Diwali

I guess doing all that research for finding out the other features about The Civic's engineering will take quite some time...meanwhile, lemme mention about something more happening in my life..



At this point I'm in Chennai with all my relatives and having a great time with them. It so happened that for the first time since my brother's entry in the family(that's well over two decades), we thought of taking a break from our breathless lives in Mumbai to spend our favourite festival with our relatives our here. So the festival of lights was pretty different and beautiful this time thanks to the company around me.



The best and simplest definition of the festival is the one that's known to the kids: eat a lot of sweets and blow really loud crackers. Being in a place which is pretty much orthodox, the effects were profound. At our paternal house we were made to eat all the sweets that we've missed all these years. That would have been enough to get me diabetic in a day. We woke up on the festival day to the sounds of really loud crackers that gave me the feeling of being in Basra or Tikrit. When I was having my bath I could see small pebbles move around due to the impetus provided by the explosives; fun, nonetheless. But it ceased to be fun when one of those confounded crackers hit my granny right in the eye. That gave all of us a really tough time. but thankfully, it was short lived. Meanwhile, my aunts saw to it that I gained a few pounds eating their elaborate meals.



It so happened that BigB had to leave in a short while, so the day I'd been to see him off, I joined my uncle's family and had great fun there. Slept everyday for about 9-10 hours from about 3:30 in the morning to 12:00 in the noon. I woke up to the greetings of "good afternoon!" rather than "good morning!". The breakfast was the lunch. Saw a number of movies(will write about them shortly). Currently my movie plans stand interrupted owing to those willing to chat rather than see the mindless noise of gunshots. Anyways, the sad thing is that today's my last day here, but it's not very painful coz it's home sweet home back in Mumbai when I land there on monday morning. Looking forward to it!

One thing I really love...

Yeah..The Honda Civic...
This car is something that's found in every lane in Vashi(so I guess I'm lucky to have my college there!). Anyways...whats maddening are the features that this machine boasts of...
It's gonna take me a good while to write about the features. For a start, lets start with the i-VTEC engine. What the heck does that mean? Read on: (courtesy: Wikipedia)

VTEC refers to Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control. What is it? In the regular four-stroke automobile engine, the intake and exhaust valves are actuated by lobes on a camshaft. The shape of the lobes determines the timing, lift and duration of each valve. Timing refers to an angle measurement of when a valve is opened or closed with respect to the piston position (TDC or BDC). Lift refers to how much the valve is opened. Duration refers to how long the valve is kept open. Due to the behavior of the working fluid (air and fuel mixture) before and after combustion, which have physical limitations on their flow, as well as their interaction with the ignition spark, the optimal valve timing, lift and duration settings under low RPM engine operations are very different from those under high RPM. Optimal low RPM valve timing, lift and duration settings would result in insufficient filling of the cylinder with fuel and air at high RPM, thus greatly limiting engine power output. Conversely, optimal high RPM valve timing, lift and duration settings would result in very rough low RPM operation and difficult idling. The ideal engine would have fully variable valve timing, lift and duration, in which the valves would always open at exactly the right point, lift high enough and stay open just the right amount of time for the engine speed in use.

VTEC was initially designed to increase the power output of an engine to 100 ps/liter or more while maintaining practicality for use in mass production vehicles. Some later variations of the system were designed solely to provide improvements in fuel efficiency, or increased power output as well as improved fuel efficiency.

In practice, a fully variable valve timing engine is difficult to design and implement.

The opposite approach to variable timing is to produce a camshaft which is better suited to high RPM operation. This approach means that the vehicle will run very poorly at low RPM (where most automobiles spend much of their time) and much better at high RPM. VTEC is the result of an effort to marry high RPM performance with low RPM stability.

Additionally, Japan has a tax on engine displacement, requiring Japanese auto manufacturers to make higher-performing engines with lower displacement. In cars such as the Toyota Supra and Nissan 300ZX, this was accomplished with a turbocharger. In the case of the Mazda RX-7 and RX-8, a rotary engine was used. VTEC serves as yet another method to derive very high specific output from lower displacement motors.

