Alberto Michelatti

BMW Z4 Chevrolet Corvette C5 Citroën 2CV Ferrari 360 Modena spider Lamborghini Diablo GT Lamborghini Murciélago Mini Porsche 911 Turbo (996) Porsche 911 (997) Alberto.

Alberto.

Swedish Tank Drifting... Alberto.

Salon de Genève 2007 Alberto.

«Dancing in Paris» Please wait a few seconds for Video to Load! Download: isuzu_gemini.wmv Isuzu Gemini II - Giorgetto Giugiaro - Holidays - Isuzu Gemini II - Italdesign - Italdesign - Isuzu Gemini II - Karaja "She moves (la la la)" Alberto.

Please wait a few seconds for Video to Load! Alberto.

Please wait a few seconds for Video to Load! Alberto.

"Memento audere semper" (remember to dare always), Gabriele D'Annunzio. The "Memento Audere Semper" writing on the Vittoriale degli Italiani, an ex residence of the fearless Italian poet, writer, novelist and dramatist Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863-1938), who donated it to the Italian State before his death. It is now a national monument. It houses a MAS fast military ship and the plane on which D'Annunzio raided Vienna. Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863-1938). MAS (Motoscafo Armato Silurante / torpedo armed motorboat), ~1918. Vittoriale degli Italiani. "Memento audere semper" (remember to dare always), Gabriele D'Annunzio. Alberto.

Keane " ". Hello, in the video of the song " ", of the British group Keane, released on August 2006, the protagonist, a real estate agent (the actor Giovanni Ribisi), drives a Toyota Camry automatic, in 1C0 silver metallic. I would like to know if that Camry is of the year 2006 or it is previous, what type of engine it has (a 3.0 V6 perhaps?) and what type of trim level it has (Standard, SE, XLE?). Could you please give me eventually also a link where I can download some high quality photos of a Camry like that one of the Keane's "Crystal ball" video? I would like to receive from you a description as much detailed as possible. Thank you very much!For now I found these links: - http://www.edmunds.com/toyota/camry/2006/index.html - http://www.toyota-camry.50megs.com 2005 Toyota Camry 3.0 V6 XLE automatic. Alberto.

Personally I would choose the Proxel EPS-Micro Plus, so all the components are hidden and no modifications to the cockpit are required. Consider that the electromagnetic-type parking sensors are based on the capacity principle, so, as the downlodable instructions explain, they aren't able to detect all the materials. For example they aren't able to detect highly insulating materials like for instance glass, ceramics and plastic objects when these are dry (though not even the classical ultrasonic parking sensors are able to detect all the obstacles... for example they have problems to detect thin stakes and small objects... ). However after more than four months of use I am satisfied of the Proxel EPS-Micro Plus parking sensor, since it detects the most part of the obstacles like walls, trees, persons, cars, stones, stakes and so on. For example it is very useful for parking in a row between two cars. Alberto.

The EPS-WBD (Electromagnetic Parking System - Wave Band Display) and the EPS-Micro Plus are the same product, except that the EPS-WBD parking sensor has both the acoustic signal and a three-color led wave band display to indicate the different distances. I don't know any site selling EPS-WBD in US or in UK, but if you want you can contact Proxel directly at eps@proxel.com. Alberto.

Sure... I bought the Proxel EPS-Micro Plus from the site http://www.digital-planet.it at € 84.00 ($ 107.08) plus a shipment cost of € 5.82 ($ 7.42), for a total of € 89,82 ($ 114.50). Unfortunately this site is for Italian customers only, because to buy you have to register yourself and the program accepts Italian postal codes only. Fortunately the site http://www.proxel.com says that the Proxel EPS-Micro Plus is sold worldwide, with the name BumperCare, by some concessionaires. For the U.S.A. the concessionaire is AsiaMac ( http://www.bumpercare.com ). However if you search "electromagnetic parking sensor" on Ebay you will find an imitation of the Proxel EPS-Micro Plus (which is patented in Italy, Europe and U.S.A.) at the price of $ 111.87 plus a shipment cost of $ 7.46 for a total of $ 119.33 (Ebay item number: 8070631662 - http://cgi.ebay.com/ELECTROMAGNETIC-PARKIN...1QQcmdZViewItem ). Alberto.

Hi! I don't know where you can find Denso parking sensors... but I equipped my car with a new electromagnetic invisible type parking sensor, the Proxel EPS-Micro Plus ( http://www.proxel.com ), and I am enthusiastic of it! It works fine and, above all, you don't have to drill the bumper! Alberto.

