GoldWiser New Caney – Page 9 – Things That Make You Go Wow (2024)

The LaFerrari is the firstmild hybridproduced by the Italian Automotive marque, providing the highest power output of any Ferrari road car whilst decreasing fuel consumption by 40 percent.^[24]LaFerrari’s internal combustion petrol powerplant is alongitudinally-mountedRear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layoutFerrari F140direct injection65°V12 enginewith adisplacementof 6,262cc (6.3L) generating a maximum power output of 800PS (789hp; 588kW) at 9,000rpm and 700N⋅m (516lb⋅ft) of torque at 6,750rpm,^[25][2]supplemented by a 163PS (120kW; 161hp)KERSunit (called HY-KERS), which will provide short bursts of extra power.^[26]The KERS system adds extra power to the combustion engine’s output level for a total of 963PS (708kW; 950hp) and a combined torque of 900N⋅m (664lb⋅ft).^[2][27]Ferrari claims CO₂emissions of 330g/km. The engine’sboreXstrokeis 94mm ×75.2mm (3.70in ×2.96in) with acompression ratioof 13.5:1 and a specific power output of 94kW (128PS) per litre.^[2]It is connected to a 7-speeddual-clutch transmission.^[2]

Equipment[edit]

The car is equipped with carbon-ceramicBrembobrake discs on the front (398mm) and rear (380mm),^[28]The car is equipped withPirelliP Zero Corsa tyres measuring 265/30 R 19 and 345/30 R 20 respectively.^[29]

The car uses acarbon fibremonocoquestructure designed by Ferrari’s F1 technical directorRory Byrne, with a claimed 27 percent more torsional rigidity and 22 percent more beam stiffness than the Enzo.^[30]It has adouble wishbone suspensionin the front and amulti-link suspensionin the rear.^[2]

LaFerrari has a number of electronic controls includingESC, high performance ABS/EBD (anti-lock braking system/electronic brake distribution), EF1-Trac F1 electronic traction control integrated with the hybrid system, E-Diff 3 third generation electronic differential, SCM-E Frsmagnetorheological dampingwith twinsolenoids(Al-Ni tube), and active aerodynamics, which are controlled by 21 of the LaFerrari’s onboard computers, to enable maximum performance.^[2]Thebody computersystem is developed byMagneti MarelliAutomotive Lighting.

Performance[edit]

Ferrari states that the car has a top speed exceeding 217mph (349km/h), similar to the Enzo’s top speed, however, it is capable of accelerating from a standstill to 100km/h (62mph) in 2.4 seconds, 0–200km/h (0–124mph) in under 7 seconds, and 0–300km/h (0–186mph) in 15 seconds.^[2]Ferrari also claims that the car has lapped itsFiorano Test Circuitin 1:19.70 which is faster than any other road-legal car Ferrari has ever produced.^[31]

Design[edit]

The design of the V12 flagship received no input fromPininfarina, making it the first Ferrari since theBertone-styled 1973Dino 308 GT4not to have Pininfarina bodywork or other styling. This decision is a rare exception to the collaboration between Ferrari and Pininfarina that began in 1951. However, Ferrari has stated that two new models designed jointly with Pininfarina have yet to be unveiled and that there are no plans to end business relations with Pininfarina.^[32]

The co*ckpit stands out for its essentiality and the sportiness of the shapes, intended to convey the high level of performance of the car. There is a steering wheel with integrated controls and gear levers directly fixed to the steering column, a solution that allows better use in all conditions. The “bridge” which exists between the two seats, designed like a suspended wing, is home to other instruments linked to the dual-clutch gearbox. The instrumentation consists of a 12.3-inch (310mm) TFT display with the option to choose between two layouts and can host data from the telemetry system.

TheNational September 11 Memorial & Museum(also known as the9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum inNew York Citycommemorating theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks, which killed 2,977 people, and the1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six.^[4]The memorial is located at theWorld Trade Center site, the former location of theTwin Towersthat were destroyed during the September 11 attacks. It is operated by a non-profit institution whose mission is to raise funds for, program, and operate the memorial and museum at the World Trade Center site.

