Automotive

Making Stock Car Racing Look Stock, Tiny Vans

If you think redesigning a BMW grille sends shock waves through the car community, try redesigning a NASCAR race car. The big motorsports news this week is stock car racing’s debut of the seventh-generation Cup car platform. The “Next Gen” NASCAR racer follows the philosophy of its predecessor—the unimaginatively titled “Gen 6” design—to make the cars more aesthetically close to their stock counterparts, and more technically up-to-date with modern components, like oh, say, rack-and-pinion steering.

So far the response seems positive, with teams mostly pleased about changes that will keep costs down, and fans happy about the more recognizable cars.

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By Ferdian Syah 6 days ago

NASCAR’s Next Gen Car Finally Arrives

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR’s next generation race car is finally here after two years of hype and hope that it will revolutionize the stock car series.

How can a spec car radically change a sport? Competition. Cost containment. Manufacturer relevance.

The Next Gen car, first proposed in 2018 and originally set to debut this season until the pandemic delayed it until 2022, is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between NASCAR and its partners. All parties had to work toward creating a car that served the entire industry.

“We really wanted to get back to a promise that we had made to

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By Ferdian Syah 1 week ago

HAPPENINGS | May 6-13, 2021 – VC Reporter

TWILIGHT GATHERING | Tuesday, May 11, 7 p.m. A live Zoom gathering exported to the Facebook page of the Universalist Unitarian Church of Santa Paula to foster reflection during our busy week. Come listen to some beautiful music, share some silence and share in some spoken word. Led by Sabbatical Minister Rev. Nic Filzen with original poetry by Atul Ranchod and music by Tony Ybarra (pictured). Photo by Marie Gregorio-Oviedo.

Thursday – May 6

SIZE UP SMALL BUSINESS WEBINAR | 12 p.m. Offered by the City of Ventura for local business to get support and assistance in the new

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By Ferdian Syah 1 week ago

Battle Brewing Over Automotive Display Protocols

Displays are multiplying in new and future automobiles. That means a lot more display data moving around the vehicle and traveling some distance between sensor and processor.

While existing protocols can handle some of the new duties, new protocols also are being developed specifically for this application.

“Automotive displays are proliferating, increasing in numbers and in pixel density, and, most importantly, are being used for mission-critical functions like instrumentation displays,” said Steve Creaney, design engineering director, IP Group at Cadence.

MIPI and VESA have existing protocols that are moving both from the mobile and laptop worlds into vehicles. But new

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By Ferdian Syah 1 week ago

The BMW M4 meets the BMW M4 GT3. Video highlights the common ground between the BMW M4 Competition and the BMW M4 GT3 racing car.

From series production to the race track – and back: In a new video, BMW M GmbH offers insights into the development of the new BMW M4 GT3 racing car and identifies some fascinating similarities between the new flagship model in the BMW M Motorsport line-up and the BMW M4 Competition production model (fuel consumption combined: 10.2 – 9.9 l/100 km [27.7 – 28.5 mpg imp] in the WLTP cycle, 10.2 l/100 km [27.7 mpg imp] in NEDC; CO2 emissions combined: 233 – 227 g/km in WLTP, 234 g/km in NEDC). Designers and engineers from BMW’s production car development programme

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By Ferdian Syah 1 week ago

Investors eye U.S. chip startups while feds put pressure on Taiwan

OAKLAND, Calif. — Silicon Valley venture capitalists, long focused on software and internet companies, are again pouring money into the semiconductor industry, lured by the promise of a new generation of artificial-intelligence chips that could challenge incumbents like Intel and Nvidia.

The new wave of semiconductor innovation will do little to address the shortage of chips based on older technology that is currently plaguing the auto industry and others. The shortage stems from a confluence of factors as carmakers, which shut plants during the COVID-19 pandemic last year, compete against the sprawling consumer electronics industry for chip supplies.

The enthusiasm

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By Ferdian Syah 1 week ago