In relation to the fact that metallic paints can be difficult to match this is true, but the solution is easy: it is sufficient to go only in bodyshops that spray a test panel before painting the entire area (Mark Clark "More Efficient Autobody Operations"). This method is almost completely fail safe. The human eye is able to distinguish about 16,000,000 of colors, so confronting the painted test panel to the paint of the car, better if in daylight, you can safely achieve a tint that is "blendably" close. The steps to create a test panel are quite simple: 1. Identifying the color code on the vehicle; 2. Locating the paint manufacturer's part number; 3. Mixing a small quantity (3-6 ounces) of the color; 4. Adding solvent; 5. Spraying a test panel. If the subject vehicle is clear coated (as are most cars today) the test panel needs to be cleared as well. Performing this technique on a test panel rather than re-shooting the entire repair each time saves material, time and emissions. Alberto.

What about the rear impact protection gained from having a full-size spare & rim in the trunk? I think that mini-size spare wheel have by law the same load resistance of a standard full-size wheel, indipendently if the rim is made of steel or aluminium alloy. So I think that the rear impact protection given by a mini-size spare wheel is fully comparable with a full-size wheel. Alberto.

Hi! I would like to signal that if you are searching for premium and normal tyres at the lowest prices this is the website for you: http://www.reifendirekt.de Alberto.

Hi! My Toyota Avensis have a mini-size spare wheel and I am happy of this, because for me this is the best solution. Nowadays there are four possible solutions when a tyre get punctured: 1) full-size spare wheel: this is the classical solution but, for the life of the car, you have less space in the trunk and, above all, the car weights more, so the performances are inferior and the fuel consumption is thinly higher. In my opinion this is a money throw away solution, because a regular tyre and a regular rim are wasted for the life of the car. 2) "fix and go" kit: this is the solution preferred on the luxury sport cars. It is a kit composed by a little air compressor and a can of tyre repairing foam. This solution weights very few and the space used is the lowest, but there is the big disadvantage that if the tyre is ripped and not punctured this kit is useless. 3) run flat tyres: they allow you to reach the next tyre shop, also with zero pressure, but they are very expensive and often after a puncture they are to throw away. In case of ripping they are useless. 4) mini-size spare wheel: this solution, in comparison with full-size spare wheel, allows you to have more space in the trunk and the car weights less, with all the relating advantages. Alberto.

I would like to share with you some things that I learned with time on how to remove safely the dirt from a car. The first enemy of the paint are the bird droppings, that are very acidic (pH 3.5 to 4.5). Pigeon and gull droppings are the worst. When bird droppings fall on the paint, the acid begins to burn and etch the paint's surface. The longer the bird droppings remain, the greater the damage. Moreover bird droppings contain micro-pebbles that they eat to crush the food. You can remove the bird droppings rubbing gently by hand with cotton-wool bathed with water. The result of bird droppings damage is a dimple in the paint surface, often as large as an inch or more in diameter. This damage can easily be repaired polishing the paint, after having washed the area with high pressure water, better if warm. The second enemy of the paint is the tree sap, that if hardened could be very difficult to remove. I've found that the best way to remove tree sap from the paint without damaging the finish is to wet the sap spots with cotton-wool bathed with oil painting white spirit, waiting about three minutes and then rubbing gently by hand. This procedure removes perfectly paper decals also. I can guaranty that white spirit is absolutely neuter on the paint. White spirit is in fact an ingredient of car waxes and polishes and naturally you can use it to dilute them. The third enemy of the paint are the bugs splats, because the internal fluids of the bugs are very acidic. Moreover the impact of the exoskeleton of the bugs can chip your paint. To remove safely bugs splats I recommend to use a specific citrus-based cleaning solution that gently removes even the most stubborn bug remains without harming paint. For bugs with a little extra grip, agitate the paint with a paint-safe insect sponge. In general to remove organic dirt (bugs, mud, salt...) use soapy water, better if warm and at high pressure, while to remove petrochemical dirt (wax, grease, oil, tar, silicone, adhesives, gas residues... ) use cotton-wool bathed with white spirit, rubbing gently by hand. I always have in the trunk a mini plastic bottle of water, a mini plastic bottle of white spirit and cotton wool, so if there are bird droppings and tree sap spots I can remove them as soon as possible. I absolutely advice against alcohol, that if left on a painted surface for more than a minute can crack the paint top coat (it happened to me on my previous car when I was trying to remove tree sap with alcohol from the bonnet... ). Never and never use alcohol, because it is a very aggressive chemical product!!! You can find some of these and other informations at Autopia. For dashboard, plastics and glasses cleaning I simply use a damp synthetic chamois leather. For vents and switches cleaning I use a soft and wide dry paintbrush. If necessary and where possible, I gently use a worn toothbrush also. Alberto.

