Teton Motors Scramble This Saturday!

We're proud to sponsor another great golf tournament by the Star Valley Ranch Association. The Teton Motors Scramble will be taking place Saturday, August 4th and will feature a Hole-In-One contest, where anyone who hits a legitimate hole-in-one on a specific hole will win a new Subaru! Also, everyone who "hits the green" will have the opportunity to pull a prize from the prize bucket (prizes range in value from $5 - $200). And everyone who participates in the tournament receives a 10% off service coupon as well. Don't miss out!

Music on Main

The Stone Foxes rocked last night! Check out the upcoming bands performing at Music on Main!

Thursday, August 2nd at 6 PM is Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys

Rosie Ledet & The Zydeco Playboys have quickly become the act to watch on the zydeco circuit. Brimming with coy sensuality, Rosie’s music is fresh and daring while still retaining its links to its bayou Creole heritage. Rosie has a rare combination of talent, not only in the zydeco world, but in any musical genre. She can write top-notch award winning songs, hang with the best of them on her instrument, and can sing circles around her peers. Rosie is among the few zydeco artists who still sing and write some of their own material in Creole French.

Thursday, August 9th at 6 PM is Carrie Rodriguez

Rodriguez’ journey from teenage violin student to touring the world with the likes of Chip Taylor  (famed songwriter of “Wild Thing), Lucinda Williams and Alejandro Escovedo, has resulted in a prodigious output of recordings – eight albums in as many years. Carrie brings incredible talent, energy, and entertainment to the stage. A joy for all!

Thursday, August 16th at 6 PM is Young Dubliners

Seamlessly blending their rock and Celtic influences into a high energy, anthemic and lyrically poignant mix, the band whose lineup since 2002 includes co-founder Keith Roberts (vocals, guitar), fellow Dubliner Brendan Holmes (bass, vocals), American-born members Bob Boulding (guitar, vocals), Chas Waltz (violin, keyboards, harp, mandolin, vocals) and Dave Ingraham (drums, percussion)—jumps energetically from ballad to barn burner, documenting as they go the vibrant yet chaotic world they find themselves in. 

Information courtesy of: http://tetonvalleyfoundation.org/culture/music-on-main/

2014 Chevrolet Impala features crash avoidance technology on all angles

Here are the active safety features on the 2014 Impala designed to help drivers avoid crashes:

• Full-speed-range adaptive cruise control – Radar technology senses ahead and adjusts the Impala’s speed from a complete stop to full acceleration. It is the first application in a Chevrolet.
• Collision mitigation braking – Another Chevy first: Radar technology detects a possible crash threat and alerts the driver. If the driver does not appear to react quickly enough or doesn’t react at all, this feature intervenes to apply the brakes in an effort to avoid the crash.
• Forward collision alert – Camera technology detects a possible crash threat and alerts the driver visually and audibly, giving him or her time to stop and/or change course. If a crash occurs, the Impala is equipped with OnStar, and a specially trained advisor is connected to the vehicle. If the driver requests help or can’t answer, emergency responders are sent to the precise GPS location.
• Lane departure warning – A camera-based lane-detection system identifies traffic lane markings and provides audible alerts in cases of unintended lane changes.
• Side blind zone alert – Using radar sensors on both sides of the vehicle, the system “looks” for other vehicles in the blind zone areas of the Impala and indicates their presence with LED-lit symbols in the outside mirrors.
• · Rear cross traffic alert – Based on the radar sensors of side blind zone alert, it warns the driver of vehicles in traffic when backing out of a parking spot – including angled parking. Visual and audible alerts are triggered if moving vehicles are detected.
• Rear vision camera with dynamic guidelines – With a display in the center stack infotainment system, the camera provides a view of objects directly behind the Impala, while the dynamic guidelines provide a reference that helps make parking and other maneuvers easier.
• Rear park assist – Uses sensors in the rear bumper to detect objects directly behind the vehicle and provides an alert for the driver.
• Brake pre-fill feature – Another Chevy first: Radar technology detects a possible crash threat and the system increases the hydraulic pressure in the brake lines, anticipating a driver’s hard braking. This quickens the response time and shortens stopping distances (included with 20-inch wheels on uplevel models).
• Hill hold/start assist – On hills, applies the brakes for about 1.5 seconds to prevent the car from rolling when the driver moves his or her foot from the brake to the accelerator pedal.

