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Not only can car washes be time-consuming and/or expensive, they are a short-term solution. Engineers at Nissan are using 'super-hydrophobic' and 'oleophobic' nanotechnology paint finish called Ultra-Ever Dry that can repel water and oils, as well as dirt, dust, mud and grit on the new Nissan Note. It works by creating a thin air shield above the surface that makes rain, road spray, frost, sleet and standing water roll off without tainting the surface at all. Nissan has no plans of making the special paint standard on factory models but will consider offering the self-cleaning paint as an aftermarket option. Nissan will now determine if the material is durable for long-term use on vehicles and for the different weather conditions around the globe. Nissan has plans to test the technology this summer in Europe, using researchers based in its England technical facility using a Versa Note for testing.
How many times do you roll that dripping, glistening car out of the car wash parking lot only to hit a muddy puddle or rainstorm within the first day or two?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Monday April 28 2014, @03:34AM
About twice a year. Meaning... every time I get to the car wash.
And I only get there because the wax on the windshield is already thin enough to allow insect splashes to stick.
Otherwise, I didn't find any difference in the travel time or consumption levels between a washed car and a dusty one. Therefore, I'm glad Nissan is offering this paint as an after-market option, I wouldn't be willing to pay for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Informative) by VLM on Monday April 28 2014, @12:16PM
Clean cars rust slower.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday April 28 2014, @12:31PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Monday April 28 2014, @12:51PM
That's kinda unusual. There's an economic tipping point where once 90%+ of the vehicles shipped have a certain option, unless its part of some kind of marketing campaign, you just make a former option a standard feature.
In just the last couple decades I've seen a lot of change... not sure if you can buy a car anymore in the USA that's not an automatic transmission, power door locks/windows, antilock brakes, keyless entry, CD music player. A car like that may exist but it would require substantial searching and research. I can imagine a time where 95% of cars ship with "weirdpaint" so the factory simply sprays them all.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday April 28 2014, @01:50PM
My car is a 15 yo "Das auto" Golf, manual transmission, with - now - 7l/100km (33.6 mpg). My "major" problem now: the plastic surface of the driving-wheel started to become brittle from the sun exposure (and probably palm sweat). Probably it has at least 5 year of life in it (I'm not considering buying a new car any sooner).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by tangomargarine on Monday April 28 2014, @02:34PM
I certainly hope that they still make stick-shifts when I get my next car. And my current 2008 model doesn't have ABS (or even cruise control).
But yeah, you're probably right. "The computer can do it better than you" seems to be the logic behind ABS and presumably automatic now.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 1) by quacking duck on Monday April 28 2014, @05:06PM
For automatic it seems they're right. I got a 2008 Honda Fit manual because it had better fuel economy than the automatic, but in the latest versions of the Fit, the automatic/CVT have better fuel economy ratings.
It's not an isolated case either, more than a few automatics now sport better F/E ratings than their manual counterparts.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday April 28 2014, @04:48PM
> not sure if you can buy a car anymore in the USA that's not an automatic transmission,
> power door locks/windows, antilock brakes, keyless entry
I'm not sure if ABS is officially mandatory, but it's on all the cars.
My wife keeps complaining that my cheap commuter doesn't have the other three. I keep replying that she shouldn't worry, I will surely get them in 12 years, when I get a new used one, and give my nothing-to-break car to my kid.
(Score: 2) by mrcoolbp on Monday April 28 2014, @05:10PM
I assure you, you can buy a manual-transmission, manual windows/locks, non-keyless entry vehicle in the US. I did it 2 years ago. I'm not sure about the CD player, and the ABS is a required feature by law in the US IIRC.
(Score:1^½, Radical)
(Score: 3, Funny) by mhajicek on Monday April 28 2014, @03:49AM
Most cars I've driven would be damaged by a carwash. The rust is structural...
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 1) by i7quad on Monday April 28 2014, @04:41AM
Maybe the bumper sticker I saw was spot on...
Do NOT wash, undergoing a scientific dirt test
(Score: 3, Insightful) by anubi on Monday April 28 2014, @04:59AM
I find toilet cleaning tasks far more unpleasant than I do cleaning the car.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by jimshatt on Monday April 28 2014, @06:23AM
(Score: 2) by anubi on Monday April 28 2014, @06:36AM
Bird droppings on my car has always been a far greater concern to me than splashed mud or a layer of highway dust. Bird droppings are highly corrosive and will discolor paint if it gets through the wax layer.