DOHC VTEC

Honda's VTEC system is a simple method of endowing the engine with multiple camshaft profiles optimized for low and high RPM operations. Instead of one cam lobe actuating each valve, there are two: one optimized for low-RPM stability & fuel efficiency; the other designed to maximize high-RPM power output. Switching between the two cam lobes is controlled by the ECU which takes account of engine oil pressure, engine temperature, vehicle speed, engine speed and throttle position. Using these inputs, the ECU is programmed to switch from the low lift to the high lift cam lobes when the conditions mean that engine output will be improved. At the switch point a solenoid is actuated which allows oil pressure from a spool valve to operate a locking pin which binds the high RPM cam follower to the low rpm ones. From this point on, the poppet valve opens and closes according to the high-lift profile, which opens the valve further and for a longer time. The switch-over point is variable, between a minimum and maximum point, and is determined by engine load; the switch back from high to low rpm cams is set to occur at a lower engine speed than the up-switch, to avoid surging if the engine is asked to operate continuously at or around the switch-over point. The DOHC VTEC system has high and low lift cam lobe profiles on both the intake and exhaust valve camshafts.

The VTEC system was originally introduced as a DOHC system in the 1989 Honda Integra and Civic CRX SiR models sold in Japan and Europe, which used a 160 bhp (119 kW) variant of the B16A engine. The US market saw the first VTEC system with the introduction of the 1990 Acura NSX, which used a DOHC VTEC V6 with 270 hp. DOHC VTEC engines soon appeared in other vehicles, such as the 1992 Acura Integra GS-R (B17 1.7 liter engine). And later, in the 1994 Honda Prelude VTEC (H22 2.2 liter engine) and Honda Del Sol VTEC (B16 1.6 liter engine).

Honda has also continued to develop other varieties and today offers several varieties of VTEC: iVTEC, iVTEC Hybrid and VTEC in the NSX and some Japanese domestic market cars.

SOHC VTEC

As popularity and marketing value of the VTEC system grew, Honda applied the system to SOHC engines, which shares a common camshaft for both intake and exhaust valves. The trade-off is that SOHC engines only benefit from the VTEC mechanism on the intake valves. This is because VTEC requires a third center rocker arm and cam lobe (for each intake and exhaust side), and in the SOHC engine, the spark plugs are situated between the two exhaust rocker arms, leaving no room for the VTEC rocker arm. Additionally, the center lobe on the camshaft can only be utilized by either the intake or the exhaust, limiting the VTEC feature to one side.

SOHC VTEC-E

Honda's next version of VTEC, VTEC-E, was used in a slightly different way; instead of optimizing performance at high RPM, it was used to increase efficiency at low RPM. At low RPM, one of the two intake valves is only allowed to open a very small amount, increasing the fuel/air atomization in the cylinder and thus allowing a leaner mixture to be used. As the engine's speed increases, both valves are needed to supply sufficient mixture. A sliding pin, which is pressured by oil, as in the regular VTEC, is used to connect both valves together and allows the full opening of the second valve.

CEM

DOHC VTEC-DI

Honda also had a demonstration engine back in end 1999 where a 1.4 liter DOHC Honda engine was equipped with a VTEC-DI system. This was Honda’s first demonstration of direct injection to the public. The engine was installed in a Honda Logo (the predecessor to the Honda Fit/Jazz) and made power and torque outputs of 107 hp at 6200 rpm and 133 Nm at 5000 rpm.

