Jon Bentley Archives - cars & life blog

Last one decade we see very interesting concept vehicles as the future of transportation. Segway Ginger was revealed as something state of art and it should have changed the way we mobilise, but it didn’t! Later on, BMW revealed a motorcycle with a decent roof. This was also failed. The failure of future transportation never demotivated people to invent new things.

Last night I watched the Gadget Show on Channel5, which is presented by Jon Bentley. I mention his name because, readers outside of UK can easily remember him from Fifth Gear and Top Gear. There are four more people on the show :) They don’t involve with car that much but they show something technologies for future transportation. And in last episode, Pollyanna Woodward drove or wore or rode something which allows to mobilise human beings. Technically you cannot get into this motorcycle looking vehicle. And it does not have a steering wheel. In addition, it does not have ABS, traction control, electronic stability control, hill hold function, radar guided cruise control, pre crash sensors, parking sensors, rear view camera. Actually you have to do all these things by yourself, because you are the vehicle.

This interesting thing works with electric motor and it can either rear wheel or front wheel, depends on your mood! As a result of this, you can have enjoyment of oversteering and feel the excitement in your internal organs! And all these happens with a small tire. The reality of the vehicle is, you sit on the tire and your weight determines the level of traction :)

It is the funniest looking vehicle I have ever seen. If you want to ride or drive in sitting position, you have to sit on the tire and create a very unique look and motivate people to look at you. In the meantime, you can oversteer in this position but I would not recommend. The consequences are definitely catastrophic and you will be on the cover of the newspapers. Moreover, you must be extremely careful while trying to move forward on hills. If you cannot manage to go straight, keep in mind you are sitting above the engine and tire. Try not to crash! It would not be very pleasant.

This unfortunate condition may happen again, if someone crashes you from the back. As the vehicle does not have anything to protect you, the result is going to be terrible. Good part, your feet are the steering wheel and you can show your Formula One style driving ability in everywhere.

If you are planning to live your life in danger and find some excitement, this is your vehicle. Or just buy a Fiat 500 cabrio or Smart. They are small, efficient and you don’t have any serious risks while driving :) However, it is still state of art design and technology. I am sure that, it will be presented in technology museum in future. Moving the traction wheel from rear to front while driving is something innovative.

Here is the link for the video: http://fwd.channel5.com/gadget-show/videos/feature/flyrad

Pictures’ Copyrights

Fiat, FlyRad

Four years ago on Fifth Gear Jon Bentley drove something very extra ordinary! Actually the car was not that extra ordinary but its ability was extra ordinary. It was a normal VW Golf GTi. I know, that’s not something very special. You can see Golf GTi anytime on street!

However, there was something different underneath this Golf! It was cleaver :) Thanks to its laser radar, Golf is able to learn what the obstacles are around! And Golf was not doing this just to show off. It was doing this to learn its path which will be driven by its own. This Golf had an auto pilot, like an air plane and unlike air plane you don’t have to take off by yourself. You just need to start the engine. Anyway, this prototype model was designed to go around cones!

Now it is 2010 and VW did not go on wintersleep for four years. They really worked hard with Stanford University. And the result is; a VW Passat Estate which is able to make a J turn and park itself. Yes, the cleaver boys from Standford spend their hours to calculate how to make a J turn with computer. Actually, they could have asked many people it is not that complicated. Anyway, they formulated as F = m a. Honestly, I don’t know how they manage to shortened this manoeuvre with only three letter :)

In the end, they manage to make this complicated maneuver with the help of silicone chips :) What we learn from these experiences? Silicons are not only used for making boobs bigger; VW never sleeps for long time and in future if Microsoft makes a car, we would probably hitting to each other in every second :)

Honestly, VW and Stanford University made a remarkable excellent job :) Even if we trained to do that turn, we cannot learn that quickly!

Pictures are taken from;

VW Website