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Tomorrow’s world: Fiat's MultiAir engine tech

By Jesse Crosse Motor Industry 14 October 2009 16:50 Fiat this year launches what it claims is a big step forward in variable valve timing: MultiAir. It's the first time that a manufacturer has made a properly variable valve system a production reality, and will slowly be rolled out across most of Fiat's and Alfa's car ranges.How does Fiat's MultiAir vary from existing variable valve timing (VVT) systems?Current VVT systems rely on mechanical systems to open and close the valves. Engineers have long understood the benefits of changing valve opening and closing times to tweak an engine's power and emissions performance, depending on the need for power or parsimony.Valves are an engine's nose and mouth – it inhales through inlet valves and exhales through exhaust valves.

Volvo picks up Red Dot Design Award for new connectivity system

Volvo's Sensus Connected Touch connectivity system with the world's first voice-activated integrated Spotify connection has been awarded a 2013 Red Dot Design Award. The Sensus Connected Touch accessory turns the integrated 7-inch display into an infrared, beam-scanned touch screen that can be used even when wearing gloves. The system can be controlled using the touchscreen, the steering wheel or the center stack, while you can also voice-activate all music sources. Alain Visser, senior vice president of marketing, sales and customer service at Volvo, says, "The Red Dot Design Award confirms that this approach to an intuitive, human-centric user experience fulfils modern car owners' desire to remain constantly connected also when driving." The WiFi connection can be made using either a car-mounted 3G/4G-dongle or the driver's mobile phone, and the data is transferred by the WiFi between the phone and the Sensus Connected Touch.

McLaren P1 lapping the Nurburgring in UNDER 7 minutes in stunning new video

The McLaren P1 laps the Nurburgring in under 7 minutes Ever since Ron Dennis claimed the McLaren P1 would be able to lap the Nurburgring in under seven minutes, we’ve been waiting for McLaren to prove it. It seems their initial attempts failed to get below the magic 7 minute barrier – unlike the Porsche 918 Spyder which lapped the Nurburgring in 6m 57s – but last month we reported that the P1 seemed to have achieved its goal by going 10 seconds faster than the Porsche in  an almost unbelievable 6 minutes 47 seconds. Unfortunately, we still don’t know officially just how quickly the P1 got round the Nurburgring, but we do now know that it was under 7 minutes thanks to a new video just released by McLaren.