Auto Trends

Technology is growing with leaps and bounds these days, and with more technology develops the possibility to think of even better technology, and so and and so forth. We have discussed self parking, self driving, crash avoidance, and crash preparation, but what we have yet to have brought up night vision.

Night vision is currently a technology that is being toyed with by a number of luxury manufacturers, such as Lexus, BMW, Volvo, and of course Mercedes-Benz. While the technology sounds good on paper, the verdict is still out as to weather technology has quite advanced enough to make these systems helpful rather than inconvenient, or maybe even detrimental.

Anytime you have gadgets that may remove our eyes from the road, you are talking a safety issue, even if the gadget is meant to help us see better. Imagine driving while watching a black and white video game screen. This is a bit what this technology appears like.

While it is certainly helpful in certain situations, it is not so helpful in others. To give you a better idea of what this technology encompasses, let’s look at the two types of night vision being used today. These are known as passive and active night vision.

Passive System-

The passive system, does just that, it passively collects infrared, and sends these images back through the screen for the driver to determine if there is a pedestrian or animal anywhere in range. It picks up these signals long before the headlights would see them, which is a nice safety feature.

The problem with the passive vision is that you could not rely on it completely for driving. It is merely a warning system that you would “passively” watch for any signs of heat in the area and you can then take precaution.

Things such as road signs and the road in general appear as shadow figures as they hold no heat, so attempting to drive while watching the screen entirely would be an extremely bad idea. This system can also give the impression of a warm glow when power lines are in the area, which could lead to a lot of false alarms.

Active System-

While the active system cannot see quite as far into the distance as the passive, it can see with much more detail. The active display is not quite as shadowed and appears like a clear black and white video of a cloudy day. It works by using a beam of infrared light that is picked up by a separate camera that can read the reflected light and display an image of everything around in its path.

While this system does not detect heat as the passive system, it does provide a relatively accurate readout that one could almost drive entirely by. The question here, is the consumer ready to trade in their own vision in exchange for a video display?

Perhaps the trade-off could be a combined system, which is currently in the works. Such a display could be positioned on the windshield to offer assistance, but yet still allow the driver to use their own peepers. Cadillac has a similar system, although it is passive only.

Would you purchase such an additional feature for your next vehicle for an added $2,200? Especially now that adaptive headlights promise improved vision over traditional headlights… and with much less cost!

We are over the hump and (hopefully) most of you are on the way to a nice long holiday weekend. To celebrate, let’s look at some of the world’s most interesting car facts… at least of what we were able to find!

Did you know…

• 90% of all people have sang in their car at least once in their lifetime.
• 10% have gotten engaged in their car. (Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t be much to sing about)
• 54% have made out in their car at least once. (come on… that is as American as Apple Pie, Baseball, and the 1968 Mustang)
• 12% of men are said to never use their blinkers.
• 44% of all men use tailgating as a method to get the person in the front to speed up. (no wonder road rage is so prevalent today)
• Thankfully only 4% of women have had a baby in their car… and interestingly enough 4% of people have been named after a car. (coincidence???)
• In 1898, the first vehicles were so slow that the police department used bicycles to pursue speeding motorists. (But that might have something to do with why the first speeding ticket wasn’t actually given until 1902)
• That a top fuel dragster/funny car uses as much as 12 gallons of fuel just to burn out and shoot down the quarter mile ONCE! (So that’s where are the darn gas is going)
• The Fiat Strada was hand built almost entirely by robots. (yeah, I could actually believe that)
• Rally car drivers are recommended to include their blood type on both their helmet and overalls. (that is a comforting thought… not!)
• In the 1920’s one of the newest car manufacturing technologies was covering the body in fabrics instead of paint. (…then a couple of stains later, that idea became as extinct as the Tyrannosaurus Rex)
• The longest custom built vehicle was a 16 foot Cadillac with a swimming pool, hot tub, helicopter pad, satellite dish, and a crystal chandelier.

Many Grandpa’s the world over have uttered the words, “If life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.”

This is exactly what some entrepreneurs have done as of recently with the price of gas. One of the most interesting things about bad economies, is that while for the typical person it means job loss, hard times, depression, lack of money, etc….

For the professional investor, “recession-like” (politically correct) times actually are a time of great potential to make more money than when times are good. The reason for this is as simple as the recipe for Grandma’s oven baked apple pie…

Bad times + Lower Prices = Better investment for your dollar!

Today, as we find ourselves driving by a gas station and feeling that rage that follows, there are those who do not share these same sentiments. These would be the folks who purchased oil during the time that it was selling for $60 to $85 a barrel (depending on when you got in on it).

Yesterday, with the drops in supply of oil to the US, the cost per barrel soared to $133. This is up $73 from what some people originally bought their shares. So each time, You or I are filling our gas tanks with a giant chip on our shoulder, there are other folks with a humming bird on theirs singing, “Zippidy Doo Daa.”

There is opportunity all around us everyday, and the best way to come out on top is to have a positive attitude and see the potential that resides during both the good and bad times. Right now would of course not be the best time to purchase oil stocks… but there still are some good deals to be had in silver and real estate.

So the next time you are filling your tank and watching those bitter and sour numbers multiply into the triple digits, there might just be a little sugar, water, and ice waiting for you elsewhere.

Don’t be a victim… take advantage of these times to actually put yourself in a better position tomorrow. Your Grandpa’s would all be so proud!