Information about New Cars

If there are adjectives to describe the Mercedes Brabus Widestar it’s going to be –sporty and dynamic, exclusive and powerful. This special model is based on the Mercedes ML 63 which has prefabricated its debut at the 2007 Geneva Motors Show.

The new Brabus Widestar offers a refreshing and exciting wide track version of the Mercedes ML 63 SUV with its Monoblock E 23-inch forged wheels and Brabus B63 S performance tuning that produces 550 hp/404.8 kW.

The Widestar concept is not only applicable for the Brabus but also to other current M-Class models that combine vibrant looks with a high level of functionality. The graceful flow of lines of the fender flares both at the front and back increases the vehicle’s width by four centimeters which in turn enhances the vehicle’s appearance.

The wider track of the Brabus boosts handling performance. The multi-piece Brabus Monoblock E wheels with size 11Jx23 were specially altered for the wide track version of the M-Class. The forged wheel center creates a symbiosis of strength and light-weight design. Its new light alloy wheels are mounted with high performance tires in size 315/25 R 23.

The sporty road handling qualities of the Brabus is brought about by its 30 millimeters lowered ride height caused by the control module for the standard AIRMATIC air suspension. The body conversion of the Brabus includes add-on parts for the doors and rocker panels that results to a uniform transition between the fender flares. The complete front and rear fascias replace their production front and back counterparts.

The Brabus front spoiler bumper with its three striking air inlets and four integrated auxiliary headlight minimizes lift on the front axle. The combination of the rear spoiler, the rear fascia with integrated diffuser and the cutouts for the four chrome tailpipes of the Brabus’ stainless-steel sport exhaust system creates a flawless aerodynamic balance.

The well balanced aerodynamic properties of the Brabus Widestar would serve the perfect platform for a tuned version of the ML 63. The Brabus motor engineers are developing the tuned version of the ML 63 using the B63 S performance kit.

The production V8 engine that is equipped on the Brabus Widestar delivers 510 hp/ 375 kW. It is altered using sport air filters and high-performance metal catalysts combined with newly programmed engine electronics that comes complete with custom mapping for ignition and injection. All these factors increase power output by 40 hp/31 kW to 550 hp/404.8 kW. And together they produce a peak torque that increases from 630 Nm to 650 Nm.

The Brabus Widestar can reach 0 to 100 km/h in a matter of 4.9 seconds. Its Brabus V/max unit boosts the top speed from 250 km/h to 275 km/h. And if there is one thing that Mercedes-Benz can be chesty of its in terms of country features. The Brabus Widestar with a high-performance brake system with components such as Mercedes brake pads, 12piston aluminum fixed calipers and vented and cross-drilled 380 x 36 millimeters discs on the front axle. There is also a 355 x 28 mm Mercedes brake pad and 6-piston fixed calipers in the rear which gives the Brabus an impressive stopping power likened to those purebred sport cars.

The Brabus Widestar is also given exclusive interior options which features stainless-steel door sills with illuminated Brabus logo, an ergonomically shaped sport steering wheel and upgraded works leather-covered door trim pieces prefabricated from meticulously crafted combinations of the finest Mastik leather and Alcantara.

The production front seats are equipped with special rear consoles that extend all the way to the headrests and housed a seven-inch 16:9 LCD screens which is integrated in a DVD player. An electric folding plateau prefabricated from precious wood is also acquirable as an option.

China is hot to address one of the primary culprits behind its alarming coal mining fatalities, as evidenced by the Pre-Mining Degasification Symposium held in South China’s Guizhou domain on March 31st and April 1st. Sponsored by the province’s Coal Mines Administration Agency and the Coal Mine Safety Inspection and Supervision Bureau, coal mining executives gathered in Guiyang, a modest-sized city (by China’s standards) of more than three million people, to discuss how the latest foreign technologies could help degasify China’s 2,000 coal mines, both improving mine country and reducing China’s global output of air pollution. More than 80 representatives from 40 coal mines attended in China’s second largest coal-producing domain to find out about the latest foreign technology transfers, which might help reduce coal mining deaths.

Over the centuries as organic matter is converted to coal, methane, also known as CH4 and the primary constituent in natural gas, is produced during this process and stored in pockets within a coal seam. For apiece ton of coal produced, during the “coalification” process, more than 5000 cubic feet of methane is created. Coal mining releases this methane into the atmosphere. Over 90 percent of methane emissions come from underground coal mining. Because gas content is greater with depth, country hazards increase during the underground coal mining process. Degasifying coal mines has been proven to help make those underground coal mines safer for miners.

