Lamborghini Partners With Medical Engineering Institute for New Study

Carbon fiber is a hugely useful material in terms of decreasing weight and increasing structural rigidity in today’s sports cars. However, it can prove even more invaluable to those that require prosthetic implants and other medical devices that might benefit from lightweight construction.

While carbon fiber construction has been in the medical field for quite some time, these research departments and companies don’t have the intensive expertise that supercar manufacturers have.

Manufacturers like Lamborghini use carbon fiber and have been molding, bending, stretching, and experimenting with it for years. Lamborghini has announced a partnership with Houston Methodist Research Institute that will see Sant’Agata share its expertise.

The partnership will benefit the Institute’s ongoing research project focused on “A biocompatibility study of composite materials to be used mainly in prosthetic implants, but also in subcutaneous devices.” Lamborghini’s carbon-fiber engineers will share their materials research with the Institute, toward the goal of identifying “new materials that are lighter, better tolerated by the human body, and more resistant over time than those currently used in the medical field.”

Lead scientist, and current president and CEO of the Houston Methodist Research Institute, Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D., is currently engaged in nanotechnology research and in applied bioengineering, which will directly benefit from Lamborghini’s cooperation as both look to use carbon-fiber composites in their construction.

According to Lamborghini, the brand is also working with the Occupational Medicine Unit of Bologna University Hospital, the Neurosurgery of IRCCS Institute of Neurological Science of Bologna, The Neurosurgery Humanitas University Rozzano-Milano, the CNR Institute of Neuroscience and Humanitas, and the IRCSS Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute of Bologna.

Source: Lamborghini

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BMW M6 GT3 Art Car Goes Digital for 2017

BMW Art Cars have been around since 1975, when artist Alexander Calder got his creative hands on a BMW 3.0 CSL. Since then, a range of artists from John Baldessari to Andy Warhol have created their own rolling works of art.

The latest to join the ranks is China’s Cao Fei. She created a unique design for BMW Art Car #18 that requires a downloadable app to fully appreciate its beauty and uniqueness.

“By employing augmented and virtual reality, the internationally acclaimed Chinese multimedia artist addresses the future of mobility such as autonomous driving, airborne cars and digitalization,” BMW said in a release.

Fei’s creation, a carbon black 2017 BMW M6 GT3 racecar with matte black accents, made its debut at the Minsheng Art Museum in Beijing.

Her work consists of three different components: the car, a streaming light video, and colorful light particles that can only be seen via a dedicated augmented reality app. Without the app, the installation looks like, well, a normal carbon black race car.

“To me, light represents thoughts. As the speed of thoughts cannot be measured, the #18 Art Car questions the existence of the boundaries of the human mind. We are entering a new age, where the mind directly controls objects and where thoughts can be transferred, such as unmanned operations and artificial intelligence,” said Cao Fei in a release.

The 2017 BMW M6 GT3 packs a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V-8 engine under the hood that offers 585 hp. The V-8 is mated to a six-speed sequential racing transmission and has a top speed of 174 mph.

“The 18th BMW Art Car is perfectly suited to this era. Cao Fei took the logical step of creating the first ever-digital Art Car. The augmented reality experience makes this BMW M6 GT3 unique. For everyone involved at BMW Motorsport it was both exciting and fascinating to work with Cao Fei and her team on this project,” said Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport director, in a statement.

“This makes 2017 a very special year in the history of BMW Art Cars. First, the BMW M6 GTLM Art Car of John Baldessari took to the track in Daytona, at the end of the season comes Art Car #18 by Cao Fei in Macau. This makes the tradition of BMW Art Cars livelier than ever.”

After making the art world circuit, Fei’s BMW will race at the FIA GT World Cup in Macau.

“It’s a huge honor for me to race Cao Fei’s BMW Art Car,” said Augusto Farfus, BMW works driver, about the project. “I’m extremely proud that I get the chance to drive my second Art Car this year. This is absolutely unique for a racing driver.”

S0urce: BMW

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2017 Honda Civic Type R Could Start at $34,775

The Honda Civic Type R’s starting price may have been leaked in a series of photos posted to enthusiast forum CivicX.com. The photos show Type R models arriving at the docks in Baltimore, Md., and one shot even shows the Monroney sticker and the car’s $34,775 total price (including $875 destination).

The original poster says he took the pictures as the cars arrived at the port from the U.K. A man was placing stickers on the windows before the cars were loaded onto trailers, and the shooter was able to get a clear shot of one of them. According to the sticker, the MSRP for the Civic Type R Touring is $33,900 before destination charge. That’s right around the mid-$30,000 range that Honda promised. We can also see the features lists, which matches up with what we know about the U.S.-spec Type R.

If the price is indeed $34,775, the Type R undercuts the starting price of the 2017 Ford Focus RS, which makes more power and boasts all-wheel drive, by $2,220. The Type R is also $2,220 cheaper than a 2018 Subaru WRX STI and starts $5,420 less than a 2017 Volkswagen Golf R. So far Honda has only announced a Touring trim level for the Type R, which offers a 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with navigation and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility, 540-watt audio system with 12 speakers, LED headlights, sport seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and more.

We’ve reached out to Honda for confirmation of the Type R’s starting price but have yet to hear back.

Source: CivicX

 

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