World's Most Expensive Cars

SSC Ultimate Aero

Price: $740,000

Highlights: The Shelby Super Cars-made Ultimate Aero held the "world's fastest production car" title in 2008, with an astounding 1,287 horsepower. The newest model will reach a top speed of 270 miles per hour. Carbon fiber rear spoilers respond to the amount of pressure on the brake pedal. Inside, a carbon fiber dashboard and center console incorporate a digital temperature control unit and tire pressure monitor for optimum driving conditions.

Leblanc Mirabeau

Price: $765,000

Highlights: The Mirabeau was specially designed to feature at the 24 Hours Le Mans race, but it is street-legal. It has a 4.7-liter Koenigsegg-made V8 engine that delivers 700 horsepower and a top speed of 230 miles per hour. Each car can be customized to owners' expectations, including an optional semi-automatic transmission for $73,000.

Koenigsegg CCX

Price: $1.1 million

Highlights: The CCX has carbon ceramic brakes, a hydraulic lift system, a navigation system and a rear-view camera. CD and DVD systems, satellite radio, climate control, leather carpets, a roof stowage bag and car-cover come standard. Horsepower in the V8 engine is 806 units, for a 0-62 mile-per-hour time of 3.2 seconds and a top speed of 245 mph. It has a specially developed transversal six-speed gearbox, with optional paddle-shift. A chrono instrument cluster, carbon wheels, forged aluminum wheels, fitted luggage, special leather and color requests and Inconell exhaust system are also optional.

Koenigsegg CCXR

Price: $1.3 million

Highlights: Lauded as "the first green supercar," this derivative of the CCX can run on E85 and E100 Biofuel as well as normal 98-octane petrol (in Europe). The 4.7 liter twin-supercharged Koenigsegg engine delivers 806 hp or 1018 hp on E85 Biofuel. It has a detachable hardtop glass roof, carbon ceramic brakes, a hydraulic lift system, a navigation system and a rear-view camera. It'll go 0 to 62 mile-per-hour in 3.1 seconds, with a top speed of 250 mph.

Maybach Landaulet

Price: $1.4 million

Highlights: With 604 horsepower and a top speed of 155 miles per hour, this chauffer-driven sedan can hold its own against race cars half its size (it'll get to 60 miles per hour in 5.2 seconds. It comes with a V12 twin-turbo engine. The roof can be opened fully at the rear while the chauffeur compartment remains closed. Each armchair is encased in white leather. Partition screen with clear glass and curtains, reclining rear seats with leg and footrests and a Dunhill umbrella are included.

Lamborghini Reventón

Price: $1.42 million

Highlights: Named after a prized fighting bull that fought in the early 1940s, the Reventón inhabits everything Lamborghini. It is made exclusively in Sant'Agata Bolognese, and its Sharp edges, precise lines and clean surfaces are inspired by fighter jets. You'll know it by its glass engine hood, solid aluminum fuel tank lid and opaque carbon fins screwed onto the black aluminium spokes on the wheels. A total of 20 will be produced.

Lamborghini Reventón Roadster

Price: $1.56 million

Highlights: Like its coupe counterpart, the roadster is based on the Murciélago LP640 (but has a completely new exterior aesthetic), with a V12, 650 horsepower engine that has a top speed of 340 km per hour. The "aerodynamically optimized" exterior is made of CFC, an extremely lightweight composite carbon fiber material. A G-force-meter is also new: it shows dynamic drive forces, longitudinal acceleration for speeding and braking, and transversal acceleration around corners.

Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster

Price: $1.8 million

Highlights: This is the new convertible version of the Pagani Cinque Coupe, the street-legal version of the Zonda R. It has a Mercedes-Benz AMG-built 678-horsepower, V12 engine. It'll hit 62 miles per hour in 3.4 seconds, with a top speed of 217 mph--and it'll stop from 62 mph in just 2.1 seconds, thanks to the extremely expensive carbo-ceramic self-ventilated hydraulic Brembo brakes. Five of them will be made.

