| By subaru.com.au,
on 22-10-2008 00:00
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Favoured : 43 |
Published in : Tech, Computers |
Subaru has underlined its outstanding safety credentials with confirmation that its entire Australian range is now equipped with standard stability control and shares independent five star crash worthiness ratings.
70 per cent of the Subaru All-Wheel Drive range has been stability-equipped for the past 12 months.
But the addition of the Vehicle Dynamics Control (VDC) stability safety system to manual variants of the Model Year 2009 Outback, Liberty 2.5i, 2.5i Heritage and both GT spec.B manual and automatic, provides 100 per cent coverage.
Combined with independent five-star crash worthiness ratings for occupant safety from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), this places Subaru at the forefront of automotive safety in Australia.
ANCAP’s testing has been conducted purely on Australian specification Subarus, to local standards.
Subaru Managing Director, Nick Senior, said: “Safety has long been a key aspect of Subaru’s reputation. With the release of our MY09 Liberty and Outback models, our entire range is now VDC equipped and five-star rated, which is clear proof of our safety commitment.
“The engineers at Fuji Heavy Industries have worked closely with our own Subaru Australia engineering team to place us well ahead of any mandatory Federal legislation regarding stability control.
“This demonstrates Subaru’s commitment to occupant safety and a proactive approach to safety generally.”
ANCAP is backed by the nation’s motoring organisations and statutory transport bodies.
Its ratings are recognised by equivalent organisations in the U.S.A., Europe, Japan and Korea, where crash testing is also performed and results shared with Australia.
Vehicles undergo three types of crash testing:
· A side impact at 50 kilometres per hour
· An offset crash test into a barrier at 64 km/h
· An optional side crash into a pole at 29 km/h
Subaru’s safety timeline:
2000: VDC introduced on Liberty Heritage wagon and Outback H6.
2003: Subaru’s five-star ANCAP success began when it was announced that the Forester XS Luxury Pack had achieved the best-ever occupant safety crashworthiness test rating for a compact four-wheel drive – five stars. The rating was unprecedented in the history of ANCAP. It meant the Australian Forester variant was officially ranked as the safest in its class. It was also the first time any Japanese-built car achieved a five-star ANCAP rating.
March 2004: ANCAP announced that every Liberty and Outback model ranked five stars for occupant safety in crashworthiness testing.
September 2005: ANCAP announced that the five-star result had been extended to every Forester variant, after Subaru made side airbags, in addition to existing dual front airbags, standard across the range.
October 2006: Tribeca achieved a five-star crashworthiness rating for occupant safety from launch.
August 2007: New generation Impreza’s five-star ANCAP crashworthiness rating for occupant safety elevated Subaru to the only brand with five-star ratings for local specification cars across its entire range, plus a top four-star pedestrian rating for Impreza.
February 2008: Every new generation Forester received a five-star ANCAP rating, building on the high standard set by its predecessor.
October 2008: Already five-star ANCAP rated, the entire Subaru range becomes VDC-equipped.
Backgrounder:
Subaru active safety
Active safety systems shared by all Subarus include:
Constant All-Wheel Drive - providing constant drive to all four wheels, aiding balance and control.
Anti lock brakes (ABS) - Subaru uses an ultra-reliable four-sensor/four-channel/three phase ABS. This means when brakes are applied on a slippery road, each of the four sensors – one per wheel – monitor wheel speed and transmit the information to a computer. It then calculates which wheel is starting to lock and controls the braking force. This provides extremely stable braking. Benefits include the ability to steer around traffic hazards when braking, without fear of “locking up” and losing control. The system has been tuned specially for Australian roads, reducing stopping distances on gravel surfaces. The brakes also have what is known as a cross-linked dual channel system. Therefore, if one channel fails, braking is retained on at least one front and one rear wheel – one left and one right, aiding balance. Subaru also puts its brake piping inside the floor panels – reducing the risk of damage or corrosion.
Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) - improves rear wheel braking in response to load shifting caused by deceleration.
Vehicle Dynamics Control - The electronic control unit (ECU) uses information from sensors tracking wheel speed, steering position, front/back and lateral (sideways) G force, and yaw rate to monitor forces that could destabilize vehicle running. In extreme situations, such as when swerving, sideslipping or entering a spin, VDC activates to control each wheel individually, via braking, engine output, and the All-Wheel Drive system. This improves stability by using the car’s most stable wheels. In cases of extreme oversteer, VDC activates, applying brakes to the front and rear outside turning wheels, producing yaw – a force that opposes the oversteering tendency. With understeer, VDC applies brakes to the inside rear wheels to counteract the effect. Both the VDC and ABS Anti-Lock Braking systems are controlled from the one digital ECU. VDC is designed for a “driver’s vehicle.” In normal conditions it is purely a monitoring system, and applies no control. But near the car’s performance limits it gives the driver more control – resulting in safer and more comfortable driving.
Subaru passive safety
Passive safety features shared by the entire Subaru range include:
Ring-shaped reinforcements – a grid of reinforced metal that surrounds the passenger cabin, forming a high strength safety cell. It results in greater body rigidity and minimum distortion on impact.
Dual front, side and curtain SRS airbags – They operate in conjunction with the front seatbelts to ensure maximum occupant protection. During a frontal collision, sensors measure the severity and angle of impact. The SRS computer determines if airbag inflation is necessary, then triggers if applicable. This occurs in about 30 milliseconds to cushion and absorb the forward momentum of occupants, preventing the head from striking the dash or steering wheel.