3-Stage VTEC

Honda also introduced a 3-stage VTEC system in select markets, which combines the features of both SOHC VTEC and SOHC VTEC-E. At low speeds, only one intake valve is used. At medium speeds, two are used. At high speeds, the engine switches to a high-speed cam profile as in regular VTEC. Thus, both low-speed economy and high-speed efficiency and power are improved. This engine is dubbed "D16Y5" in the US market, found in the 1996-2000 Civic HX.

i-VTEC

i-VTEC (intelligent-VTEC) introduced continuously variable camshaft phasing on the intake cam of DOHC VTEC engines. The technology first appeared on Honda's K-series four cylinder engine family in 2001 (2002 in the U.S.). Valve lift and duration are still limited to distinct low- and high-RPM profiles, but the intake camshaft is now capable of advancing between 25 and 50 degrees (depending upon engine configuration) during operation. Phase changes are implemented by a computer controlled, oil driven adjustable cam gear. Phasing is determined by a combination of engine load and rpm, ranging from fully retarded at idle to maximum advance at full throttle and low rpm. The effect is further optimization of torque output, especially at low and midrange RPM.

For the K-Series motors there are two different types of i-VTEC systems implemented. The first is for the performance motors like in the RSX Type S or the TSX and the other is for economy motors found in the CR-V or Accord. The performance i-VTEC system is basically the same as the DOHC VTEC system of the B16A's, both intake and exhaust have 3 cam lobes per cylinder. However the valvetrain has the added benefit of roller rockers and continuously variable intake cam timing. The economy i-VTEC is more like the SOHC VTEC-E in that the intake cam has only two lobes, one very small and one larger, as well as no VTEC on the exhaust cam. The two types of motor are easily distinguishable by the factory rated power output: the performance motors make around 200 hp or more in stock form and the economy motors do not make much more than 160 hp from the factory.

In 2004, Honda introduced an i-VTEC V6 (an update of the venerable J-series), but in this case, i-VTEC had nothing to do with cam phasing. Instead, i-VTEC referred to Honda's cylinder deactivation technology which closes the valves on one bank of (3) cylinders during light load and low speed (below 80 mph) operation. The technology was originally introduced to the US on the Honda Odyssey Mini Van, and can now be found on the Honda Accord Hybrid and the 2006 Honda Pilot.

An additional version of i-VTEC was introduced on the 2006 Honda Civic's R-series four cylinder SOHC engines. This implementation uses the so-called "economy cams" on one of the two intake valves of each cylinder. The "economy cams" are designed to delay the closure of the intake valve they act upon, and are activated at low rpms and under light loads. When the "economy cams" are activated, one of the two intake valves in each cylinder closes well after the piston has started moving upwards in the compression stroke. That way, a part of the mixture that has entered the combustion chamber is forced out again, into the intake manifold. That way, the engine "emulates" a lower displacement than its actual one (its operation is also similar to an Atkinson cycle engine, with uneven compression and combustion strokes), which reduces fuel consumption and increases its efficiency. During the operation with the "economy cams", the (by-wire) throttle butterfly is kept fully open, in order to reduce pumping losses. According to Honda, this measure alone can reduce pumping losses by 16%. In higher rpms and under heavier loads, the engine switches back into its "normal cams", and it operates like a regular 4 stroke Otto cycle engine. This implementation of i-VTEC was initially introduced in the R18A1 engine found under the bonnet of the 8th generation Civic, with a displacement of 1,8lt and an output of 140Ps. Recently, another variant was released, the 2-litre R20A2 with an output of 150Ps, which powers the EUDM version of the all-new CRV

With the continued introduction of vastly different i-VTEC systems, one may assume that the term is now a catch-all for creative valve control technologies from Honda.

i-VTEC I

Honda’s i-VTEC I Engine is a variant of the K-series DOHC engine family featuring gasoline direct injection. It made its debut in the previous generation 2004 Honda Stream 7-seater MPV in Japan, but the current Stream does not use this engine anymore, instead using a 2.0 liter version of the R-series i-VTEC SOHC engine.

The engine featured the ability to use ultra-lean air-fuel mixtures of about 65:1, much leaner compared to the usual direct injection engine 40:1 ratio, and of course so much more leaner than the stoichiometric air-fuel mixture of 14.7:1 - this saves fuel. Fuel consumption dropped to 15km per liter. Power ratings remain the same at about 155 horsepower.

I guess that bunch of engineers at Honda might be geniuses! The next feature is the G-Con technology that was employed to shape the body....next post!

