In 2004, Cadillac came out with the high performance CTS-V to compete with European sport sedans. The car has been known for its high performance engine with a high power output. The CTS-V’s direct competitors are the BMW M3 and the M5 as well as the Mercedes-Benz C55 AMG and the E55 AMG. Since it is going up against some strong competition, it is a given that General Motors will improve its performance for future model years.

For the 2009 model year, there have been rumors in the auto industry that the CTS-V will be equipped with a supercharged engine. Speculations about the presence of a supercharger for the CTS-V came after photos of the prototype CTS-V came out. The hood of the prototype has a bulge which suggests that a supercharger was hidden somewhere under the hood of the car.

One speculation as to the powerplant of the 2009 CTS-V is that it is equipped with a supercharged variant of the 430-horsepower LS3 engine used in the 2008 Chevrolet Corvette. While another claim is that aside from a supercharger, the engine is also equipped with a Cadillac cold air intake system.

Another theory is that the Cadillac CTS-V will be equipped with a tuned down version of the 700-hosrsepower LS7 engine which will be used on the Corvette Z07. This means that the Cadillac CTS-V may have an engine with a power output of just 600 hp.

According to Edmunds.com though, the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V will not be supercharged but will use a Corvette engine just the same. The leading online source of auto information said that come 2008, the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V will be introduced in the market equipped with a 7.0-liter naturally aspirated LS7 engine.

The said engine can produce as much as 505 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque. The said power output is expected to give a remarkable acceleration and a high top speed for the 3,800 pound car. According to Edmunds, the engine that will be used on the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V is similar to the ones used by BMW in the E63 AMG. The advantage that the Cadillac has on the BMW is that the E63 AMG weighs about 4,000 pounds.

Meanwhile, the relationship between Cadillac and the Corvette takes another step in promoting the brands by making an appearance at this year’s Motorexpo which will be held from the eleventh up to the seventeenth of this month. The event will be held at London’s Canary Wharf.

Among the vehicles that will be displayed at the event are the Corvette Z06 Ron Fellows Edition and the right hand drive Cadillac SRX. Joining these two vehicles is the other right hand drive Cadillac model which is the Cadillac BLS. A left hand drive Cadillac Escalade will also grace the event with its presence.

The Corvette Z06 Ron Fellows Edition car was designed to celebrate Ron Fellows’ contribution to the Corvette racing program. The said limited edition car is equipped with an LS7 V8 engine mated to a six-speed transmission. The power from the said engine propels the car from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 3.8 seconds. It has a top speed of 199 miles per hour.

If you are looking for high performance braking, then slotted brake rotors are the best option for you. These rotors make use of slots that are fitted inside the flat surface. This is done so that gas, heat and water are directed away from the surface. These slots actually work like irrigation ditches that work towards removing the unwanted materials. However, given the nature of the slots, you may need to change the brake pads quite frequently.

How do slotted rotors work?

These rotors work by heating up the pads. The surface of the rotor is wiped by the slots, thus forcing unwanted gas and other materials to escape through these slots. This gas emission through the slots improves the overall performance of the brakes. In addition to this, these rotors greatly enhance braking during wet weather. This is done by the prevention of hydroplaning amongst the pad and the rotor.

Who will benefit from a slotted rotor?

High performance cars are the ones that need these slotted brake rotors due to the immense stress that is exerted on the rotors. If you are a racer or have a knack for the high performance car, you should go for the slotted rotors. Drilled rotors, in comparison to the slotted ones, are much weaker and hence the preference. If you use your car just for casual purposes like commuting to office or simply going for a long ride without putting any extra pressure on your engine, then you may opt for the drilled variety. Slotted brake rotors are more durable although with their own set of imperfections.

The brake pads supporting the slotted rotors may tend to break or wear down very quickly owing to the pressure. This maybe the reason why drilled rotors are more common among regular drivers while slotted rotors are popular with high performance car drivers. So, if you are a racecar driver, your preference should be a slotted rotor while you could save your drilled rotor for regular driving.

