You’ve got to hand it to the Dutch, they come up with some great ideas – from coffee shops to the Philishave, to now glow in the dark roads.
A Smart Highway Concept being developed in the Netherlands
A new ‘Smart Highway’ is going to be developed in the Netherlands with special foto-luminising powder making extra lighting unnecessary. Charged in day light, the Glow-in-the-dark road illuminates the road at night for up to 10 hours. In addition, the road will feature Dynamic Paint that becomes visible in response to temperature changes. For example, images of ice crystals can become visible on the surface of the road when the temperature drops below a certain point.
Furthermore, the design firm Studio Roosegaarde, that came up with these concepts is looking at other ideas such as interactive lights that switch on as cars pass as well as wind-powered lights within the next five years.
These ideas are moving beyond concept stage next year in 2013 when the first section of highway in the Netherlands featuring these new concepts will open to the public during the Dutch Design Week.
From the drivers point of view, road design and construction hasn’t changed very much over the years compared to advancements in vehicle design and technology. These new ideas will help bring some new thinking to how drivers interact with the millions of miles of pavement that are driven on every day.
Aerial view of Canadian Motor Speedway complex proposal
We may be able to hear the roar of NASCAR as early as 2014 based on the decision this Monday which saw the Ontario Municipal Board reject all appeals against the proposed Canadian Motor Speedway complex setting things in motion for construction to start on the $400 million facility.
With over 332 hectares of farmland already purchased, construction is expected to take 18 months wrapping up in mid 2014. Studies suggest once completed, the complex will create 1200 new jobs along with providing an annual tax impact of $34 Million per year to the struggling Niagara Region. It’s believed the major investors making up the consortium are from Kuwait and the UAE.
Located in Fort Erie near the Peace Bridge, the proposed complex will attempt to attract NASCAR stock car racing, open wheel racing including Formula 1 and IndyCar, motorcycle racing and other motorsports series. In addition, there is a planned auto research facility that will be affiliated with Hamilton’s McMaster University.
As for the features of the complex, current plans include 65,000 seats, 5,000 club seats, and 80 suites while four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is designing the 1.6 kilometre banked oval track and a 4.2 kilometre road course. The road course would be the largest paved track in Canada. For more information, check out the Canadian Motor Speedway official site.
Sources: Toronto Star, Globe and Mail and Toronto Sun.
Free for a limited time (regularly $0.99) is an app that counts down the time remaining on your parking meter. Within the app you can select predefined time limits, or enter your own. You can also drop a pin on the location of your vehicle in case you have trouble finding it.
Check out the app, Parking Meter Pro, at the following iTunes stores.
Now it may seem like nothing new to see a headline titled “Porsche stolen” but this is very different since thieves are not stealing the whole car but just the headlights. First reported in Amsterdam by the Dutch press; apparently, the HID headlights of the Porsche Panamera and Cayenne are being targeted because they make great lights for growing marijuana. They are the first choice because they are ultra bright and give off lots of heat while using very little electricity which is key when trying to stay under the radar of the utility companies.
Dutch Thieves in Action
Hopefully, this trend does not spread as it would be a shame if the meaning of “lights out” for Porsche becomes something unrelated to their success on the racetrack.
Check out this really cool video shot within a Red Bull F1 race car driven by Sébastien Buemi. You can fully interact with the video panning up down left and right as Sébastien drives around the track. The camera system is designed by a Norwegian company called Making View. 360 View of Redbull F1 Racing Car
Always the last weekend in October, the Toronto Fall Classic Car Auction signifies the unofficial end of the summer car season. And once again, the auction did not disappoint; as there was a solid crowd bidding on an amazing field of machines hitting the auction block. From big dollar trailer queens, to quality resto-mods, to that unmolested all original model, the auction truly has it all and is a must attend event for the auto enthusiast. Nothing beats hearing and seeing these vintage vehicles in action as they change hands to deliver more magic to their new owners. Oh, how the automobile gods must watch these events with big smiles on their faces.
Here is a quick slide show of what was available at this year’s event.
1950s Jaguar
1929 Ford Roadster
1947 Chrysler Town & Country Convertible – sold for $90,200
The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a new study that looked at the differences between men and women finding their parked car in a parking lot. The study focused on a 115 shoppers (age 19-85) at a mall in the Netherlands.
According to the WSJ and the research article Losing Your Car in the Parking Lot: Spatial Memory in the Real World, men more often took the most direct route back to their vehicle and outperformed women in estimating the distance to the parked car. Women, on the other hand, used more landmarks. Overall, the study participants were fairly good in finding their car with only 14% making a substantial detour, most of them women.
Perhaps those that are spatially challenged should download this iOS app or purchase this device, especially if you have parked at the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta which holds the Guinness World Record for having the largest parking lot in the world with 20,000 spaces (with an additional 10,000 spaces in an adjoining overflow lot).
Each year the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) recognizes the best new models introduced in Canada in category specific awards. This year 80 journalists, conducting over 2,000 individual roads test, determined the 2013 category award winners. While some of the winning vehicles are specific to the North American market, others are available globally.
And the winners are…
CITY CAR: Ford Focus EV
AJAC Winner – City Car
BEST NEW SMALL CAR (under $21k): Mazda3 Skyactiv Sedan
AJAC Winner – Best New Small Car (Under $21K)
BEST NEW SMALL CAR (over $21k): Hyundai Elantra GT
AJAC Winner – Best New Small Car (Over $21k)
BEST NEW FAMILY CAR (under $30k): Honda Accord Sedan
AJAC Winner – Best New Family Car (Under $30k)
BEST NEW FAMILY CAR (over $30k): Ford Fusion Hybrid
AJAC Winner – Best New Family Car (Over $35k)
BEST NEW LUXURY CAR: Cadillac ATS
AJAC Winner – Best New Luxury Car
BEST NEW PRESTIGE AND PERFORMANCE CAR: Porsche 911 Carrera S
AJAC Winner – Best New Prestige and Performance Car (Over $75k)
BEST NEW SPORTS/PERFORMANCE CAR (under $50k): Ford Focus ST
AJAC Winner – Best New Sports/Performance (Under $50k)
BEST NEW SPORTS/PERFORMANCE CAR (over $50k): Porsche Boxster
AJAC Winner – Best New Sports/Performance (Over $50k)
BEST NEW SUV/CUV (under $35k): Ford Escape 1.6 L EcoBoost
BEST NEW SUV/CUV ($35k-$60k): Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 2.0T
AJAC Winner – Best New SUV/CUV
The category winners now compete for the 2013 Canadian Car of the Year award that will be announced on February 14th, 2013, at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto, ON. An event that the RedlineNorth Team will be attending. So check back in February for the announcement of the Canadian Car of the Year Award Winner.
In mid-October, Team RedlineNorth had the opportunity to spend some time in beautiful Buenos Aires, Argentina. It truly is an amazing city and worthy of the name “Paris of Latin America” with its many wonderful restaurants, dancing, museums, shopping, architecture and culture. Oh yes, and don’t forget the men and women – they don’t look half bad either.
The billboards were far more beautiful than most of the cars
Consequently, it was a bit disappointing from an auto perspective as there were not exactly many nice autos to be seen. Here is a a brief slideshow of what we saw on the streets of the Argentinian capital.
RedlineNorth 