Hi! Since the beginning of the marketing of the Avensis '03 I felt a bit "strange" the light champagne tonality of its silver body color (paint code: 1C0), slightly different from the one used on the alloy wheels. The Corolla '02, for example, has a different silver body color, lighter and very similar to Audi and Mercedes-Benz aluminium tonality. The silver body color of the restyilized Corolla '04, instead, has the same light champagne tonality of the Avensis '03. Well, I did some researches and I discovered that this particular tonality of silver corresponds to the commercial variety of silver defined "sterling silver" or "925 silver" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_silver ): it is an alloy composed at 92.5% by silver and at 7.5% by copper. Pure silver is extremely malleable and therefore can easily damage. It also softens over time, even at room temperature. Obviously, in this state silver is useless for jewellery purposes. To avoid the problems of malleability and softening, and thus to increase the life-span of the silver jewellery, other metals are added to the pure silver. The result of this blending process with alloys is a combined silver and alloy substance which is far more resistant to scratching and damage. This alloy is commonly used to make jewels, cutlery and, naturally, coins. The 1C0 sterling silver color, then, is very similar to the amazing papillon silver heliochrome of the Volkswagen Phaeton. This is a color that varies from pure silver to a very light gold, depending on what angle you view it from, and what the prevailing light is (more informations and photos at: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2001559 ). Moreover I discovered that the 1C0 sterling silver color is used since the beginning by Lexus on all its models. I like very much this particular color, so modern, elegant and technological, and you? Cheers, Alberto. Toyota Avensis 1.8 VVT-i automatic in sterling silver metallic (code 1C0), equipped with invisible-type Proxel EPS-Micro Plus parking sensor

What about the CVTs on the Prius, RX400h, and GS450h? Simply they don't have a CVT... They just have an epicyclic reducer and a metallic chain, all fitted in a transfer case located between the thermic Atkinson-cycle engine, the electric engine and the generator (for detailed description see http://www.cleangreencar.co.nz/page/prius-transmission and http://www.lexus.com/models/hybrid/perform...nnovations.html ). However, in my opinion, the conventional automatic transmission with hydraulic torque converter remains the best. Alberto.

1) It's true that there are also the Continuosly Variable Transmissions, but they are available only on very few makes, like for example Audi, with its Multitronic, Honda, Mini and Nissan. Furthermore the CVTs have the big problem that they are unable to manage high torque values. The top of the CVTs at the moment is the Multitronic transmission of the Audi A4/A6 3.2 V6 FSI, able to manage its 255 hp and 243 lb/ft of torque. However this is nothing campared to the 612 hp and 731 lb/ft of torque of the Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG Speedshift. Note that conventional automatic transmissions with torque converter are always used in heavy-duty situations, like for example on dragsters, bigfoots, dumpers and so on... 2) It's true that in case of breakdown you have to bring your car only to specialized technicians, but I think that modern conventional automatic transmissions are engineered to last "for life": in almost all cases now you don't even have to change the ATF! It's true that after many and many miles it comes the time that the automatic transmission have to be overhauled, but this happens usually after 200,000 miles or more, but at that time your car have to be scraped... Alberto.

I think that nowadays is out of our era that a human being has to think at what gear is better to shift to (an ECU can do this perfectly) and, moreover, having to move directly the clutch pedal that, for me, would haven't to exist. So I would like to explain because for me the conventional automatic transmission with hydraulic torque converter is the best choice: 1) since the birth of the automatic transmissions, there is no power flow interruption during gear shifting, like in the more quick Direct-Shift-Gerabox system of Audi/Volkswagen group; not even a robotized manual transmission like, for example, the BMW SMG (or Ferrari F1) can do this; 2) an ECU always knows exactly the input shaft rpm and the output shaft rpm, matching them perfectly just at the right moment (an human being never could do this so: in my opinion, this is quite impossible); 3) the engine can't never stall, shutting off by its own: with a manual transmission, when you take-off and don't apply sufficient throttle or release too fast the clutch pedal the engine can stall (very dangerous in the road traffic!); also when you have to do an emergency braking, maybe that for the panic you release the clutch pedal wrong and, as well, the engine can stall, leaving you with a much more less efficient braking system just in the wrong moment; 4) the automatic transmissions are electronically and perfectly self-protected against drivers mistakes and, moreover, there isn't to worry about clutch overheat or synchronizers wear; 5) for the life of car, there isn't to worry about the expensive clutch-disc substitution; 6) with a manual transmission, how many burning-wheels dragster-style starts can you do without the clutch overheats? With an automatic transmission, instead, you can do this for the times you want, endlessly; 7) with a manual transmission, when you are at a stop on a uphill, when you have to start you have to release very carefully the clutch pedal, risking to overheat it; with an automatic transmission, instead, you have just to apply trottle, regardless of the weather, grip, slope, car load and anything else; 8) due to the automatic transmission creep feature, at the stops on uphill it's like having a Subaru-like hill holder feature, because the car almost never go reverse; 9) with automatic transmissions there's less wear than on a clutch, and there's less wear on suspensions and crankshaft/lower engine because of lack of transmission snatchs; 10) due to the automatic transmission kick-down feature you can get speed very fast, pulling yourself out fastly from bad and dangerous traffic situations; 11) due to the up-to-3.0x torque multiplication feature of the torque converter, a car has more acceleration when you accelerate out of a stop. Moreover almost all automatic cars today have the torque converter lock-up clutch, that eliminates the slippage between the pump (input power, engine side) and the turbine (output power, transmission side) of the torque converter. This by-pass function is studied to improve fuel economy at constant speed. 12) for the ultimate, the comfort and satisfaction given by an automatic transmission in the city traffic, in my opinion, are really priceless; it's true that the fuel consumption in this condition is higher, but you also have a lot more acceleration and this is undoubtedly a safety factor; If someone is interested in a very detailed description of an automatic transmission, here there is the explanation for the ZF "4HP18 Q/EH" one (using the Ravigneaux gear train arrangement): http://www.digest.net/alfa/FAQ/164/pb94/pb94-6.htm. Here there is the description of the state-of-the-art 6 speed "TR-60SN" Aisin AW automatic transmission (using the Lepelletier gear train arrangement), fitted on the Porsche Cayenne and on the Volkswagen Touareg (as well as, for example, as on the Volkswagen New Beetle, Audi TT and Audi A3): 6speedautotranny.zip. Alberto. P.S.: please don't say this to anyone, but this is the untold reason why the automatic transmission is absolutely the best choice...

