The 2010 Formula 1 season is just weeks away and the excitement has reached a feverish pitch. Arguably the greatest champion of all time returns after a three year hiatus, perhaps the only driver to defeat this great champion has finally made it to a team that justifies his talent, the last two world champions team up together for the first time in F1 history…these unprecedented, unexpected and totally unbelievable developments has made F1 fans salivate at the prospect of the “Greatest Season Ever”. IndianAutoTalk provides you with a rundown of all the leading contenders and the machines that will be powering them. This is Part 1 of a three part series.

1) Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro- Alonso in red, enough said.

Ferrari had a woeful 2009, the car was just not fast enough to compete. The horrific injury to Filipe Massa just worsened what was already a pathetic year for them, with just one race victory and a few podium finishers. This was undoubtedly the worst season for them in recent memory and hopefully, this has fired people up at Maranello. Brightening their chances even more this year is the arrival of golden boy, Fernando Alonso from Renault. That Alonso was destined for Ferrari was an open secret, but after years of maneuvering the move has finally happened and seeing him in scarlet red has the ‘tifosi’ all worked up. Add to the equation, the return of Massa from his life threatening injury and the good form he has displayed in testing with GP2 cars, there is much room for optimism.

The F10 (Ferrari are back to their old naming convention of naming after the year, after a brief breakaway with the 2009 F60) promises to be a serious contender and if early testing times are any indication, we could see Alonso and Massa being right up there come Abu Dhabi in November. Massa was the fastest person in testing for two straight days before Alonso overtook him on the third day to be the fastest of all the participating teams. Here it should be mentioned that Ferrari stopped development on the 2009 car midway through the season and started the design of the F10, much like Brawn did for 2009 and look where it got them.

Ferrari also has a new title sponsor in Santander. The Spanish bank, forever tied to Fernando Alonso, migrated with him to Mclaren and now to Ferrari. The Ferrari loyalists (including me) always liked the Marlboro logo on the back of the car, the bar code the replaced it once the tobacco ad ban came into being, was even cooler. But the red on white Santander is not so bad once we get used it. The beloved bar code remains also, making it one of the prettier Ferraris in recent times. Keen Indian observers can also spot the hidden away “TATA” logo on the sides.

Form look of the car to the testing times posted to the talented drivers at the helm, all pointers are that 2010 could well be the year of the ‘Prancing Horse’.

2) Mclaren GP – The Brits are all set to re-conquer the world.

Mclaren, forever title contenders, had a poor 2009 just like Ferrari. Struggling to adapt to the rule changes, Hamilton was reduced to getting lapped by Button. They looked like getting their mojo back with Hamilton putting in some fine performances but it was a case of too little, too late as the dismal season for them ended on a sour note. Things also changed in the team, with Mercedes pulling out as partners after more than a decade of being together, Mclaren were once again the quintessential British racing team and they took the British pride a step further, snapping up Briton and current world champion Jenson Button from Brawn. Their all British line-up now includes the last two world champions, this is the first time that this has happened in F1 history.

Hamilton will always remain the Mclaren No. 1 driver, a fact that Alonso discovered to his cost in 2008. How Button will adjust to this as the defending world champion will be crucial for Mclaren to come out of 2010 victoriously. A number of people have derided the move, accusing it for being purely for the money (Brawn didn’t agree to his wage demands) and suggesting that Button will be playing second fiddle to Hamiltion. However, the man himself is utterly confident and currently putting in some good times in testing at Jerez. But he is still a second off Hamilton’s pace and if this continues, then the fairytale of 2009 might just end in tears for Button in 2010.

The car itself, the MP4-25 looks remarkably like last years with a similar paint job but the aerodynamics has been worked upon heavily. The curves of the car are beautiful and in the classic silver livery, the car does look good. It is interesting to note that the Mercedes-Benz name is still on the car despite the company pulling out as full partners, Mercedes just provides the engines for this car. The off-field repercussions of the season will be large as Mclaren is pushing its road-car program vigorously and is seeking to compete with the likes of Ferrari. A victory over them in the race track will go a long way in establishing the brand name of Mclaren, helping it sell cars in the volumes it desires.

There is no lack of motivation for Mclaren this year and they will be out to prove that Mercedes did not play a major role in their past successes. If the plucky Brits can withstand the assault in the tracks, who knows, Ron Dennis might just become the next Enzo Ferrari.

3) Mercedes GP – Schu’s brawn + Brawn’s brain = Success?

