Herbie rides again in 100 mph driverless Golf
It's taken nearly 40 years but, for fans of the hit film Herbie, a Volkswagen that can drive itself at race-winning speeds has finally become a reality!
By Andrew English, AUTOEXPRESS, Read all about it! - -All’s not quite as it seems as Andrew English takes life easy in the Golf 53+10
Called the 53+1 project - in honour of the number 53 worn on the bonnet of the original driverless VW - the amaz-ing technology demonstrator, capable of 100mph, was launched this week. The one-of-a-kind car is described by bosses as a research tool, and is a development of a driverless Touareg, named Stanley, which competed in a special desert race in California last year.
VW promises that the car should easily be able to lap a race track faster than a human driver
Built for endurance, the off-roader had a limited top speed, and crawled through the sand, managing an average of 19.1mph over the 132-mile course. The new Herbie, however, is definitely built for speed! And VW promises that the car should easily be able to lap a race track faster than a human driver. It all sounds extremely complicated, but at the heart of it is a relatively standard Golf.
All the major components are as normal, including the electric power-steering and 2.0-litre engine. Added to those, however, are special gyroscopic vehicle stability control programmes, along with an advanced global positioning system, which helps the car to steer itself around a set course. Before it takes off at top speed, though, this incredible machine has to 'learn' the course for itself on a first-sighting lap.
During this gentle inaugural cruise, the GPS system navigates, while a 130-degree laser sensor looks for special hazards, past which the Golf will drive itself at high speeds on a second lap. But it's the sheer pace the Volkswagen can achieve which is so astonishing. In the demonstration we watched, the car could even correct oversteering slides if necessary.
Although legal restrictions will make it unlikely that such a system will be launched in a production model any time soon, at least two elements of the 53+1 are set to debut on road cars within a year. The first is a Parking Assist system, which uses ultrasonic sensors to measure potential spaces as the vehicle drives down the road at 20mph. It indicates suitable bays at least 1.4m longer than the car. Then it will reverse park automatically, although the driver retains the responsibility for braking and the final straighten-up.
The second feature due to hit showrooms is a special traction control system that will improve braking performance and stability in off-roaders such as the Touareg.
Herbie rides again in 100 mph driverless Golf
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