A memorial was planned in the immediate aftermath of the attacks anddestruction of the World Trade Centerfor the victims and those involved in rescue and recovery operations.^[5]The winner of theWorld Trade Center Site Memorial Competitionwas Israeli architectMichael AradofHandel Architects, a New York- andSan Francisco-based firm. Arad worked with landscape-architecture firm Peter Walker and Partners on the design, creating a forest ofswamp white oaktrees with two squarereflecting poolsin the center marking where the Twin Towers stood.^[6]In August 2006, the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and thePort Authority of New York and New Jerseybegan heavy construction on the memorial and museum.^[7]The design is consistent with the original master plan byDaniel Libeskind, which called for the memorial to be 30 feet (9.1m) below street level—originally 70 feet (21m)—in aplaza, and was the only finalist to disregard Libeskind’s requirement that the buildings overhang the footprints of the Twin Towers. The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation was renamed the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in 2007.^[8]

A dedication ceremony commemorating the tenth anniversary of the attacks was held at the memorial on September 11, 2011, and it opened to the public the following day. The museum was dedicated on May 15, 2014, with remarks fromMichael BloombergandPresidentBarack Obama. The museum opened to the public on May 21.

Christian von Koenigsegg is one of the most inventive and creative automaker chiefs of all time. Justeight months ago, he came up with an idea for his first hybrid supercar, the Regera, though he refuses to call it a hybrid. But unlike every other supercar, this one has no gearbox whatsoever. How the hell does that work?

In the past, Koenigsegg has stated how much he dislikes electric power and hybrid powertrains.The One:1 was designed to compete with hybrid supercarslike the LaFerrari and McLaren P1 without any hybrid assistance. It was a giantFUto cars that needed hybrid power to reach new levels of performance.

But then, just eight months ago, Christian had an idea. An idea for how he could utilize electric and internal combustion power that is totally different than any of his competitors on the market and has more similarity to a Honda Accord (asCar and Driverpoints out) than a Porsche 918.

Koenigsegg built a car with one gear that uses electric power and an internal combustion engine working in concert to create one of the fastest accelerating cars of all time. This is how it works.

How is it powered?

The Regera uses Koenigsegg’s 5.0 liter turbo V8 along with three electric motors. They are powered by a nine-kWh, 620-volt, water-cooled battery pack, which Koenigsegg says is the most power dense battery pack every created for a production car.

The electric motor on the crankshaft makes 215 horsepower (and also acts as a starter motor/generator) while the electric motors on the rear wheels make 241 horsepower each. This also allows for torque vectoring between the rear wheels. Real torque vectoring, not brake actuated.

The batteries and power distribution unit were developed in conjunction with Rimac,makers of Croatia’s only (why aren’t there more Croatia? Step your game up) electric supercar. Themotors were made by YASA, which makes some beautiful pieces of electrical engineering p*rn. The system makes a total of nearly 700 horsepower, which Koenigsegg says makes it the most powerful of any electric setup in production car history.

It also has a “battery drain mode.” Basically, when you are ending your journey, you will tell the Regera where you will be parking the car, at home or a charging station. The Regera will then make sure that the battery is fully drained before it gets to the end point, which means it’ll be ready to accept a charge. Very smart. It has a fully electric mode of about 22 miles.

How much total power does it make?

Depending on which fuel is being run, the full system makes at least 1,500 horsepower and at least 1,475 pound feet of torque combined.

The full system weighs about 200 pounds more than a Regera would weigh if it had a 5.0 liter V8 and Koenigsegg’s seven-speed gearbox. It has a total weight of 3,589 pounds, and that’s wet weight will all fluids and a full tank of fuel.

How fast is it?

All the fast. The Regera can get to its top speed of 249 MPH in less than 20 seconds. To compare, it takes a Porsche 918, another hybrid supercar, 23 seconds to reach 186 MPH. It goes from 93 MPH to 155 MPH in 3.2 seconds. Acceleration from 0 to 60 is the easy sort of acceleration (it does it in 2.8 seconds, which is fast), as you go faster, aero resistance makes acceleration harder.

These are incredible figures.

It has no transmission?

That’s not entirely accurate, since it does transmit power to the ground. But it doesn’t have a gearbox in the traditional sense. It just has a final drive of 2.85:1, that’s it.

How does it actually work?

Ok, get a snack and be ready to concentrate. You’ll need to read this a few times, because you might just go crosseyed. I did.