Volatile gases produced during the coal mining process reportedly kill more than 15 miners apiece day in China, about 80 percent of the world’s coal mining deaths. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, a mining engineer by training, has demanded China improve conditions for Chinese coal miners. Critics, such as the Chinaworker.org, state the “underlying cause is a demand of investment in degasification equipment.” The website claims, “Managers compute that it’s cheaper to pay out meager death benefits to miners’ families than (to) raise investment.” The Economist entrepot reported that Chinese coal miners make as tiny as $60/monthly.

China is also concerned about its air emissions from coal mining. Worldwide, the coal mining industry released over 436 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2000. That accounted for about 8 percent of the total industrial methane emissions that year. China, Russia, Poland and the United Says statement for over 77 percent of coal mining methane emissions. Through the year 2020, China’s share of worldwide emissions will jump to 45 percent. These emissions could be severely reduced if Chinese coal mines captured the methane gas for use in meeting its soaring energy needs, rather than vented into the region apiece time a new coal tunnel is opened.

One of the major draws at the Guiyang Pre-Mining Degasification Symposium were presentations about the latest coalbed methane drilling innovation by Tunaye Sai, Director of China Operations for Pacific Asia China Energy (TSX: PCE; Other OTC: PCEEF), and Nathan Mitchell of Mitchell Drilling Company (MDC) in Brisbane, Australia. Coal mining companies opened discussions with PCE after their presentation. “Executives from fifty mines showed interest in the Dymaxion® drilling technology to improve mining safety,” stated Tunaye Sai. All of them showed interest? “All of them,” responded Tunaye Sai. PCE reported in a news release on Wednesday, “The PACE-MDC joint venture group is currently preparing a business plan for the immediate development of this new strategy in order to address the demand, which arose from the attendees at this symposium.”

“They are having problems in their mines,” explained Tunaye Sai, who is also a member of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. Because they have not been healthy to effectively degasify their mines, four of the attending Chinese coal mining companies immediately approached Tunaye Sai and Mitchell about using this state-of-the-art drilling technology. Earlier this year, PCE and MDC announced they were forming a joint venture to offer MDC’s proprietary Dymaxion® drilling technology to companies in China, to help degasify their coal mines. MDC is Australia’s largest privately owned drilling company, and their Dymaxion technology has been widely discussed by coal mining insiders. The PCE and MDC joint venture company has the exclusive rights to use the Dymaxion technology in China.

In a tape-recorded interview, Tunaye Sai told StockInterview, “The combination of a horizontal and vertical intersection draws the methane gas from the coal seam and captures it at the surface.” Australian newspapers have been exuberant over the Dymaxion® technique, calling it “revolutionary” and “radical.” In its headline, one Australian newspaper called MDC’s state-of-the-art G-55 drill rig “the Lamborghini of drill rigs,” and remarked how their drill rigs offered improved flexibility and cost efficiency.

The Dymaxion surface to in-seam (SIS) drilling method uses altered multipurpose mineral drill rigs, specially designed bottom-hole assemblies and specially trained personnel. The technique involves drilling a 60 to 90 degree hole from the surface and steering it through a medium length bend to enter the target coal seam horizontally. The 96mm hole is then steered for up to 1200 meters in the seam towards a previously drilled vertical production well. A homing device, lowered down the vertical well to the target seam, aids the intersection with the vertical well. The vertical well is also equipped with a suitable pump to dewater the seam. After the hydrostatic head has been sufficiently lowered, the methane gas will flow to the surface. Newspaper reports also state this technique grants for significant savings over alternate underground gas drainage drilling methods.

The Dymaxion technology obviously turned heads at the current Gasification Symposium. “One of the companies is a huge company, mining 10 million tons of coal per year,” stated Tunaye Sai. “Last December, 12 people died in one of the coal mining company’s tunnels.” He explained that when coal miners are opening a tunnel, the gas comes out – sometimes explosively. “By using the Dymaxion technique, they can let the gas out before they start mining a tunnel,” he added.

Discussions with the Chinese coal companies are in the initial stages. “They want to give us a block – not one that is being mined now, but one that might be mined in a few years,” stated Tunaye Sai. “We’re working on an arrangement right now because they are very interested.” He explained that the relationship would involve a continuous process. “We wouldn’t just drill it and then desert it,” he added. “We will be making sure that the gas will come out continuously and monitoring it.”

Tunaye Sai stated that Pacific Asia China Energy was targeting the larger mines. “Among them, about ten companies mine about four million tons per year or more. Those are the ones we are speaking to.” PCE has ordered the drilling equipment, and it should arrive in China around October. “As soon as it is there, we can implement our plan, maybe in November or December.” He told us, “They have been asking us to demonstrate the equipment for them.” This might be an unexpected revenue surprise for Pacific Asia China Energy, and a blessing for Chinese coal miners whose lives might be spared, thanks to this latest technology transfer to China.