Carson Magee, 11, stands in Coeur d’Alene’s Riverstone Park next to his winning race car design for the “Our Everyday Heroes” contest. His design pays homage to firefighters, emergency medical technicians, police and the U.S. armed services. (Full-size photo)
When Coeur d’Alene resident Carson Magee was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 7, he thought he would be cured with a few shots at the hospital.
But when he realized how the disease would affect his life, he made it his mission to find a cure. At only 11 years old, he has now become one of the nation’s top youth activists for type 1 diabetes awareness.
“Diabetes never really gives you a break,” Magee said.
His work to bring more awareness to the form of the disease that used to be called juvenile diabetes has reached national recognition.
On July 7, he won the “Our Everyday Heroes” race car design contest for JDRF, formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
The contest, which asked kids with type 1 diabetes around the country to create a design for a race car, was co-sponsored with Ford, Motorcraft and Quick Lane Tire and Auto Centers. People voted by giving donations, and JDRF and Ford picked a winner out of the top 10 designs.
As a prize for winning the contest, Magee and his family were flown to Denver to see how his design looked on the race cars, and he was interviewed by ESPN.
“Not only is he a talented artist, as evidenced by his race car design, but he is one of the nation’s foremost youth activists in support of JDRF and bringing awareness to the effort to create a world without T1D,” said Mary Lou Quesnell, director of marketing for the Ford Customer Service Division.
Carson’s design honors firefighters, emergency medical technicians and the armed services. He said he knows a firefighter and an EMT who both have diabetes, and he created the design with them in mind.
His design raised $3,735 for JDRF, part of over $53,000 raised in this year’s contest. JDRF has raised more than $400,000 over the course of the race car design contest’s seven-year history.
“He’s very serious about the work he does, and I think he’s realized that he has a voice and an audience now,” said his mother, Fondra Magee.
From 2001-09, the prevalence of type 1 diabetes in people under the age of 20 rose by 23 percent, according to data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.
The race car design contest is just one way Carson Magee has advocated for diabetes research over the past few years.
He also was a delegate to the 2013 JDRF Children’s Congress in Washington, D.C., and has spoken publicly about the disease. He’s met U.S. Sen. James Risch and U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho as well as Gov. Butch Otter.
But all of his accomplishments have not sidetracked him from advocating for a cure. “I think he lays awake at night and dreams up stuff,” his mother said.
He plans on working with JDRF to unicycle from town to town around the Inland Northwest to get the word out about type 1 diabetes.
He also is looking to start a club consisting of friends who also have diabetes around the area.
“It’s kind of cool when a young kid has a passion for something and they see that in him,” Fondra Magee said. “Most people don’t do that.”
Said her son, “Until there’s a cure I’m going to keep doing it. I really think there’s going to be a cure someday.”
The funky little Fiat 500L-Vans design concept has debuted at the US Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach in California, sporting a unique look and styling cues taken from the US-based shoe brand.
Based on the five-seat 500L but equipped with four ringed LED driving lights, a two-tone paint scheme, roof racks and a double-decker surfboard carrier, the Fiat 500L-Vans takes inspiration from the company’s original hi-top shoe.
Created exclusively for the California Open in an effort to “interact with the young audience attending this event”, the 500L-Vans features a checkerboard pattern roof, palm-patterned canvas seats and waffle sole covered pedals and storage bins.
Topping off the surfy/skater look are 18-inch matt black wheels and a collection of Vans stickers plastered across the lower dash.
The 500L’s standard 119kW/250Nm turbocharged 1.4-litre four-cylinder remains unchanged and is teamed to a six-speed manual transmission.
MEMPHIS, July 26, 2014 — The Sonata has been one smash hit for the Korean automaker. Hyundai recently announced its seventh generation model of this amazing car. Hyundai Sonata was nothing short of a smash hit in the midsize sedan segment, and so was the one before that and before that and before that.
The new generation trades some of the swoopy curves of the previous version for more conservative lines that take the styling to a much higher level. The outgoing generation of the Hyundai Sonata was a bold move that has paid off big time for the automaker, drawing attention to Hyundai with its daring yet practical design, strong yet efficient engines, and good value all around. The new model is a little bigger than before, and rear passengers benefit from a little more hip and legroom. The chassis has also been overhauled to improve both the Sonata’s handling capabilities and its ride quality.
The new Sonata is 1.4 inches longer and 1.2 inches wider than its predecessor, and rides on a 0.4-inch longer wheelbase. Its new body boasts torsional and bending stiffness increases of 41 35% according to the folks at Hyundai, and 52% of its steel is of the advanced high-strength variety. Hyundai says the new Sonata will be safer than ever, too, thanks to the stiffer body as well as new driver knee airbags.
So what is it about Sonata that is so attractive and why is it taking the car consumer world by storm? It offers comfort, great driving dynamics, astonishing styling, great value, responsive handling and driving, and it offers a plethora of driver assistance, such as adaptive cruise control, blind spot detection, and lane departure warning. Hyundai has them all and does a better job than the immediate competition and I was very impressed with the adapt cruise control full range mode where even if you go down to 0 mph by simply tapping the resume button it will start up again.
So how do you raise the level of quality and refinement in a vehicle that seems to have it all? The answer lies in keeping the same manufacturing and assembly formula, this model being the third one built in Montgomery’s Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA), and excel in having a classy and even-tempered look, a smoother and more quiet powertrain, and have a body that’s tight and stamped together even more effectively than before… after all, the competition is fierce and even though Sonatas do sell at the rate of about 200,000 per year, the Camry, Accord, Mazda 6 and Chrysler 200 are all itching to take over the lead.
And as if this was not enough to make this car a great value and amazing vehicle, the actual design isn’t the only attribute that stands out. The number of features available is impressive, such as available heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats, a panoramic sunroof and segment-exclusive rear sunshades. You can upgrade the multimedia head unit between two touch-screen audio setups, with the ultimate option featuring a seven-inch touch-screen and the Hyundai BlueLink telematics system. Using this system Sirius XM subscribers can even record live radio to listen again later. Hyundai also promises Apple CarPlay support and Android Auto compatibility in the near future that will allow users to let their smartphones to further enhance their infotainment experience with brought in apps, locations and improved integration between the phone and the car. An impressive compliment of safety technologies can also be special ordered, including Blind Spot Detection with Rear Cross-Traffic Alert and Lane Change Assist, Lane Departure Warning and Forward Collision Warning.
Hyundai also revised the engines, but instead of upping the horsepower and torque in the 2.4-liter and two-liter turbo models Hyundai decreased output. The 2.4-liter model makes five horsepower less, while the turbo model loses almost 30 hp. That decrease is supposed to make peak power more easily accessible. While the engines don’t feel particularly powerful, they both offer smooth acceleration and are both relatively quiet.
We were very impressed to learn the fuel economy in this new Sonata hovers around 25 mpg in the city and 37 on the highway for the 2.4-liter engine and 23 mpg in the city and 32 on the highway for the turbo. For the truly mileage-minded, another option for the Sonata is a turbocharged 1.6-liter Eco engine with 177 horsepower and 195 horsepower that gets 28 mpg in the city and 38 mpg on the highway.
Prices for the Sonata start at $21,125 for the base model with an automatic transmission, while different engine and equipment packages can set you back to around $33,495., excluding an $810 in destination fees automatically tacked on to every car.
We have had numerous family members and friends get into a Sonata over the years and thus far we have not had one contact us with any sort of complaint or grievance. They have all been great cars, especially from the fourth generation on up… a terrific car despite some shortcomings, but this new 2015 Sonata takes the cake in so many different areas, which puts it in the lead against so many challenging competitors in one of the toughest segments in the car business today.
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Here’s your first look at the upcoming fifth generation Seat Ibiza, snatched from a suit-filled presentation last night. It’s the bottom one. Not that much to go on, we agree, but then the car is still a long way off.
This all came about at an event celebrating 30 years since the very first Ibiza was launched way back in 1984, and each of the supermini’s designers were present to talk up the new car.
Current Seat design chief Alejandro Mesonero noted: “it will be an opportunity to redesign an icon. It will be a revolutionary design, not just because the market demands it, but also because it has to set itself apart from the Leon.”
Information at this early stage is limited, not least because they’re still playing with the current Ibiza, which Seat admitted has got lots of life left in it. And while the design lines of the new Ibiza will change, “its character won’t. It will look like it’s moving at standstill, but will still clearly look like an Ibiza.”
In fact, former Seat and Lamborghini design chief Luc Donckerwolke, said the new car had to be a revolution. “There’s nothing worse than making a global car design,” he said. “The global car was one of the worst ideas ever, and I’m glad it’s finally disappearing.”
He later explained to TopGear.com how “people have learned the lessons of globalised design [one car design for the world], it’s a thing that comes from logistics and simplification of the project, but it’s actually counter-productive for design and for the market.
“We’re not being asked to have a car that fits everybody – you have to fight that as a designer. You cannot be mainstream, because that means nobody notices you anymore,” he added.
Another former Seat design chief, Walter de Silva – who now heads up the entire VW Group design – hinted to TopGear.com how the connectivity of the new car would be key. The man behind the very first Ibiza told us: “We are looking at lot at how the younger generation operate, at interconnectivity and new technologies coming in. They need a car that is fun to drive, but also functional too.”
It’s going to be on sale in 2017. Plenty of time for us to get some better pictures for you.
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What do you get?
Volvo did a mild update on its S60 late last year, introducing more equipment, some trim tweaks and the elegant digital instrument cluster. This time around the changes are about what’s beneath the skin.
There are three trim levels and, for now, three engine tunes, although not all are available with each other. There are plans for a broad range of engines, each designated with a letter and number. Broadly speaking, the lower the number the lower the engine output, while a D denotes turbo diesel and a T a petrol engine (initially turbocharged but superchargers and hybrid systems can be added).
Theoretically Volvo can do everything from a D1 up to a T9, all off the same basic engine architecture.
For now the T4 Kinetic is the entry point, bringing an existing 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine and a tempting $49,900 price tag.
For that you get a reversing camera, rear-parking sensors, auto wipers, electric driver’s seat, cruise control, Bluetooth, alloy wheels, LED daytime lights and puddle lights for illuminating around the car at night. There’s also an array of safety gear, encompassing airbags all around (dual front, front-side and side curtain) and Volvo’s City Safety system, which can automatically apply the brakes to avoid low-speed crashes.
The more advanced Drive Support System – which includes pedestrian and cyclist detection with full auto braking at any speed – is one of a number of options (in this case costing $5000) on more expensive models, such as the Luxury.
That Luxury adds electric controls for the passenger seat, smart key entry and start, headlights that turn around corners, wood trim and gear shift paddles, as well as various trim changes and larger alloy wheels.
By the time you’re splashing out more on the R-Design tested here (it’s a $63,890 proposition) you curiously miss out on some of those features, such as the smart key functionality. But there are extra goodies such as a rear spoiler and other styling add-ons and firmer sports suspension.
What’s inside?
The S60 wins plenty of points in the cabin starting with its clean, user-friendly design that includes door handles that sweep into a metallic-look strip. The central cluster of buttons includes four main control knobs and a ventilation system that has a simple-to-use profile of a human body.
The centre console is subtly tilted to the driver, and the comfortable seats cement the cabin as a practical place to be.
Storage is reasonable without being spectacular with cupholders, sizeable door pockets and a covered console. But the boot is compromised by the space-saver spare sitting on top of the floor. One option is to leave it at home and rely on the repair kit for punctures.
The instrument cluster can be toggled between three themes – Elegance, Eco and Performance. Eco illuminates the main display in an inoffensive teal colour with a consumption indicator tailored at lowering fuel use. Elegance is a vibrant blue and includes an engine temperature gauge that is more about filling space than providing useful info. Performance lights everything red and replaces the analogue-look speedo with a bold tacho. There’s also a power gauge which, again, seems more gimmicky than useful.
Overall, though, the cluster is one of the best in the business and even includes the posted speed limit within the main speedo, although it’s not always accurate.
Under the bonnet
It’s all about the new engines with some updated Volvos and this model doesn’t disappoint. With a modest 2.0-litre capacity it relies on the turbo for added muscle. The 180kW is a welcome addition to the top of the rev range, but it’s the 350Nm of torque available from as little as 1500rpm that gives the engine its character and easy demeanour.
There’s a whiff of initial turbo lag but otherwise there’s a broad spread of useable pulling power. The new engine is also smooth and refined, something particularly noticeable when the stop-start system kicks in, seamlessly shutting down the engine temporarily before refiring it ready for take-off.
The eight-speed automatic is generally smooth in its shifts but can occasionally be overly dramatic with a downshift, and on a winding road it could occasionally benefit from holding a lower gear longer.
But the big win with the new engines is fuel use, once a Volvo low point. With claimed consumption of 6.4 litres per 100km it makes the T5 highly competitive with rivals; in everyday suburban driving we found it used low double-digits.
On the road
Whereas many rivals power the rear wheels or all four, the Volvo makes do with a front-drive layout. On fast take-offs or a slippery surface that can become an issue as the traction control is brought into play. It also contributes to a numb steering feel that means the S60 doesn’t feel as lively as some of its ilk.
That said the dynamics are competent and the optional 19-inch Bridgestone tyres fitted to our car hang on well (the standard R-Design tyres are 18 inches). There’s some unwanted initial firmness to the suspension movement but it’s otherwise well controlled.
The car is also quiet at speeds, although some unwanted noise is when the rear collision warning system kicks in. Follow a car too closely and it can get overly excited – it went off twice with nothing in the way during our test.
Verdict
The addition of new engines makes for a far more appealing prestige sedan. What the S60 lacks in outright driver appeal – the suspension isn’t as compliant as some – it makes up for with a long list of luxury equipment.
A skateboarder who died after collapsing in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood Tuesday morning was the founder of an Oakland-based design company.
George Schnakenberg III, 38, of Oakland, was riding a motorized skateboard in a bike lane in the 600 block of Eighth Street around 9 a.m. Tuesday when he suddenly collapsed, San Francisco police spokesman Officer Gordon Shyy said.
Shyy said investigators talked to several witnesses who said Schnakenberg fell while riding and may have hit a parked car after the collapse.
Police said he was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Schnakenberg was the founder and design director of Infinite Collective, an industrial design consultancy firm.
According to the company’s website, Schnakenberg started the company in Oakland in 2012 after working in the design industry for the past 15 years.
On his LinkedIn profile, he posted photos of products and projects he has designed, including a coffee brewer, bicycles, skateboards, a 3D-printed keychain and other digital and mechanical items.
He had posted two YouTube videos two years ago of some of his electric bicycle designs.
“For the public it was unbelievable, almost inconceivable,” says
Schnell, “so management had to react.”
The way we were 1: in the beginning, car designers wore sober suits
Schnell’s day job was designing a replacement for the Opel Rekord and his
advanced design studio was one of four in the building.
“Up to that point no one had talked about car design,” he says, “and
car design wasn’t really recognised. One of our first car designers was a
former shop-window dresser and he was really good. He ended up at Ford.”
At first, the studio was headed by Clare MacKichan, who had come from Detroit
to Rüsselsheim as head designer (it was he who came up with the idea of a
two-seat Opel sports car concept that became the Experimental GT). With no
university car design faculties or courses, the Opel studio became a Mecca
for young would-be car designers.
“The studio quickly became Europe’s first automotive design school,”
says Kurt Beyer, current chief of interior design. “People came from
all over the world as word got out.”
Indeed Hideo Kodama, the Opel designer responsible for the last two Corsa
models, initially wanted to go to GM’s Detroit design studio in the
mid-Sixties. Even in the Fifites, the Detroit studio was burgeoning,
employing 1,200 staff. Instead, Kodama was sent to Rüsselsheim and ended up
head of the facility. In the ensuing decades, graduates of Opel’s design “school”
have found homes all over the industry and the world.
There have been 11 heads of Opel European design, including Martin Smith, who
designed the Audi Quattro and TT interior and is now at Ford. Wayne Cherry,
designer of the Vauxhall/Opel Calibra, moved from head of European design to
head all of GM’s design in North America.
The way we were 2: the Opel design studio in the late Sixties
Briton Mark Adams is the current design head at Rüsselsheim and he has
overseen the current Corsa, Astra and Insignia, and is currently working on
a future generation of Vauxhall/Opel models.
Not that he, like Schnell, isn’t above a bit of management kidology when it
comes to getting designs accepted by management. One designer recollected
how Adams hid the design for the three-door GTC Astra under a sheet at the
corner of the studio when then European boss Carl-Peter Forster was
inspecting the five-door Astra proposals.
“He [Forster] asked ‘What’s that?’ and pointed at the sheet,”
recalled the designer. “He walked over and took it off and stared at
the GTC for several minutes. ‘Who did this?’ he demanded. And when the
designer owned up, Forster gave him a big hug.”
When Schnell worked at the studio the tools of the trade were pencil and
paper, pastels and modelling clay. Even in the mid-Nineties GM’s head of
design Dick Ruzzin said: “All great cars start with a single pencil
line on a piece of paper.”
Is it the same today?
“Where once there was pen and paper and pastels, now the computer is the
designer’s tool,” says Adams.
Well, almost.
“Pencils? Yeah we use whatever we feel comfortable with, it’s not a
religion,” says Hasan Zraikat, an exterior designer.
But these days time is of the essence and computers help to minimise design
time and also allow several proposals to be carried to the model stage.
“Those early designers, they had one shot. They win or they lose,”
says Friedhelm Engler, director of advanced design, explaining that with
virtual reality software, several car design proposals can be shown to
management before it gets to the expensive, but still necessary, clay model
stage. “The simulation is so precise you can zoom down to the
individual flakes in the paintwork,” he says.
Plus ca change… current Opel designers recreate the Experimental GT of
1965
Perhaps the best example of how things have changed are the wheels for the
Experimental GT. In Schnell’s day there were distinct styles such as
Rostyles, Fuchs, Campagnolo or Minilites. These days there are myriad styles
and when the idea to model a full-sized clay of the 1964 concept came up as
part of the studio’s 50-year celebration, the young designers realised that
the original wheels wouldn’t be available.