If Only

Today, in particular was a very busy day...probably the busiest day of the entire semester. I had a wonderful experience of what happens to you when you sit on the floor continuously for say five hours and write some stuff. It was a greatly exhilarating feeling....I couldn't walk for about five minutes!!!! But, all this pain was paid-off as I did accomplish what I had to; besides, the college foyer wasn't dry...it was bubbling with some good specimens..NIFT was seated right opposite to me...PLA was there in a corner, but later came around..and so on.....

I happened to watch another romantic movie, If Only. Its a 2004 movie that stars Jennifer Love Hewitt as Samantha Andrews, a young student of music who is visiting from the United States and Paul Nichols as Ian Wyndham. One fine day, Ian has a really bad nightmare at the end of which Samantha has a near break-up fight with him and she dies. Surprisingly, the next morning, all the events are happening in the same sequence, with a very little difference from those of Ian's nightmare. In the end, Ian realizes that the inevitable cannot be changed and seeks to let Samantha know of what he feels for her and all that romance. The romance part is sensible because it looks natural. The entire movie is shot in London, with a few picturesque scenes in the outskirts. One good role was that of the arcane cab driver (Tom Wilkinson). His role is strong as he helps Ian in realizing the essence of living. Worth a watch..

Fish's Quest

Ok...I actually wanted to write something about the Goat(in continuation with my previous post) but, I happened to take a look at Fish's introspective questions. Given his usual helplessness, this is yet another attempt at helping him..Fish, your answers are:

1. You are a jerk who is present where you are, at the time when you're required to be, with all the necessary things you're supposed to have and expected to do the right thing. What's the right thing to do? That's for you to figure it out!!
2. The same applies to me as well!
3. This question's answer will fetch us more than what the Reimann Hypothesis solution would do...so forget it.
4. I guess you're supposed to know that!!
5. You like them because they remind you of something that you recently came into possession of!! (When you bunked the lectures!!)
6. That's because you've understood neither of them.
7. Because, when you start applying formulae like 3*3=6 and 3+3=9, you forget almost everything that you learned from your kindergarten days. That also means you've forgotten how to read!! On a serious note, you've barely had time dude!
8.Because that's how it's supposed to be..
9. Because that's the first step to a better future for you. Remember:
"The Wisdom Of The Backbencher Be That Of The Gods!"-Madman
10.Yes! since no one's all 100% smart and no one's all dumb!
11. Don't doubt that! Even you know that beauty is deeper than the skin..
12./13. I guess you're supposed to know those answers..
14./15./16. You're suffering from the S-syndrome.
17. Everyone has an obsession..you have it in guitars..
18. Certainly not!
19. "Everything that has a beginning has an end"-The Oracle, from The Matrix Revolutions.
20. So that you get a written form of all these answers which otherwise you'd get orally from me in the college. Ponder on these if you care to get deeper.

My question: Who are the people you're referring to in the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of what you've written beneath the questions?

I hope you got you're answers and you "did the needful".

Friends

This post is dedicated to a few of my friends, most of them are from the Information Technology branch at our Institute. Today, I don't know why, I'm feeling the brief loss of communication with these people very much. May be it's because I had one of my rare thirty-second-talks with the Invisible Woman, or more so because I met Prat and didn't join him for occasional our bus ride homeward. Anyways, this class of about 70 students(?) I know is filled with lots of talent representing young India!! Some really impressive ones are:

Prat: One of my closest friends ever since I set my feet in this institution. Prat and Mr.K have many similar features (like football). Prat's specialty is that he doesn't need to strain much with anything to study. I remember, in our first years, instead of using the evening time like how most of us do, Prat used the early morning, especially the time from three to six. What most people achieve throughout the evening, is done by this fellow in just three hours flat! And he does get away with beautiful scores. Thats the academic part of him. He's crazy about football and his game console. I've always observed something novel in what he says, not the stuff that every Tom,Dick and Harry would tell you. And yeah, he's cut out for pursuing an MBA degree ahead. I hope that's from IIMA, because anything other than that would not fit him. Every vacation, I spend some real good time with him, watching the latest releases. It's just sad on the part of life that there barely is any time to be spent with people other than your classmates!