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Acura is known as one of the many brands of the Japanese carmaker, Honda. Acura, though, distinguishes itself from the rest with the reputation it has garnered through its cars. As the luxury division of Honda, Acura has been widely recognized for providing the consumer public with vehicles that never fail to demonstrate compelling performance. Engine power is at a high, as always. Comfort, too, is a given when Acura cars are involved. Indeed, comfort is its middle name of a considerable number of Acura car models and one can be sure that these cars will never fail to deliver in this regard.

Efficiency is another quality of Acura cars as well. This often makes Acura parts stand out from all the others. Parts like the Acura Fan Clutch, for example, can always be counted on to afford commendable performance. Indeed, great are the minds behind the invention of the fan clutch. Designed to provide much needed cooling for the engine, the Acura Fan Clutch is that small fluid coupling component that comes along with a thermostatic device which controls the variable-speed fan, in turn. This guarantees that the fan will rotate at just the proper speed to keep engine of the car from overheating.

Also, when the engine is cool or at normal operating temperature, the Acura Fan Clutch is designed to partially disengage the mechanically-driven radiator cooling fan of the engine. This cooling fan is typically located at the front of the water pump. It is normally driven by a belt and pulley linked to the engine’s crankshaft. The partial disengagement of the cooling fan allows the Acura Fan Clutch to conserve power so the engine does not have to unnecessarily spend energy.

The function of the Acura Fan Clutch though is not limited to these. If the temperature of the air circulating through the radiator rises and the heat alerts a bimetal coil spring to “uncoil” or expand, chances are, a wee bit of oil may have found its way intot he fluid coupling. When this occurs, happens, it’s the duty of the fluid coupling from the Acura Fan Clutch to start rotating the fan. But when the temperature is cool, what happens is the exact opposite of the process. The coil springs contract, letting the oil leave the fluid coupling and then the fan slows down. With this function occurs, the Acura Fan Clutch naturally slows down, decreases fuel consumption, creates less noise, and saves the power of the engine. Thus, luxurious looks, comfortable seats, and impressive features are not all responsble for Acura’s reputation of luxury. Performance, drive, engine power, and definitely parts like the Acura Fan Clutch also have a great deal to do with it.

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A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a RISC processor used in video game systems and computers for calculating the graphical output for monitors. GPUs are used at manipulating and displaying computer graphics. GPUs are a part of mother board or they can come along with video cards. Graphic accelerators are a part of GPU also. High performance GPU computing involves solving advanced computational problems using supercomputers and computer clusters. GPU computing includes all tasks that a graphics processing unit can calculate.

In GPU computing the CPU calculations are replaced by Graphics Processing Units. Migrating large scale algorithms and entire kernel onto the GPU co-processors help in arriving at the answer much faster and thus decreases the processing time. GPUs are never a complete replacement for CPUs but complementary. Parallel operation of CPU and GPU has found to increase the performance. CPU’s offload the tasks which are better performed by GPU leading to high performance computing. GPU excel CPU’s in certain computational tasks.

A GPU’s processing power is mostly used while dealing with 3D scenes and video. The GPU computing for a graphics task such as rendering a 3D scene involves many stages like vertex processing, vertices grouping, fragment processing and mathematical operations. GPU computing is also known as General Purpose Computation on Graphics Processing Unit. Acceleration of video and picture editing, artificial intelligence and physics calculations come under the tasks of GPU computing.

GPU uses Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) to communicate with the mother board of a computer. Programmable shaders capable of manipulating vertices and textures are supported by latest GPUs. Very high precision color spaces, over sampling and interpolation techniques to reduce aliasing are also supported by GPU. GPU can process multiple independent vertices and fragments in parallel. Moreover a variety of computational resources are available on the GPU.

Multi-GPU’s are also available and are generally used in high-end home computers to accelerate computer games. Multi-GPU systems use more than one GPU. An example of multi-GPU system is Nvidia which can make a PC perform 250 times faster than usual. Not only that but by making use of the CUDA architecture which is made up ofhundreds of processors cores data set can be easily crunched via the application. General Purpose computing on graphics processing unit uses a GPU to perform computation in applications traditionally handled by CPUs. Additional programmable stages are included to make this happen. The general Purpose Computing on GPU(GPGPU)has cleared new ways in diverse fields like scientific image processing, oil exploration, linear algebra and 3D reconstruction.

