Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Ok, that's not exactly how Kaar fared at the Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia. Not even close, by the way.
One word sums it up: disappointment.
With such high hopes - so high and heavy, that Kaar wilted not to carnal loads (it weighed a neat 145 kg) but under the weight of these hopes - it was convenient for us not to anticipate problems. That proved to be Kaar's undoing.
There were sideshows of the seat belt (that cost RM 199 and lots of headaches), the fuel tank (a small glass vessel for which $ 218 seem absurd), and the suspension (lightening may strike twice), but before the technical inspection, Kaar seemed to be running perfectly fine.
But when the chain tensioner decided to go on vacation, it all stopped palpitating. The chain came loose. We fixed it. The chain came loose again. We fixed it again.
Just moments before we ran out of time, everything seemed to be working - the starter motor, the spark, the fuel line - but it wouldn't just start. Anyway, Kaar did go through the Safety and Technical inspections ok, but decided it had enough on the slalom. Yeah, BAD.
So, when everyone was away...we sneaked Kaar onto the track...hang on for the pictures.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Shell Eco Marathon Asia 2010
To more relevent stuff.
The Shell Eco Marathon's first edition in Asia was a great event, given the representation of the third world. There was no Fghench finesse or Jurman efficiency or bragging Brits. There were just plain old Filipinos, and Thais, and Pakistanis, and Indians, and Indonesians, and Malaysians, and Iranis, and Vietnamese...the event was a harbinger of the rise of the third world. Hopefully. Participation by teams from China, Japan and Singapore gave the event credence, but hard-work and innovation by all teams, from all countries, gave it near-perfection.
So much so that results of Asian team ecclipsed those of the American version of the Eco-Marathon. Take that, you imperialistic American *****!
If these results are anything to go by, Europe, whose edition has been going on for a quarter of a century, could be in for stiff inter-continental competition.
The actual results...can be found somewhere here:
http://www.shell.com/home/content/ecomarathon/asia/media_centre/news_and_media_releases/2010/thai_singapore_teams_set_first_sem_asia_records_10072010.html
The Shell Eco Marathon's first edition in Asia was a great event, given the representation of the third world. There was no Fghench finesse or Jurman efficiency or bragging Brits. There were just plain old Filipinos, and Thais, and Pakistanis, and Indians, and Indonesians, and Malaysians, and Iranis, and Vietnamese...the event was a harbinger of the rise of the third world. Hopefully. Participation by teams from China, Japan and Singapore gave the event credence, but hard-work and innovation by all teams, from all countries, gave it near-perfection.
So much so that results of Asian team ecclipsed those of the American version of the Eco-Marathon. Take that, you imperialistic American *****!
If these results are anything to go by, Europe, whose edition has been going on for a quarter of a century, could be in for stiff inter-continental competition.
The actual results...can be found somewhere here:
http://www.shell.com/home/content/ecomarathon/asia/media_centre/news_and_media_releases/2010/thai_singapore_teams_set_first_sem_asia_records_10072010.html
Saturday, August 28, 2010
A belated hindsight
Might I just add that what I write here is my personal opinion...that of a highly capricious person, and not of any team, institution, etc etc. Allusion to any person, thing or thing is ,however, usually very intentional. :-P
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Of mutiny and mutineers
tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun tun
(Enough tuns; just make yourself a breaking-news-type-tune...for something that happened 2 months ago)
"In not entirely an unexpected development, Team Manager of Bekaar was deposed and then arrested for charges ranging from corruption, bribery, assault, contempt, mismanagement of official resources and malpractices in recruitment for official posts.
It is believed that members of the cabinet, as well as those from the Bekaar High Command, are behind the indictment. In his personal blog, he came down hard on this move, and referred to those behind the move as mutineers. He did, however, make no comment on the charges themselves, further arounsing suspicions that they may be correct.
A spokesman for the 'mutineers' while not elaborating the charges did say that official records indicate a gruesome disorder with funds, recruitment and Bekaar state machinery. However, with all his service for the Bekaar national cause, it is believed that he is likely to get away with a light sentence."
(Enough tuns; just make yourself a breaking-news-type-tune...for something that happened 2 months ago)
"In not entirely an unexpected development, Team Manager of Bekaar was deposed and then arrested for charges ranging from corruption, bribery, assault, contempt, mismanagement of official resources and malpractices in recruitment for official posts.
It is believed that members of the cabinet, as well as those from the Bekaar High Command, are behind the indictment. In his personal blog, he came down hard on this move, and referred to those behind the move as mutineers. He did, however, make no comment on the charges themselves, further arounsing suspicions that they may be correct.
A spokesman for the 'mutineers' while not elaborating the charges did say that official records indicate a gruesome disorder with funds, recruitment and Bekaar state machinery. However, with all his service for the Bekaar national cause, it is believed that he is likely to get away with a light sentence."
Monday, August 23, 2010
Evolution of the Revolution
Excuse me for the unnecessarily solemn language (the title at least) but this post began well before we shipped Kaar, and were a tad more sentimental...Here goes:
We didn't set out to change the world. We didn't set out to change anything.
Mind you, we haven't exactly changed the world. We haven't changed anything. At the end of some 12 months of using our 'hands and minds' to the laboriuos cadence of engineering, design and jugard, we have a bludgeoning green monstrosity we call Kaar.
The green ogre with four wheels isn't eaxtly...avant-garde. I mean, for an ogre, it is state-of-the-art-stuff;but for an automobile, its slightly archaic. Uncle Ford has been making vehicles for a century. True to his legacy, if it actually is, we have put a couple of white stripes running right through Kaar...just like that do with the GTs...
It hasn't been smooth sailing.It hasn't been sailing at all. The extraordinary amounts of problems we encountered and solutions we came up with provides a juxtaposition that would look good on canvass but not on an aluminum frame. Still, ours gets along just nicely.
The most important thing about what we have come up with is that it works. Tires that spin. Engine that revs. Steering that steers. Brakes that brake. A car that moves. Kaar is as practical as a car with the wrong spellings.
We didn't set out to change the world. We didn't set out to change anything.
Mind you, we haven't exactly changed the world. We haven't changed anything. At the end of some 12 months of using our 'hands and minds' to the laboriuos cadence of engineering, design and jugard, we have a bludgeoning green monstrosity we call Kaar.
The green ogre with four wheels isn't eaxtly...avant-garde. I mean, for an ogre, it is state-of-the-art-stuff;but for an automobile, its slightly archaic. Uncle Ford has been making vehicles for a century. True to his legacy, if it actually is, we have put a couple of white stripes running right through Kaar...just like that do with the GTs...It hasn't been smooth sailing.It hasn't been sailing at all. The extraordinary amounts of problems we encountered and solutions we came up with provides a juxtaposition that would look good on canvass but not on an aluminum frame. Still, ours gets along just nicely.
The most important thing about what we have come up with is that it works. Tires that spin. Engine that revs. Steering that steers. Brakes that brake. A car that moves. Kaar is as practical as a car with the wrong spellings.This is as far as I got, and am unable to renew the flow above...sorry. The end :-P
Back!
Ok, so I am back! Not that I was missed (apparently). The counter moved from around 930 to 1000 since I was away, and that it moved this much was because I visited this page 69 times. Ok, you got it, nobody visits this page...I have to visit my own blog!
Anyway, where were we? Up, up and away...or something like that. A lot has happened since then (which wasn't necessarily nice, and one more reason for the hiatus), and a lot is going on...so I WILL UPDATE :-)
Since I have missed many posts that should have been made, it would be...well, nothing...if I were to stuff everything in one place. So I will make many posts and...many posts :-) If the counter isn't rolling, at least the posts shouldn't stop :-D
So here goes...
Anyway, where were we? Up, up and away...or something like that. A lot has happened since then (which wasn't necessarily nice, and one more reason for the hiatus), and a lot is going on...so I WILL UPDATE :-)
Since I have missed many posts that should have been made, it would be...well, nothing...if I were to stuff everything in one place. So I will make many posts and...many posts :-) If the counter isn't rolling, at least the posts shouldn't stop :-D
So here goes...
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