Porsche 911 GT3 R hybrid

from Stephen Dobie

Porsche is taking a hybrid version of its 911 supercar to the 2010 Geneva motor show. It’s no ordinary 911, either – it’s the GT3 R racing car, perhaps the last place you’d expect to find a green-pleasing powertrain.

Not that this one’s particularly green, of course. A 473bhp 4-litre flat-six engine powers the rear wheels, while two electric motors (each developing around 80bhp) power the front axle, effectively making this a four-wheel-drive GT3.

Those motors are powered by an electric flywheel generator, which is charged up by regenerative braking each time the driver slows. And rather than cutting in automatically during the drive (or indeed race) cycle, the electric power is made available KERS-style, as the racing driver requires it for a six to eight second boost.

The 911’s hybrid system is also intended to increase fuel efficiency. Ideal, really, as the car’s first big race with be May’s Nurburgring 24-hour race. And for Porsche, it really is about the taking part rather than the winning: racing the hybrid GT3 R will be ‘a ‘racing laboratory’ that will provide invaluable knowledge and insight on the subsequent use of hybrid technology in road-going Porsche sports car’.

A road-going hybrid version of the next 911, then? Certainly sounds like it…

Guns and Road Rage

Monday morning all saw us watching on morning television the raid and eventual shooting and arrest of Jason Aguilar Ivler. He was caught in his mother’s house after two months of continuous manhunt.

Ivler is not your typical Filipino criminal mind who eventually surrenders when he sees he is outnumbered and outgunned. Being a former US serviceman who served in Iraq, if reports are true, Ivler reacted in typical American fashion, he shot it out with the NBI agents arresting him.

This resulted in him wounding two NBI agents and getting shot four times, according to reports, sending him to the hospital for treatment. He is now stable and safe and ready to face charges for the killing of the son of Malacanang official Ebarle.

Aside from Ivler engaging authorities in a shootout, road-rage resulting to homicide is now a familiar scene in our roads and highways. This is  not isolated to Metro Manila alone, even the provinces have their share of stories about people getting shot by hotheaded motorists.

The reason behind these incidents is pure and simple, lack of driving discipline combines with lack of traffic rules  enforcement combined with irritation combined with arrogance combined with the proliferation of firearms.

Now, I am a duly licensed and permitted firearm holder, so I will say here and now, I do have nothing against possession of firearms per se. What I cannot abide is the manner in which firearms are dispensed to almost anyone even if they have no need for them and allow them to carry it around the streets.

Take the picture in this page as a case in point. This old man had a traffic altercation with a friend of ours. Instead of talking it over or simply letting it go, he pulls out his firearm and threatens our friends.

The danger in the photo is more to him at this point, because trigger finger in, if any sudden jerk surprises him, he could very well shoot his foot or his driver.

Or, if the guy in the other car has a gun, he could very well die right then and there because of his arrogance and ignorance (you don’t pull a gun and not use it simply because the other guy might have a gun too and decide to use it.) We all wish somebody shot him there.

There are laws on owning and carrying a gun, first and foremost is that it should be concealed and should not pose a danger to the public. This jerk obviously do not know that.

Also, only pistols up to caliber .38 are allowed to be possessed by civilians. This guy is packing a .45 at most or a 9 mil at least, unless he is a cop or a soldier. This is where enforcement at the PNP level is terrible.

If he were a cop or a soldier, he should be uniformed to carry his firearm because of the Comelec gunban. Or he should be arresting suspects not scaring citizens with his gun.

Most arrogant people do this because they are emulating our uniformed officers who will pull out their guns for whatever reason they deem necessary, nevermind that it is not needed.

So look at this guy and stay away from him and his IZUSU Trooper. He just might be the next Jason Ivler waiting to happen. If you happen to be in Facebook get the details there and go tell the nearest cop. If they do something about it great, if not, then we at least do ours.

And if you see others like him, keep cool and stay away, there are many Rolito Go, Jason Ivler and this jerk around. Don’t be a statistic, just drive.

I Hate Buses

The title says it all! I hate buses, public transport buses to be specific!

Well, let me correct myself. I hate public transport bus drivers. They are probably the worst, uneducated, ill-mannered, arrogant, law-breaking mammals the world has ever know.

Let me qualify for international readers, I am talking about about bus drivers in the Philippines.

This is the only place in the world probably where buses equal the number of cars and trucks on the roads. They are also on almost all the main arteries choking them up with their own sheer size. And they seem impervious to any and all traffic rules or enforcers for that matter.

I mean, they load and unload everywhere, use any lane they wish despite having their own bus lane, and take over three lanes when they move out of their lanes.

That can usually be tolerated, but these guys even turn our roads into a racing circuit, jockeying for positions in each and every stop (which is about every hundred meters or so.)

Not only are they a danger to every motorist, they are a danger to themselves and their passengers. According to LTO records, four buses get into an accident everyday.

And Traffic Enforcers are no help in getting them disciplined. These shabilly dressed highway litters in blue that seem to make things worse for traffic instead of making it better.

At worst, they stop the buses in the middle of the road and argue with the drivers. At best they just look around doing nothing.

I drive along EDSA almost half a day everyday and I am sure you guys know what I am talking about. Try telling a bus driver to drive properly and the answer is typical – “ano ba ang pakialam mo, buti nga nagtatrabaho pa ako eh”- as if we owe them something because they are working for their living.

Or – “wala namang sign na nagsasabing bawal eh”- or -”pasensiya ka, mas malaki sasakyan ko sa iyo eh”- as if they can make their own rules because of these excuses.

What’s worse, I recently found out that these bus drivers have more than two drivers license. Man, they just surrender their licenses when accosted and take out another down the road!

And one more thing! When can we have all these bus terminals taken out of EDSA? These guys just block the road when fixing their parking in the terminals. And guess what, their Security Guards acting as traffic enforcers have the attitude of police officers. “Pumaparada yung bus pare, huminto ka!” was what I got when I asked this JAM Transit cop-for-hire what he was doing stopping traffic.

Man I hate buses for so many reasons. I wish they would just ban them from Metro Manila roads and strengthen the railway system for mass transport. But with Claire dela Fuente singing her way into LTO and LTFRB, I guess nothing can be done for now.

But I still hate buses!