Michael Schumacher, the very name fills us with thoughts of victory after victory, of utter dominance and invincibility…and a very RED car. But not anymore, at least not the red car part, Schumacher has done the unthinkable and joined the brand new Mercedes GP team. Only the Mercedes name is new however, as this is the Brawn team that won the driver & constructors championship double in 2009. Led by the indomitable Ross Brawn, mastermind of Schumacher’s incredible run of championships with Ferrari and previously with Benetton, Mercedes are among the favorites to win this year’s championship.

‘Big Schu’ is not the only new thing with Mercedes, as they have also signed the promising Nico Rosberg as their second driver and the rivalry between the veteran champion and young upstart within the team will be intriguing. Test times are not so encouraging for the team as both have been regularly outpaced by their Ferrari and Mclaren counterparts. But things could change quickly as once Schumacher adapts to life in the fast line once again, there could be nothing stopping him. Injury concerns that plagued Schumacher last year are a thing of the past and he is all set to scorch the tracks once more.

“The Silver Arrow” cars are reminiscent of the Silver Arrow Mercedes cars that dominated the pre-World War II racing scene. Petronas is the main sponsor this year and their logo on any car looks good. Period. The all German combination shouldn’t be overlooked either, as this season promises to evoke nationalistic pride for the first time in F1.

The return of Mercedes as a racing team, the return of Michael Schumacher, there are plenty of stories surrounding Mercedes GP, but the biggest story could well be the return of the Brawn & Schumacher combination, the return of the ‘invincibles’.

Asia Motor Works, one of India’s very own heavy duty truck and components manufacturer is recruiting Engineering and Diploma candidates in Automobile, mechanical and mechatronics. This is a training program in AMW’s manufacturing, R&D, sales and service departments. At the end of the training program, a job at AMW is given based on Performance. Interviews are conducted in various parts of the country during the coming 2 weeks. It is a good prospect as it pays out 2.4lakh p.a for B.E grads and 1.2lakh p.a for Diploma candidates during training.

Here are the complete details: http://www.amwasia.com/interview.html

American Choppers is the only custom chopper building show on TV that actually caught on. Though there were better similar shows none could reach the heights Paul Teutul Sr. and his sons took the show to. During its successful run of 7 years, Orange County Choppers have built every kind of Chopper for every occasion. Other than building one-of-a-kind choppers, the show was also about running a family business, which involved constant feud between Paul Sr. and Paul Jr., though this was construed as a show act, it turned out to be the reasons for the ultimate axing of the show.

American Choppers took the toll on the Teutul family as key members kept rolling out of the turf, this included popular OCC employee Vincent DiMartino who left the show to start V-Force Customs in 2007 but the real blow was when Paul Teutul Jr. left the company in 2009 to start Paul Jr Designs. This lead to a court room drama between the Paul and there was no turning back from that.

The last episode was aired on the 11th of this month. A representative from Travel n Living Channel said in a statement about the end of ‘American Chopper’, “The Teutuls will always be part of the Discovery family and we congratulate them on a tremendously successful series run.”

Rule changes are inevitable as well as invigorating for any form of sports, more so for Racing and even more for Formula1. Thought the reason for FIA changing rules every year is change for the sake of change, the main reason is to prevent F1 racing from changing into a parade. Besides that, this season’s regulations require an acknowledgement of economic hampering. All these contribute for one heck, I mean two hecks of changes.

No Refueling for the entire race
As the teams are used to designing their cars and their race strategies considering the option of refueling during race, this rule of no refueling changes everything the teams have learnt from their past experience. This is good for the sport as the 4 new teams Lotus, Campos, Virgin and US F1 even out with the biggies in this perspective at the least.

New Points System
FIA has become generous with the points as it lashes out 25 for the race winner and points for the top 10 finishers. Finishing second is good enough for 18 points, rest of the positions get 15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1. FIA hopes the difference of 7 points between the first and the second places will lead to some serious racing for the top spot rather than drivers doing math and settling down for second place.

There is a third change regarding improving the credibility of the Race Stewards. Race Stewards include 2 international and 1 national Steward who review race incidents. This bench will now be headed by a former F1 driver. This could be good as a driver will comprehend the necessity of certain actions during high speed racing better than well, the current bunch. These being the changes made to the new season, some interesting considerations which didn’t make it were points for fastest lap and pole position.