Front seatbelt pretensioners - used to quickly tighten the belt on impact and remove any slack between the belt and body. This combines with a variable load limiter to improve protection in the event of an offset crash. This works by simultaneously tightening both the lap and sash of the belt when the front airbags deploy, reducing the “submarining” effect of the occupant in a collision.
Automatic Emergency Locking Retractors (A/ELR) - All rear seatbelts feature A/ELR. When fully extended, the belts ratchet back into position for more positive securing of child safety seats. The ratchet is cancelled when the seatbelt is fully retracted. Centre rear seatbelts are all lap/sash, for added back seat safety.
Engine impact limitation - In a heavy frontal collision, Subaru’s flat horizontally opposed boxer engines are designed to go under the passenger cabin, rather than into it.
Steering wheel impact minimization - in a collision, a support beam inhibits the rearward movement of the steering wheel. The steering column is designed to collapse on impact, again to minimize transmission of shock energy to the driver.
Reinforced door beams and strengthened side frames - provide extra protection in a side collision. A secondary benefit of the high strength body is that it also provides a solid base frame for suspension, ensuring body flex does not affect vehicle stability.
Safety pedals - Safety pedals reduce injury to the driver’s lower legs in a heavy frontal collision. They are design to retract and move down.
Last update: 06-11-2008 10:12
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| Keywords : safety, wheel, subaru, star, control, ancap, vdc, –, occupant, crash, impact, range, rating, braking, collision, stability, rear, subaru’s, entire, vehicle, brakes |
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 Small engines and big performance. We take a look at the role of the turbocharger in the world of rallying.
A mainstay of Subaru’s model lineup, the turbocharger in its simplest form works by forcing more air into the combustion chamber. Put simply this causes the ECU (engine control unit) to react by injecting more fuel, which with more air means a bigger bang, and more power.
But how does the turbo do this? It works by compressing the air before it enters the combustion chamber, forcing more into the engine. As the exhaust gasses leave the engine, they pass through the turbo and spin up the exhaust turbine.
This turbine drives a connecting shaft which spins a compressor wheel. The compressor wheel sucks in air through the air intake at the top of the turbo, and compresses it within the compressor housing, increasing the speed at which the air enters the intake manifold.
As you probably know, turbo charging technology plays a crucial role in any World Rally Car, by allowing relatively small engines to produce substantial power. For example; the WRC2008 produces around two and a half times the amount of torque of a roadgoing Impreza STI. This means that, in spite of the power output of Subaru’s two-litre boxer engine being capped at 300bhp by FIA regulations, the latest rally Impreza is still able to accelerate to 60mph from standstill in under three seconds even on gravel.
To put all this into perspective, a performance road car turbo produces around 20psi (1.3bar) of boost pressure, and a standard turbo between 10 - 15psi (around 0.8bar). By contrast, the turbo on the Impreza WRC2008 produces up to a monstrous 60psi (4bar) of boost, and this is where the performance comes from.
Whilst incredibly impressive, it helps to bear in mind that the engine alone is worth around three times the cost of a new Subaru Impreza WRX STI, and the cost of the turbo itself is more than enough to buy yourself a Subaru Justy!
But don’t go raiding your bank just yet; even if you are willing to spend the cost of a small hatchback on a single turbo, they are supplied specially to the Subaru World Rally team by Japanese manufacturer IHI. Operating at a temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius, they would also readily melt most of your engine bay, battery, fuse box and all!
Luke Thomson for swrt.com |
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 Tokyo, June 27, 2008 – Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI), the maker of Subaru automobiles, today announced the successful development of its Subaru Plug-in STELLA Concept model, a prototype electric vehicle (EV). FHI will provide five units of the Plug-in STELLA Concept for use at the Hokkaido Toyako Summit to be held July 7 through 9, 2008.
Four of the five will be used to transport government officials and other participants at the summit, while one vehicle will be displayed at the Environmental Showcase, an exhibition and demonstration area in the International Media Center, and it will also be available for test drives. In addition, FHI will provide one STELLA Concept model to the Japan Post group for use in mail collection and delivery in the vicinity of Toyako during the summit. The Subaru Plug-in STELLA Concept combines the EV system employed in the R1e, (which recently debuted in the U.S. at the New York International Auto Show), with the mini car, Subaru STELLA. The resulting vehicle represents an optimized model that features STELLA’s compact packaging and superb utility. FHI plans to use the Plug-in STELLA Concept in the development and test-marketing of the next generation of EV in Japan in the near future. FHI jointly developed the Subaru R1e with Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TEPCO), a leading utility in Japan, and the vehicle’s performance has been tested since June 2006. 40 units of the R1e model, equipped with lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries, have been used by TEPCO as part of its corporate fleet and by the Kanagawa Prefectural Government, providing performance results that further advance FHI’s EV development work. Such data collected under real-world conditions has helped FHI refine the concept of the next-generation EV and make further improvements in convenience and comfort under everyday driving situations. FHI has placed emphasis on its mission to pursue the perfect integration of a pleasant and reliable driving with environmental considerations. While seamlessly improving the power units design and introducing such cleaner engines as the Horizontally-Opposed diesel engine in Europe (available since March 2008), the company has positioned EVs as another viable solution for environmental preservation, and it plans to accelerate its EV development work.
About Subaru of America, Inc. Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of nearly 600 dealers across the United States. Subaru makes the best-selling All-Wheel Drive car sold in America based on R.L. Polk & Co. new vehicle retail registration statistics calendar year-end 2005. For additional information visit www.subaru.com.
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