Gizmodo: F1

Giz Pit Crew Is The Best, Around

Christopher Mascari — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 11:00:00 EST

When the Gizmodo Crew isn't working, their favorite hobby is to pretend they are a world famous F1 pit crew. So when CES was finally over, they headed over to the BMW booth to test their pit stopin', tire changin' skills. With teams of two on each side of the BMW F1 car, the Giz pit-crew raced head-to-head to swap out the car's tires. As you'll see in the video, Team 2 (Adam Frucci / Benny ~~Goldberg~~ Goldman) beat Team 1 (Haroon Malik and Matt Buchanan) by a huge time of 1.2 seconds. Since both teams have the same coach, Wilson Rothman, he didn't know if he should celebrate the win, or beat the losers; but in the end Rothman was still comfortable stating, "We're the best around, and nothin's ever gonna keep us down."

F1 Inspired Lawnmower: Yardwork Just Got a Lot Sexier

Sean Fallon — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 17:45:08 EST

Wouldn't it be awesome if you could bust out of your garage sporting one of these F1 concept lawnmowers from Kadeg Boucher of France? You would surely be the new king of the cul-de-sac. The mower features a steering wheel with an LCD display, an F1-style front wing, full racing suspension, rear view mirrors and a spark plug with race helmet. It also comes in three styles —Schumacher/Ferrari red, white and John Player Lotus black-and-gold. Again, this mower is a concept, so don't expect to find one at the local hardware store. Too bad, because I know a lot of hardcore suburbanites who would pay a lot of good money for one of these. Hit the jump for a gallery.

[CG Forums via Autoblog via Jalopnik]

The (Almost) $500 F1 Mouse Pad

Gizloco — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 16:43:06 EDT

How much would you pay for a mouse pad? $10? $20? Or, dare say, $100? You'd better be prepared to pony up almost $500 (well, £260) if you want this little dynamo. Part of the official Formula 1 Collection, this carbon mouse pad is hand-crafted by Englishmen and designed with 3D modeling software. Hmm, make Cars or a mouse pad? Obviously, the choice is clear.

For just under $500, you get a standard-sized mouse pad that's composed of "solid polished carbon fiber." The back of the pad is made of Italian black suede and is probably worth more than your shoes. Oh, and there's an F1 logo on the front, because paying an arm and a leg for a mouse pad just isn't the same without advertising for that ethereal motor sport.

Hey, at least you can use both an optical and ball-operated mouse on it. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page [The Official F1 Store]

The Week in Cars - The Best of Jalopnik

Travis Hudson — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 15:30:31 EDT

This week in Jalopnik: A Renault F1 car performs a Queen hit; Israeli scientists theorize an in-car system that produces its own fuel; Honda (and nearly every other car company) looks toward a spark-plugless future for gas engines; Hummer builds a buggy, and the F d ration Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) proposes a new aerodynamic wing for Formula One cars that would make passing easier.

Engineers from Renault's 2005 Formula One team weren't merely happy they had broken Ferrari's six-year domination of the series' Constructors Championship; let's just say they were deliriously nerdy. To celebrate the win, they put one of their V10-powered cars on a dynamometer, and programmed the engine management software to play Queen's "We Are the Champions" using the differing tones of various RPMs as notes in the scale. Luckily the aerodynamics group didn't win the coin toss, or else we'd be hearing an MP3 of "Wind Beneath My Wings."

Scientists in Israel have come up with a novel way to supply hydrogen to power fuel-cell cars. Using concepts from the chemistry of metals, they designed an in-car system that separates Hydrogen out of heated water using Magnesium and Aluminum. The system, still in the theoretical stages, will need more extensive testing and lots more money (to build a working prototype) to determine whether it can produce more energy than it would require to run.

Could it be time to short spark plugs on COMEX? Honda and other automakers are working various forms of homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines, in which ignition occurs by cylinder compression - like in a diesel engine — not spark plugs. Such engines require less fuel to run, and emit fewer fluorocarbons, but need a bag of Ruffles' worth of microchips to calculate the heat required for optimum power and adjust exhaust-valve timing to minutely compensate for changes in fuel composition, as well as engine and external temperatures. Yeah, we're talking about a ways off for these suckers.

Sun-worshiping fans of squarish SUVs may soon have something to trade in their Jeep Wranglers for. Hummer is reportedly working up a two-door ragtop, possibly called the H4, that could hit the market by 2008.

The governing body of Formula One Racing has proposed a new aerodynamic wing for F1 cars that would make passing maneuvers easier and more plentiful during races. As it turns out, 94% of viewers want to see more overtaking of cars, and less of the F1's typical follow-the-leader runs. Of course, the new wing would would allow for far less ad space, but we're figuring advertisers would rather have more viewers than more places to slap their logo. Just a thought.

[Jalopnik's The Week in Cars appears every Thursday]