The 10 Best Upcoming Technologies
With technology always marching steadily forward, it’s important to take a look at the new systems and materials that will make their way into your new car in the near future. Expect to see the items on this list in the next five years or so.
- Enhanced Stability Control – Stability control has been around in some form or another for over a decade now, with the newest iterations taking advantage of individual wheel braking to prevent loss of traction. With the abundance of new active-steering systems, we could see the car taking control of the wheel all together to prevent accidents, in the near future.
- Blind Spot and Lane Departure Detection Systems – Everyone has accidentally drifted out of their lane before. Or missed the car cruising in their blind spot. But in the next few years, those problems may be a thing of the past as front-mounted cameras monitor the markings on the road and radar keeps tabs on your blind spots. If you signal a lane change into an occupied section of road, or veer out of your own lane, warning lights will alert you.
- Advanced Cruise Control – A few high-end luxury cars already sport this option. Radar and lasers monitor the distance between your car and the vehicle in front of it and automatically adjusts speed to maintain a safe following distance. Some are even able to brake to a complete stop. In the future, far looking cameras will be able to improve functionality and decrease cost.
- Smart Lighting – These days it’s not uncommon for headlights to shift direction according to steering input to increase visibility around curves and dim high-beams in the face of oncoming traffic. Soon, LED lamps will be able to change beam shape depending on driving conditions and flash quickly to signal hard braking. Unfortunately, lighting standards and regulations will have to be changed before these new technologies can be widely integrated.
- In-Car TV and Internet – The technology exists, but the receiving equipment is expensive and cumbersome. But with the rapidly improving communications equipment, price and convenience is expected to improve in a short time. On-board on-demand may soon be a reality.
- Compression Ignition – New diesel engines that meet emissions standards are rolling off the line, using urea (a new chemical compound) injections. Soon, better ignition types will combine the efficiency of diesel with the power and lower emissions of gasoline engines.
- Recycled Cars – Currently, old tires and automotive plastics find a final resting place in overstressed landfills. But a process exits to make the garbage useful again. The organic molecules that make up much of these products will be pressure-cooked at over 500 degrees Fahrenheit rendering a by-product that can be refined into gasoline.
- New Turbos and Superchargers – Current generation technologies allow small engines to produce lots of power. Combining the two in one iteration or another could eliminate turbo lag at low speeds and supercharger drag and high speeds.
- Nanotechnology – Today, superfine particles measuring less than a billionth of a meter are used in scratch resistant paint and similar coatings. Eventually, nanotechnology could be used in creating faster and smaller computers, brining forth the next generation in on-board computers and electronics.
- Electric Suspension – These days, some high-end suspension systems use shocks with magnetically controlled fluids to provide “active-damping” over rough surfaces and in high-speed cornering. The Bose Company promises that their breakthrough in “electromagnetic rams” will provide a greater range in damping and variability than ever seen before.
Did You Know? – The BMW Z3 was the first German car to be manufactured exclusively outside of Germany. |
The Concession Stand
(Talk shop with Matt Thornton at the concession stand.)
Dear Matt,
I own an E46 BMW and I’m sick of the uneven tire wear. I took it to my local shop, but the technicians said that they couldn’t change the camber for me. Is there any way to stop the tire wear?
Aaron Smalls
Aaron,
The technicians weren’t entirely right. They can change the camber for you – to an extent - to help even out the wear on your tires. However, I’m not surprised that they were reluctant to do so. The negative camber on all modern BMW is a large part of what enables such heavyweight cars to handle so well. Heavy cornering will balance the uneven tire wear to an extent. But changing the camber on your E46 would have a subsequent effect on the cars ability to corner at high speeds. The mechanics at the shop were probably just trying to avoid some type of lawsuit.
Matt T.
NFC Automotive Glossary
Terms surrounding the world of cars
Camber
The angle between the vertical axis of the wheel and the vertical axis of the vehicle. Negative camber (when the bottom of the wheel is further out than the top) is best for high spend driving.
Downforce
A vertical force, produced by airflow around an object (such as a car) directed downward for better grip.
Sump
A space in the engine block where oil drains. Usually located under the crankshaft.
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