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Rolls Royce sponsors Bloodhound 1000mph World Speed Record attempt

The last time we had news about a sponsor for the Bloodhound 1000mph World Record attempt aproject, it was all about a carbon off-set company sponsoring the project with off-set credits so the speed record project could claim to be carbon neutral. This time, it’s something of proper value to the project. Rolls Royce – the plane people, not the car people – are supplying their EJ200 jet engine from the Eurofighter Typhoon – and technical support – which will be bolted in Bloodhound to get it up to 350mph before a rocket engine takes over and thrusts it on past 1000mph.

Vauxhall launches speed limit detectors on Insignia (2008)

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 19 June 2008 07:53 Vauxhall's new Insignia will be the first of a wave of cars to have a forward-facing camera that can read road signs. The optional kit will detect speed limit and no overtaking signs – and flash up a reminder to the driver on the dashboard.GM calls the tech, which will be launched in early 2009, Traffic Sign Recognition and it uses a small, wide-angled camera system supplied by Hella. It sits at the top of the windscreen near the rain sensors and rear-view mirror, scanning the road ahead taking 30 photos per second.It's 1984 all over again...With a range of 100 metres, the camera focuses on circular patterns and then interprets the numbers inside by contour comparison; if a match is found on the software's database, that road sign will be flashed up in the driver's binnacle.The front-facing camera is also used as a lane departure warning system, alerting the driver if they unintentionally swerve out of their lane on a motorway.Cars with cameras: a growing trendMore and more manufacturers are fitting cameras to their cars nowadays and you can expect a flood of systems like the Insignia's to be launched in 2009, including the new BMW 5-series.CAR tried out these new systems on Bosch prototypes in 2007.

Audi Urban Future Awards

Audi has challenged six international architects to present their vision for a future urban landscape that will explore the interplay between mobility, architecture and the city. The winner of the Audi Urban Future Awards will receive a €100,000 prize to be presented at the Venice Biennale in August. Phase one has been completed, with the contestants presenting their hypothesis for the city of the future at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London in May.