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Innovations Could Make Autos Safer

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By MARK PHELAN Detroit Free Press

Published: October 22, 2007

Three technologies you may never have heard of are about to make cars safer, more powerful and more fuel-efficient.

They are blind-spot alert, direct gasoline injection and dual-clutch transmissions.

So far, only a few luxury and performance vehicles benefit from them, but these technologies are about to go mainstream.

There's a fourth that you may not initially think of as a safety feature, but it's got huge potential: Ford's new Sync.

Sync may be the niftiest new gadget in any car this year. It's also easy to overlook, because it debuts on the mundane 2008 Focus.

Ignore the packaging; treasure the gift. Sync - developed with Microsoft, and soon to be available on nearly everything Ford sells - is the real deal. Among other things, it lets you give voice commands to your iPod and cell phone.
Direct gasoline injection will make your own driving thriftier and more fun, because it wrings extra performance and fuel economy out of your engine. It uses a high-pressure pump and lightning-fast electronics to squirt just the right amount of fuel into each cylinder at precisely the right time.

Dual-clutch transmissions use electronic controls to automatically shift a gearbox that's mechanically similar to a manual. They reduce fuel consumption as much as 6 percent and give you the option of taking over the controls for quick shifts in sporty driving.They've been around for a while, but the early ones had rough head-snapping shifts.

Blind-spot alert systems started out in high-end models from Audi, Infiniti and Volvo. They warn the driver when another vehicle is over his or her shoulder, in the spot toughest to check before changing lanes.

GM's take on the technology hits the road in the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS this fall.

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