Koenigsegg does not want to call this car a hybrid, because the traditional thinking is that a hybrid is a car that is compromised by weight and other shortcomings in order to make it work. Koenigsegg wanted to get rid of the compromises and make a car that is actually better because it’s a hybrid, not worse.

What Koenigsegg has created is a new system that they call Koenigsegg Direct Drive, or KDD for short. Instead of transmitting power through a transmission like a CVT or a dual clutch, the KDD uses one ratio in order to achieve its performance goals. The advantage is that the normal losses from powering a transmission with multiple ratios are cut in half. The weight of that transmission is also cut out of the car, meaning there isn’t a weight compromise for the hybrid system.

At speeds less than 30 MPH, the Regera will run on electric power alone. At speeds above 30 MPH, the internal combustion engine comes into play thanks to a hydraulic coupling that acts like a clutch, but only slips a tiny bit. Most of the time it is locked. This sounds similar in concept to a torque converter.

When you keep accelerating, the engine is locked into the geared rear-end and works with the electric power to accelerate to the Regera’s 8,250 RPM redline, at which point it’s doing 249 MPH.

[Christian von Koenigsegg examines the hybrid drive for the first time. Photo: JF Musial]

The electric motors work in conjunction with the engine to provide torque fill, torque vectoring, and help provide power in the gaps where the engine might long for a gear. In theory, the electric motors have replaced the gearbox.

Under heavy acceleration, the Regera will use all 670 horsepower of the electric motors in conjunction with the at least 800 horsepower of the engine. Under heavy braking or when the engine is acting as a generator, the Regera can take up to 200 horsepower to use for regeneration.

Whoa.

Indeed. It’s an entire new way of thinking, though that shouldn’t be surprising. Koenigsegg is unburdened by the same restraints us mortals have. Just ask him how he thinks gravity works.

The Great Galveston Storm came ashore the night of Sept 8, 1900, with an estimated strength of a Category 4. It remains the deadliest natural disaster and the worst hurricane in U.S. history.

From 6,000 to 12,000 people died on Galveston Island and the mainland. Texas’ most advanced city was nearly destroyed.

Forecasting was primitive in those days — they relied on spotty reports from ships in the Gulf of Mexico. Citizens of Galveston could see that a storm was brewing offshore, but had no idea that it was a monster.

“Everyone went about their usual tasks until about 11 a.m. when my brother, Jacob, and our cousin, Allen Brooks, came from the beach with the report that the Gulf was very rough and the tide very high,” remembered Katherine Vedder Pauls, not quite 6 years old at the time. Her oral history and others used for this report arearchived at Galveston’s Rosenberg Library.

“About half past 3,” she continued, “Jacob and Allen came running, shouting excitedly that the Gulf looked like a great gray wall about 50-feet high and moving slowly toward the island.”

At the dawn of the 20th century, Galveston was the grandest city in Texas. It could boast the biggest port, the most millionaires, the swankiest mansions, the first telephones and electric lights, and the most exotic bordellos. After the 1900 storm, she would never regain her status.

“No tongue can tell it!”

What became of the people of Galveston is the story of what happened before accurate weather forecasting, mandatory evacuations, and storm building codes.

“We knew there was a storm coming, but we had no idea that it was as bad as it was,” said William Mason Bristol, who was 21 when he rode out the storm in his mother’s boardinghouse. “You see, we didn’t have a weather bureau that give us the dope that they got now…They had no airplanes to go up there and see how bad it was.”

The hurricanes of 2017 were destructive in terms of dollars, but the official death toll remains well under 300. In 1900, thousands died.

The unnamed hurricane swept in from the Gulf with an estimated tidal surge of 15 feet, so high that it swallowed the skinny barrier island that was only 5 feet above sea level.

“Oh, it was a awful thing. You want me tell you, but no tongue can tell it!” recalled Annie McCullough. She was about 22 years old in 1900. Her family was on a mule-drawn wagon trying to escape the rising tide.

“The water was comin’ so fast. The wagon gettin’ so it was floatin’. The poor mules swimmin’ that was pullin’. And the men laid flat on their stomach, holdin’ the little children.”

Survivors wrote of wind that sounded “like a thousand little devils shrieking and whistling,” of 6-foot waves coming down Broadway Avenue, of a grand piano riding the crest of one, of slate shingles turned into whirling saw blades, and of streetcar tracks becoming waterborne battering rams that tore apart houses.