If bond comes back to India he won’t be going after the baddie in auto-rickshaws anymore, for we have when I say we, a tycoon from Chandigarh has just added this hardcore carbon fibred version of DB9 to his garage which already has a Murciélago, R8, M3, M5 and a lot more of car pornography which anyone would love to stuck in their cabinet garage. This being the more rarest of Aston Martins sub one-77, we are truly in the presence of exotic, elegance and exclusivity.

Other Aston Martin’s in India

DB9 according to almost everyone is the most classiest and the best looking car in the world right now. Apparently there are two DB9s in India one in Hyderabad which was imported through Chennai’s port and another in Delhi, there might be more but these are the only ones photographed.

India has imported a few Vantage’s as well, A left-hand drive maroon one from Pune, a white one which took part in the recent Supercar rally in Mumbai and a silver gray Vantage. Coach Designer Dilip Chhabria owns the predecessor of the DB9, DB7 which set the latest tread in the Aston design.

Image Gallery:

Photo courtesy : Team-bhp

For starters Maxximo is a mini commercial vehicle from Mahindra & Mahindra which has just gone into sales in the same segment as Tata’s Ace. Ace is the first of its kind creating this niche of CVs. It was soon followed by similar vehicles from Piaggio and Force motors but no one has been able to match Ace’s performance and productivity until now, but from the looks of it Ace has gotten itself a worthy adversary in Maxximo.

Maxximo’s design is governed by the standards set by Ace, so it was built from scratch to be a bit more better in every aspect from Ace. For instance Maxximo has a 900cc 2-cylinder engine with 4-valves per cylinder and dual over head camshafts (DOHC). This engine produces 25hp and 55Nm of torque, of the two torque is more relevant here as it is the pulling capacity of the vehicle. This is a step or two higher than Ace’s 700cc engine with a power output of 16hp. A bigger engine would mean the Maxximo would be a bit thirstier than Ace’s engine but M&M has gone out of the ways of this segment to save fuel.

For instance the accelerator is connected to the engine through drive-by-wire technology instead of mechanical linkages, this on top of an electronically controlled fuel pump increases mileage by controlled fuel supply. The gear shift again is not linked mechanically but by cables which make gear shifts smooth like cars. This is significant as one of the major advantages of mini trucks is their ability to squeeze through congested lanes which require constant gear change, it doesn’t mean Ace’s gear shift is a handful but this shows M&M has thought things through.

When it comes to driver pampering Maxximo stands out. A dead pedal to reduce fatigue, flat seats with no hindrance in the middle so the driver can lie down, the seats even get head rests. A neat instrument panel has in addition to the usuals a small digital display which has with in an odometer, a clock and 2 trip meter readability. The dashboard has a lockable storage cabin, provision for a music system and the most useful of them all a cell phone charger socket.

Maxximo load carrying capacity is 100kilos more than the Ace’s at 850kgs. It sure is powerful enough to pull more weight but is it tough enough? Well M&M says YES! The rear leaf spring suspension get 3 more leafs compared to the Ace and the wheel rims are made thicker to withstand heavy loading. Even at full load it can manage a top speed of 70kmph. If the Ace and Maxximo are lined in for a drag race between lights Maxximo would beat it by a significant distance.

It has a few technically witty stuffs like the starter motor which has a gear reduction to crank up the engine instantaneously. The other clever stuff it Maxximo’s braking system, which has load sensors on the rear wheels and according to load on either side wheels brake pressure is distributed for effective braking. Better than that the brake system has a booster which means more effective braking for lesser effort give to depress the brake pedal. Don’t really know if these will work but they seem to check technically.

On paper Maxximo is a lot more for the same money as both the Ace and Maxximo cost around Rs. 2.79lakhs ex-showroom. However it is real time practically which has put the Ace on top, whether Maxximo would bite as good as it barks we would have to wait and watch.

Brochure:

Press Release:

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Photo Courtesy: Team-Bhp

Figo is Fords first and desperate measure in desperate times to jump into the small car segment of developing nations like India. As this segment is where the number game is played Ford’s homeland rival GM made it clear that it would grab a bigger share with its recently launched Beat. Beat is the most lively car in the country’s deal ships right now and with a price tag of 3.34lakhs it has already booked over 10,000 in 25days of its launch. So you could say Ford is resting its shoulders heavily on the Figo to beat the Beat and GM, but has Ford done enough?

