新科技: 科技让开车更简单

Dashboards used to be static displays with mechanical dials and gauges. Now, auto makers are ditching the dials in favor of programmable screens that can display more information and allow drivers to personalize the look of the cockpit displays.
汽车仪表盘曾经是静态显示的各种机械表盘。现在，汽车制造商正在采用可以编程的屏幕，用于显示更多信息，并允许驾驶者自行定制仪表盘界面。

The new Lexus IS F-Sport model, due out this June, uses a thin-film transistor display and a moving tachometer dial (which measures RPMs) to create a hybrid of the traditional and the new. The technology is adapted from Lexus's super sports car, the LFA. By toggling a control on the steering wheel, the driver can get the big dial in the center of the dashboard to move to the right, revealing a flat-screen display that can be customized for two different drivers. 'We can change languages, miles per hour to kilometers' and show information such as route guidance, says Bill Camp of Lexus's training operation, Lexus University.
新款雷克萨斯(Lexus) IS F-Sport车型计划于2013年6月推出，其仪表盘采用雷克萨斯超级跑车LFA上的技术，通过薄膜晶体管屏幕和一个发动机转速表，打造出传统与创新相结合的显示方式。驾驶者可以拨动方向盘上的控制键，将仪表盘中央的大表盘移到右边，腾出空间来为两类不同的驾驶者定制表盘。雷克萨斯公司内训部门“雷克萨斯大学”(Lexus University)的比尔??坎普(Bill Camp)说：“我们可以改变仪表盘的显示语种，切换英里和公里计量方式”，并能显示路面导航等信息。

Shift Into Ninth Gear
九速变速箱

Ever-tougher federal demands for fuel efficiency have led car makers to add more gears to transmissions. And more. And more.
美国政府对汽车燃油经济性日益严格的要求迫使汽车制造商增加变速箱档位。没有最多，只有更多。

You don't have to be very old to remember when most cars came with four-speed transmissions. Now, Chrysler Group LLC says it will introduce a nine-speed gearbox designed to fit into a relatively small, front-wheel-drive car.
即便不是年纪很大的人也能回忆起大多数汽车都采用四速变速箱的时代。现在，克莱斯勒集团(Chrysler Group LLC)称其将推出一款九速变速箱，用于尺寸相对较小的前轮驱动汽车。

ZF Friedrichshafen AG, the German company that makes the nine-speed transmission, says it can improve fuel economy by 10% to 16% compared with a six-speed automatic, mainly because it offers a wider spread of gears to keep the engine in the 'sweet spot,' where it's turning as slowly as possible to stay at a certain speed.
九速变速箱制造商德国采埃孚股份公司(ZF Friedrichshafen AG)表示，与六速自动变速箱相比，九速变速箱能提高燃油经济性10%到16%，主要是由于其齿轮组传递范围更广泛，能在特定的发动机转速下延缓切档，保持引擎处于“最有效点”。

Such a transmission's challenge lies largely in the software that controls the vehicle's shifting. Too much and drivers could feel as if the car is constantly changing gear and not running smoothly. Too little and the fuel-economy benefits don't materialize.
这类变速箱的主要挑战在于一个智能控制换档的软件。如果换档过于频繁，驾驶者可能感觉得到，认为发动机运行不够平滑顺畅。如果换档过少，燃油经济性的好处就不能得以体现。

Michael Ebenhoch, director of ZF's front-drive transmission development, says that with nine speeds, 'we are getting closer to the maximum' for a passenger car. On the other hand, he says, 'the guy who developed the five speed said we don't need six.'
采埃孚公司前轮驱动变速箱研发组的负责人迈克尔??艾本诺克(Michael Ebenhoch)说，九速变速箱“已接近乘用车变速箱的档位极限”，但从另一方面来说，“当年开发五速变速箱的人也说过今后不再需要六速变速箱”。

Drive by Computer
电脑自动驾驶

Traditionally, steering a car has involved a series of mechanical connections that allow the wheel in your hands to guide the four wheels on the road. Infiniti's new Q50 sedan -- which replaces the current G series in the Nissan Motor Corp. luxury brand's lineup -- boasts the industry's first so-called steer-by-wire system, which swaps out those mechanical elements with an all-electronic system.
以往，汽车转向涉及一系列机械传动，让驾驶者通过手中的方向盘指引汽车的四个轮子。英菲尼迪(Infiniti)新款Q50轿车旨在替代日产汽车公司(Nissan Motor Corp.)高端的G系列车型，宣称其在行业内率先使用了所谓的线控转向系统(steer-by-wire system)，将转向过程中的机械环节全部替换为电子系统。

Proponents say an electronic signal can be faster than a mechanical linkage at translating what the driver does with the steering wheel to the road. The electronic system also allows drivers to choose among four different degrees of serenity or sportiness in the handling. If the electronics fail, Infiniti says a backup mechanical-linkage system will keep the car under control.
支持者表示，全电子系统能更快地对驾驶者的转向意图做出反应，驾驶者可以选择四种不同程度的转向处理方式，或注重平稳，或彰显运动。英菲尼迪称，如电子转向系统失灵，备用的机械连接系统能够避免汽车失控。

The steer-by-wire system is part of an array of technology on board the Q50, including advanced cruise control and radar-enabled braking, that allows the driver to take control when the road is fun and twisty, but also enables the car to handle a lot of driving work itself during a routine commute.
线控转向系统是Q50车型上一系列高科技配置中的一部分，此外还有先进的巡航系统和自动刹车雷达，不但能让驾驶者自如应对地形复杂的路段，还能让汽车在常规驾驶时自动处理许多行车事宜。