Ever thought about how your car looks the way it looks? About why we have safety? Read this and your questions will be answered. Enjoy

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Not Just a Car
Adam Stephen Loya (Class of 2013)
Mentor: Mrs. McCleary
The car is used by all of us, from point A to point B we use mostly a car as our transportation. As
a society we add miles to an object with four wheels and never think about how much men and
women have sacrificed through racing to make sure the technology that your car possesses has
been tested beyond the limits of even its testers. But as the consumer all we see are stars on a
crash test paper report without the thought of the amount of work and effort applied into the
vehicle. As a society of consumers we don’t hear about the casualties of a man or woman
sacrificing their own life to make a vehicle that will possibly save one’s life. Behind the scenes
of what this year’s 2013’s line up upon every vehicle that will be purchased this is only but one
companies experience in their contribution to the automotive world. The untold story of what
makes today’s vehicles the safest, most advanced four-set (plus one) of rolling wheels on the
road since its creation over a century ago.

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Adam Stephen Loya
Mrs. McCleary
College Prep English 12
April 18, 2013
Not Just a Car
How does a high revving, ear shattering race car have anything to do with your daily
driver? Automotive racing shapes the way today’s cars are developed. The car sitting in the
parking lot or your home garage has racing history within no matter the make, model of the
vehicle. As Americans, most of us today take these amazing vehicles for granted for what they
are capable of and how much they influence our everyday lives. And yet we still don't take care
of our vehicles the way we should.
Racing technology can be found in Honda's. Ever heard of the name VTEC? That's
Honda racing technology in street cars. VTEC means Variable Timing and Lift Electronic
Control. Development and tested during Honda's participation in Formula One racing during the
mid-1980's. VTEC technology is race proven by Honda’s six consecutive World Championships
in Driver and Constructors titles. But what is Honda's VTEC technology? VTEC optimizes
torque output over the engine's entire operating range, improving both drivability, performance,
fuel economy, emissions reduction and adds power for the American drivers. When you hear
that term most people think of Honda but in reality VTEC is in just about all engines. VTEC
was so effective in racing that’s Honda incorporated it into their vehicle lineup. Honda was the
founder of VTEC and at the time that’s who made them. Today VTEC is in the Ford Focus but
they call their system Ti-VCT. Manufacturers like Honda always buy the newest cars that are
coming out of the factories of their competitors and take them to their own factory. From there

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Honda completely takes every bolt and metal work and sees how they develop their vehicles
within months’ time. Honda then suits up and patents their finding as their own. This allows
Honda to add the new found technology into their lineup but with a slightly different name.
When people think of hybrids like the Chevy Volt, Toyota Prius, and the Honda Insight the
first thing that comes to mind isn't performance, but do a little research and your first thoughts
may change. Race cars, high performance cars and hybrids all share a common ground in the
aspect of creating aerodynamic efficiency. Think of the car as just being a fish in water, a fish
cuts through the water by being narrow. A fish is sleek because of its scales covering its body
and has evolved in such a way that exterior function is limited - with only two fins rounded eyes,
and a spear like head to power through the water. Come out of the water and water is replaced
by the air and cars are the fish. If you still don't understand the concept of aerodynamics here’s
another example. Think now that you're driving 65 mph on 270 when all of a sudden an
unavoidable brick wall appears before you and you slam right into it. Airbags deploy before
you, the sounds of crunching metal, windshield cracking by the bricks and the feeling of a
tightening seatbelt pinning you against your seat. Recovering from an accident like this would
be a tough challenge that I personally don’t recommend you attempting. But a car isn’t designed
to be hitting walls left and right, instead cars are designed to hit a more different kind of wall
called air. A wall of air pushing against your vehicle affects just about everything, fuel
economy, speed, and maneuverability.
But how does racing technology come down into our everyday car? Well as an Audi
owner and Audi Racing enthusiast I will be using Audi as an example. Audi was founded by
August Horch. Horch was a graduate from Mittweida Technical College in eastern Germany.
Having started over a hundred years ago the manufacturer Audi knows a thing or two about

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racing, just like how Auto Week titled one of their articles: "Racing through Time, Audi Has
Enjoyed a Century of Winning"
New technology is invented that can redefine how something is done. Automotive designers
develop try new methods of refining upon a previous idea. Sometimes they get it right and other
times they don't, but that's what research is. But where can you effectively develop your
research? That answer is through racing, more particularly at Le Mans. But Le Mans wasn’t just
another weekend race; Le Mans is a celebration of a sport at the world’s most iconic endurance
race. Unique is that the track is built on public roads. Le Mans was created to have designers
test who can build the better car. The challenge Le Mans provided was simple: survive 24 hours
of non-stop racing. Sounds easy? Not really. Le Mans race track is the largest 24 hour track to
exist in automotive racing, 12.8 miles of long mesmerizing straights such as the Mulsanne
Straight, with integration of twisting turns like the Porsche Curves. Tight corners through
wooded areas that are only separated by a guard rail that become invisible after sunsets. Throw
in high revving engines, with 56 cars reaching well over 200 mph and you have a recipe for a
rivalry for manufacturers around the world. To win a race like Le Mans it takes 12 months of
planning and testing cars.
Audi's success at Le Mans proves that technology is developed through racing. Racing
regulations play a key role in how race teams develop their cars on and off the road. But with
wins like Audi there is bound to be failure. In 2011 Audi Sport developed the new e-Tron race
car. With spaceship like design its purpose was to win a 24 hour endurance race, against their
rival Pergiuo. Manufacturers go to Le Mans to prove they build the latest most technologically
advanced car in the world but when racing at 24 hours of Le Mans nothing can prepare a team’s
car to what reality throws at them. The drivers who race these cars are fearless. They risk their

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lives testing vehicles have the potential to end their life at any given moment. At 200 mph so
many things can happen, hoses for brakes fluid leaks, steering system completely fails,
accelerator pedal jammed to the floor anything can happen. To me these drivers are heroes
without fear. These drivers tested the very same system that keeps cars on the road with the use
of ESC (electronic stability control). The way your engine is mounted under the hood was
refined through racing at the cost of not only trial and error but also many men's lives death from
how early cars were designed.
An explosion of crossovers vehicles are seen with the badge of AWD. AWD today is a
major part of how car manufacturers put all the power on the road but how did AWD technology
makes a comeback to being used in our cars today? AWD technology has shown success with
Audi, it’s been one of the driving forces for Audi’s marketing with naming the AWD system,
QUATTRO. During the early years of AWD most manufacturers implemented it into many
vehicles but never really found success into it with sales, though Audi took a different approach
to the AWD system. Racing is where Audi takes it, particularly developed for the conquering of
Pikes Peak. Pikes Peak, a hill climb event made to have manufacturers competes to see who
could get to the top of the mountain first. A sound like child’s play but in reality was far from it.
From 1982 to 1987 Audi completely dominated the race with their QUATTRO system and was
asked by racing officials to no longer use their AWD system. Reason being as stated by officials
“You're QUATTRO has been deemed unfair against other competition because of traction
advantages”. So Audi retired the QUATTRO system and applied it to their production models.
But the application of the drive system was only purchased by Audi enthusiast because of its
flaws. Loud and clunky combined with a heavy differential that drives the power to the wheels,
vehicles using the QUATTRO system weren’t the most fuel efficient. And because of the

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drawbacks the AWD system by other companies began to fade away from cars and move into
more practical uses to construction equipment. Basically to vehicles that needed the system that
were loud to begin with. Audi realized with the demand for QUATTRO was plummeting and
the move of cars transferring from AWD to FWD or RWD Audi had an intervention and talked
about the legendary QUATTRO system and its future. Their resolution, redesign QUATTRO.
After years of testing and redevelopment of the QUATTRO system through non-other than
racing, Audi developed newer practices to create their differentials, new driveshaft technology
that can distribute over 60% of the power between the front or the rear wheels within mille
seconds. Audi completely redesigned the system from the ground up and it’s served them well
but in a different use than on a hill climb event. Instead Audi found that they first developed the
system around rally car racing, this proved a problem at itself. Rally car racing was at the
opposite end of the spectrum when it came to performance, rally cars were resilient to mud, rain,
snow, gravel, jumps, and yes crashes. Because of the punishment of what a rally car goes
through it needed a heavy bulky parts that can take the abuse. All this developed through racing.
Figure 1, this diagram created I’ve created is labeled showing how the average car has
minor but green technology just by the outside of vehicle. All the information came from a Ford
dealer and from their website.
Headlights are sculpted
to the contours of the
body improves air flow
Shutters that close at
high speeds to improve
aerodynamics
FWD drive train that
reduces the weight
Taillights sculpted to not
disrupted the airflow of
the car

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Works Cited
Autoweek. "Racing through Time." Autoweek 30 Nov. 2009: 26-31. Print. Racing through Time
is about the factual story of Audi's success in racing for over a century. From the drivers
to the engineers of the development of their race cars since its first race over a 100 years
ago to Audi's dominance at Pikes Peak.
Currie, Tom, Mr. How racing technology transfers to street use. Mandatory. AOL, 5 June 2011.
Web. 11 Apr. 2013. <http://www.mandatory.com/2012/06/05/10-things-in-your-car-that-
were-developed-from-racing-technology/>. How racing technology transfers to street use
on public cars.
George, Patrick E. George E., Mr. "How Aerodynamics Works." HowStuffWorks.
HowStuffWorks, 1998 - 2011. Web. 11 Apr. 2013. <http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-
efficiency/fuel-economy/aerodynamics.htm>. Explains in slight detail of how
aerodynamics effects automobiles. Also names a designer who was an expert in
aerodynamics.
Job, Ann, and Editorial Team. "Racing Technology In Street Cars." Racing Technology In Street
Cars. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1. Print. Descriptive in technology used in street cars that developed
in racing for testing.