The roots of BMW’s motorsports success – BMW E9

Kurbads logistics centre is honoured to have another interesting guest with a very rich history – the BMW E9! Despite being half a century old, the car is still in perfect visual and technical shape, just like it was just rolled out of the doors of Bavarian factory.

The BMW “E9” market it’s spot in car industry’s history with its “CSL” modification that laid foundation for the BMW brand as a dominating force in car racing, making an image to customers as a dynamic and reliable car. The special “E9 CSL” racing model with a three-liter engine dominated the European motor racing championships and started the BMW fame in car racing circuits.

Only 30 000 units of BMW “E9” were produced during eight years of manufacturing.

For the third year in a row Kurbads wins the “Safest Vehicle Fleet” award!

For the sixth year, insurance company BALTA and it’s partners organize the “Safest Vehicle Fleet” competition in Latvia. It is aimed to encourage establishments, government institutions and municipality organizations to think more about safe vehicle fleet and it’s daily usage. Kurbads has participated in all those years, winning four out of five times. This year, third time in a row we are the best again – Golden category among International transport companies!
The main focus of the competition was driver – profession, qualification, action and responsibility, as the motto was: “Safe vehicle fleet. It all starts with a driver.”
“It’s a job well done by whole Kurbads team – everybody from A to Z every day works as a Swiss watch. Of course, we have to thank our drivers and their instructors, theoretical and practical learning courses and an individual work with every driver pays off and we can work very effectively,” says Anatolijs Vasiļjevs, Kurbads chief of drivers.
Kurbads truck service manager Ivars Čiblis adds: “Many aspects were evaluated in the competition – insurance cases compared to the fleet size, made actions to prevent accidents and how effectively we go through the technical inspection. For several years, we have proven our high level quality in every aspect.”
Before awards ceremony that took place in Riga Motor Museum, BALTA hosted a seminar where many experts from various countries spoke about safety on the roads and how to improve them, sharing experience and latest surveys.

An unusual guest in Kurbads – Toyota Mirai

Toyota “Mirai” is a true future car that we’ll all be driving in several decades time. Powered by the world’s most advanced hydrogen fuel cell, unlike other futuristic cars, it’s a fully-fledged production car – yours for around 60 000 – 80 000 EUR.

The 2018 Toyota “Mirai” is a four-seat mid-size four-door sedan powered entirely by hydrogen, making it the company’s only full zero-emission vehicle. The “Mirai” uses a fuel cell to turn compressed hydrogen into electricity, with water the only byproduct. Said electricity is used to drive a 152bhp front-mounted electric motor, while a battery behind the rear seats soaks up any excess energy from the fuel cell or brake regeneration,

When driving, think of it as a regular EV with its own onboard powerplant. It’s heavy, at 1,850kg, but drives exactly like any other electric car, albeit with a hum from the fuel cell fitted beneath your posterior, and you can ‘charge’ it in three minutes, not 30. Up until around 60mph, when it starts to run out of puff, it reacts instantly to the tiniest throttle movements.

The “Mirai’s” 5 pounds of hydrogen, compressed at up to 10,000 psi, give it a range of 500 km, though 400 km may be a more real-world range for a variety of driving cases.

Despite that the car is quite comfortable and dynamic, and eco friendly, the World’s infrastructure is not yet ready for hydrogen powered vehicles. In United Kingdom at the moment there are only three hydrogen fuel stations, and similar situation is also in the other parts of the World. There is also an uncertainty about hydrogen fuel price, hence Toyota is subsidizing hydrogen for the first three years. Despite that globally there are more than 5000 units sold till the end of the 2017, it’s hard to predict the success of the car.

But it’s still a very interesting look in the near future!

Kurbads is having fun at Octoberfest!

Very similar to the famous Octoberfest in Bavaria, Kurbads employees with their families continued the annual tradition – to celebrate Octoberfest in it’s best traditions, the traditional meal, beer and dances with schlager music!

The local Kurbads festival took place after Latvian championship game between Kurbads and Zemgale/LLU teams.  Before the meal consisting of sausages and stewed cabbage, visitors had a chance to skate on the Kurbads ice rink together with families.

To replenish the energy lost in skating, the Octoberfest participants could drink the “Labietis” Kurbads beer and have a meal “Ūsiņš”, that had a major transformation, turning into an authentic festival place, looking like a traditional pub in Bavaria. Where under the rhytms of musical band, one could hardly not move on the dance floor or in the chair.

