I think everyone would have thought of bucket seats whenever the brand Recaro comes into picture. But this time its for your child !

So this a a new line of ProSeries for different size of children and also position in your car. As you can see on the designs above, i think they are really emphasizing on the safety of the child’s head.

See below for the press release :

RECARO Launches ProSERIES Child Safety Seats to Provide Maximum Comfort and Safety for Children

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – August 5, 2010 – RECARO, the international leader in automobile, racecar and child safety seat technology and a leading innovator in side impact protection, is introducing the ProSERIES line of car seats to protect your most precious passengers. The ProSERIES is the latest addition to the popular car seat manufacturer’s line of child seats based on RECARO’s race-track proven mobile seating technology.

The new ProSERIES line includes the ProRIDE, the ProSPORT and the ProBOOSTER seats each specifically designed to deliver comfort and safety as your child grows. Each seat is now available through retailers nationwide.

“RECARO’s new ProSERIES seats are designed to not only deliver maximum protection, but the ultimate in comfort for the entire time a child is required to be in a car seat,” said Jonathan Sieber, director of Sales & Marketing for RECARO North America. “We have already received a significant amount of positive feedback from parents that appreciate not only the ProSERIES’ safety design, but its great looks and overall ease-of-use. RECARO was also able to achieve a 90-pound harness weight capacity on the ProSPORT which is the highest available in its class.”

“Every year, thousands of children are tragically injured or killed in motor vehicle crashes. In fact, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children age 3 and older in the United States. Securing your children properly in age and size appropriate child safety seats – in the back seat of your vehicle, is the most effective thing you can do to protect them in the event of a crash” according to NHTSA (the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). That is why the ProSERIES was designed as a series of seats that help protect your child as they grow.

Combined, the ProSERIES line can accommodate children from as low as 5 pounds all the way to 120 pounds. The new ProRIDE convertible seat allows parents to use the seat when their children need to face the rear and then turn it to face forward as their little one grows. The seat is designed for children from 5-70 pounds and 50 inches in height or less. The RECARO ProSPORT is a combination harness to booster car seat appropriate for children weighing between 20 and a “Best in Class” 90 pounds when used in harness mode and 30 to 120 pounds when used in booster mode. A child must also be less than 59 inches tall to use the ProSPORT. The RECARO ProBOOSTER is for children from 30 to 120 pounds and from 37 to 61 inches in height. This innovative seat has 11 head restraint positions.

Assembled in the U.S.A., the ProSERIES is a high-quality child restraint system that provides parents and children the luxury and safety they need for any trip. Parents will appreciate that each of the seats in the ProSERIES incorporates RECARO’s innovative Side Impact Protection system designed to specifically protect each of the 5 vulnerable areas of a child in a side impact collision – head, neck, face, torso and pelvis.

RECARO developed and optimized side impact protection for racecar seats in the 1990’s then adapted their technology for child car seats setting a new standard for premium child safety seats. EPS energy absorbing foam and RECARO’s proprietary structural design combine to provide seating safety, style and comfort once reserved only for the most prestigious automobile and racing seats in the world.

“Every RECARO seat is designed with a blend of our auto racing safety and ergonomic comfort knowledge. Our designers and engineers are parents who can take the next generation production car technology and incorporate it in today’s child car seats. Parents expect the best in safety and design and we believe RECARO is uniquely positioned to deliver both,” said Sieber.

Each RECARO ProSERIES seat encompasses the extreme features of energy absorbing crash technology and soft wear-resistant padding . The seats are evaluated in the company’s seating competency centers in both the U.S. and Europe and through independent agencies including the globally respected ADAC. RECARO recently celebrated its 100th anniversary and was named one of the “Brands of the Century” in 2009.

“RECARO has taken from more than 100 years of automotive experience to engineer the ProSERIES seats,” said Sieber.

RECARO ProSERIES Features

o RECARO’s Side Impact Protection. Designed to protect each of the five vulnerable areas of a child in a side impact crash including their head, neck, face, torso and pelvis.

o Best in Class Harness Weight. At 90 pounds the ProSPORT has the highest weight capacity available for a 5-Point harness seat.

o (EPS) Energy Absorbing Foam. Expanded Polystyrene “EPS” foam absorbs crash force energy through each seat for added protection.

o QuickLift: Head Restraint. Convenient lift lever allows easy positioning of the ProSPORT head restraint to properly fit your child.

o CoolMesh Air Ventilation. This unique material allows for air to pass through key areas in each seat improving ventilation and air flow.

o EasyAdjust: 5-Point Harness. RECARO’s harness adjusts with the head restraint. No re-threading is necessary to properly position the harness shoulder straps to a child, perfect for every day use.

o QuickPull: Front Adjust Harness. Convenient frontally located harness adjuster for no hassle harness adjustment.

o EasyGuide: Belt Guides. Whether in Harness or Booster mode each belt guide is color coded so you can easily identify the proper belt path and positioning of either the LATCH strap or vehicle seat belt.