“The animals tried to swim to safety and the frightened squawking chickens were roosting everywhere they could get above the water,” Pauls remembered. “People from homes already demolished were beginning to drift into our house, which still stood starkly against the increasing fury of the wind and water.”

At the height of the storm, John W. Harris remembered two dozen terrified people climbing in through the windows of their home on Tremont Street. His mother prepared for rising floodwaters by lashing her children together.

“Mother had a trunk strap around each one of us to hold onto us as long as she could,” he recalled.

Rosenberg School, built of brick, became a refuge for Annie McCullough’s family and many others.

“The people was screamin’ and hollerin’ and so, huntin’ their folks,” she said in an oral history recorded by her grand-niece, Izola Collins. “The wind! Those men that was in the school, all they could do was stand against those doors and hold ’em.”

The single mostheart-wrenching tragedy happened to St. Mary’s orphanage. Ten Catholic nuns from the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word and 90 children died when fearsome waves destroyed two wooden dormitories, that were built close to the beach in the belief that ocean breezes would reduce the danger of yellow fever. The sisters tethered the orphans together with clothesline. That’s how they were found the next day, drowned. Only three boys escaped.

“A terrible time”

The storm began to subside about daybreak. The sun rose on Sept. 9 on a coastal city obliterated. One survivor described “knots of people frightened out of their wits, crazy men and women crying and weeping at the tops of their voices.”

Corpses were everywhere. Authorities declared martial law and began to force men — most of whom were black — at bayonet point to collect the dead, pile them on barges, and dump them in the Gulf for burial. But the cadavers washed back onshore. Finally, they had to be burned in funeral pyres. There were orders to shoot on sight the “ghouls” who stole jewelry from the tangled bodies.

“It was a terrible time, it really was,” recalled Louise Bristol Hopkins, who was seven. “I heard the stories of women with long hair who had been caught in the trees with their hair and cut to pieces with slates that had been flying.”

Katherine Vedder Pauls recollected a ghoulish incident that happened to her mother.

“She stepped on a barrel concealed by the water. It rolled and she went under with it. She grabbed at something to pull herself up. It was the body of a small girl. Her self-control gave way and she wept hysterically.”

Harris, who became a prominent banker and philanthropist on the island, lost 11 relatives in the 1900 storm. He remembered the next morning his family was having breakfast in their house, that withstood the waves, when the mayor came by.

“He said to father, ‘John, your whole family are destroyed.’ And I remember it’s the first time that I ever saw father with tears in his eyes. He had no idea of the extent of the damage. We hadn’t left the house yet.”

In the years after the horrific storm, Galveston reinvented itself in a burst of municipal determination. The US Army Corps of Engineers constructed a 17-foot seawall. The city undertook an ambitious “grade-raising.” Two thousand surviving structures — from shanties to a massive Catholic church — were jacked up and sand pumped underneath. Both the seawall and the grade-raising were regarded as engineering marvels of their day.

For decades, people on Galveston Island never spoke of the 1900 storm. “The folks that survived the storm were sort of like people who survived a war,” recalled former state Sen. Babe Schwartz, a legendary Galveston figure. He was interviewed in 2000.

“No chamber of commerce wants to talk about the worst tragedy in the history of the United States where 6,000 to 8,000 people died on this little ol’ island.”

TheFord RangerRaptor surfaced earlier this year in Bangkok, Thailand, in production form, and while the truck you see here is only for global markets outside the U.S., it’s likely that the United States will have a crack at Ford’s rock-hopping, dune-flogging four-by-four at a later date.

Months before Ford unveiled the U.S.-spec 2019 Ranger in January, we knew Dearborn had directed the Ford Performance division to build a baby Raptor. That’s exactly what the Ranger Raptor looks like, minus the F-150 version’s amber marker lights on the satin-gray grille. Flared fenders, F-O-R-D in chunky uppercase letters, silver-painted underbody shields, and a step-in height that threatens to rip inseams are the most obvious touches. Under the hood is an all-new twin-turbocharged 2.0-liter diesel inline-four, which Ford likely won’t try to certify back home. It’s more potent than the expat Ranger’s 3.2-liter turbo-diesel inline-five, with 211 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque. Expect any U.S. model of the little Raptor to be powered by Ford’s 2.7-liter EcoBoost V-6, with outputs similar to the 335 horsepower and 380 lb-ft that the engine makes inthe 2019 Edge ST. Likethe F-150 Raptor, the rowdiest Ranger uses a 10-speed automatic transmission, four-wheel drive, and six driving modes (including a Baja setting that relaxes the traction control for ripping across the desert).

