Just How Long Can 24 Hours Be?
The Bathurst 1000 is very popular and is the place to go to see the best of Ford (OK, FPV) and Holden (HSV) in action on the track–you don’t need me to tell you that. But for two years (2003 and 2004), Mt Panorama was the site of another tough auto race – the Bathurst 24 Hour. This was Australia’s attempt at joining the ranks of the most demanding type of endurance auto race. You think it’s tough going around the Mt Panorama circuit for 1000 km (161 laps of tricky track)? Try going around it for 24 hours non-stop, which is four times, more or less, the time needed by the V8 Supercars to get around the 1000 km.
If you want to have a go at watching (or driving in!) a 24-hour auto race, you’ll have to head offshore to places where the tracks aren’t limited to the Fords and the Holdens. A number of other places in the world have these 24-hour endurance tests, and they might be worth adding to the bucket list of a motoring enthusiast.
The Big Price Rip Off Revealed
The Big Price Rip Off Revealed
The Aussie car buyer is being subjected to the biggest rip off in memory at car dealers’ showrooms if the following pricing chart reflects the truth!
It’s impossible to reach any other conclusion based on the figures we’ve gleaned from manufacturers’ web sites around the world.
Our survey of retail prices in Australia against cars of similar specification in the US and the UK show that, on average, we are paying at least 20 per cent too much for our new cars, and you can’t just blame the government’s high tax rates!
Whilst it is only a sample survey of selected makes and countries our price analysis depicts a very clear and compelling message to the Aussie motorist.
US Research Confirms Cancer Risk – 25 years later
Some 25 years ago an Australian research report found that in countries with right hand drive vehicles there are more cancers and pre-cancerous growths on the right side of a driver. Now researchers at the University Of Washington in Seattle, USA have found that Americans have a tendency to develop the worst forms of skin cancer such as melanomas and merkel cell carcinomas on the left side of their bodies. The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology also said that there is an especially high incidence of cancers discovered on the upper left arm, which is consistent with left hand drive vehicles. It’s good to see that our American cousins have finally caught up with our thinking!
It seems therefore that driving in Summer conditions with the driver’s window open has a big impact on the incidence of skin cancer.
Breathing Easy In The Cabin
Many new cars rolling off the lines and into the showrooms have been fitted with particulate filters to stop cars emitting quite as many nasties that people can breathe in. You also frequently find pollen filters on the ventilation/air con systems, meaning that if you drive and suffer from hay fever, you are less likely to have your eyes streaming, forcing you to pull over, if you are stuck behind a trailer loaded with pollen-stuffed garden rubbish
It seems to be one thing that people are thinking about more these days: the air quality and what we’re breathing in. And there’s no getting away from it: cars and other motorised vehicles are the number 1 producers of carbon monoxide, NOx gases, ozone (fine in the upper atmosphere to keep out the UV but not so good down at ground level) and all the rest of it. But have you ever stopped to wonder how much of this stuff you’re breathing in when you’re in your car? After all, when you’re in a car, you’re usually sitting in a queue of traffic, and every single motor vehicle in that traffic (apart from the electric cars) is putting out a lot of air pollution.
Level 2, 9 Help Street