GP GPUs are used in computer clusters, physics engines, FFT, audio signal processing, digital image processing, bioinformatics, scientific computing, DSP, neural networks and many more. GPU computing CUDA was developed by Nvidia. AMD has announced a super computer based on GPU which will be built of more than thousand GPUs. This supercomputer will have a computing power of one petaflop. The processing power of GPUs have further increased due to the advent of OpenGL API and similar functionalities in DirectX. Intel, AMD/ATI, NVIDIA and S3 Graphics are some of the players in the market who produce GPUs. Many companies are now engaged in researches to find out the further benefits of GPU computing.

This sight has significant role because it gives you the information about buying recommendations for auto and marine engines or motors. You can get the public and automotive professionals and low cost rebuilt engines. You get the engines for Chevy, jeep, Toyota, Dodge Chrysler. You should not buy a short-life used engine because it gives you lot of problems instead of that you should buy a remanufactured engine so that it will last many more years.

You can get some troubleshooting tips and advice through this site http://www.rebuiltautoengines.com/. in order to save your time, energy and money. You can also read some articles from article collection before you install or repair an engine. You can get some descriptive information not only on many engine problems but also on solutions.

This site www.rebuiltautoengines.com also guides you through the installation guide and through question and answer section. This installation guide includes questions, which are related to installing a particular rebuilt engine. You can get a list of mechanics and auto repair shops through this site in order to get the best experience while buying and installing a remanufactured engine. You can get the directory, which is made of professional companies that will guide you to install an engine in a cost-effective way. With the help of this directory, you will become sure about the performance of your engine.

With the help of this site, you can get the summary data of most popular engines such as Chevy 350- It is a GM gas engine, which is made with 8 cylinder, V8 block, 5.7 liters or 350bcubic inch displacement. Many GM cars, sport utility vehicles, UPS trucks and pickups such as Chevy Camaro, corvette use this Chevy 350 engine. It can be installed on various Cadillac, GMC, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac automobiles.

It will also provides you information on Ford 5.0 engine which is a ford 5.0L engine which is made of 8 cylinder, V-8 block, gasoline fuel injected with engine size of 5.0L/302 Cid. Many vehicles such as Ford, Lincoln and mercury vehicles like mustang, F150, F250 and continental and grand marquis, use such kind of engine. The other engine it provides is Jeep 4.0- It is an AMC jeep engine, which is made of 4.0 liter L6 or 6 cylinder, straight block and gasoline fuel injected with engine size of 4.0L/ 242 Cid.

Apart from these engines, this site www.rebuiltautoengines.com also provides some other kinds of engines such as Toyota 2.4- It is a Toyota gasoline engine, which is made of straight block and 2.4 liter or 2366 cubic centimeter engine size. This kind of engine can be used for various Toyota models like 4 Runner, Celica, corona and pick up. The other type of engine is Jeep 2.5- It is an AMC jeep engine, which is made of 2.5 liter, L4 cylinder, straight block, gasoline fuel injected with engine size of 2.5 L/150 Cid. This kind of engine can be used on jeep Cherokee, cJ5, cJ7 Comanche, and Tj and wrangler applications.

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It’s no secret that Ford has risen like a meteor in today’s automobile market. With the advent of state-of-the-art technology, Ford Engines are difficult to beat. ALG, an organization that qualifies depreciation in automobiles, noted dramatic increases in both quality and appearance in Ford products which has made Ford a leader in automobile and engine ratings. When a consumer purchases a Ford product, Ford Engines are often the best things about the vehicles. And who doesn’t want to feel the thrill of a great power product when they step into a new vehicle? Ford is very much aware of that and it shows in the design and innovation of Ford Engines.

