter V8 engine with twin turbo forced induction, delivering 550 hp (404 kW).
The Turbo S is Porsche’s response to the wishes of its customers. There is huge demand, especially in the new emerging markets of Eastern Europe and Asia, for exclusive sports-style SUVs with top quality physical handling dynamics.
read the rest at carbuyersnotebook.com

This car is stylin!

We had the pleasure of test driving the Altima V-6 SE-R model -- but for only four short days, alas. The exterior was a welcome sight in the mornings. Before getting in to drive to work, simply approaching the car put a smile on our face and a pep in our step.

The Altima sports a sculpted look without trying to act too sleek -- though the rear spoiler gives it a devil-may-flair bit of ’tude.

The front and rear lights are cased in chrome clusters and capped with a clear cover that denotes attention to finish. Even the flush door handles seemed appropriate for the Altima’s design theme. Something that might be called mid-career cool.
The Altima’s cabin is welcoming. From the motorcycle-style gauges to the big-button air controls and a dash that looks carefully tucked under to enhance the sensation of owning a well-thought out vehicle. Even the black carpeted floor mats with the Altima name in pearl-white stitching look sharp.

All told, the exterior and interior combo feels like a half-generation ahead of other vehicles in the supposedly sedate mid-size category. Think of it as being sensible without bearing the burden of compromise.


But the Altima wouldn’t truly be capable of challenging the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord if it simply relied on good looks. The six-cylinder engine accelerates like an overachiever with all of its 260 horses. Handling a left lane merge into speeding highway traffic inspired confidence and a little heh-heh from the driver.

What's special about it?
Although the BMW Z9 Cabriolet Concept looks hot and its name suggests it's one degree hotter than the much-coveted and lauded Z8, its launch is not about engine power or performance; it's about technology.

BMW says the Z9 represents the design philosophy of the future. Automobile dashboards are becoming more and more complex all the time, says the German automaker, making it increasingly harder for drivers to concentrate on driving. (BMW should know, its consoles are among the most confusing in the business.) The main idea behind the creation of the Z9 concept is that cars should be made easier to drive.

The Z9 employs a central command system called "iDrive" which gathers every essential instrument and switch into a central control easily accessed and adjusted by the driver with the least amount of distraction. The engineers behind the project say the "i" stands for "integrative" and "intuitive."

The system is operated via a toggle lever mounted on the center floor console where you'd usually find a gear shifter. The toggle controls heating and air conditioning, audio, telephone, trip computer and navigation systems, displaying all on a dash-mounted screen. So, where's the gear lever? The gears are shifted using controls mounted on the steering wheel. When a Z9 engineer was questioned about this, he became very defensive, curtly remarking that this was no big deal and was, in fact, "exactly like in Formula One race cars." His reaction suggests the BMW Z9 concept has created controversy for its dramatic departure from conventional driving dynamics.

$19,617 million

2005 Rank/Value
16 / $17,126 million

15% change from 2005

Based in Germany

BMW continues to churn out hot models that buyers love to drive and Japanese automakers can't seem to replicate.

(Volvo test track, Wittmann, Arizona. Photo by CLUI.)

Over a year since their last newsletter, the CLUI has now put up the latest edition. Among the many wonderful things worth noting, there is their aerial photographs of automotive test tracks — those concrete hieroglyphs, in the fringes of urban sprawls, recording “the condition of America, land of the automobile, a syndrome that transformed the landscape of the nation, and the world, more than any other.”


(GM test track, Milford, Michigan. Photo by CLUI.)

Vast asphalt geometries and bounded trajectories tattooed on the surface of the earth, they are described as the “nurseries” for our vehicular companions, reared in “a microcosm of the country, built for subjecting vehicles to all the types of terrain - from interstates, to suburban stop and go; from dirt roads to black ice” — where America is geographically, meteorologically and infrastructurally condensed.

The automotive test tracks of America are mostly in the West and Midwest. Around Detroit, each of the “big three” operates at least one major complex. Test tracks are located around Phoenix, Arizona, to test in conditions of extreme heat, on top of everything else. On the fringes of this city's sprawl are tracks for companies whose home terrain has no desert to work in, such as Volvo, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Nissan. Honda and Hyundai's tracks are in the desert north of Los Angeles. And, in Illinois, Caterpillar, the global earth mover, tests its machines in a giant hilltop sandbox.

You can tour these places, at least via photographs, in Autotechnogeoglyphics: Vehicular Test Tracks in America, CLUI's contribution to the Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes exhibition at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

The exhibition lasts till August 17, 2008.

In the Archives:
Dugway Proving Ground

FOSTER CITY, Calif. -- Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced today the North American release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue exclusively for PLAYSTATION3.

Developed by Polyphony Digital Inc., Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is the fifth installment of the word's best-selling racing franchise and an intense precursor to Gran Turismo5.

This latest entry to the racing series that has shipped over 48 million units worldwide*, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue continues to blur the line between driving simulation and reality on PS3, featuring 1080p High Definition graphics, advanced vehicle design and precise driving physics.

Continue reading "New Edition of Gran Turismo Available for Playstation"

Ryuga (pronounced: ree-yoo-ga) builds on Mazda's concept of flow. Nagare -- Japanese for "flow" -- debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November and introduced the company's new design future. Japanese for "gracious flow," Ryuga reflects a higher level of sophistication through the use of rich fabrics, engineered fits and hidden details. Ryuga is elegant and refined, but radiates spirit and edge while portraying unique Japanese beauty.

"The Ryuga concept is an exploratory design study that's more realistic than Nagare and therefore more useful in gauging reactions from those who see it," said Laurens van den Acker, design division general manager for Mazda Motor Corporation. "Ryuga adds definition by incorporating a working interior, chassis and propulsion detail that were purposely absent from Nagare."

In addition to the Ryuga concept, Mazda will display the all-new seven-passenger CX-9 SUV, five-passenger CX-7 SUV, redesigned 2008 Tribute and the balance of its 2007 product lineup.



Launched in May, 2006, the CX-7 is a highly styled crossover SUV with a decided soul of a sportscar. Produced entirely on Mazda-derived platform architecture, the five-passenger CX-7 embodies an astute blend of sports car verve and SUV practicality, resulting in a fun-to-drive SUV that represents everything a Mazda SUV should be. Designed and engineered specifically for North America, CX-7 is the first of a number of important all-new Mazda vehicles designed and engineered specifically for North America.
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