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport

Price: $2 million ($1.67 million for the coupe version)

Highlights: The car has carbon-fiber panels, composite doors, tall rollover-protection loops and two roofs: an umbrella-like spare and a solid tinted polycarbonate cover that matches the body. It includes daytime running lights, a rearview camera, a Burmester sound system and custom horseshoe wheels. Top speed is 233 miles per hour for the W16 engine. A total of 150 will be made.

Koenigsegg Trevita

Price: $2.21 million

Highlights: The Trevita (it means "three whites" in Swedish) is based on the Koenigsegg CCXR, with new diamond-colored carbon fiber bodywork that shows the weave pattern in the finish. It comes with all the best technologies you'd expect in such a machine: a hydraulic lift system, tire monitoring system, chrono instrument cluster, paddle-shifters and carbon fiber brakes. Not to mention the 1,018-horsepower engine. Three will be made.

source : http://www.forbes.com

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CARS IN THE WORLD .

Alfa Romeo 8C Spider

MSRP: $301,600

The 4.7-liter, V8 engine gets 444 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque. Each angle on the front and sides of the car was calibrated to ensure the most efficient airflow around the car, Alfa says, and it shows: It'll do 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds and 0 to 100 mph in 9.7 seconds.

Aston Martin Rapide

MSRP: $197,850

The front mid-mounted 6-liter V12 engine produces 470 bhp, with a 0-60 mph time of 5.1 seconds. The engine is hand-built in Köln, Germany, and features a six-speed Touchtronic 2 automatic transmission.

Bentley Mulsanne

MSRP: $285,000

Mulsanne is inspired by the company founder W.O. Bentley's crowning achievement, the 8-liter auto first shown at the 1930 London Motor Show. A 6 3/4-liter, V8 engine gets 505bhp; inside, exotic woods, leather hides and solid stainless-steel brightware are hand-crafted for maximum luxury.

Dodge Challenger SRT8

MSRP: $43,680

The vintage throwback has a 6.1-liter V8 HEMI engine, with a five-speed automatic transmission and 425-horsepower. Inside, heated leather bucket seats with an accent stripe and illuminated cup-holders help make the car viable as a daily driver.

Ferrari 458 Italia

MSRP: $240,000

The 8-cylinder two-seater "berlinetta" has a mid-rear mounted engine and a max speed of 202 miles per hour. Its three rear tailpipes, single-opening front grille, side air intakes and swooping Pininfarina design underscore the "performance-oriented efficiency" that inspired the project, Ferrari says.

Jaguar XJ

MSRP: $113,000 (XJL Supersport)

The highest end of the XJ line, the XJL Supersport, does 0-60 in 4.7 seconds, with a top speed of 155 mph (thanks to a 510-hp engine). It has softgrain leather throughout the cabin, manual side window blinds and a panoramic sunroof.

Maserati Quattroporte

MSRP: $120,250

The 4.2-liter V8 has 400 bhp and a top speed of 164 mph. Zero to 60 mph time is 5.5 seconds. Hand-stitched Poltrona Frau leather and wood veneers in dozens of colors can be combined for a personalized feel inside the car.

Mercedes SLS AMG

MSRP: $183,000

This car is the modern interpretation of the classic Mercedes 300SL. It's a V8 and with 571 horsepower, which gets it to 60 mph in 3.8-seconds and a top speed of 197 miles per hour.

Porsche Boxster Spyder

MSRP: $61,200

The 320-horsepower engine (more powerful than the Boxster S) gets to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds, with a top speed of 166 miles per hour. Its two trunks and manageable ragtop (switch time: three minutes) make it viable as a daily driver in warm climates.

Rolls Royce Ghost

MSRP: $245,000

The 6.6-liter turbocharged V12 has 563 horsepower, with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Zero to 60 mph is 4.8 seconds; top speed is 155 mph. It's the most drivable and aesthetically distinctive modern Rolls but still shares the same uber-luxe leather, paint and wood detailing as the larger Phantom.

source : http://www.forbes.com

Self-inflating tire technology

  

SIT – the Self Inflating Tire won the prestigious Tire Technology of the Year award at the Tire Technology Awards for Innovation and Excellence 2009, which were presented at the Tire Technology Expo in Hamburg, Germany

The Awards

The awards are organized in association with Tire Technology International magazine, which is published by UKIP Media & Events, sponsor of this year's Gala Dinner and awards ceremony.

