Amphicar and Aquada

BEHAVIOR

It’s a car. It’s a boat. No, it’s both! It drives on land and water.

HABITAT

Mostly found now in Amphicar shows or rallies organized by enthusiasts, you rarely get to see them on the road.

HOW IT WORKS

A 43 HP Triumph motor powers both the wheels and two small propellers that protrude from the rear end. This rearmounted motor gives the amphibious car a top land speed of 70 mph and top water speed of 8 mph. It has no rudder and steers by the driver turning the front wheels.

The car is watertight so the occupants and their luggage are kept dry. But just in case, it does have a bilge pump. As a motorized boat  and car, an Amphicar needs to be licensed for both. Not practical for most driving or boating applications, but in some cases it is an ideal compromise vehicle. Fewer than 4,000 were ever produced, all between 1962 and 1967 in Berlin.

Amphicars made some significant ocean crossings: from Africa to Europe and from England to France. The Amphicar was not the first automotive amphibian and not the last. Very recently a UK company has developed high speed amphibious technology and is selling amphibious cars called Aquada.

Instead of propellers, the Aquada uses a water jet for propulsion. An engine spins impeller blades that accelerate water and push it out the rear of the car/boat. Steering is accomplished through a nozzle that can

swivel. To go in reverse, the impeller spins in the opposite direction. Besides going much faster across the lake than an Amphicar (as fast as 30 mph), the water jet is safer since it has no external blades that spin.

The Aquada also has retractable wheels to reduce the water drag.

Pushing one button retracts the wheels and disconnects them from the engine. When you come to the shore, drop the wheels and drive home. If you buy one, please give me a ride.

INTERESTING FACTS

Purchased new from 1962 and 1967, Amphicars cost less than $3,500. In 2006 a used Amphicar was sold for over $100,000.

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A field guide to automotive technology

Ed Sobey

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Tips to minimize fuel consumption

Fuel price increase will certainly impact on the increasing number of costs to drive. These are some tips to minimize fuel consumption while driving a car.

• In manual transmission, the amount of fuel flowing from fuel tank to the engine is a function of stamping on the accelerator pedal (gas pedal). Getting stepped on, the faster the flow of fuel to the engine. To minimize fuel consumption, we need as much as possible to minimize the stamping on the accelerator pedal / gas.

• When picking up speed in the car with manual transmission, replace the transmission quickly. Or in other words, use the transmission as high as possible but still keep the power from the engine. If the higher transmission requires a stamping on the gas pedal a little more, then change to a higher transmission. The opposite is also true, if a lower transmission requires a stamping on the accelerator a little more, then change to a lower transmission, this applies especially if the road or climb under the car was carrying a heavy load.

• Minimize the brake pedal. The use of brakes will convert kinetic energy into heat energy in the brake disc. While the previous car's kinetic energy comes from chemical energy contained in gasoline. For example, if your car drove into an intersection, you should refrain from pressing the gas pedal long before the close to the intersection, move the transmission into neutral and just put the brakes on a car near the intersection after. If you choose to keep improving acceleration, the fuel is wasted into heat will be more.

• When buying a car, choose the automatic transmission cars. Automatic transmission car should be easier to use if we want to save fuel without the need to change your driving habits. Whether or not wasteful fuel consumption on manual transmission cars more discipline depends on the driver.

• When buying a car, choose a light-colored car. Dark-colored car will absorb more wavelengths than light-colored car. This will cause the thermal energy more easily into the dark interior. As a result, dark-colored car air conditioner will work harder to mempernyaman car interiors, either automatically or manually by the driver.

• Avoid traffic jams. Congestion is one of the major sources of waste fuel. If you need to come home from work when the roads were not jammed, or rather take the detour to avoid congestion points. Better yet, use public transportation if possible.

• Park the car in the shade. Or if it can not find the shade, use light reflectors to minimize the heat energy into the car. A hot car interior will make the AC work harder, especially when the new start the car.

• Choose a car with engine size and low number of cylinders. Engine capacity and number of cylinders is not too important. 4-cylinder engine vehicles with 1.3 liter capacity each function with a 6-cylinder car engine capacity of 3 liters. Both can bring yourself to your destination. The biggest difference is that large automobile engines are generally more intensive than gasoline engines small cars.

• If buying a car, choose a new car with the latest technology. The new engine technology is usually more efficient than gasoline cars with old technology.

• Do not be late for an oil change. The longer the use of oil, then power pelumasannya will be minor. As a result, more fuel is converted into heat inside the machine.

• If the later is available in Indonesia, choose a hybrid car. Like conventional cars, hybrid cars have an internal combustion engine. But, in addition, hybrid cars also have a battery and electric engine. Hybrid cars save energy by converting some waste heat energy into electrical energy that can later be used to run the car.

• Use a proven car fuel efficient. In other words, use the Honda City or Jazz.

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