But what is making Ford Engines so hard to beat? One of Ford’s best qualities is that it doesn’t hesitate to hold off the release of a product if it isn’t perfect out of the gate. Their dedication to quality from day one is evident in the strides they’ve taken to make Ford Engines the best in their class. Through a program called the Quality Leadership initiative, Ford has taken the term “high quality” to a totally different level. Here are a few things that this company has focused on in its development of high performance, quality, consistent Ford Engines.

Ford has been a leader in power products for both on-highway and marine engines for several years. The versatility of Ford Engines have proven to be consistently the best products on the market, with products that work on gasoline, electricity, and dual fuel. The sheer variety of Ford Engines is enough to make any car enthusiast jump for joy, especially in the V-8 category. And nothing is better than one of the many strong, dependable Ford Engines under your hood. Ford made good on its promises in 1932 with the the first flathead V-8 that quickly became the first mass-produced V-8 engine and continues to produce exciting products such as its highly-anticipated EcoBoost engine that will be released in or around 2012. This, like all of the Ford Engines, promises to increase fuel economy and performance output with a possible 20% increase in fuel economy. For those consumers who are mindful of the environment, they will love the EcoBoost engine for its 15% decrease in CO2 emissions.

New designs and upgrades have made Ford Engines a compelling reason to buy Ford products, and consumers have not missed that fact. In a survey by JD Power and Associates, several Ford products are top-rated, including the Mercury Milan, which was rated as the top mid-size sedan this year. The Ford Duratec engine, produced in the last five years, is an example of a engine that is both creative in design and consistent in quality. With impressive horsepower and an increased 2.5 L version that will go into many 2009 Ford products, this Ford Engine doesn’t disappoint. With a range from 4, 6 to 12 cylinder gasoline engines, Duratec Ford Engines can be seen in vehicles that range from the Ford Fiesta to the Ford Fusion.

So if you’re in the market for a new car and you want a dependable, high quality vehicle with great power, look no further than a vehicle with one of the fantastic Ford Engines. As the ratings, consumer reports, and car enthusiasts can attest, there is nothing better than a Ford Engine under the hood of your next new vehicle. In today’s world, the reputation of a quality car maker is made or broken by the opinions of its customers, and Ford has made many customers very happy.

I want to introduct something about Dry Chrome Color Wheel. Model No: Yellow Wheel NEW TECHNOLOGY USING DRY CHROME WHEELS CAN BE COLORFUL

