The Immortal Toyota Crown (Part 1)

Nothing lasts forever in this world. But, are you sure about that? Try to impose this opinion on any owner of a Toyota with a diesel engine. Be sure, you will crash and burn- it’s like trying to make a primitive man to read War and Peace.

Moreover, if this is an atmospheric diesel engine, or even worse (for you), the engine belongs to the L family, your efforts will be completely wasted. Besides, you will be persuaded that these engines can run on used vegetable oils, jet fuel and all other unbelievable substances without any damage. The pity is that we, the automotive skeptics and owners of modern vehicles, will never be able to appreciate such cars. 
And indeed, there was a time when cars were built with a huge safety factor and used to be much more reliable than now. There was little use of cheap plastic and completely useless electronics. Preference was given to extremely simple and reliable designs. Nowadays, the modern market rules over the automotive industry making it simply unprofitable to produce “eternal” cars. The era of “disposable cars” makes oldies from distant 70-80s look especially exotic.
To be continued...

ERAZ-Electro (pics)

I want to share some interesting pics related to our previous post about ERAZ.

The first prototype of electric car "ERAZ-ARMENIA" (written in Russian in the picture above). Also you can see inscription 'Testing' on the front bumper.

And the other 2 pics of ERAZ were made for 1980 Olympic games in Moscow.

 

The forgotten Technologies of the Soviet Armenia: ERAZ Electro

Nowadays, hybrid technologies are considered as one of the most promising developments in the automotive world. In this sphere, there are already clearly identified leaders among the giants of the global auto industry. Today it’s almost impossible to believe that during Soviet times, our country also undertook active efforts to develop a car powered by electricity. In different republics of the Soviet Union, thanks to the efforts of many institutions there were built challenging samples which were put to the test in various conditions. In Armenia, the first result of such works became this vehicle running on a hybrid power train. It was designed in 1978 in Yerevan Polytechnic Institute, in the research laboratory for electric vehicles.

Unfortunately, today, this car is consigned to oblivion. The fate of its designers is also unknown. I just came across this miraculously preserved photo.
By the way, the Yerevan Automobile Plant also made major efforts to create an electrically powered cars.
More about this, I will cover in the near future.

The Reliable A4 (Part 4)

Just try to enter a turn at a greater speed and slightly chop the throttle spinning back the wheel. The rear axle immediately takes up the sliding baton from the front and the car performs smooth drifts, which are controlled at any stage of difficulty.

At the breaking point the car slides with all wheels slightly throwing the back, but nothing to worry about- the skid is easily corrected with the wheel. The steady engine will allow you to drag the car from a slide with minimal efforts. Clutching the road surface with all wheels, the A4 whistles like a bullet out of the turn.
The “Quattro” of the A4 is based on the old and reliable self-locking differential “Torsen”, which cleverly distributes torque between axles.
It’s not by chance that among the great German trio, the A4 is the leader in the D segment. And it’s no wonder that there is a growing number of so many restyled modifications of this model in our streets. I enjoyed the car very much and hopefully managed to maintain objectivity in this article. One thing for sure, the A4 is a correctly balanced, fast and technologically advanced car, so you will never regret owning it.