Hi! I was intrigued about the secrets of the existing automotive painting types, so I did some researches that I would like to share with you. I created the following scheme: - One coat pastel paint: primer + gloss pastel paint - Two coats metallic paint: primer + matt metallic (reflective aluminium flakes) base paint + gloss transparent paint - Two coats mica paint: primer + matt mica (semitransparent mica flakes) base paint + gloss transparent paint - Two coats metallescent paint (exclusive of Lancia): primer + matt mica+aluminium flakes mixture base paint + gloss transparent paint - Two coats pearl paint: primer + matt pearl (semitransparent mica flakes coated with a metallic powder, usually titanium dioxide) base paint + gloss transparent paint - Three coats mica paint: primer + matt base paint in the color of the car + matt semitransparent mica (semitransparent mica flakes) midcoat paint + gloss transparent paint - Three coats pearl paint (iridescent): primer + matt base paint, usually white + matt semitransparent pearl (semitransparent mica flakes coated with a metallic powder, usually titanium dioxide) midcoat paint + gloss transparent paint - Multicoat Chromaflair paint (chameleon): primer + matt base paint, usually black + matt semitransparent Chromaflair (reflective aluminium flakes coated with glassy magnesium fluoride, all coated with a semitransparent chrome layer) midcoat paint, usually five coats + gloss transparent paint It is interesting to note that pearl paints have pigments that have nothing to do with real pearls, but are made by flakes of mica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mica) coated with various metallic powders. I hope these info can be useful. Cheers, Alberto

I wolud like to explain because for me white but above all light grey metallic (silver) are the best choice. 1) white and silver metallic are two neutral classical colors that don't suffer the fashions, so you have more possibilities to earn more when you sell your car; 2) with white, but above all with silver metallic, dirt is less noticeable and you can avoid to wash the car also for a month, while with black and dark colors in general your car will be always dirt and you will have to wash it two times a week, drying it by hand with a cloth; 3) in summer white and silver metallic reflect very well the hot sunny light beams and the car is more fresh inside, the air conditioning works less and so fuel consumption is lower; the opposite happens with black and dark grey; 4) white and silver metallic are two bright colors and with sunny light little scratches, dents and notchs are less visible, while with black you will always notice every small defect, also in the twilight. 5) at the twilight a car in black or in dark grey is less visible on the road, because it mix up with grey tarmac, while with white and silver metallic you will never have this problem; 6) silver metallic is the color that bring out the lines and the design of the car and is the color preferred by the designers to show their concept cars. For example, silver metallic is the preferred color of the Car Designer of the Century, the Italian Giorgetto Giugiaro; Shortly, I would reccomend firstly silver and secondly white and I would absolutely advice against firstly black and secondly dark grey. Alberto. P.S.: please don't say this to anyone, but this is the untold reason why to never buy a black car...

Hi! In a body shop I have fitted my car with the Proxel EPS-Micro Plus parking sensor and I am enthusiastic of it, also because now I am able to park with easiness in very limited spaces! Excellent also the after-sale service and the delivery time (two days only!). I advise this product to all! Now my car have a fitting that in my opinion all the vehicles should be equipped with, also because can be avoided the collisions with children. I thank Proxel to have developed this product, that for its simplicity and effectiveness could be defined ingenious: it is invisible, cheap, efficient and easy to install! Toyota Avensis '04 1.8 VVT-i automatic equipped with invisible-type Proxel EPS-Micro Plus parking sensor Alberto.