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Viper has come out with three different module for the three leaders in smartphone. Naming them Viper SmartStart Module and System, you can now have a GUI on your phone to control your car just like your remote control key.

Basically you can do lock, unlock, remote car starter, trunk release and panic button virtually anywhere. Viper SmartStart is using GPRS network to communicate with your car, so only carriers in US had made a deal with them. Just wondering if there will be any problem if there is no network at all.

The app for your Android, iPhone or Blackberry is free but the SmartStart Module or SmartStart System will cost USD299 and USD499 respectively. Also there will be a cost of USD29.99/year after the first year. It is quite cheap as you are basically maintaining another mobile phone line there.

For more information visit Android SmartStart, Apple iPhone SmartStart,  or Black SmartStart page.

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These are the pair of “eyes” that you will have in the Subaru. Dubbed the “New Eyesight”, its Subaru’s driving assist system with the use of stereo camera innovations.

These eyes will make automatically slow down your vehicle if it “see” that there are objects in front. In technical terms they call it “Pre-collision braking control”. For a moment this looked like those Camera technology where they have facial recognition, i guess they incorporate that tech into the eyes.

Also in the “New Eyesight” system there is the “Adaptive Cruise control with all-speed range tracking function where it will keep your car at a safe distance from the other cars.

I think this tech is somewhat similar with Volvo’s pedestrian detection posted earlier, guess everyone is stressing a lot on safety, which is good for us consumers

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I went to service my car and do alignment last week and i saw these bunch of tires lying outside the alignment shop. Took down this picture to remind myself to take care of my tires.

I think it will be quite a bad thing if i have worn tires like this and travelling on the highway….. You can’t save on tires, if they are worn beyond the safety line, please do change them.

Do check your tire condition periodically, it saves your money on tire changes and also might save your life !

I am checking my tire pressure every 2 weeks just to ensure that the pressure is right and do rotation every 5000km.

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Electro-Static causing injuries during refuelling :

1-    In the majority of cases the people had re-entered their cars when the hose was still pouring petrol out (the danger of the triggers on the nosepieces). When they finished refuelling and got out to remove the hose pistol the fire began, as a result of the static electricity.

2-    The majority of those affected used rubber-soled footwear and clothes of synthetic fibres.

3-    Never use mobile phones when filling up with fuel.

4-    It is well known that it is the vapour that comes from the petrol that burns and causes the fire when it makes contact with static charges.

5-    In twenty-nine of the cases analysed, the people re-entered their vehicles and later touched the pistols during the petrol fuelling process. This happened in cars of different varieties of makes and models.

6-    Seventeen fires occurred before, during or immediately after the cap of the petrol tank was removed and before starting to fill up with petrol.

7-    The static charge often results from when a passenger rubs their clothes against the upholstery of the seats on getting in or out of the vehicle. To avoid this, it is recommendable that NOBODY gets in or out of the vehicle while the petrol is being poured in. Movement in or out should only be done BEFORE starting, or when the fuelling is finished and the petrol cap placed.

8-    MAXIMISE THE PRECAUTIONS if the petrol has spilt or splashed onto the ground. Highly inflammable vapours are immediately produced which can be ignited by sparks of static electricity from the turning on of electronic equipment (mobile phones, remote controls, etc.) or by the ignition of the vehicle itself. BEFORE starting up the engine again, the spilt petrol must be gathered or neutralised by the petrol station staff.

So in Short :

IN YOUR VEHICLE:         Stop, put the handbrake on and turn off the engine, radio and lights

NEVER:                    Never return to your vehicle while you are pouring in fuel.

AS A PRECAUTION:       Get used to closing the car door on getting out or into the vehicle and in this way the static electricity will be discharged on touching something metallic.

After closing the door TOUCH THE METAL PART OF THE BODYWORK before touching the petrol pump pistol. By doing this the static electricity in your body will be discharged on the metal and not on the pistol. 

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Then we have the ‘Start’ button ignition system that I first saw it on a Honda S2000 years back and it is still pretty exclusive until these days whereby mid-range cars start to have them as well. The cheapest I have seen in Malaysia would be the Naza Kia Forte which is at the price of RM75,800.

