Theres a technology revolution in the auto business, and it involves more than streaming radio apps and voice-activated Facebook updates.汽车行业正在经历一场技术变革，而且好比是网络电台应用于和声控Facebook改版那么非常简单。Consumers who havent shopped for a new car for five or more years -- and thats a lot of people, since the average U.S. vehicle has been on the road for just over a decade -- may encounter some exotic new advances.在美国公路上飞驰的汽车平均年龄为10年多一点，很多消费者最少有数五年没购买新车。

当他们转入车市，或许不会找到汽车多了一些新奇的高科技功能。To attract safety-conscious drivers, some car makers are revisiting the question, Is there anywhere else we can stash an air bag? Night-vision systems not unlike what the military uses to spot enemies in the dark are appearing at the upper reaches of the luxury market. And to meet tougher fuel-economy standards, car makers are installing transmissions with up to nine speeds.为更有侧重安全性的车主，一些汽车制造商正在重新考虑一个问题：“还有没更好的地方可以摆放安全气囊？”顶级的豪华车市场已经常出现汽车夜视系统，可以相媲美军队用作在黑暗中辨识敌人的夜视技术。

为合乎更加严苛的燃油经济性标准，制造商正在汽车上配有高达九速的变速箱。Only a few customers might order such novel features. But what starts out as a costly, brand-burnishing option in a luxury sedan often migrates into wider use as technology prices invariably drop. Heres a sample of new technology hitting showrooms this year.目前，只有少数消费者不愿花钱选配这样的新奇功能。然而，奢华车上一些价格高昂、突显品牌的配备项目往往不会在技术成本不可避免地日益减少后乘势沦为广泛应用的大众配备。

下文所列了2013年经常出现的一些高科技。Click an Inflatable Seat Belt气囊安全带Auto makers and safety-technology suppliers such as Swedens Autoliv have developed shoulder straps with air bags built in. In the U.S., Ford Motor Co. was the first to offer this bag-in-belt technology on 2011 Explorers. Now, Mercedes-Benz will offer it on its new S-Class sedans.汽车制造商以及瑞典奥托立夫公司(Autoliv)等安全性技术供应商已研究出有构建安全气囊的安全性肩带。在美国，福特汽车公司(Ford Motor Co.)先河先河，在2011款Explorer汽车上加装了气囊安全带。

现在，梅赛德斯-奔驰公司(Mercedes-Benz)也在其新款S级轿车上获取这一配备。Although traditional lap and shoulder belts prevent thousands of deaths a year, they can also cause what researchers call seat-belt syndrome. The belts can lead to severe injuries to organs, muscles and spines, especially in violent crashes. Inflatable seat belts are meant to reduce this risk. Traditional air-bag systems mounted in the cars steering wheel and elsewhere use a hot gas to rapidly inflate the bag during a crash. To prevent burns, bag-in-belt systems use a cold gas to inflate its protective bladder.虽然传统的腰带式和肩带式安全带每年都能避免数千起死亡事故，但也不会引发研究人员所谓的“安全带并发症”(seat-belt syndrome)。

安全带有可能造成人体的组织、肌肉和脊椎的相当严重受损，特别是在是在激烈的爆胎事故中。气囊安全带的应用于正是为了减少这一风险。

传统的气囊系统一般加装在汽车的方向盘等地方，在爆胎时熄灭固态燃料并产生气体，使气囊很快收缩。为避免乘客被散发出气体烧伤，气囊安全带用于冻气体来给气囊充气。Ford says it currently offers bag-in-belt systems on four models -- the Explorer, the Flex wagon and the Lincoln MKT. About 25% of people who buy those vehicles order the bag-in-belt option, Ford says. Mercedes says it will likely move the technology into other models, but isnt outlining specific plans.福特公司回应，其目前在四款车型上获取气囊安全带，分别为Explorer、Flex旅行车和林肯(Lincoln)MKT。

在出售上述车型的消费者中，大约有25%选配了气囊安全带配备。梅赛德斯-奔驰公司称之为，其想将这一技术运用到其他车型上，但还没发布明确计划。Spot Pedestrians in the Dark夜视行人识别系统Safety regulators around the world are increasingly focused on motor-vehicle accidents involving pedestrians, and thats spurring development of new systems to help drivers see people on foot before its too late.全球的汽车安全性监管部门都更加推崇牵涉到行人的机动车事故，这性刺激了用作协助驾车者提早找到行人以及时采行挂钩措施的新系统的研发。More than 4,000 pedestrians a year die in the U.S. after being hit by a car. Nearly 70,000 were injured in motor-vehicle accidents in 2011, according to government data. Many of these incidents happen at night.在美国，每年有多达4,000个行人因爆胎事故丧生。

据美国政府发布的数据，2011年，因机动车事故伤势的行人数量相似70,00人；很多事故都在夜间再次发生。This year, German luxury brand BMW AG is launching a dynamic-spotlight technology that uses an infrared camera mounted behind the grille to see down the road ahead. Software can pick out the outline of a person (or animal) and signal the cars headlights to illuminate them -- and help prevent a collision. The system also shows an in-cabin alert, projecting an icon representing a person enclosed in a yellow triangle onto either a dashboard screen or the windshield.2013年，德国豪华车品牌宝马公司(BMW AG)发售“dynamic-spotlight”夜视系统，通过加装在汽车前格栅后面的红外线摄像头来仔细观察前方路面情况，涉及软件需要辨识行人（或动物）的外形轮廓，启动汽车前大灯照耀前方，帮助防止撞击事故的再次发生。该系统也有驾驶舱提醒功能，找到行人时系统不会在仪表盘屏幕上表明或在挡风玻璃上感应一个黄色三角形内置人形的图标。Design Your Own Dashboard设计自己的仪表盘Dashboards used to be static displays with mechanical dials and gauges. Now, auto makers are ditching the dials in favor of programmable screens that can display more information and allow drivers to personalize the look of the cockpit displays.汽车仪表盘曾多次是静态表明的各种机械仪表盘。