Engine efficiency of thermal engines is the relationship between the total energy contained in the fuel, and the amount of energy used to perform useful work. There are two classifications of thermal engines- (1) Internal combustion (gasoline, diesel and gas turbine, ie., Brayton cycle engines). (2) External combustion engines (steam piston, steam turbine, and the Stirling cycle engine). Each of these engines has thermal efficiency characteristics that are unique to it.
Modern gasoline engines have an average efficiency of about 25 to 30% when used to power an automobile. In other words, of the total heat energy of gasoline, 70 to 75% is rejected (as heat) in the exhaust or consumed by the motor (friction, air turbulence, heat through the cylinder walls or cylinder head, and work used to turn engine equipment and appliances such as water and oil pumps and electrical generator), and only about 25% of energy moves the vehicle. At idle the efficiency is zero since no usable work is being drawn from the engine. At slow speed (i.e. low power output) the efficiency is much lower than average, due to a larger percentage of the available heat being absorbed by the metal parts of the engine, instead of being used to perform useful work. Gasoline engines also suffer efficiency losses at low speeds from the high turbulence and head loss when the incoming air must fight its way around the nearly-closed throttle; diesel engines do not suffer this loss because the incoming air is not throttled. Engine efficiency improves considerably at open road speeds; it peaks in most applications at around 75% of rated engine power, which is also the range of greatest engine torque (e.g. in the 2007 Ford Focus, maximum torque of 133 foot-pounds is obtained at 4500 RPM, and maximum engine power of 136brake horsepower (101kW) is obtained at 6000 RPM).
Engines using the Diesel cycle are usually more efficient, although the Diesel cycle itself is less efficient at equal compression ratios. Since diesel engines use much higher compression ratios (the heat of compression is used to ignite the slow-burning diesel fuel), that higher ratio more than compensates for the lower intrinsic cycle efficiency, and allows the diesel engine to be more efficient. The most efficient type, direct injection Diesels, are able to reach an efficiency of about 40% in the engine speed range of idle to about 1,800 rpm. Beyond this speed, efficiency begins to decline due to air pumping losses within the engine.
The efficiency depends on several factors, one of which is the compression ratio. Most gasoline engines have a ratio of 10:1 (premium fuel) or 8:1 (regular fuel), with some high performance engines reaching a ratio of 12:1 with special fuels. The greater the ratio the more efficient is the machine. Higher ratio engines need gasoline with higher octane value, which inhibits the fuel’s tendency to burn nearly instantaneously (known as detonation or knock) at high compression/high heat conditions.
It should be noted that at lower power outputs, the effective compression ratio is less than when the engine is operating at full power, due to the simple fact that the incoming fuel-air mixture is being restricted. Thus the effective engine efficiency will be less than when the engine is producing its maximum rated power. One solution to this fact is to shift the load in a multi-cylinder engine from some of the cylinders (by deactivating them) to the remaining cylinders so that they may operate under higher individual loads and with correspondingly higher effective compression ratios. This technique is known as variable displacement.
Diesel engines have a compression ratio between 14:1 to 25:1. In this case the general rule does not apply because Diesels with compression ratios over 20:1 are indirect injection diesels. These use a prechamber to make possible high RPM operation as is required in automobiles and light trucks. The thermal and gas dynamic losses from the prechamber result in direct injection Diesels (despite their lower compression ratio) being more efficient. An engine has many parts that produce friction. Some of these friction forces remain constant (as long as applied load is constant); some of these friction losses increase as engine speed increases, such as piston side forces and connecting bearing forces (due to increased inertia forces from the oscillating piston). A few friction forces decrease at higher speed, such as the friction force on the cam’s lobes used to operate the inlet and outlet valves (the valves’ inertia at high speed tends to pull the cam follower away from the cam lobe). Along with friction forces, an operating engine has pumping losses, which is the work required to move air into and out of the cylinders. This pumping loss is minimal at low speed, but increases approximately as the square of the speed, until at rated power an engine is using about 20% of total power…(and so on) To get More information , you can visit some products about Tie Rod Assembly, Sharp Copier Parts, . The Dry Chrome Color Wheel products should be show more here!

General Motors has announced June 12 the winners of the annual “Boss” Kettering awards, one of GM’s most prestigious engineering achievements. Sixty-eight award winners from thirteen teams are set to be recognized at a ceremony on Tuesday, June 26, at the GM Heritage Center in Sterling Heights, Mich.

The “Boss” Kettering awards are GM’s highest internal recognition for technical innovation. Named after GM’s Charles F. “Boss” Kettering, the first head of GM’s Research and Development Laboratories and the originator of more than 140 patents, the awards honor individuals from every region of the globe whose outstanding inventions and innovations have demonstrated technological leadership and identifiable benefit to General Motors during the previous year.

“Boss Kettering award winners have a unique and important role in our company’s success,” said Jim Queen, GM Group Vice President, Global Engineering. “As stretch thinkers and drivers of innovation, you serve as role models for everyone at GM, displaying the spirit, the determination and the commitment needed to lead the way in the 21st century.”

This year, the award winners highlight GM’s focus on the use of technology to enhance the customer’s overall vehicle experience, increase vehicle safety, reduce product to market lead time, and increase manufacturing efficiency.

2006 “Boss” Kettering Award Winners

(Source: GM)

BELT-ALTERNATOR-STARTER TENSIONER DESIGN

The BAS Hybrid features a dual mode Belt-Alternator-Starter Tensioner that ensures proper belt tension in all hybrid operating modes. This innovative “industry first” design system optimizes overall belt tension and bearing loads at significantly reduced manufacturing cost.

Winner: Paul McVicar and Cynthia Thurston from GM Powertrain Product Engineering.