Metal: One fine lady...a person who, I feel, intimidates the small-timers by her wonderful brain. Metal happens to be the only person I knew before entering the college. She's extremely fond of debating and considers me to be a loser in that game ever since we lost a competition in our first year! ;) Nonetheless, she's a person for whom I have a deep respect. She too, is a cut above the rest. Not at all the omnipresent social-butterfly, this semester she has been even more difficult to catch..and that earned her the new name. She's nuts when it comes to reading and writing. Fish told me once that she used to write for some big shot magazine(unfortunately, I don't remember which one), which is evident going by the way she writes articles.

George of the Jungle: One of my "brothers"; we schooled from the sister branches of the same institute. Another football fan, and Prat like guy. would spend least time with books and get away with some of the best scores. He was the first K.V. guy I met here; and very easily identifiable thanks to his Delhiite accent. "Brothers" do bond very fast, and so did George. I'd love to spend one beautiful evening with the entire gang at Gupta's!

Bandu: I'd rather term him the Dark Horse, coz he always knows everything, and teaches everything to the kids, and yet gets scores that he should not. He got hitched a while back, with the Baby Elephant; nice couple there. Bandu has a wonderful knack of cracking weird jokes. HL was the result of one of those. His antics are always worth watching, like the fitting workshop comedies!! Has Grey matter meant for programming. Wonder what his plans are...

For the time being, lemme stop here..will list more heroes ahead...

The Illusionist

My heartiest thanks to Abhilash, my brother's colleague, who's helped us with some real fine movies from his IITK database. Although he did give some dumb ones like Serendipity and Love Actually, this one was really different. So this one is about the 2006 movie, The Illusionist. I must say, this movie was brilliant; dunno why it didn't make it great here. The movie is set in 19th Century Vienna, and the set up beautifully resembles it.

Eisenheim the illusionist(Edward Norton) is a famous magician whose tricks are so perfect that it becomes almost impossible to discover the truth behind them. The way they're shown in the movie is flawless. He's into this ever since as a teenager when he saw a traveling magician. During his younger days, by virtue of his obsession with magic tricks, he develops a friendship with the young Sophie who is the Duchess von Tuschen(Jessica Beil). Although prohibited to meet each other on account of her high rank, the two sneak out to a hide-out in the woods. Eisenheim plans to travel to China to learn more tricks. One day, they're caught by the Duchess's castle guards(presumably under her family's directions) and separated once and for all.

Eisenheim leaves his home and travels far and wide and returns to Vienna after 15 years, now as a professional magician who has an uncanny ability to perform tricks. One day, the crown prince Leopold, along with his partner Sophie attends Eisenheim's show.

Eisenheim and Sophie, having recognized each other, meet privately and finally consummate their love. After humiliating the Crown Prince during a private show, Eisenheim finds his hit performance shut out of Vienna. He and Sophie plan to flee the Empire together; but first, Sophie points out, something must be done to stop Leopold, who, she reveals, is planning a coup d'etat to usurp the Crown from his aging father, the Emperor of Austria, while using his engagement to her to win the Hungarian half of the Empire as well.

Leopold finds out from Uhl(the chief inspector), who was following the couple, that Sophie has met with Eisenheim. While drunk, Leopold confronts Sophie and accuses her of being a whore. She tells him that she will not marry him or have anything to do with his plan. When she attempts to leave, he murders her in the stables with a sword-cut across her neck. Unfortunately, Leopold's Royal status makes any accusations against him unthinkable, despite an existing belief among the people that Leopold has murdered a woman in the past. As Eisenheim plunges into despair and the citizens of Vienna begin to suspect Leopold of Sophie's murder, Uhl observes Eisenheim's actions more closely on behalf of Leopold.

Wracked with grief, Eisenheim prepares a new kind of magic show, using mysterious equipment and Chinese stagehands. Eisenheim purchases a run-down theater and opens a new performance. During his show, Eisenheim apparently summons spirits, leading many to believe that he possesses supernatural powers.