And I can almost guarantee you about a dozen splats or so if you park under a tree on a hot day.
Around my house, its pigeons... as far as I am concerned, those things are literally flying fecal dispensers.
I do not know which should take the prize... them or the seagulls. I could almost swear those things are actually propelled by their ejecta.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Monday April 28 2014, @12:13PM
That'd be awesome, but I'm not sure it'd be worth the surgery, and...
Oh, sorry. Bowls.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday April 28 2014, @01:01PM
On that topic there's an old saying that letting users theme a GUI ends up looking like the ole goatse hole painted blue and glued shut. If you skipped the gluing shut bit, aside the the stylistic issue of painting it blue, that would seem to "eliminate" (get it?) the need to wipe.
On a somewhat more serious note, as a medical product, if you could mix in some antiseptic, perhaps a weak topical antibiotic, and make it semi-oxygen permeable to keep the anaerobes away, it would make an interesting tactical durable dirt proof liquid bandage. So... get a foot wound out in the field, well, at least when treated with this stuff the wound wouldn't be able to get any dirtier when you walk out.
On a completely serious note there are or were these tablet things containing a mild detergent and a dye you'd throw into your toilet water tank and the ones I bought kept the bowl sparkling clean. In about a decade at the old bachelor pad I never cleaned the toilet yet it was clean when I left due to these tablets. When the bowl isn't blue anymore (or was it green?) you lift the lid and toss in a new tablet. Of course you wouldn't want to use this strategy if you have a dog that drinks out of the bowl. And I imagine it corrodes the internal tank mechanics, which isn't an issue if you rent, I guess.
(Score: 2) by randmcnatt on Monday April 28 2014, @03:46PM
The Wright brothers were not the first to fly: they were the first to land.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Oligonicella on Monday April 28 2014, @05:08AM
I have one of those cars that inspire people to draw. Why on Earth would I change that?
(Score: 1) by shah on Monday April 28 2014, @07:48AM
Estonia, especially it's capital Tallinn, has probably the worst roads in EU. You can not find so much dust (mud) and potholes anywhere else. Even in a city with a war going on.
On top of that, weather is absolute crap. Put all that together with lowest average income in EU, high taxes (not for corporations) and corrupt politicians - you get a perfect testing ground for on- and off-road vehicles.
Seriously, roads in Tallinn are the worst I have ever seen - deep and sharp edged pothole after pothole.
When it rains, this nasty dust you see everywhere, turn in to a really sticky mud. It's a perfect mix of salt (from winter), sand- and asphalt dust and who knows what else.
If your pointy haired boss likes hookers, tell him that russian whores supposed to be are really cheap in Tallinn, Estonia.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday April 28 2014, @12:47PM
Patience, my dear friend. You see... your administration has found the cheapest way to reduce the number of potholes... may take a while but, in the end, you'll finish with a single pothole. One only needs to let them join.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Silentknyght on Monday April 28 2014, @01:57PM
I thought I'd remembered reading something about this before:/ [gizmag.com]
http://www.gizmag.com/self-cleaning-coating/23409
(from July 2012)
All I can see about this is article is rather clever marketeing by Nissan.
There was another article, which now escapes me, that claimed the coating wore thin and its effectiveness waned rather quickly. I can even remember reading about car manufacturers who would offer such a coating (again, well pre-dating this article, and I can't seem to find them), but said car manufacturers added so many ridiculous stipulations that would void their statements about this coating that it was obvious they knew it was fragile & short lived.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday April 28 2014, @02:38PM
Or are you thinking of Rain-X?
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 1) by Ezber Bozmak on Monday April 28 2014, @04:50PM
> There was another article, which now escapes me, that claimed the coating wore thin and its effectiveness waned rather quickly.
Probably either Ultra EverDry [arstechnica.com] or Rustolem NeverWet. [gizmodo.com]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by cculpepper on Monday April 28 2014, @02:16PM
If its durable and can resist salt, throw it on vehicle underbodies. In the North East, you have cars rotting away, sometimes after 5 years. If this could resist the salt and not corrode, it might be a solution.