V8 Auto Racing

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#6699CC" TEXT="#080000" background="04cb85a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >V8 Auto Racing</FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HotV8"><B>home</B></A><B>               </B>back to  <A HREF="auto_news.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Auto News"><B>Auto News</B></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="sports_car_buyers_guide.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sports Car Buyers Guide">Sports Car Buyers Guide</A>   |   <A HREF="auto_classifieds.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Auto Classifieds">Auto Classifieds</A>   |   <A HREF="auto_news.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Auto News">Auto News</A>   |   <A HREF="car_chat.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="CAR Chat">CAR Chat</A>   |   <A HREF="contact_us.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us">Contact Us</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=250 BGCOLOR="#BBBBBB" TEXT="#080000" background="04efa043.gif"> <div> <A HREF="horsepower.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Horsepower">Horsepower</A></div> <div> <A HREF="indy_500.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Indy 500">Indy 500</A></div> <div> <B>V8 Auto Racing</B></div> <div> <A HREF="electric_car_racing.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Electric Car Racing">Electric Car Racing</A></div> <div> <A HREF="nascar.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="NASCAR">NASCAR</A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#DDDDDD" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Also See:</B></div> <div> <A HREF="ford_999.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ford 999">Ford 999 Race Car</A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.Autoextremist.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.Autoextremist.com">Autoextremist.com</A>, Inc.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="111908a0.jpg" border=0 width="400" height="394" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> From the World Famous Ford FlatHead V8 to . . .</div> <div>  <img src="HTMLobj-274/aniGif.gif" alt="HOT" border="0" align="bottom" width="100" height="100">  </div> <div> AbbrH</div> <div> <IMG SRC="10ea5ce0.jpg" border=0 width="421" height="206" ALT="AbbrH hydrogen Sports Car" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Hydrogen Fuel Cell V8 - WiFi - Popup Roll Bar</div> <div> <IMG SRC="11049370.jpg" border=0 width="329" height="311" ALT="Stoddard Dayton Motors" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>SPEED</B></div> <div> As drivers and engineers have always known, the true measure of a scary-fast car is its power-to-weight ratio: A 300-horsepower sports car at a svelte 3,000 pounds (one horsepower to motivate every 10 pounds) will whip a 4,500-pound sedan with the identical 300-horsepower engine, because the sedan saddles each horsepower with 15 pounds.</div> <bR> <div> So with a nod to Mother Nature and father physics, our top 10 ranks cars that combine crushing power with the slimmest weight.</div> <div> To keep things simple, we've expressed the ratio in pounds-per-horsepower: All things equal, a car with a lower number will pack more punch</div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="11426770.jpg" border=0 width="550" height="375" ALT="Hydrogen Electric Racing Federation" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="6" VSPACE="0">Editors note</B></div> <div> <I>It can't happen soon enough."</I> - From <B>"The Chief Marketing Officer's Handbook for Self-Destruction."</B> </div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.Autoextremist.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.Autoextremist.com">Autoextremist.com</A>, Inc</div> <bR> <div> The Autoextremist unveiled the Hydrogen Electric Racing Federation as a compelling first step into the realm of on-track competition for hydrogen electric fuel cell-powered racing machines in a speech entitled "The Future of Racing"TM at The Townsend Hotel in suburban Birmingham, on January 10th.</div> <bR> <div> <B>They came, they saw, they nodded, they took notes, they patted us on the head (and then they scrambled to make their own green pronouncements), but at the end of the day, they didn't do a damn thing.</B> </div> <bR> <div> Speaking to an impressive gathering of leading auto industry executives from Audi, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota, senior executives from Bridgestone-Firestone and Michelin, as well as such motor sports luminaries as Tony George, the CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Racing League, and Scott Atherton, President and CEO of the American Le Mans Series, Peter had this to say:<B> "We are at the dawn of a new age of propulsion for the automobile.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>From this day forward, we will see internal combustion engines in automobiles inevitably give way to electric power sources.</B></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="115265f0.jpg" border=0 width="550" height="351" ALT="Hydrogen 500 logo car" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="6" VSPACE="0">And whether these take the form of electric vehicles with an internal combustion engine (ICE) assist, full electric plug-in vehicles, or electric vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells - we are at the crossroads of the future of the automobile as we know it.</div> <bR> <div> The time has come for the automobile industry to embrace the future vigorously - and in no uncertain terms.</div> <bR> <div> The concept of racing hydrogen fuel cell-powered machines is unprecedented and historic, simply because for the first time in many, many years, racing will undertake a key role in the development of radical new technologies for production vehicles that are still on the horizon."</div> <bR> <div> "With the electrification of the automobile at hand, racing needs a new idea," Peter continued. "It is time for the automobile industry to take its advanced research away from the reassuring glare of the computer screen and out of the sterile environment of the research laboratory, and let innovation and technical creativity run free and unfettered on the racetrack - with the most advanced automotive technology in the world - hydrogen electric fuel cell-powered vehicles.</div> <bR> <div> I believe it is time to press the 'reset' button for racing. Not only to usher in a new era of creativity and innovation to the sport, but also to enable racing to take its rightful place again as the principal conduit for the transference of advanced technologies and innovations directly to our future production vehicles." </div> <bR> <div> Peter then introduced the "Hydrogen 500"TM - a concept developed specifically for machines powered by hydrogen electric fuel cells. The plan was to have the Hydrogen Electric Racing Federation present on-track competition for electric vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells beginning in 2009, with additional races, including international events in 2010 and 2011.</div> <bR> <div> Peter closed his remarks by saying: "The onset of the electrification of the automobile is presenting us with a rare, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to accelerate the development schedule of the hydrogen electric fuel cell-powered vehicle, while at the same time allowing us to reinvent and reposition the sport of racing to be more relevant than it has been in decades. I'm confident that we will look back on this historic day and see it for the truly momentous event that it was - the day when the Future of Racing was born." </div> <bR> <div> The manufacturers and everyone else in attendance all agreed that it was a visionary concept and that it was the "right" thing to do, but as we would come to find out later no one wanted to be the first to commit. Rather, they all wanted to wait for the <I>other</I> guy to commit first.</div> <bR> <div> Which was mystifying, to say the least, considering that everything associated with the urgent development going on right now for our future transportation platforms - battery capacity and durability, electronic support systems, regenerative braking, not to mention fuel cell storage, refueling, range and a host of other engineering items associated with electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars - would benefit greatly from actually racing with the hardware.</div> <bR> <div> As everyone knows, development is accelerated under racing conditions. Problems have to be solved <I>now,</I> not six months from now, and there's no time to take a meeting or hand-wring over an issue if you want to make the starting grid. The HERF concept created a forum for the manufacturers to not only accelerate their development schedules, but to learn important lessons that would transfer directly to our future production vehicles. </div> <bR> <div> An opportunity lost?</div> <div> Or one that has just been put on hold? We shall see. In the meantime, we're still actively working with the manufacturers to turn the concept into reality by the 2011-2012 time frame.</div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.Autoextremist.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.Autoextremist.com">Autoextremist.com</A>, Inc.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>