CARGO MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The unique modular Cargo Management System utilizes three fasteners to attach to GM full-size pick-up trucks. The system does not add additional weight or cost to the vehicle and can be added at the assembly plant, dealership, or as an aftermarket product.

Winner: Brian Jutila from GMNA Product Development.

EMULATION FOR VIRTUAL VALIDATION OF CONTROLLER LOGIC

The Emulation for Virtual Validation of Controller Logic offers engineers the ability to validate controls logic in a virtual environment, minimizing Virtual Validation of Controller Logic technology removes the validation process from the product launch critical path, supporting key launch timing strategy.

Winners: Leandro Barajas, Stephan Biller, Fangming Gu, and Chengyin Yuan from GM Research and Development; and Dan Aufderheide, Jeff Byrnes, Gabriel DeMarco, Mark Emeott, Gerald Gurian and Demet Wood from Controls, Conveyors, Robotics & Welding Manufacturing Engineering.

EXTENDED CAB PICKUP 170 DEGREE REAR DOOR

This innovative invention allows the rear vehicle door to fold almost flat against the pickup truck body with 170 degrees of rotation, enhancing vehicle accessibility. The invention utilizes a hidden hinge system which improves vehicle appearance.

Winner: Brad Pietryga from GMNA Product Development.

INNOVATIVE CURTAIN AIRBAG SYSTEM WITH NEW FIXATION CONCEPT

This new airbag attachment system utilizes “industry first” clips which enable significant cost savings. The implementation of this technology complies with GM’s vehicle safety requirements and supports the EuroNCAP 5- Star rating for this product.

Winners: Frank Bonarens, Matthias Brunner, and Johannes Diehl from GM PE Airbag & Restraint Systems, Steering Wheels, and Labels; Waldemar Medla from GM Europe Vehicle Systems; and Benjamin De Buysscher from GM Belgium NV/Manufacturing Engineering.

MAINTENANCE TOOLBOX DEVELOPMENT FOR GM POWERTRAIN PLANTS

The Maintenance Toolbox is a real-time plant floor decision support tool which provides prioritized maintenance alerts, preventive maintenance opportunity window notification, throughput analysis, prioritized lists of failing machine components based on a total cost approach, and uses predictive maintenance techniques to optimize preventive maintenance intervals. The system enables the identification of machine components that have the largest cost impact considering frequency of failure, downtime and component cost, facilitating maximum manufacturing throughput.

Winners: Venkat Ram Dwibhashyam from GM Powertrain Manufacturing Engineering; Basel Shadid from the GM Powertrain St. Catharine’s Engine Plant; Leandro Barajas, Stephan Biller, Qing Chang, and Guoxian Xiao from GMNA Research & Development; and Pulak Bandyopadhyay from GM Research & Development – India.

MATH BASED POWERTRAIN TESTING & CALIBRATION

The Math Based Powertrain Testing and Calibration process creates a “virtual test cell” from limited test data to produce significantly enhanced Powertrain calibrations. The use of this methodology produces calibrations that fully optimize fuel economy, performance, and quality. This technology provides a means to reduce product to market lead time, reduce cost and improve customer satisfaction via improved powertrain performance.

Winners: Julian Blair, Xu Han, William Howell, Pochuan Hsing, Joseph Kelly, Uday Korde, Rohit Paranjpe, and Xinyu Zhou of GM Powertrain Product Engineering; and Donald Jones from GMNA Product Development.

ONSTAR VEHICLE DIAGNOSTICS

The OnStar Vehicle Diagnostic system enhances customer satisfaction and improves vehicle safety by utilizing a unique set of algorithms to collect key information. Using this information, OnStar sends a personalized e-mail to inform customers of their vehicle maintenance status. Additionally, GM engineers utilize the data to detect and address issues that may occur throughout the vehicle’s lifecycle.

Winners: John Correia, Walter Dorfstatter, Chester Huber, Neelie Kapral, Fahd Laghrari, Shane McCutchen, Christopher Oesterling, Steven Ross, and Steven Samolinski from OnStar.