The five categories are: 

• Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year
• Environmental Achievement of the Year
• Tire Technology of the Year
• Tire Industry Supplier of the Year
• Manufacturer of the Year

Self-inflating tires allow a vehicle to adjust to the current terrain for ideal performance and safety in those conditions.

Currently, lots of consumer vehicles are equipped with pressure-monitoring systems, but there's no way for the driver to do anything about it without an external air source. There are lots of self-inflating-tire systems on the market, but most of them are only available for commercial and military applications. The exception, of course, is the CTIS system on the Hummer.

One of the things that causes us a great deal of annoyance is the sight of a flat tire just as when we have an urgent task at hand, right? Well, its time these worries were brought to an end. Coda Development has already come up with a tire design that.
This self-inflating tire, developed in the Czech Republic, takes this out of your hands by inflating automatically through a device called a peristaltic pump which inflates the tire as it turns, keeping it at a constant, safe pressure level. This technology, if adopted widely, will not only make the roads safer, but will have a positive environmental impact by way of savings on fuel (cars with under-inflated tires use more fuel), resulting in a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, and an increase in the lifespan of tires.

What is CAD/CAM?

What is CAD/CAM?

The term CAD/CAM is a shortening of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM). The term CAD/NC (Numerical Control) is equivalent in some industries.

CAD/CAM software uses CAD drawing tools to describe geometries used by the CAM portion of the program to define a toolpath that will direct the motion of a machine tool to machine the exact shape that was drawn.

 

History

 

Numerically-Controlled Machines

Well before the development of Computer-aided design, the manufacturing world adopted tools controlled by numbers and letters to fill the need for manufacturing complex shapes in an accurate and repeatable manner. During the 1950's these Numerically-Controlled machines used the existing technology of paper tapes with regularly spaced holes punched in them (think of the paper roll that makes an old-fashioned player piano work, but only one inch wide) to feed numbers into controller machines that were wired to the motors positioning the work on machine tools. The electro-mechanical nature of the controllers allowed digital technologies to be easily incorporated as they were developed.

By the late 1960's Numerically-Controlled machining centers were commercially available, incorporating a variety of machining processes and automatic tool changing. Such tools were capable of doing work on multiple surfaces of a workpiece, moving the workpiece to positions programmed in advance and using a variety of tools - all automatically. What is more, the same work could be done over and over again with extraordinary precision and very little additional human input. NC tools immediately raised automation of manufacturing to a new level once feedback loops were incorporated (the tool tells the computer where it is, while the computer tells it where it should be).

What finally made NC technology enormously successful was the development of the universal NC programming language called APT (Automatically Programmed Tools). Announced at MIT in 1962, APT allowed programmers to develop postprocessors specific to each type of NC tool so that the output from the APT program could be shared among different parties with different manufacturing capabilities.

CAD & CAM Together at Last

The development of Computer-aided design had little effect on CNC initially due to the different capabilities and file formats used by drawing and machining programs. However, as CAD applications such as SolidWorks and AutoCad incorporate CAM intelligence, and as CAM applications such as MasterCam adopt sophisticated CAD tools, both designers and manufacturers are now enjoying an increasing variety of capable CAD/CAM software. Most CAD/CAM software was developed for product development and the design and manufacturing of components and molds, but they are being used by architects with greater frequency.

  

        Autocad design                                           Solidworks design

                                     MasterCam design

Today, over three-quarters of new machine tools incorporate CNC technologies. These tools are used in every conceivable manufacturing sector, including many that affect building technologies. CNC technology is related to Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP) and other technologies such as Group Technology (GT) and Cellular Manufacturing. Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) and Just-In-Time Production (JIT) are made possible by Numerically-Controlled Machines.

                                                           CNC CYLINDRICAL GRINDING