Like all new technology, there is pros and cons. It seems that there are problem faced by people whereby the engine does not starts or worst, they do not know that their engine are left running for hours.

Also in terms of emergency whereby you wants to shut down your engine, get to know this steps to stop your engine as different manufacturer tends to have different method of shutting down the engine.

Have you encounter any of this before?

Source: LATimes

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Developed for almost 10 years, the Pedestrian Detection system enables the car to automatically brake if a pedestrian is detected to be in front of the car. But if the car is travelling more than 25km/h, the system will reduce the speed of the car as much as possibile to minimise damage.

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This looks just tooooo good !!!!

VW says that the Golf VI will be the first in their compact class fleet to receive LED rear lights ! I am very keen on LED lights and this really makes your car stand out more at night !

Volkswagen Press release :

Trendsetter Golf: For the first time in the compact class, LED rear lights will now be offered on the Volkswagen compact: A concise night design is standard equipment on the Golf R, and on the Golf GTI and GTD it is available as an option for 350 Euros. A fitting added feature: Bi-Xenon headlights offer a significant plus in safety and convenience.
Each smoked rear light consists of two curved right angles, each angle containing eleven LEDs; each of these angles forms the outer border for a distinctive LED center dot. With a total of 48 LEDs, this characteristic light signature makes the highest-performance Golf of all times easy to recognize in the dark. In daylight, another notable feature immediately comes into view: The low, white stripe defining the lower border of the rear light creates a very uniform visual surface. The overall impression is harmonious and high-end.

LED rear lights are more than just a clear signal      Send through Y!M               E-mail this
Volkswagen Golf LED Rear Lights Gallery: Volkswagen Golf LED Rear Lights
of a sporty Golf. They are practically maintenance-free and impressively fast. Their response time to brake activation is 0.2 second faster than that of conventional incandescent lights. This difference can save lives: at a speed of 100 km/h it is equivalent to 5.6 meters braking distance.

Another safety and convenience feature are the Bi-Xenon headlights with dynamic cornering light that vary the lighting direction as a function of the steering angle, and dynamic headlight range adjustment. They also adapt the light distribution to their surroundings in city, highway and
freeway driving depending on the car’s speed. For example, in city traffic – up to 35 km/h – the lane boundary on the driver’s side is illuminated much brighter. These headlights are standard on the Golf R and are available on all other Golf models starting at 1,295 Euros.

Comments

• August 16, 2010,  Melatonin writes: incandescent light bulbs should be phased out because they waste a lot of electrical energy~~-

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You are looking at the work most expensive SUV, Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Editionthat cost £1million. I suppose this is also the world most strongest armored car that is bulletproof because its exterior is made of Kevlar coating. Some website is even saying they are rocket grenade proof.

But this world’s most expensive SUV is actually a bargain because the manufacturer is throwing in 3 bottles of Russo-Baltique, the world most expensive vodka which the company created earlier this year to celebrate its 100th anniversary. A bottle of this reportedly sold for £790,000 last year, so comparing with the car, the real deal is buying the 3 bottles of Russo-Baltique.

Now back to the SUV, its window are gold plated bulletproof windows, 22′ Kremlin Red Star bulletproof wheels, Tungsteen exhaust, Tungsteen & white gold gauges with diamonds and rubins, white gold diamond & rubins incrusted badges, rogue acoustic audio system and not to forget the finest leather seats that is made form whale penis. I think the last gadget makes me want to have this car too.

In its engine, it is powered by a 8.1-litre GM V8 engine with a 450 horsepower. But not to forget that this are just weight 4 tons. So don’t expect the 450 horsepower to give you speedy power, but it definitely allow you to cruise through a warzone.

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I have always wondered, whether to nitro the tires or not……

They say that the normal air pressure will leak over time, but nitrogen gas can last up to 10 times longer ! Nowadays i always check the tire pressure every month to ensure that the pressure is correct. So does this mean that i don’t have to check the pressure for 10 months ? :p

Also since our weather here nowadays are always raining, it is important that we have properly inflated tires to ensure road grip and safety.

Also sources from Michelin mentioned that an under-inflated tire by 2-3 psi can cause you reduced tire life of 13% and 2% increase in fuel consumption.

So i guess with nitrogen gas, it will help you to reduce the probability of having under-inflated tires.

I heard that normally one shot of nitrogen gas will be about RM 5.00, i am not sure is it for all 4 tires or just one. Will check it out later.

You can also get some information about nitrogen gas for tires  at www.uniflate.com

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