PARK ASSIST/REAR VIDEO OBJECT OVERLAY

This innovative invention is an integration of Rear Vision and Ultrasonic Rear Parking Assist which is designed to warn drivers of objects located behind the vehicle. It features a visual “caution” symbol that significantly enhances customer satisfaction and safety.

Winners: Charles Green and Kent Lybecker from GMNA Product Development.

REAR END CARRIER “FLEX FIX”

This invention extends the load carrying capacity of the traditional vehicle to the rear exterior section. The load carrier is completely integrated into the vehicle’s rear end design utilizing underbody space. The invention allows the vehicle to extend load capacity without interfering with vehicle maneuverability or compactness.

Winners: Ralf Bechtold and Frank Leopold from the GM Vehicle Architecture & Innovation Center; Hendrick Hofmann from GM PE Body-in-White; Heiko Oetting and Sven Weinfurtner from GM Europe Adam Opel; and Thomas Uhlendorf from GM Europe Reuse Management.

ROBOT DATA EXTRACTION AND VALIDATION TOOL

The Robot Data Extraction and Validation Tool is a robust analytical data- driven methodology utilizing assembly plant robot data to automatically validate manufacturing design intent. The tool drives plant efficiency and improves the quality of the weld verification process by reconciling any discrepancies between the design engineering intent and actual plant floor implementation. Weld verification is a critical process in maintaining the safety and structural integrity of the vehicle.

Winners: Eric Carlson, Laurie Francis-Krentz, Brian Miller, Assolime Santy-Ateyaba, James Singer, and Gary Snavely from GM Manufacturing Engineering; Roland Menassa and Jane Shi from GM Research & Development.

STATE COMPENSATED MISFIRE DETECTION

State compensated misfire detection provides a novel mathematical approach to detecting engine misfire. This invention enabled the detection of misfires on high performance engines without adding significant cost or hardware to the engine.

Winners: Tameem Assaf, David Mathews, and David St. Pierre from GM Powertrain Product Engineering.

TRANSITION CONTROL FOR ENGINE STOP-STARTS

These inventions enable the Belt-Alternator-Starter (BAS) Hybrid to have superior quality engine stop-starts and associated low-speed driveline control, while achieving excellent fuel economy. The inventions make possible a simpler, lower cost hybrid system that reduces the disturbance related to engine stop-starts and is critical to vehicle performance quality.

Winners: William Aldrich III, Birendra Bhattarai, Donald Crites, Tony Hoang, Goro Tamai, James Worthing and Mark Zerbini from GM Powertrain Product Engineering.

General Motors, also maker of quality GMC Sonoma parts, created the “Boss” Kettering award in 1976, on Charles F. Kettering’s 100th birthday to recognize GM researchers, scientists and engineers for bold new ideas and contributions.

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The American market considers the Maxima as one of Nissan’s most significant vehicles. Known originally as the Datsun 810, it officially became “Maxima” in 1982. At the same time, the Datsun brand began its evolution into Nissan. A second-generation Maxima which introduced a front wheel drive V6 became available from 1985 to 1988. The third-generation Maxima later emerged for the 1989 to 1994 model years. During this period, Nissan enjoyed immense product success with the first Nissan Maxima featuring true-blue sporting credentials. Unlike other Japanese mid-sized sedans, the Maxima came with a V6 only and the option to order a manual transmission. An option for a 160-hp V6 was offered for early versions. The 190-hp engine was then presented in 1992 for the Maxima SE. Cars built for the 1995 to 1999 model years made up the fourth generation. For this model of the Maxima, Nissan made room for a greater length, improved the quality of the interior, and introduced a new 190-hp all-aluminum V6 for all trim levels. The handling was not quite as responsive as the previous version and the styling did not appear to be well-received. However, it remained popular due to its desirable combination of utility, performance, and luxury. The years 2000 to 2003 saw the coming of the fifth-generation Maxima. Major developments include the 222 hp from the standard V6, a boost in rear-seat legroom, and a 200-watt Bose audio system. In 2002, a bump in power to 255 hp was added as a distinguishing mark of the Nissan Maxima from the new Nissan Altima.

