Alfa Romeo 2019 Sportiva

After the Second World War, Alfa Romeo had drastically revised their line-up. In a matter of years, production shifted from the most expensive car available to small family saloons. Using the 1900 Saloon engine, Alfa Romeo engineers designed a small sportscar racer. Known as the ‘Disco Volante’ (flying saucer), the small prototype racer incorporated a spaceframe chassis. In total only six cars were constructed, all with slightly different Touring designed bodywork. With the three litre, six cylinder 6C 3000 CM, Alfa Romeo made a brief and successful appearance in various sportscar races. In an attempt to relive the glory days of the 1930s, Alfa Romeo engineers set out to design a two-litre ‘supercar’, which could be driven on the roads and raced by the manufacturer’s customers. The basis of the new car was the spaceframe chassis, also used in the Disco Volante. Power came from a two-litre version of the 1900 engine, fitted with hemispherical combustion chambers. Like many contemporary Formula 1 racers, it was fitted with a DeDion axle at the rear. Bertone’s Franco Scaglione was commissioned to design a lightweight body to fit the extremely short ‘Sportiva’ chassis. Scaglione came with a very innovative design, which incorporated a very low air-intake. He penned up both a Spyder and a Coupe design. Many of the design cues were later also found in his design for the Giulietta Cabriolet prototype, which unfortunately was never produced. The 2000 Sportiva has a 2 liter engine fed with two twin side Weber draft carburettors producing 138 PS (101 kW; 136 hp), that gave top speed of 220 km/h (137 mph). The all aluminum body sits on the spaceframe chassis of the Disco Volante. Eventually only four examples were constructed, two spyders and two coupes.

This creates pressure waves that help the intake process and improve torque at lower engine speeds. Above about 3,500 rpm, the flaps open and intake air flows the shortest distance to the combustion chambers, helping to make more horsepower, especially at higher speeds. First, a forged crankshaft with five main bearings is placed into an all-aluminum engine block that features wide main-bearing saddles and transverse bearing supports to minimize vibration. The engine block is cast around Silitek cylinder liners that provide a long-life, low-friction silicon-aluminum running surface for the piston rings. In addition, the block is nearly seven pounds lighter than if it was fitted with conventional cylinder sleeves. Aluminum pistons are pinned onto forged steel connecting rods that are 20 percent lighter than comparable engines. The pistons slide into the cylinders, and the connecting rods are clamped around the crankshaft journals. The two cylinder heads are bolted onto the block, and twin camshafts are installed in each head. The intake cams are driven by a double chain from the crankshaft, and small gears on both cams in turn drive the exhaust cams.

Double-wall exhaust piping is used to keep the exhaust air as hot as possible leading down to twin catalytic converters. With the help of secondary air injection, the catalysts promote additional downstream conversion of pollutants into carbon dioxide and water vapor, and two oxygen sensors for each catalyst monitor and help manage the entire process. All 2010-model E-Class sedans and coupes are equipped with the Mercedes-Benz seven-speed automatic transmission. When compared to other transmission designs, the seven-speed makes the vehicle faster and more economical while providing smooth, barely noticeable gearshifts. Seven gear ratios provide a wider spread of ratios between first gear and top gear and, at the same time, allow smaller increases in engine speed as the vehicle accelerates through the gears. This gives the electronic control unit more flexibility to maximize fuel economy and make the transmission's reaction time faster. Unlike most transmissions, the seven-speed transmission will skip up to three gear ratios if necessary when it downshifts, shifting directly from seventh to fifth, for example, or even sixth to second.

This helps the transmission choose the best gear for quick acceleration and ensure smooth, almost imperceptible shifts in the process. The Mercedes-Benz seven-speed uses a refined, proven hydrody¬namic torque converter with a special lock-up clutch inside the converter for maximum fuel efficien¬cy. The clutch eliminates the usual torque converter "slippage," providing the direct connection and fuel efficiency of a manual transmission when the clutch is engaged. In the seven-speed, the clutch engages in all seven gears. The Mercedes-Benz lock-up clutch is submerged in oil and uses special long-life friction materials. The Mercedes-Benz E350 and E550 sedans now come with a small stalk on the right side of the steering column that serves as the gear selector, freeing up valuable real estate on the center console between the seats. The column-mounted "Direct Select" lever electronically controls the seven-speed automatic - just lift the stalk up for reverse, push down for drive, and push a button on the end for park. Once underway, pushing one of the paddles on the "back" of the steering wheel provides manual gear changes.

Nope, these paddles operate the Regen on Demand feature that lightly activates the system to recharge the batteries when you need it most. Optional safety equipment includes a blind-spot monitoring system and a collision preparation system (included with adaptive cruise control), which can automatically apply the brakes to reduce the severity of an imminent collision. The EPA has now certified fuel-economy ratings for the 2014 Cadillac ELR, and it is now the luxury brand's most efficient car, by a wide margin. The ELR offers fuel economy of its gas-electric drivetrain of 33 miles per gallon combined. More important to green-car shoppers will be its electric-only driving range of 37 miles, and its 82-MPGe fuel-efficiency rating when operated on electric power alone. Those figures are roughly equal to the ones affirmed for the Chevy Volt, which pioneered the ELR's primarily series-hybrid drivetrain, though the ELR carries around about 200 pounds of additional weight despite two fewer doors. Charging times remain the same, at about 4.5 hours on a 240-volt connection or more than 7 hours on a 120-volt household outlet. On a full tank of gas, the ELR has an operating range of 340 miles. Our initial drives in the ELR didn't provide the chance to measure our own fuel economy--and took place in the canyons around Malibu, where fuel efficiency takes a nose-dive. We'll report back as we have more real-world exposure to the ELR.