Leopold decides to attend one of Eisenheim's shows in disguise. During this show, Eisenheim summons the spirit of Sophie who says someone in the theater murdered her, panicking Leopold. Uhl pleads with Eisenheim to stop, but Eisenheim refuses; he is bent on avenging Sophie and destroying the Crown Prince. Finally, Leopold orders Eisenheim's arrest, but when Uhl tries to arrest him during a live show, Eisenheim's body fades and disappears, implying that he did not perform the show as a corporeal human being that night but, rather, as yet another illusion.

Inspector Uhl first searchs for Eisenheim at his house. There he finds a folio labeled "Orange Tree". Thinking he will find the solution to one of the magician's most famous tricks, he opens it to find empty pages except for a scrap of parchment showing how to open the locket Eisenheim had given Sophie when they were young.

At this point, we return to the first scene of the movie. Uhl reveals to Leopold that he has found evidence which links the Crown Prince to Sophie's murder: the jewel from the prince's sword and Sophie's locket that Eisenheim gave her when they were children. After ordering, then begging Uhl to keep silent, Leopold discovers that Uhl has already informed the Emperor and the General Staff of Leopold's conspiracy to usurp the Austro-Hungarian throne. As the Army arrives at his Palace to arrest him, Leopold shoots himself in despair after sadly reflecting on the state of the Empire's corrupt government.

In the next scene, Uhl is shown leaving the Imperial Palace. After he takes a few steps, a boy runs up to hand him a folio labeled "Orange Tree" – the name of one of Eisenheim's illusions which had intrigued Uhl – and unlike before, it is filled with plans detailing a geared mechanism to make the tree "grow". Uhl demands to know where the child obtained the folio and is told that Eisenheim had given it to him. Uhl spots Eisenheim wearing a disguise and follows him to the train station. During his chase, Uhl begins to put all the pieces together, shown in a montage. He realizes that Sophie's murder was in fact an illusion created by Eisenheim in order to escape with his beloved and to bring down Leopold. Meanwhile, Eisenheim makes his way to the country, where Sophie awaits him.

The twist at the end of the movie is pretty impressive; so is the performance by the actors. The movie succeeds well in re-creating the atmosphere of the 19th Century days. If you get to lay your hands on this one, don't miss it!

Chhoti Si Baat..

Here's one comedy really worth watching for...Although this wasn't the first time I was watching this movie, doing so after about six years was really worth it..At once it made me realize how much my perception has changed through time and how great a few of the classics have been....

The movie is from 1975, so the entire movie is in the Bombay of the '70s- a truly beautiful place to have lived in..
The movie revolves around a truly hopeless character, Arun(Amol Palekar), a great beauty, Prabha(Vidya Sinha), Arun's brash, pompous rival, Nagesh(Asrani) and Col. JNW Singh (Ashok Kumar). Right from the beginning, the movie displays a level of comedy that is mature and sensible; in simple words, far above the crap that is churned out of bollywood these days..
Arun is in deep love with prabha, from the first time he sees her at the bus stop. In an attempt to make his moves, he follows her everyday till her workplace, keeps a good eye for her on almost everything she does. Prabha is one smart woman who has the perfect idea of what arun is doing. But she just enjoys watching him do his antics and waits for his first move...
One fine day, they do get to talking and develop an acquaintance. So the first step having moved to, Arun seems happy, but then enters Nagesh, who makes it difficult for Arun to even get Prabha's attention to him. In need of help, Arun turns to Col. Julius Nagendranath Wilfred Singh who helps the helpless ones in love. His interaction with JNW favours Arun very much and now a new, confident arun returns to woo Prabha.
The movie has some of the most pleasant songs of the '70s. The comic scenes are some of the best. Notable ones are Arun's daily routine, his day dreams and his lessons with JNW. Prabha demonstrates a brilliant example of how beauty is timeless. The '70s Bombay is a true marvel; BEST buses, the areas around V.T. and Mantralaya..It proves to be the Kohinoor for the nostalgic.