The Maxima available in the market today is the car’s sixth generation. It is a front-wheel-drive, mid-sized sedan that packs a 255-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 engine. Sending the engine’s power to the front wheels is a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The current model was last redesigned in 2004. Before the 2007 model year came out, the Maxima was packaged with either a 5-speed automatic transmission or a 6-speed manual. Although the horsepower rating is listed as being higher (265) due to a new power rating procedure implemented in 2007, the engine performance is unchanged.

With all the best in technology, design, and luxury manifested in the Nissan Maxima like its excellent features and award -winning V6 engine, it has gained loyal followers around the globe. Nissan has constantly exerted so much effort to make sure that the Nissan Maxima will always be a cut above the rest. Among Nissan’s efforts is the development of superior Nissan Maxima parts like the engine which converts gasoline into motion so that the car can actually move. Unlike other vehicles which use belts to drive the camshafts, the Maxima engine has internal chains for the twin overhead cams to remove the need for regular replacement of the timing belt. As the engine performs one of the most needed functions of a vehicle to keep it in good running condition at all times, it is helpful to ensure good engine lubrication. This can be done by performing timely oil and oil filter changes and using only high quality oil and oil filters. Periodically checking the cooling system, the coolant level, and radiator will also help in preventing the engine from overheating. It is also recommended to perform engine maintenance and tune-up according to the owners’ manual schedule and to immediately eliminate any minor engine defects. Just like the Nissan Maxima parts , there are Nissan Maxima parts accessories that have important roles and therefore deserve proper caring. When these Nissan Maxima parts and accessories , big or small, start showing signs of wearing out or damage, immediate servicing or replacement should be done. One can choose to further improve the performance of the Nissan Maxima by getting only the best quality Nissan Maxima parts and accessories that the market offers.

Are you a tuner? A true tuner that is…or, are you a rice boy?  Yeah, you know what I mean. Serious tuners bring out the power in their cars while rice boys slap on every imaginable part to make their car look like a racer when in fact they are not. So, what does it take to bring out the power in your engine? Not a whole lot! Let’s examine some helpful performance enhancing parts for your vehicle to give it a truly tuned edge.

Sorry for the pejorative term. Enhancing one’s car is a very personal thing and no everyone’s tastes vary. Still, some enhancements add little to the car’s value and can, in fact, take away from its performance. So, here are a few things you can do to add some zap to your engine:

Go Green — Yep. Environmentally sound air filters are where it’s at. For between 40 and 65 bucks you can get the last air filter your car will ever need. Reusable, green air filters like those made by K&N bring out the performance in your car. Made of cotton gauze material, performance air filters increase acceleration and power as it provides excellent filtration. You’ll never have to buy another air filter again!

Chips ‘n Tuners — Get the most out of your engine’s performance by swapping out the power chip that came with your car for one that is truly enhanced. Jet Chips can go a long way to tune your car while a Hypertech tuner can do the same thing. With the latter product, you simply plug the device into your car’s under dash diagnostic connector and follow the instructions on the unit to raise performance. Later, if you want, you can detune your car quickly. Both products are street legal in all fifty U.S. states and will not void new car warranties.

Cold Air Intake — Installing this product will allow your engine to “eat” the air that it wants to eat. Cold air is thicker and denser and just what your engine needs to perform optimally. Install a cold air intake and your car will be “tuned” to accelerate and perform with much more freedom. You’ll like the improvement in looks too as cold air intakes are a real “stand out” in any car’s engine bay. Oh, yeah, get a load of its cool intake sound too!

Amazing Exhaust Systems — A crowd favorite are some of the performance exhaust systems on the market. Borla, for one, offers cat-back exhaust systems and headers made of aircraft durable A-304 stainless steel. This product will help free up your engine’s performance resulting in horsepower gains from 5-15%! Yeah, you’ll have a real edge on the road now! Check out the cool exhaust sound too.

Best of all, all four products I mentioned not only give your car more power, but they will help to increase fuel mileage. That’s right a poorly performing engine actually acts as a drain on fuel economy, so you are actually helping to jack up fuel mileage by installing parts that really can make a difference!