现在，汽车制造商正在使用可以编程的屏幕，用作表明更加多信息，并容许驾驶者自行自定义仪表盘界面。The new Lexus IS F-Sport model, due out this June, uses a thin-film transistor display and a moving tachometer dial (which measures RPMs) to create a hybrid of the traditional and the new. The technology is adapted from Lexuss super sports car, the LFA. By toggling a control on the steering wheel, the driver can get the big dial in the center of the dashboard to move to the right, revealing a flat-screen display that can be customized for two different drivers. We can change languages, miles per hour to kilometers and show information such as route guidance, says Bill Camp of Lexuss training operation, Lexus University.新款雷克萨斯(Lexus) IS F-Sport车型计划于2013年6月发售，其仪表盘使用雷克萨斯超级跑车LFA上的技术，通过薄膜晶体管屏幕和一个发动机转速表，打造出传统与创意结合的显示方式。

驾驶者可以张开方向盘上的控制键，将仪表盘中央的大仪表盘后移到右边，留出空间来为两类有所不同的驾驶者自定义仪表盘。雷克萨斯公司内训部门“雷克萨斯大学”(Lexus University)的比尔??坎普(Bill Camp)说道：“我们可以转变仪表盘的表明语种，转换英里和公里计量方式”，并能表明路面导航系统等信息。

Shift Into Ninth Gear九速变速箱Ever-tougher federal demands for fuel efficiency have led car makers to add more gears to transmissions. And more. And more.美国政府对汽车燃油经济性日益严苛的拒绝被迫汽车制造商减少变速箱档位。没最多，只有更加多。

You dont have to be very old to remember when most cars came with four-speed transmissions. Now, Chrysler Group LLC says it will introduce a nine-speed gearbox designed to fit into a relatively small, front-wheel-drive car.即便不是年纪相当大的人也能回忆起大多数汽车都使用四速变速箱的时代。现在，克莱斯勒集团(Chrysler Group LLC)称之为其将发售一款九速变速箱，用作尺寸比较较小的前轮驱动汽车。ZF Friedrichshafen AG, the German company that makes the nine-speed transmission, says it can improve fuel economy by 10% to 16% compared with a six-speed automatic, mainly because it offers a wider spread of gears to keep the engine in the sweet spot, where its turning as slowly as possible to stay at a certain speed.九速变速箱制造商德国采埃孚股份公司(ZF Friedrichshafen AG)回应，与六速自动变速箱比起，九速变速箱能提升燃油经济性10%到16%，主要是由于其齿轮组传送范围更加普遍，能在特定的发动机扭矩下减缓切档，维持引擎正处于“最有效地点”。Such a transmissions challenge lies largely in the software that controls the vehicles shifting. Too much and drivers could feel as if the car is constantly changing gear and not running smoothly. Too little and the fuel-economy benefits dont materialize.这类变速箱的主要挑战在于一个智能控制离合器的软件。

如果离合器过分频密，驾驶者有可能感觉得到，指出发动机运营过于光滑流畅。如果离合器过较少，燃油经济性的益处就无法以求反映。Michael Ebenhoch, director of ZFs front-drive transmission development, says that with nine speeds, we are getting closer to the maximum for a passenger car. On the other hand, he says, the guy who developed the five speed said we dont need six.采埃孚公司前轮驱动变速箱研发组的负责人迈克尔??艾本诺克(Michael Ebenhoch)说道，九速变速箱“已相似乘用车变速箱的档位无限大”，但从另一方面来说，“当年研发五速变速箱的人也说道过今后仍然必须六速变速箱”。Drive by Computer电脑自动驾驶Traditionally, steering a car has involved a series of mechanical connections that allow the wheel in your hands to guide the four wheels on the road. Infinitis new Q50 sedan -- which replaces the current G series in the Nissan Motor Corp. luxury brands lineup -- boasts the industrys first so-called steer-by-wire system, which swaps out those mechanical elements with an all-electronic system.以往，汽车改向牵涉到一系列机械传动，让驾驶者通过手中的方向盘提示汽车的四个轮子。

英菲尼迪(Infiniti)新款Q50轿车目的替代日产汽车公司(Nissan Motor Corp.)高端的G系列车型，声称其在行业内首度用于了所谓的线控改向系统(steer-by-wire system)，将改向过程中的机械环节全部更换为电子系统。Proponents say an electronic signal can be faster than a mechanical linkage at translating what the driver does with the steering wheel to the road. The electronic system also allows drivers to choose among four different degrees of serenity or sportiness in the handling. If the electronics fail, Infiniti says a backup mechanical-linkage system will keep the car under control.支持者回应，仅有电子系统能更慢地对驾驶者的改向意图作出反应，驾驶者可以自由选择四种有所不同程度的改向处理方式，或侧重稳定，或突显运动。英菲尼迪称之为，如电子改向系统失灵，可用的机械相连系统需要防止汽车失控。The steer-by-wire system is part of an array of technology on board the Q50, including advanced cruise control and radar-enabled braking, that allows the driver to take control when the road is fun and twisty, but also enables the car to handle a lot of driving work itself during a routine commute.线控改向系统是Q50车型上一系列高科技配备中的一部分，此外还有先进设备的巡弋系统和自动刹车雷达，不但能让驾驶者自如应付地形简单的路段，还能让汽车在常规驾驶员时自动处置许多行车事宜。

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