“OVERDRIVE:
WHAT HAPPENS -when you

“clink” a wine glass? It -
vibrates at its natura! fre-
quency, and produces'a
clear, high-pitched sound |

' that can last for.as long as 10

AR empty | wine .

ry, a
- with a glass fall of somthing thick. :

and dense, like. Spagheiti sauce.
What happens now? $ os
Because its natural frequency is is.
: much higher, it makes a short,
low-pitched noise that’s barely‘...
andible:. This seemingly. insignifi-_ =
cant phenomenon plays a very::..
i

By, changing the basic structural’

design of of, an n automobile, engineers

sounds; noise, and ‘vibration to the,

passenger compartmer’, ;
Like the empty w: <¢ glass, acar”’

with low, natural frequency is easily
cited by an outside force ‘and pro-
duces | an annoying. uncomfortable °

- able to raise the natural Pomny
ofa vehicle. by. stiffening the body

“structure and filling the body cavi

ities with special foams and rein-

S, is a’car.that has a high .
natural  freqiiency;. one that emits: °>
tess noise'and vibration. The car.
‘now feels tighter, more solid, and
_Sabitantial.. ;

«* Avhigh frequency body resists
- olitside forces more effectively’ ”

~ because the bady itself acts asa

"dense object. -
- Getting confused? The only

, “thing you have to remember, really,

. is that low natural frequency is
‘undesirable and high natural fre-
_ quency y JS idea} in modern-aistom

Andi in h general a saiffer, more.

The quest to achieve. a high |
“level of natural frequency is taken
very seriously by:automakers.
“Fn fact, many car companies
place their brightest and smartest
engineers in the structural design ©

“department to help them develop:

" vehicles: with solid, rattle-free bod-
anda high natural frequency.
- Body structural engineers are in
such demand that they are snapped -.

sup | in the's same fashion as prized ~

is

professional baseball and hockey
. players. °

At General M Motors’ Technical
Centre i in Michigan, a group of tal-

ented engineers has been working ~

hard in the last several months’ - '
stripping the rims off competitors’
_cars and measuring. their natural
-frequencies. ‘- .

: They compiled a fist of the nat-
ural frequencies of hundreds of .:
cars, and decided that the magic
target number is 25 Hertz (Hz).

‘(Hertz is a unit of frequency, and is“,

also expressed i is cycles per sec-.
ond.)

‘In the process of bench- smarking .

“the competition, t they discovered -
that German‘cars typically had the.
highest frequency ratings, and that”
_ convertibles often had the lowest. |

With that in mind, GM engi-:
neers conducted research into new

6&6 Like an empty |
wine ‘glass, acar

with low. natural

frequency is easily.
"excited . han

“types of technologies that would:
’ stiffen up the body structure ‘and ©
-taise the car body’s natural fre-- .,

“quency, giving that rattle-free, solid, S

feel that consumers look fori ina.

co GM then incorporated every-_
“thing it learned about body. stru

tures into one of its most promising

_ new models: the 1995 Oldsmobile .
“Aurora;
~The ‘Aurora is a completely new
: luxury sedan that’s been designed.

TUNE-UP.

© Scope check and adjusted to specs
® Labour to install cune-up parts

© Road test vehicle
Parts Extea’

‘to go head- to-head with some of the’:

- best series from Japan and Europe,
-” including sich cars as the Acura
_ Legend, Lexus ES300, and BMW >
540i.

It promises te surprise impor
buyers with its state-of-the-art

"Northstar V8 engine — good for

250 horsepower —- and a highly
refined chassis: *

According to GM, the Aurora is’
- the first and only Ameriéan car that
- has achieved the magic number: a
’ natural frequency of 25 Hz.

This was accomplished. through.
several means. ;

‘The underbody or floorpian of

_ the Aurora, for example, is made
‘from one single stamping of steel,
" instead of.the usual two or three”
pieces. This allows the. ‘Aurora to.
have an exceptionally strong body
foundation upon which the rest of
. the body panels are built.

The body has been designed to
take advantages of such new manu-
facturing technologies as rol!-form-
ing, multi-bending, one-sided spot
:-, welding, and robotic silicon-bronze

. seam welding.

In addition, the Aurcra engi- -~: -

neers designed reinforced structural
_ members all over the ‘Aurora’s -

_ body, raising both the frequency
value and the overall rigidity of the.
car.

GM is already incorporating
many of these new ideas learned
from the Aurora project into other
* GM products, which means there -

are more 25-Hz cars to come from

the world’s
* facturer. :
‘If GM's new products, with
German-car like solidness and -
strength, become truly successful,
+ the structural engineers will indeed
” have many reasons to” clink their *
wine glasses. : : °

largest vehicle manu-

BRO ave

of his is your license plate, bring in this éd and your
registration to our Classified reception before
the next — poper “and we'll ‘spor’ you $25.00

Your Fines Paskawe Includes!

‘LUBE, OIL & F ILTER:

* Replace engine oil and filter

_® Lube, locks and hinges ©
® Check all fluids 7

2Z POINT. INSPECTION

© Includes inspection of : suspensiori,
steering, brak linings; battery load
“testing, coolant, ete...

Not valid with any other offer or discount, extended until June 30/94 -

“Let our factory trained: service technicians check your Honda from head to toe,
ea and: imake- sure re everything i is running smoothly. oe

‘J

REPAIR CENTER
Cer #50354