The F-150 Raptor boasts Fox Racing Shox internal-bypass dampers, and the Ranger Raptor follows suit. Ford has not specified wheel travel, but since the ability to execute sweet jumps is a Raptor hallmark, expect it to be generous. A Watt’s linkage helps control the live rear axle’s lateral motion, while more high-strength steel and integrated tow bars are baked into the Ranger’s frame.

Compared with the Ranger FX4 sold in Australia—which is the most aggressive off-road version of the currently available truck—the Ranger Raptor’s overall height is up by 2.0 inches, while ground clearance is 1.8 inches greater, for a healthy total of 11.1 inches. Whereas the F-150 Raptor feels as wide as a garbage truck, the Ranger Raptor should be easier to keep between the painted lines. Ford stretched this Ranger’s front and rear tracks by 5.9 inches, although overall width increases by just 0.7 inch. A 32-degree approach angle and 24-degree departure angle (increases of 3 degrees each over the FX4) will no doubt test the 33-inch BFGoodrich 285/70R-17 tires and front skid plate. Stopping ability is enhanced by front and rear brake rotors that are 0.4 inch larger in diameter than those of the standard Ranger.

If you mentally switch the right-hand-drive seating position to the other side and sub in a higher-rpm tachometer, it’s easy to imagine what a U.S. Ranger Raptor’s interior would look like. Leather and microsuede upholstery is garnished with white Raptor lettering and blue stitching, and the Raptor-spec steering wheel features a red 12-o’clock hash mark. Five exterior colors (Lightning Blue, Race Red, Shadow Black, Frozen White, and Conquer Grey) will be offered in the aforementioned markets. As for official confirmation of a version for America, we hope that will be bounding around the bend soon.

Meteorites are typically sold by weight. The meteorite collecting community uses the metric system so weights are measured in grams and kilograms, and dimensions in centimeters and millimeters.

As is the case with most collectibles, the commercial value of a meteorite is determined by a number of factors including rarity of type, provenance, condition of preservation, and beauty or aesthetic appeal. It is important to note that new and noteworthy meteorite finds should always be made available to the scientific community for study. Once a meteorite has been analyzed and classified by academia, surplus specimens find their way onto the commercial market. The process of acceptance into the official scientific literature actually adds commercial value to a meteorite.

Meteorite prices vary from one source to another but the numbers quoted here are typical of retail values in today’s marketplace. Unclassified stonechondritespicked up by nomads wandering in the Sahara Deserts are readily available for about $0.50/gram. Attractive stones from the Gao-Guenie witnessed fall (Burkina Faso, Africa, March 5, 1960) can be purchased for about $1.50/gram and a top quality one-kilogram specimen of the Campo del Cielo iron meteorite from Chaco Province, Argentina can be yours for about $400.

The Russian iron Sikhote-Alin (fell February 12, 1947) is the largest single meteorite event in modern recorded history and individuals — meteorite specimens which landed as one intact piece, rather than exploding on or near the ground — are coveted by collectors because of their marvelous sculptural qualities and surface features. A premium Sikhote-Alin specimen will carry a price tag of $2 to $3/gram.

Pallasitesare stony-iron meteorites packed with olivine (the gemstone peridot) and are particularly desirable when cut and polished because of the alluring color and translucency of the crystals they contain. Prepared slices of stable pallasites such as Imilac (Chile), Glorieta Mountain (New Mexico, USA) and Esquel (Argentina) are prized for their colorful gemstones and long-term stability, and will fetch between $20 and $40/gram. Meteorites are heavy, so a quality slice the size of a small dinner plate is worth thousands of dollars.

At the high end of the pricing scale are unusual types such as thediogeniteTatahouine (fell June 27, 1931, Foum Tatahouine, Tunisia). A prime specimen will easily fetch $50/gram while rare examples of lunar and Martian meteorites may sell for $1,000/gram or more — almost forty times the current price of gold!