Figo is a completely different car from the Beat though they will be sold in the same price segment (I am taking a guess here). At this point I am going to stop comparing the two and get on with my thoughts on the Figo. Figo is a perfect Indian Ford, rather too perfect that’s what its problem is. There is nothing new to the eye. The body panels are too stereotypic, I get a feeling that they have squeezed in Fiesta’s styling in to Fusion’s body. But being a Ford it is quite civilized and simple but a grownup car in this segment wouldn’t be adequate any more with Maruti’s unlimited supply of peppy hatches and the beat around Ford could have gone an extra mile on making it interesting.

It ticks all the boxes when it comes to that fordness except for one, the dashboard. Ford in its relentless efforts of make at least the interiors a bit bonkers, it gave Figo a red (or something close to red) plastic dashboard. But then you can get it in black as well. Other than the cross-dressing, Figo’s interiors are indeed fresh in terms of functionality. For instance the bonnet open switch is accessible only to the shotgun. The head lights dim and dip are no more on the stick below the steering but on the dash with an A/C switch like knob. Speaking of the A/C, it will turn a bottle of water on the back seat into ice when set in full, it is that good. Armrests on the door can rest a water bottle, other than your arm. There are plenty of cubby holes around for all your storage needs from holding your drink to holding toll road change. Figo’s party piece is its size, dimension wise it is far bigger than its rivals. The 284litre boot is the biggest in the class. If that’s not enough for you, fold the rear seats to make your own football field.

From the picture that ever one else is painting, both the 1.2L 4-cylinder petrol and 1.4L Diesel lack grunt, with no emergency in the rev or the acceleration but then again it’s not a part of Ford’s intensions. Ford’s plan of a small car for India had practicality as the main priority and I feel that ford has delivered.

Image Gallery:

Photo courtesy: Team-bhp

Bajaj launched a few days back what it calls a Street version of the Pulsar 220. But what it actually is can be explained in more than one way. It can be called a faring removal job on the P220 or a P200 with a 220cc engine or a P220 with the standard Pulsar doom. The 220 S costs about 3 grand less than the normal P220 at an on-road price of Rs. 78,000. Frankly I don’t see any takers for this one, may be if they had fiddled with the doom a little.

At Delhi Yamaha showcased two of its models which are likely to be launched in the third week of February if reports are to be believed. Though these two are no R15s or FZs but one of them isn’t pretty bad. The SZ looks promising to play the role of a tone downed conventional Yamaha for the commute kinds. With a 150cc engine from the FZ range the bike is quite punch packed as far as power is concerned. It would be retailed around Rs. 60,000 on road which would make it cheaper than its rivals Pulsar 150 and Unicorn by 5000 rupees. As far as I can find the only reason for the lesser price is the absence of front disc brakes. If the SZ would get the mileage figures right it would put Yamaha into the numbers game.

SZ up close 360 degree video:

The YBR is the Yamaha of the recent past, from when Yamaha made bikes like Alba and G5. Honestly compared to the G5 YBR is pretty dull. One would think given Yamaha’s current trend it might as well add a bit of life to the G5 to make a commute Yamaha like YBR, but no.

The 370Z launched in India comes with the Synchro Rev Match manual transmission. This system facilitates a smooth gear change by increase or decreasing the rpm of the engine so that the clutch plate and the flywheel mess at the same rpm. For instance when you change down from 4th gear to 3rd you would take the foot off the throttle, apply the clutch and change the gear, at this moment the Synchro Rev Match kicks in. It matches the engine rpm (i.e. flywheel’s rpm) to that of the clutch shaft’s (i.e. shaft connecting the clutch and the gearbox) and then re-engages the clutch which results in ultra-smooth gear change.

It does this by means of sensors (obviously). Synchro Rev uses engine rpm sensor, gearbox rpm sensor throttle position sensor and a sensor to monitor the position of the gear lever. In the 6-speed manual 370Z, the output shaft spins at the same rpm (5000 assuming) as the engine at 6th gear as the gear ratio is 1.1 (almost) but the gear ratio for 5th gear is 1.56:1 (assuming) hence when the gear is shifted from 6th to 5th the engine has to spin at 5000*1.56 rpm for a smooth gear change. Synchro Rev increases the rpm of the engine to 7800rpm so that both the flywheel and the clutch plate spin at the same rpm and then re-engages the clutch. Other than the smooth gear change, Synchro Rev reduces the wear and tear of the clutch plate.

here is a video of 370z’s engineer explaining how the Synchro Rev match works: