Saturday, November 14, 2009

Bugatti Veyron Driven on Water



Located in an affluent community of Galveston County, Texas, the owner of this Bugatti Veyron was apparently distracted and lost control of his 1001hp hypercar, leaving it beached in the shallows of a salt water lake.

The owner of the video states this is the "third or fourth Veyron crashed" in the area. The driver was uninjuried but now the question of insurance coverage emerges for the $2 million vehicle.

One of the biggest destroyers of an automobile is water, no less the salty kind, in large quantities and for most high volume vehicles, it's a one way ticket to the salvage yard. Water causes corrosion and penetrates the smallest crevices. It especially likes to hide in electrical wiring which can create a multitude of problems at any given time, sometimes even years later.

But the Veyron is no oridnary car, and with such a price tag and lack of collision damage, it's highly unlikely this Bugatti swan is an insurance write off. The passenger cell and quarter panels are constructed of carbon fiber while the doors, front and rear frame extrusions or crash boxes are constructed of aluminum. The only major component constructed of steel is the engine cradle or sub-frame.

So, the biggest concern is not the body as it is impervious to corrosion by water, but instead other components such as engine, driveline, suspension, brakes, turbo system, complex cooling system with its 14 radiators and worst of all, the electrical/electronics are the big concern. Bugatti isn't exactly mass producing replacement parts available in the local VW dealerships, so look for a year or more for this tadpole to hit the road again.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

'Wall of Sound' is the world’s biggest iPod speaker


Apple’s iPod has revolutionized the world of music since its launch in 2001, and it is still the prized gadget of millions around the world. The latest on the list of iPod gadgetry is the world’s biggest iPod speaker called Wall of Sound,” that weighs 102 kilos (225 pounds), stands almost a meter tall and 1.25 meters wide, and can pump up to 125 watts. Completely handmade, the wall is made up of 28 individual speakers, each housed in their own chamber, and it boasts its own tube amplifier hidden away inside. The monstrous wall speaker belittles the iPod dock on the side. This hand-built artistic speaker comes for a matching price tag of $4,500 and reportedly, the first batch is already sold.