you can tell us by the company we keep 1972 [ocr]

8/10/2019 You can tell us by the company we keep 1972 [OCR]

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F ive uniqu e cars th a t o ffer a d v a n c e d -e n g in e e r in g e le m e n t s : Ab o ve , zd a RX-2 ,M er ce d es - B e n z 30 0 S E L 4 .5, an d S aa b 99 E A t le ft , C h ry s le r Imperi a l a nd C a d i l l a c E ld or ad o . T wo h av e fro nt w h ee l drive ; tw oha v e e lectr onic fu e l in je c ti o n ; o ne h as a i rsp r in g s; one h as fo u r wh e e l a n t i sk id , an don e is po w ered by a W ank e l e ng i n e.

P H O TO S BY D A VE HO U SE R

Lo o k a t t h e C a r o f t h e F u tu r e th ro u g h a t est o a d v an ce d fea tu re s

ow a va ila b le o n fiv e p r o d u c t io n ca r s

By JAN P NORBYE I S u to m ot iv e E d i to r a n d JIM U N N E I S et roi t E d it o r

W e t o o k t he ca r of th e fu t ur e o ut toth e Br idgeh ampt on ra ce tr a ck re c e n tly to s e e ho w it wo uld co m pare with th e ca r you' r e dr i vi ng n ow . W e r a n it t hrou g h th e sa m e PO PULA R SCIENCE te st co ur s e w e u s e i n ou r m on th ly N o rbye /Dun ne t est r eport s on c u rre nt ly a va i la bl e c a rs .

T here w a s on e d if fe r e nc e : O ur ca r of the f uture wa s n't o ne ca r- i t w asfiv e c a r s . B u t e a c h in c or p o rate d o neor mo re featu res th a t we t hi n k th a t t heca r o f t he fu tu re w il l h ave : a Wa nkel e ng in e a nd fro n t- w h e e l d ri ve e le ctr o ni c i gnit io n an d e le c tr o ni c f ue l inj e c ti o n el e ct r on i ca ll y co nt ro l le d fo urw h e e l a n tilo c k b ra k e s fo u r -w he e l d is kb ra ke s a ir s pr ing s a nd a u to m a tic le ve l36 I P OPUL A R SC IE NC E

c o n t ro l stro ng bu mp e r s an d an ultrari gi d b o dy .

A ll of th ese e ng i ne er i ng elem ents e x ist an d ar e s t an da r d or ca n b e pu rch ased as o ptio n s o n cert a in c a r s .Th us , th ey c an b e te s te d . An d w e d idte s t th em . A nd so on a pi ec em eal b as is w e b r ing y ou a te s t r ep or t on theca r of th e futu r e . I ts f e atur e s ca n be fo u n d on fiv e c a rs .

T he C adil lac E ld or a d o wa s c ho sen for i t s u se o f f ro n t- w h e e l dr i ve a ut o m at i c re a r -end le v e l co nt ro l a ndre a r -w h e e l an t ilock bra k e s .

T he Ch ry s le r I m pe r i al w as c ho se n fo r its Sure - Brak e f ou r- w he e l an tilo c k syste m an d el ec t ro nic ig n it io n .

T he M az d a RX -2 w as se lect e d

Re p rin ted f ro m P opula r S c ie nce , May 1 972)

be ca us e of it s W a nk e l en g i ne. Fr o m M erc ed es - Be nz w e too k a

30 0 SE L 4 .5 w ith elec tr oni c fu e l in je cti o n f ou r-w he e l di s k b r a k e s ai r s p r in gs and au to m a ti c le v e l c o n t rol .

T he Sa a b 9 9 E co mb in es fro n tw h e e l d r iv e e le c tr on i c fu e l i nj e ct i on ,f i ve - m p h bu m pers, a nd a bo d y sh el lthat ' s jus t ab o ut th e u ltim a te i n st r u ctura l stre n gth an d s af e ty .

F ou r- w h e e l di sk b rake s. Judg ed fo rall-a r ound pe rf orm a nc e , t h e 30 0 S E L4.5 p r obab ly ha s th e b est bra ke s w e' veev er te st e d. W ith co o l b r a k e s th eMe rc e des st op p ed f r o m 6 0 m ph in 12 8ft. 1 i n . w it h a m e re 8 0 po u n ds o f pe d alp ressu re . N ow t his is a h eavy c a r

Co n t inue d


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ldor ado has tail lift a nd no se dive b utstopped in a ve ry sho rt 126.6 fe e t . S mokeis fro m f inal lo c king in front wheels .

SENSOR BRAKE CALIPER

RIGHT -FRONT M O DULATOR

LEFT FRONT M O DULATOR

with a c ur b weight o f j us t under 4 0 0 0p ounds Fad e can b e dismis s e d . Afte r1 0 warmup s t ops from 6 0 mp h at 1 h gdecele ration w ith one-min ut e interv a ls the car ma de its f inal stop in 1 3 0ft. 2 in . wi t h 8 4 pounds o f pe d alpres su re

W hy ar e fo u r-wh e e l disk brak es sogreat ? They are ea s ier to keep co o l

13 14 15 16

2

3

4

5

6

M er cede s - Ben z , with it s four-wheel diskb rakes, showed g ood b r ak e b a lance , p lusan amazi ng resistance to fa de.

LO GICC ONTROLLER

M ASTER C YLINDERAND BRAKE PEDAL

WHEELSENSOR CY L INDER

WIRING VACUU M

BRA KE FLUID = =

a nd g i v e bette r front/rear b a lancew ith maximum b rake system st a bility.

F o u r- wh ee l an t i l o ck brakes . Wemade pa n ic stops with t he Imperial o nall kinds o f su r f aces . W e ran i t on thedry, hi g hly ab rasive roadway atBridge ha m pton, an d slam med on t hebrakes at 6 0 mph with ab o ut 2 0 0pounds pr e ssure The ca r stopped in

Air f i l l e rAir compresso rV aporizer jar

a lv e unit

Co n trol la m p Air chambe r

9 20

Le veling v lv e12 Check v lv e13 Air r e servoir14 Drain v lve

15 F iller valve

7 Torsion ba r

16 L eveling v lve

17 Air ch a mber8 Leveling va lve

Imperial above) with fo ur-wheel antilockd r aw in g s at left and below) co u ld be

s teered in an d o ut of a snowdrif t underh ar d br aking wi t h no p roblem. With two

w h ee ls o n dr y road su rfa ce and two wh ee l sin the s n o w, the car gave absol utely s traight ,ba lanced stop ping with full co ntrol.

146 ft . 3 in . without l oc ki n g anyw h e e l i n a p erfectly straig ht li n e. Wetried i t on s n o w - c o v e r e d ro ads an d wh ile stoppi ng distances were l on g b ecause o f the l o w f r i c t i o n w h a d now h ee l - l o ck i n g no conseque nt th reato f losing c o n t r o l . We ran two w heelson sn o w t w o on d ry paveme nt, a nd

on t i nue d

9 Rubb er d i i lphr agm1 Valve li nk

18 Pu s h bu t ton valve u n it)19 Rubber dii lphr i lgm2 Brak e strut

De ep -rutted roads ca u se no loss ofride co mfort in air-sp ring M erced e s .Suspe n si o n s h o ck is fi ltered out andnot t ransferred to the in t erior.

38 POPU LAR SC IENCE


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mpo rt motors inc.S a les- Parts- Service

685 Mentor Ave Ph: 35 9P ainesville Ohio 4 4 ~

you can tell us by the company we keep 1972 [ocr]

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