More and more advanced technology developments are approaching our daily lives. There are already many systems that reach street cars, coming from the aeronautical industry and from the field of racing sports.
You can build a sports car with the most powerful engine and an excellent chassis, with the best suspensions and be well set up. But the task is still not finished. We still need to put all this on the ground. This is the moment of prominence for tyres. A driver knows how to get the most out of a vehicle when he knows the limits of tires well. And this includes, knowing exactly what the limit is, to what extent tires can be demanded without compromising their safety limits.
The Ford Shelby GR-1 concept uses 19-inch tires, high performance sports tires Goodyear 275/40R -19 front and 345/35R -19 rear. But the relevant fact here is that the tires have a special system developed by Goodyear to monitor information about them. The system called Tire IQ allows the driver to obtain very accurate information about temperature and pressure of all four tires. It also gives information about other factors such as g-forces in curves.
The Tire IQ has a display in the center console of the Shelby GR-1 concept. Assists the driver by reporting on tyre conditions in real time. Alert about situations such as low pressure or impending deflation. The system displays animations on the screen, with data such as temperature and pressure in each area of the wheels. It also measures accelerations and dynamic factors such as g-forces exerted on curves.
The prototype Ford Shelby GR-1 concept also presents innovations in the technology applied in its lighting system. Ford technicians, playing with the words, say that “a high-performance car needs high-perfomance lights.” But it turns out that the pun turns out to be quite serious.
Driving a sports car at night can be difficult if the lights do not respond to the high speed of the car. It is known that the higher speed, the braking times are longer. That is why it is important that sports cars have long-range lights, as a safety measure that allows us to anticipate an accident. The Shelby GR-1 concept uses lights that, in addition to having greater intensity, are more compact in size than the usual ones.
Since the car is small and uses large 19-inch wheels, the front of the car does not have much space available. Ford then decided to invest in HISS (High Intensity Solid State) ceiling panels that “float” between tire bridges. This technology rare in street cars allows a bright and intense beam of light in a very small space. In other words, it achieves the goal required in every sport: it takes up little space, allows design freedom and does not sacrifice night visibility. This results in an efficient and safe product.
For more information on the technology applied in the construction of the Shelby GR-1 concept, visit the following link Modeling and Analysis Tools
© Adrián Blanco 2005 — Prohibited the total or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —