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How high tech ventilated seats increase fuel efficiency and reduce pollution

OpenRoad Auto Group on May 25, 2014

A recent study by the U.S. Department of Energy has found that ventilated seats can help to increase fuel efficiency.

How the technology works

Seat ventilation is a feature that is offered in many luxury cars today. Advertised under a variety of names such as “climate comfort”, “ventilated”, or “air conditioned” seats, depending on the manufacturer, this feature has now also started trickling down to many non-luxury brand vehicles.

Non-luxury models including the Hyundai Sonata, Hyundai Santa Fe, Toyota Avalon, Toyota Sequoia, Toyota Tundra, Nissan Pathfinder, Honda Odyssey all offer this feature.

The system works by using a clever combination of perforated leather seating surfaces and small fans integrated into the seats. Some systems also incorporate a micro cooling element, much like an air conditioner.

While the number of fans and the exact system design varies depending on the auto manufacturer, all of them work on the same principle. They draw in air from the cooler, lower area of the passenger compartment and transfer it uniformly to the seat cushion and back rest.

These fans create air flow, at adjustable intensities, through the fine perforations in the leather. This quickly cools the surfaces of the seats to a pleasant temperature, even if the vehicle has been heated by an intense amount of sunlight for a long period of time. The finely perforated leather upholstery absorbs perspiration to create a pleasant microclimate all-round – in effect, the seats ´breathe.´

A standard car seat blocks your body’s built-in cooling system. Ordinarily you eject heat through your pores in the form of water vapour, which carries the heat invisibly into the air.

Having a seat pressing against your back and bottom prevents this water vapour from escaping, causing it to condense into sticky sweat. It’s like wearing a jacket in hot weather.

But the gently circulating air of a ventilated seat carries away your body heat and helps to keep you cooler and your clothes drier during warmer months.

On some vehicles, the heated and ventilated functions can even be used simultaneously, circulating the seat heating more quickly. This is an added benefit on cold or damp days as the dual function helps to dry off clothes or keep you warm and dry as quickly as possible.

How does this help to reduce fuel consumption?

By employing thermal comfort measuring tools and subjective tests, the U.S. Department of Energy’s researchers were able to measure occupants’ thermal sensation with ventilated seats.

Their tests concluded that because the ventilated seats keep vehicle occupants cooler, they consequently reduce the use of the vehicle’s air conditioning system to achieve the desired level of comfort.

So by confining the cooled air directly to the spot where the hot driver (or passenger) is sitting, air-conditioned seats use energy more efficiently than the air conditioners that cool the entire interior of the car. They don’t completely eliminate fuel use and pollution, but they minimize it.

“If all passenger vehicles had ventilated seats, we estimate there could be a 7.5% reduction in national air conditioning fuel use,” says John Rugh, project leader for NREL’s vehicle ancillary loads reduction project.

Such a reduction would translate to about 522 million gallons (1.97 billion L) of fuel saved annually in the USA alone, he says.

So while it’s not quite as nice as jumping into a swimming pool on a hot day, this latest technology not only helps to keep you cool but your cash in your wallet too. Look for it on the next vehicle you test drive!

Go green or go home: 2014 AJAC Eco-Run

Benjamin Yong on May 23, 2014

2014 AJAC Eco-Run Clare Dear
AJAC Eco-Run chairman speaks at the launch of this year’s event in Vancouver. Photos by Benjamin Yong.

The annual Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) Eco-Run took place this year in Vancouver on May 6, a three-day event that showcases the latest and greatest eco-friendly vehicles available. It also aims to educate the public on how to drive in a manner that can save money at the gas station, and help the environment at the same time.

2014 AJAC Eco-Run cars

“We have everything from small sub-compacts right up to a pickup truck and a hybrid sports car. So there’s a very diverse grouping here, all of them offering consumers the best technologies available in terms of fuel efficiency and emission controls,” said AJAC Eco-Run chairman Clare Dear at the launch in downtown’s Jack Poole Plaza.

2014 AJAC Eco-Run Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid

Eighteen journalists and 18 vehicles from 12 different manufacturers gathered near Coal Harbour before taking off on a route to Whistler, then to Pemberton, and back with stops along the way to refuel and recharge. There were gasoline and diesel-powered cars, like the Nissan Altima and MINI Cooper, pure electrics such as the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and Nissan Leaf, and hybrids like the Honda Accord Hybrid and even the sporty Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid.

2014 AJAC Eco-Run Mazda3

The drivers essentially drew straws to determine which cars they would be piloting on the different sections of the trip — my first ride was the Mazda3 equipped with a manual transmission. Sadly, practicing green driving meant I spent most of the time in a high gear trying to maintain a steady rate of speed without any sudden stops. Other techniques I employed to reduce fuel consumption included avoiding jack rabbit starts and anticipating traffic so I could coast to slow down when safe. Easier said than done.

2014 AJAC Eco-Run Squamish DC Fast Charger

It was smoother sailing once the caravan hit the wide-open Sea-to-Sky highway with its gorgeous views of the surrounding Coast Mountains. Surprisingly, there were plenty of charging stations along the way, with even a DC fast charger in downtown Squamish that was able to fill-up the limited-range electrics in about 30 minutes.

2014 AJAC EcoRun FleetCarma data logger

To gauge the effectiveness of our purposeful driving style, each participating vehicle had a data-logging device installed measuring acceleration, braking, average speed and energy consumption. The goal was, as a group, to use as little gas and electricity as possible. Over the course of the tour, the drivers managed a commendable average eco-score of 91.8 out of 100, with 100 representing optimal efficiency. Some journalists, myself not included, even managed to achieve perfect scores on certain parts of the journey.

The Eco-Run ended back where it started with a consumer show where passersby brave enough to venture into a sudden rainstorm could learn more about the event, check out some of the cars and even take one out for a test drive.

Bluetooth technology – More than just hands-free calls

Benjamin Yong on May 20, 2014

Only 2 decades ago, if you wanted to play your favourite tunes on the road, you were likely faced with hours of careful mixing and recording on cassette tapes. The end result would be hours of painstaking dubbing that could easily be ruined by a dirty audio head or a magnet.

Less than 5 years ago most cars were limited to CD players. If you were lucky, you had an auxiliary port or some sort of iPod connectivity interface that was at its infancy. These days, the array of media source options for playing your favourite tunes in new cars is truly astounding.

Enter the age of Bluetooth. Initially pawned off as a passing fad, even inexpensive compact cars have it these days (e.g. Mazda3, Hyundai Elantra, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic).

Bluetooth is a wireless short-range communication technology that lets devices share data with each other — for example, your phone communicates audio data with your car’s built-in speakers and vice versa.

With the ever-increasing acceptance of smartphones into our lives, Bluetooth has made it possible for us to reliably stream high quality music over the air from our smartphones’ albums and personal playlists into our cars. Add the availability of audio streaming apps and the music selection possibilities are endless!

But not all cars with Bluetooth connectivity are created equal. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you are researching for a new or used car with this technology.

  1. If you’re just looking for basic hands-free phone calling, look for a car that only supports the Bluetooth HFP (Hands-Free Profile). This is the Bluetooth profile that is most commonly used, and the one that most consumers are familiar with. Cars with infotainment systems that support just the HFP will only be able to support hands-free calling, not audio streaming.
     
  2. The next step up from HFP is Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP), which allows your car’s hands-free system access to your phone’s address book for syncing and display.
     
  3. If you are looking for the ability to wirelessly stream music without the need for a physical cable, ensure that the car that you are shopping for supports A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile), also sometimes referred to as Bluetooth Audio streaming.

    This profile enables the wireless transmission of digital audio from your smart device to your car’s audio system. Audio quality is typically good enough for compressed MP3s or for streaming from music apps such as Songza or Rdio.
     

  4. A few years ago, only higher end cars had the ability to display a song’s metadata (artist name, album song title, etc) over Bluetooth audio streaming. These days even lower priced compact cars such as the Mazda3 and Hyundai Elantra offer this feature as well.
     
  5. Texting while driving is not only bad but illegal in most provinces. Happily, Bluetooth’s Message Access Profile (MAP) allows a supported car’s infotainment system to display or even read aloud a text message by a text-to-speed system. BMW’s iDrive system is one of the examples of a system that has the ability to perform such as feat. Just make sure to check off “Enhanced Bluetooth connectivity” on the options list.
     

Hopefully this article provides you with a few tips about what Bluetooth is, how useful it is, and what to look for in your next car.

Nostalgia: BMW's Best Advertisements

OpenRoad Auto Group on May 15, 2014

bmw-ad-hong-kong

There once was a time when BMW openly stated that they manufactured “The Ultimate Driving Machine,” and they weren’t afraid to let the world know. From merely stating the facts to poking fun at the competition, the genius of its creativity was as undeniable as the effectiveness of its humour. Let’s take a look at some of their greatest hits in print and viral marketing.

Clive Owen and Madonna star in “The Hire.”

The year was 1998 and BMW had just launched the E39 M5. A four door saloon that looked, well… like a four door saloon. But the magic laid in the fact that it could give any fire breathing supercar a run for its money – baby seats in the back and all. It had 400 horsepower and it was the must-have bona fide sheep in wolves clothing of the moment. Its hidden tallents evoked creativity all over the world and hired PR agencies came up with all sorts of tongue-in-cheek advertisements to market the M5. This particular advertising campaign, which consisted of a series of viral short films, was the first of its kind and spawned an instant new advertising medium based on its worldwide success. It was a genius move by BMW, the first company to invest serious money in serious talent to produce a film merely for the internet, which at the time was still regarded as a mere distraction – let alone a profitable place to spend advertising dollars.

 

 

Circa 2001, I had the opportunity to experience a Silverstone M5 from the passenger seat. It was an LCI (facelifted) model, painted in Silverstone, arguably the best colour for the E39 M5 that brings out all of its nuances and looks beautifully offset by the shadow alloy wheels. I’ve always had one lasting memory of my brief time in the E39 M5, and it was the ferocity of its snarling engine coupled to painfully brisk gear changes. I must of thought that was a good thing, as to this day I often still catch myself browsing the local classifieds for a mint E39 M5. 

A couple of years after the M5’s debut came the E46 M3, launched in similar shades to the current M3 and M4 launch models – Laguna Seca Blue (pictured above) and Dakar Yellow. After the underpowered North America model E36 M3, BMW finally straigtened the record and brought the entire world the same glorious, 340 bhp straight-six, M3 – and what a car that was. An instant success as a result of its handling, packaging, straight induction sound, and looks. Once again, BMW Marketing was off to the races to prance their new posterchild in front of the competition. 

Depicted above is a personal favorite of mine. It’s not as well known as the Audi A4 ad featuring the slogan “Your move, BMW” and then having BMW of California erect a billboard right next to across the street showing off the new M3 with the slogan “Checkmate.” Instead, what you can see above is Audi of Hong Kong not realizing that their dealership’s wall space was available for rent, and that there were no limitations as to who could use it to,… I don’t know, maybe advertise the newest BMW 5 Series? Surely that spilt a few cups of coffee at the Audi Hong Kong Head Office. Your move, Audi. 

 

 

But BMW wasn’t all flashy cars and cheeky taunts. When it came to convincing customers to have their cars serviced at the dealer, the marketing department turned to minimalism a la Volkswagen in the 50’s. I think the above ad is absolute genius and never before three simple letters arranged wrongly have gotten a point across more clearly. Bravo, and let’s see some more of this type of clever advertising in today’s world.

Absolutely brilliant. There’s no other way to put it. After seeing the ad live on TV, I don’t think I would of had the self restraint to not spend the house on a brand new M5 in the year 2000. Just look at it! Parked in the desert, with a cloud of dust about to settle down, just the right amount of dirty with the 400 horsepower ticking themselves cool after a top speed run. It looked – in a word – perfect. Luckily in the year 2000 I didn’t even have my driver’s license yet and I was still fantasizing of the day my dad would allow me to climb behind the wheel of our 1990 E30 320i 5-speed Convertible. Those were the days. The days of great advertising.

Best in Canada: OpenRoad Audi staff headed to Twin Cup world championship

Benjamin Yong on May 2, 2014

Open Road Audi service advisor Dragos Paduraru
Service Advisor Dragos Paduraru is part of the OpenRoad Audi team vying for the 2014 Twin Cup championship. Photos by Benjamin Yong.

Like the Olympic Games of the automotive world, the Audi Twin Cup world championship is the ultimate destination for service and technician staff of the other well-known brand symbolized by rings. Held this year in Munich, Germany, teams of six — three from each department — will be competing from 40 nations for the recognition of being the best in their field.

Dragos Paduraru has been a Service Advisor with OpenRoad Audi in Vancouver for seven years, and knows a thing or two about the topic having been part of the Canadian team that finished fifth overall at the 2013 event. He will be reprising his role as ambassador, along with technician and fellow co-worker Aaron Berghoffer, following victories in their respective categories at the nationals in early April. Staff technician Peter Cheung also competed making it to the semi-finals.

Paduraru says he originally joined the competition to challenge himself.

“I wanted to see how well I’m prepared. I know I can do very well in terms of service processes, and also I’m familiar with the parts as well and also the shop a little bit,” he says.

OpenRoad_Audi service entrance

To qualify, anyone working in the appropriate areas within the Audi dealer network can throw their names in the hat. The first hurdle is at the local level where entrants must undergo two rounds of general knowledge testing on the computer.

“The questions vary from very technical ones that are car related, to extremely customer-oriented ones that have nothing to do with the car itself,” says Paduraru, originally from Romania.

The next step is the national stage at the Audi Canada corporate headquarters in Ajax, Ontario where the testing is split into customer or mechanical expertise, such as identifying a car part by blindly putting your hand into a box of items. From there, the top six get the honour of representing Canada at the Audi Twin Cup. Whereas previously entrants competed as individuals, at the worlds they must learn to function as a team.

OpenRoad Audi service department

“Why it’s named the Twin Cup is basically because the service consultants and technicians should work together like a team, like twins. Even the Sedins in hockey, they know all their moves and all their processes. It’s exactly what they want to see at the world stage, a really good performance from both sides.”

As a technician at OpenRoad Audi since 2010, Cheung says the competition offers a unique chance to network with others in his field, and also see how he measures up to them.

“I had the opportunity to see how I stand up against other Audi technicians in Canada and possibly the world.”

Two OpenRoad Audi techs at work: Peter Cheung (left) and Aaron Berghoffer

 

Berghoffer joined the company over a year ago and while he is “very excited,” acknowledges that it won’t be easy to dethrone the current champions from South Korea.

The 2014 Audi Twin cup takes place in Munich from July 16 to 19.

10 Must-Try Signature Chinese Dishes in Metro Vancouver

OpenRoad Auto Group on April 30, 2014

The Chinese Restaurant Awards 2014 had their panel of 4 judges in Greater Vancouver spend over 180 days for their tasting journey to choose their most memorable signature Chinese dishes, presented by OpenRoad Auto Group. Criteria included, the excellence of ingredients, cooking skills, and taste.

Critics’ Choice Signature Chinese Dishes

Alaska King Crab – Three Ways

Hoi Tong Chinese Seafood Restaurant

#160-8191 Westminister Hwy, Richmond (604) 276-9229

Spike Sea Cucumber Soaked in Vinegar

Chef Tony Seafood Restaurant
#101-4600 No.3 Road, Richmond (604) 279-0083

Fortune Fish: Fresh Fish with Special Rice Noodles

Shiang Garden Seafood Restaurant
#2200-4540 No.3 Road, Richmond (604) 273-8858

Geoduck – Two Ways (Deep Fried Geoduck-quenelles and Sliced Geoduck Deep Fried with Basils)

Dynasty Seafood Restaurant
#108-777 West Broadway, Vancouver (604) 876-8388

Casserole with Soup, Tofu Stuffed with Meat, Cabbage and Vermicelli

NingTu Restaurant
2130 Kingsway, Vancouver (604) 438-6669

Braised Beef Brisket and Tendon

Lai Leung Kee Delicatessen
#1360-4540 No.3 Road, Richmond (604) 247-8893

Deep Fried Chicken with Shrimp Paste

Bamboo Grove
6920 No.3 Road, Richmond (604-278-9585)

Hand-Shredded Chicken with Bamboo Cane

Dynasty Seafood Restaurant
#108-777 West Broadway, Vancouver (604) 876-8388

Perilla Basil Leaf Rolls

Spicy Vegetarian Cuisine
#132-4200 No.3 Road, Richmond (604) 304-3538

Sesame Egg Tart

Golden Paramount Seafood Restaurant
8071 Park Road, Richmond (604) 278-0873

BMW's Rallying Days

Benjamin Yong on April 29, 2014

Rallying is cool. It’s a bunch of lunatics going very sideways on the world’s most gruelling and extreme roads. A little known fact about BMW is that they didn’t just stick to road racing when it came to motorsports, they also entered the occasional rally car. In 1982, BMW decided to enter a tuned version of their supercar – the legendary BMW M1. While the BMW M1’s roots in race car history are well documented, very little is known about the M1’s brief stint in the world of rally sport. And not just any rally sport, we’re  talking about legendary “Group B” – an unrestricted class of motorsport in the 1980’s in which the BMW M1 stood out as its most powerful entrant. 

For those of you not in the know on arguably the most interesting few years in rally sport history; Group B rallying happened in a four-year span when the world briefly went mad. In 1982, all manufacturers were in a race to build the most powerful rally cars in the hopes of catching up to the dominant Audi Quattros. The results were twitchy turbo charged rally cars with virtual suicidal drivers sprinting through rally stages at time travel speeds. In eerie similarity to the killer 50’s when F1 racing was discontinued for a number of years, the unrestricted Group B class was banned in 1986 due to too many fatalities. In its darkest days the sport was said to cause more deaths than finishers.

The BMW M1 was modestly described as “hard to handle” by driver Bernard Beguin, who wrestled the godly sounding beast around Europe’s dirt clad hairpins. The footage below shows the 430 bhp M1 terrorizing “the Tour de Corse” on the usually quiet and quaint island of Corsica. Nicknamed ‘The Rally of 1000 Corners,’ spectators would often shovel gravel onto the road to cause an even greater – sideways –  spectacle.

I guess it is safe to say that BMW learnt some valuable lessons with their stint in Group B rallying, as only a few years later they managed to produce one of the most victorious race cars in motorsport history – the BMW E30 M3. It was the summer of 1985 in Germany when the journalists first got their hands on the M3, and for the next six years, their pens waxed lyrically about the M3’s 50/50 weight distribution, driving feel, and endless string of victories on the road, on the track, and on Europe’s most challenging dusty mountain roads.

The fact that it originally started out as a “Group A” race car project, of which BMW was forced to make a (now legendary) homologiation production series for the road, helped make it an extraordinary machine for use on the road. It was light at a mere 1,200 kilograms dry weight, and it featured the 1983 F1 Championship winning engine block from the Brahbham BMW race car. Its crankshaft could withstand up to 10,000 rpm and its exhaust system was tested for over 150,000 kms at full throttle on Italy’s Nardo test track. All these bits of specific information reveal why the E30 M3 road car was granted such high praise as it was a mere race car in disguise. How BMW managed to sell them at a halfway affordable price is beyond my comprehension.

Similar to the BMW M1, another legend had entered the books, albeit with a dramatically different end result. The M1 was a legend because it was a short lived monster, the E30 M3 because it was an absolute peach that led a long dominant life as Bavaria’s most prized export. 

Today, let’s enjoy the footage for what it was and silently pay our respects to the drivers and spectators who paid the ultimate price in the name of motorsport.

Visit BMW Langley for more info on the BMW brand.

Top 3 reasons why you should change back to summer tires ASAP

OpenRoad Auto Group on April 25, 2014

After a typically rainy and somewhat snowy Lower Mainland winter, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and spring is finally in the air.

With temperatures consistently above the 7 degree Celsius mark, it is now time to change your winter tires over to your summer or all-seasons tires.

Whether you do it yourself in your garage, or take your car into your dealership’s service department, here are the…

Top 3 reasons why you need to swap to summer tires

1. Winter tires are all made for a lower temperature range than all-season or summers tires.

All tires start life with differently engineered rubber compounds, each designed for specific temperature ranges.

Whereas summer tires turn hard as hockey pucks in the winter, all-season tires lose grip below 7 degrees C and are virtually useless on snow or ice below 0 degrees C.

Conversely, winter tires are designed to have flexible tread below the freezing mark. This means that they have a lot more sipes and tread blocks for gripping on snowy or icy surfaces. But not for consistently dry and warm pavement.
 

2. Your winter tires will wear much faster above 7 degrees Celsius.

As the aforementioned sipes and tread blocks come into contact with the dry and warmer spring pavement, heat is created as the rubber blocks are compressed.

This is because the sipes rapidly open and close as they come into contact with the dry pavement with nothing to cool them down. And too much heat is the worst enemy of a tire.

3. You won’t be able to brake as quickly or avoid collisions as effectively.

By design, winter tires are designed to be more flexible to dig in for traction in the snow. Compared to a good all-season tire, a winter tire will have 2-3 times as many tread blocks and significantly more sipes.

On dry and warm pavement though, this flexible-by-design construction can make stopping distances significantly longer.

Regardless of the type of tire, too much heat makes a tire’s tread blocks too flexible and therefore squirmy. The tire will get a greasy feel because it is chemically dissolving. And obviously greasy tires do not grip!

Final Tip

When you are swapping your tires, be sure to take a look at the amount of tread left on your winter tires. For the best traction in snow, tire manufacturers recommend a minimum tread depth of 6/32 of an inch. For comparison, most tires come with new with about 11/32 to 12/32 of an inch tread depth.

If you do not have the recommended amount, now is a good time to plan ahead to save money for new winter tires well in advance of the next winter season.

Heads-Up Displays: Fighter jet technology in today's cars

OpenRoad Auto Group on April 16, 2014

 

Head-up displays (HUDs), which project vehicle speed and other information in the driver’s field of view, have been available since about 1990s on a small handful of luxury cars.

But with most of them based on basic LED technology of the time, information that could be displayed was limited at best. Cost, packaging, and reliability were also issues.

As automakers try to find new ways to reduce driving distractions in recent years, new LCD technology and cost reductions have allowed heads-up display systems to become more widespread like never before.

How it works

Fighter jets have used HUDs for years to keep vital information in front of pilots during combat situations. After all, keeping their eyes trained on the action in the heat of battle rather than on the cockpit instruments can mean the difference between life and death.

While a head-up display can take almost any form, the most common type in a car reflects its image directly off the windshield just below the driver’s line of sight. This is achieved by a special display integrated on the top of the dashboard and a specially coated windshield.

 

Just as in a jet fighter, the idea is that a head-up display helps the driver concentrate on what is happening on the road by displaying relevant information right in the driver’s line of vision.

What you get as you peer out past the steering wheel is a floating display with your speed and navigation directions. On some cars, the current audio playlist, collision warning and lane departure markings may also be displayed. 

In fact, thanks to the move from LED icon-based displays to configurable LCD monitors, automakers can display just about anything.

Today, head-up displays are widely available in many models from luxury marques including Audi, BMW, Lexus, and also the Hyundai Equus. In this category, buyers demand technology and are willing to pay extra for it.

However in the last year or so, heads-up displays have also made it to lower-priced vehicles thanks to a few clever innovations by engineers.

BMW 3-series, 4-series, 5-series, 6-series, 7-series, X5, X6

 

BMW offers an advanced full-colour HUD system on many of their models. You can see your current speed, but the 3×6-inch colour display also shows vehicle warnings (such as lane departure and collision alert), the current setting for the adaptive cruise control, and turn-by-turn GPS navigation indicators. You can also bring up your current playlist, or see who is calling on your Bluetooth connected phone.

BMWs HUD will adjust automatically to current weather conditions due to an ambient light sensor. Via the vehicle’s iDrive interface, owners can further tweak the brightness level, position and rotation of the display, or even what information they want (or don’t want) to see.

Audi A6, A7, A8

 

Audi’s full-colour heads-up display recreates the display philosophy of their Multi-Media Interface.

The 3.41×10.31 inch display is based on the latest TFT LCD screen technology and backlit by 15 energy efficient white LEDs. Like BMW’s system, a sensor constantly measures ambient brightness in front of the vehicle and the system adjusts the light intensity so that the display can be read perfectly at all times day or night.

Drivers can select what information they wish to have shown via the MMI, including the speed, navigation symbols, and lists of infotainment systems and displays for the driver assistance systems.

Mazda3

 

HUDs are finding their way into more vehicles, including lower-priced ones such as the all-new 2014 Mazda3.

Mazda’s optional system, dubbed their “Active Driving Display” is the first Mazda product with such a system and is more compact than other HUDs out in the marketplace. Traditional HUDs wouldn’t fit in the Mazda3 due how much space they require.

 

The Active Driving Display doesn’t project onto the windshield but instead onto a pop-up semitransparent lens on the top of the dash in the driver’s field of vision. Despite being fitted to a lower-priced vehicle, the Mazda3’s system also projects speed, cruise control settings, driver assistance system warnings, and navigation info. However it is not a full-colour display unlike those from the German auto manufacturers.

 

One extra benefit to this setup is reduced repair costs if the windshield gets damaged. Why? Because traditional Heads-up display systems require a special reflective windshield coating for the information projected on them to be visible. If a stray rock damages the windshield in the Mazda, it won’t be as costly to fix as the car uses a normal windshield.

MINI Cooper

 

The all-new 2014 Mini Cooper Hardtop, boasts even more tech than its predecessor, including a heads-up display system.

Like Mazda’s system, the full-colour HUD is not projected onto the windshield surface but instead appears on a semitransparent lens atop the dashboard in the driver’s field of vision.

 

Turn-by-turn navigation graphics, current speed and speed limit information, safety system warnings can be displayed and seen quickly and conveniently without the driver having to take eyes off the road.