Read more: http://www.egmcartech.com/2012/06/29/2014-chevrolet-impala-features-crash-avoidance-technology-on-all-angles/

Subaru BRZ: Slow to the Dealer, Fast Off the Lot

Buoyed by positive press and tight supplies, the rear-wheel-drive Subaru BRZ spent the least time in American showrooms than any car in May, according to Edmunds.

The service tracked the days to turn, commonly known as churn rate, for the coupe in May, its first month of sales. Demand for the 271 units sold by dealers translated to a churn rate of four days, Edmunds said. The Scion FR-S, which was co-developed with the BRZ, experienced a five-day churn.

With so much competition for so few BRZs — initial interest from customers in Japan was four times higher than the automaker’s projections — how could Subaru so severely underestimate demand for the coupe?

One conclusion seems to be a lack of certainty by Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru’s parent, that a brand built around all-wheel-drive capability could readily stretch to accommodate a lightweight, rear-drive sports car.

“The BRZ being rear-wheel drive, we made a conservative production request,” Michael McHale, a spokesman for Subaru of America, said in a telephone interview. “We pegged our allotment roughly to sales of the WRX,” he said, referencing the brand’s rally-oriented all-wheel-drive sports car.

That conservative approach has led to gripes from every market where the BRZ would be sold. “There are only so many that can be built in the year, and if you want more, you have to take from another market,” Mr. McHale added. “And nobody wants to give up their allocation.”

Contrary to most Japanese automakers, who have been shipping production overseas to preserve their profit margins in the face of a strong yen, Fuji Heavy Industries intends to increase domestic production in the fiscal year ending in March 2013. Subaru has not announced its 2013 production targets for the BRZ, but American dealerships are expected to receive 6,000 units by the end of 2012.

Read more: http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/subaru-brz-slow-to-the-dealer-fast-off-the-lot/

Chevy Volt Wireless Charging

Wireless charging for the Chevy Volt? There’s an aftermarket kit for that.

A startup clean technology company has outfitted a Chevrolet Volt with a wireless charging system, according to the company’s CEO.

Andrew Daga, also principal founder of the Pennsylvania-based company, said Momentum Dynamics has developed a unique and proprietary technology system that uses the electrical grid to recharge vehicles automatically without the use of a wire or owner assistance.
 
The system, which is expected to cost less than $10,000 as an aftermarket kit, is attached to the vehicle. When the vehicle is parked over a special charging mat, the vehicle automatically begins charging.

Daga said the company wanted to equip a Chevrolet Volt with the technology rather than an all-electric vehicle because the passenger vehicle is the "most complicated" on the market. He said starting with the most tech-savvy products should help the company implement the technology of other vehicles easier.

"It’s part of our idea of retiring the most complicated risks first," he told MLive.com following a panel presentation Tuesday during the Commercial Vehicle Megatrends USA 2012 conference in Dearborn. “By learning about a more complicated vehicle early, we solved those problems faster, or earlier, then we go onto less complicated vehicles and find ourselves having an easier time doing it."
Daga said the company’s first target market is commercial and fleet vehicles, because there is minimal competition and it is easier to implement the technology in controlled settings.

“It works with cars, or with buses, or any other vehicles,” he said. “They all get recognized and the power is modulated independently."

The company, according to Daga, will have a fleet of about five buses out later this year for Enterprise Rent-A-Car at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif., Duke University and Berks County, Pa.

“We’re trying to do clean green initiatives in university settings, where students are really demanding that the university move in that direction,” he said. “These are perfectly silent, perfectly clean electric buses that will carry students back and forth all-day long.”

Daga said Momentum Dynamics – founded in 2009 – is working with “numerous” suppliers and automakers about integrating the technology into their electric vehicles.
According to Daga, the company will have three Volts equipped with the wireless charging systems by the end of the year.

A General Motors Co. representative was not immediately available for comment. 
Momentum Dynamics, which was awarded a $587,000 grant from the Pennsylvani Department of Environmental Protection’s Alternative Fuel Incentive Grant program, hopes to eventually adapt the technology to charge while the vehicle is stopped or moving, according to Daga.

“It could eventually work up to 20, 30 40, miles per hour or even as the vehicle approaches a red light,” he said. “There are many moving vehicle applications to this that we will eventually be going into.”

Daga said the company's wireless charging technology can outperform a level 3 plug-in charging system.

Daga was on a panel with Stephen Ptucha, Westport Power Inc. director of product management; Craig Jacobs, Eaton Corp. hybrids chief engineer; Larry Fuehrer, BAE Systems business development manager; and Corey Taylor, Castrol senior development technologist.


For more information about the wireless charger see MLive.