“We got some Minilites, but they didn’t look right,” says Engler, “so
we found the right wheels and printed them.”
That’s three dimensional printing, one of the most advanced contruction
methods in the world. “Aw, we use it all the time,” says Engler.
So that reconstruction of the original clay model of the concept that started
all of this half a century ago is now standing on wheels which have been
digitised off the originals into a computer and manufactured using the most
advanced techniques available.
Apart from the lines on Schnell’s face, it’s perhaps the best illustration of
how, in car design, Jean-Baptiste Karr was right: “The more things
change, the more they stay the same…”
Four of the most successful cars ever made have succeeded through generations of carefully calibrated industrial design, adapting not only to changes in consumer tastes but also improvements in global automotive safety regulations.
Ebay Motors, the automotive segment of the popular San Jose, California, online auction house, came up with a clever gimmick to promote itself in a dense online automotive marketplace. The company took a snapshot of every Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Corvette, BMW 3-Series and Honda Accord design ever made and merged them into four animated GIFs that show the evolution of decades of vehicle design in a matter of seconds:
The Chevrolet Corvette was unveiled in 1953, featuring one of the first all-fiberglass bodies and wraparound windshield. The first C1 Corvette didn’t have a lot of muscle, but the model lasted nine years with gradual improvements under the hood. The Sting Ray came out in 1963 to much fanfare for both design and performance. The seventh-generation Corvette, the C7, came out in 2014 with a weight-saving aluminum frame. It’s still considered one of the best American sports cars.
The Ford Mustang debuted in 1963 as the most successful car since the Model T up to that time. The appeal had a lot to do with the cost: The underpinnings of the first Mustang came from the Ford Falcon, so the company didn’t have to build the sports car from scratch. Fifty-one years later, the sixth-generation Mustang has made its way to the Chinese market and it still grabs the attention to American muscle car fans worldwide.
BMW’s compact executive car has been since its inception in 1975 one of the best entry-level luxury sedans ever made. The first generation, called the E21 3-Series, didn’t stray too far from its predecessor, the BMW 2002, including the distinctive forward-leaning front end. The four-door came out in the BMW E30 3-Series in 1984 and in 1987 a sporty 2-door version came out. In its sixth generation, the 3-Series name remains as a sedan or wagon while the two-door coupe has broken away to become the 4-Series.
It’s not the sexiest car to have been around for so long, but the Honda Accord remains one of the most popular mass-market sedans in the world. The first Japanese car to be manufactured in the United States, at Honda’s Marysville, Ohio, plant, the Accord debuted in 1976 as a modestly priced gas-sipper in the wake of the early 1970s U.S. oil crisis. Honda deftly entered the U.S. market as a humble maker of motorcycles and today has four manufacturing site in the U.S. and seven in North America. The ninth-generation Accord was released in 2013, and is considered a relatively bland but very reliable mid-sized sedan.
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Voice of AmericaAt Least 15 Bodies Found In BaghdadRadioFreeEurope/RadioLibertyPolice in the Iraqi capital reported finding at least 15 bullet-ridden bodies, including three women, raising fears the widespread violence in Iraq could become even worse now that the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is over. Police said the bodies were ...Iraq police find 17 bodi […]
NDTVIndia asks its nationals to leave Libya amid spiraling violenceTimes of IndiaNEW DELHI: Amid spiralling violence in Libya, India's mission in Tripoli on Monday advised all its nationals to leave the strife-torn country using all available means and not to travel to that country. "In view of the current security situation in Libya, all Indian .. […]
The NationMuslims Mark End of RamadanVoice of AmericaMillions of Muslims across the world are celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. But as many gather for prayers and happily take part in feasts Monday in such countries as Indonesia and Egypt, the holiday is a ...How Eid in Gaza turned into another day of carnag […]
CNNIslamic State opens 'marriage bureau' for its jihadist fightersTimes of IndiaBEIRUT: The Islamic State, which advocates public stoning for adultery, has opened a "marriage bureau" for women who want to wed its fighters in territory they control in Syria and Iraq. The jihadist group's office is operating from Al-Bab, a town in Alep […]
CHANNELSFemale Suicide Bombers Kill 5 in Northern Nigerian City of KanoBusinessweekTwo female suicide bombers detonated explosives that killed at least five people in a second day of violence in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, police said. Four people including the bomber were killed and seven injured in an explosion at about 10 a.m. ...Four Dead, 14 Inj […]
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July 25, 2014, 12:59PM