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Originally, it started as an engineering concept at the start of the 21st century. Gas-Electric “hybrid” cars were the dream of the modern society and they were displayed at auto shows to gauge public reaction and market potential. Yet within a few years alone ( a small wink in the vehicle industry), hybrids have evolved into one of today’s most important automotive trends. Electronic components have really developed over the last ten years and are now more geared than ever to accommodate for the ‘greener solutions of our time. Every bit of a car from basic fuses to solenoids have been updated and modified to be friendlier for the environment. Numerous other components have come into play in the advancement of this technology, but one element in particular, copper, has been indispensable in helping to propel the growth of hybrid vehicles.
According to GM (General Motors) Chief Engineer, Time Grew, “Copper has two important roles in hybrids: It runs the electricity, so you have large amounts of copper in the motor and battery, and, more importantly, the copper technology is making hybrids viable commercially”. Fortunately enough, hybrids have come into the market in a big way. People are more than keen to get their first hybrid vehicle and contribute to saving the world’s energy resources.
These days there are not many cars that are not hybrids. Car companies have a responsibility to now be far more conscious about polluting the planet. It is interesting to try and comprehend where technology will be this time in a couple of years. Will our cars be designed to be even more energy efficient? Only time will tell but I am sure that automotive technology will have a lot of surprises for us. It simply depends on what is going to be viable from a marketing point of view.

In the beginning teams of engineers and mechanics didn’t specially design NASCAR cars.  Stock car racing began as the name would lead you to believe.    The cars raced were street models, purchased and raced unaltered.  The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing was born in 1947 with the goal of setting standard rules and maintaining a running measure of race performance based on a point system that would crown a champion each year. Get your free orlando auto insurance Quote Today.

In the early days tracks were crude dirt roads upon which conditions quickly deteriorated during a race.  NASCAR changed rules to allow modifications so that NASCAR cars could more easily survive on these rotten conditions.  Over time the changes became more extreme, sometimes for safety concerns and sometimes simply to make the races faster and more fun for the fans to watch.  Legal changes are detailed in the NASCAR rules. Receive competing chicago auto insurance Quotes Today.

Today’s NASCAR cars are very different from the cars most people drive.  Rather than produced on an assembly line, NASCAR cars are carefully constructed by hand.  Their frames are made of steel tubing, their bodies of sheet metal, and the engines built from scratch.

The tubes for the frame vary in thickness, and are shaped as both square and round.  Because the roll cage is the frame around the driver, set to keep its shape so the driver isn’t hurt in a crash, it is the thickest part of the frame.

The front and back section of the frame are made of thinner tubes so they can crumble to absorb energy in the case of a crash with another car or with a wall.  Another clever feature of the front clip section is that in a crash it will force the engine through the bottom of the hood compartment rather tan into the driver’s area when an accident happens. Compare san diego auto insurance Quotes for Free.

The bodies of NASCAR cars are not easy to make, and it’s not fast – often requiring a full 10 days including installation.

NASCAR rules define the body shape for NASCAR cars.  To make it easy to follow the rules NASCAR provides 30 templates for the different areas of the car.  A big template checks the center of the car while smaller templates are used for other sections like the rear bumper.

Not all cars follow the same set of rules.  For example endurance cars have different regulations than cars designed for the speedways.

To learn about these differences as well as about the engines in NASCAR cars, try a Google search.