Do you know when and where the first computer appeared in an automobile?

The year was 1968, the car was a Volkswagen and a Bosch computer controlled the air/fuel mixture fed to the engine's combustion chambers. Since that time, microprocessors have proliferated in cars, to the extent that having two or three dozen of the tiny miracle workers, which control everything from power windows to fuel injection, is by no means unusual. Volvo's new S80 sedan, for example, incorporates an operating system made of 18 computers divided between two networks, one for the engine compartment and the other assigned to the passenger compartment (the engine compartment computers are faster) and connected by a central control module. Some luxury cars have as many as 45 microprocessors available to do the driver's — and the car's — bidding.

The Computer at Work
Here are just a few of the functions controlled by computers in a modern automobile:

The engine. Engines run cleaner, more efficiently and longer because computers keep operating conditions as close to optimum as modern computer science allows — which is close indeed.

The transmission. Automatic transmissions shift at the most comfortable and efficient speed, at points determined by a computer that can sense not only the road conditions (altitude, incline, etc.) but also the driver's heaviness or lightness of foot.

The accelerator. Once, the accelerator, known as the gas pedal, was connected by a series of rods and joints to the fuel supply, and it mechanically increased or decreased the flow to the engine. No more. Your accelerator is not connected mechanically to the fuel system. Rather, it sends electronic signals to the computer-controlled engine-management system.

Safety systems. Such things as traction control, antilock braking systems and air bags are computer controlled.

Information and diagnostic systems. A self-diagnosis system that allows a dealer or repair shop to perform electronic troubleshooting, a feature on virtually every car, would not work without computer chips. Nor would all the information provided to the driver in the form of digital readouts, warning lights and even the low-fuel alert message.

And that's just scratching the surface (which was applied, by the way, by a computer-controlled painting system). Other computer-controlled items include the climate system, audio equipment and power accessories.

Shifting by Thumb
Back to the subject of transmissions and gear changes, an excellent compromise has appeared that bridges the gap between drivers who love a manual gearbox and those who are satisfied with today's remarkably good automatics. The advancement is automatic transmissions that add the capability of manual gear selection. The transmission itself is automatic, but the driver can select the gear he or she wants if the transmission's electronic selection is deemed less than ideal. The Porsche system, called the Tiptronic S, allows drivers to select the gears with a small thumb switch on the steering wheel, while Ferrari's F355 F1 shifting system uses a finger-touch paddle located on the steering column. The Jaguar J-gate, the Chrysler AutoStick and a number of similar systems use the conventional gear selector mounted on the center console to override the transmission control module.

Future Computers
A cooperative venture between Delphi Delco Electronics, IBM, Netscape and Sun Microsystems wants to add even more computer power to your car of the not-too-distant future. Essentially an onboard personal computer system with voice-recognition capability, the new technology would allow breakthroughs in communicating what's going on in your car to the outside world — and vice versa.

Imagine traveling down a remote road late at night and having a problem with your car's engine. Rather than having to stop and seek help, the problem is solved by diagnostic systems hundreds or thousands of miles away. Your car would send a signal to the manufacturer, who would diagnose the problem and, where possible, transmit corrective instructions back to your car. If that same problem was fixable and might occur in all cars of that model, an electronic message could be sent to every one of them.

Another use of this system — and one that is similar to the onboard recording devices used to assess the performance of some racing cars — might be to send all performance information back to the manufacturer's product-development experts, permitting real-world experience to more quickly effect changes in subsequent models. Here again, improvements would reach the consumer more rapidly.

"That's good for consumers and it's a competitive advantage for business," IBM CEO Louis Gerstner told attendees at a trade show in Hanover, Germany, where a prototype of the system was shown.

Systems such as this one could have wide-ranging uses. The vehicle's location could be monitored on the Internet, for example, using existing global positioning technology in conjunction with passwords that would assure privacy. In the event of a disabling accident, the vehicle's location could be transmitted to the nearest law-enforcement or highway-safety agency. Recorded books and music could be downloaded by voice command from the Internet and played in the car. The possibilities, if not actually endless, are limited only by your imagination.

Others are at work on these futuristic computer applications, which IBM executives estimate will take 12 to 18 months for the first versions to appear, and three to five years for full network operability. GM, in cooperation with Microsoft, has already exhibited a 1999 Saab equipped with an onboard PC based on Windows. "It demonstrates what's more feasible in the very near term," says Ed Dilley, senior development engineer for automotive electronics at Delphi's Delco Electronics unit.

Some product improvements are achieved by using computer-aided engineering to simplify existing components. The engine in the current Toyota Corolla, for example, has 560 parts. That's a lot of bits and pieces, but it is much fewer than the 741 parts its predecessor contained.

The new engine, a 1.8-liter dual overhead camshaft four cylinder, helped Toyota reduce the price of the new Corolla in the U.S. by more than $1,000 from that of the previous version. Not only that, the new engine weighs 64 pounds, about 10% less than its predecessor, and generates 120 horsepower, a 15% increase. It's no wonder that Toyota has earned a reputation as an efficient automaker.

Comfort Is Included
Innovation has not been ignored where driver comfort is concerned. Drivers of the 1999 Cadillac DeVille d'Elegance and DeVille Concours can have their own personal masseur. Cadillac has added an optional massaging system to its world-class electronic lumbar-support seat. A touch of the lumbar switch will activate a continuous roller motion that can be interrupted or repeated at the driver's command. The design and placement of the rollers allows the massaging motion to improve blood flow to the driver's back muscles and nutrient movement with the spinal discs. Increased circulation relaxes muscle tension and results in increased comfort and reduced fatigue. The four rollers, concealed from view under the seating material, operate for a full 10 minutes when activated.