One of the main events of the evening was beer speed drinking. There was a tough duel between two drivers from Kurbads, Jānis Kārkliņš and Gints Murevics. Both drank their beers very similarly, so the professional Jury had a long discussion and decided that the both are winners!

See you next year!

The dry south-westerly wind – the Maserati Ghibli

Ghibli is the name for the hot dry south-westerly wind of the Libyan desert. This is the name Maserati gave to one of their sports car in the sixties. Twenty years later, the model was reborn, when the second generation of “Ghibli” saw the daylight.

“Ghibli II” was designed by Marcello Gandini, famous Italian car designer who have drawn many iconic sports cars for different brands. But the car was an evolution of the previous Biturbo coupés; the doors, interior, and basic bodyshell were carried over from the Biturbo.

Everything about the Ghibli says performance and style. This two door coupe can carry four adults in style and comfort, whilst delivering not only blistering performance but excellent roadholding and a refined elegant interior. The line of the Ghibli is bold but at the same time soft such as to anticipate the car’s sporting intent even from rest.  The form is a happy marriage of style and aerodynamics. To confirm it’s sports car status, the V6 power output is 306 bhp, ensuring acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in just six seconds.

The legend of Maserati is synonymous with performance and class. The Maserati “Ghibli” coupé was the response to the demanding needs of sports car buyer in the 1990s.

The benchmark of American muscle cars – Dodge Viper SRT10

When the first Dodge Viper rolled out of the factory at the early nineties, the model became an instant hit among car fans in America and across the Atlantic. For a long time these iconic American muscle cars avoided visiting Kurbads logistics centre, right up until one sunny October day, when one Dodge Viper Mk4 visited us.

All in all, there were five generations of Dodge Viper, but the production halted in late 2017. This car is one of the most American cars ever, characterized by big and powerful engines, a massive V8 8.0 or 8.3-liter powerhouse with at least 500+ HP.

This hardtop version of the SRT10 is about what you’d expect. The Viper’s face still looks beastly in your rearview mirror, its 8.3-liter V-10 still sounds like the devil spitting gasoline out the sidepipes, and it’ll turn a pair of expensive, foot-wide rear tires into a smoldering pile of rubber residue with no more effort than it takes to fall out of a boat and hit water. Take the word “testosterone” out of the dictionary, replace it with “Viper SRT10,” and nobody would know the difference.

“Viper SRT10” always draws attention at every corner of the globe.  But not everything is perfect – it has a poor outward visibility. A tight cabin that fits snugly and is a little laborious to enter and exit and a limited cargo space, and most owners unanimously loathe the “skip-shift” function, which, in some instances, tries to force a first-to-fourth gearshift to save fuel.

A car built in the best American traditions – simple and powerful!

We get to know truck industry innovations at the Hannover IAA expo

Vehicle transportation and logistics company’s Kurbads truck service manager Ivars Čiblis with colleagues went to the annual commercial transport and truck expo “IAA” in Hannover, Germany, where all the leading vehicle and special equipment manufacturers presented their latest products and services.

The 68th expo was named “New Mobility World”. Connected and automated driving, zero-emission powertrains, urban logistics, and new mobility and transport services are the cornerstones of the expo that will lead to a more efficient, greener and smarter future.

“It’s always a great joy and professional interest to visit exhibitions of such magnitude and level. I enjoy following the future intentions of the leading truck manufacturers. Of course, we closely watched trucks and car carrier equipment from various manufacturers. For example, Austrian Kaessbohrer offers a new type of closed car carrier. We evaluate an option to add this product in our fleet,” says Ivars Čiblis.

“Mercedes-Benz presented an unusual innovation, replacing side view mirrors with a displays in a cabin. This solution noticeably increases field of view for the driver, thus improving safety on the road.  Possibly, we will see this in the new Mercedes-Benz trucks that will be available in the middle of the next year.”

Last few years, there have been a lot of talks about electric cars as the future vehicles. Ivars emphasizes that “In the Hannover expo, I could feel that all the big truck manufacturers – Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Scania, MAN – are investing big resources in hybrids or fully electric trucks. Ford already presented 100% electric truck with a very futuristic design. I know that Tesla also silently prepares such product. It’s hard to say, whether it will be a very near future, but truck industry undoubtedly is heading in zero-emission direction.”

Innovations in the car carrier industry opens up new possibilities for vehicle transportation.

Improvements made by car carrier equipment manufacturer Kaessbohrer have opened up a new possibilities for car loading, thus asking more from drivers that operate the equipment. The new Metago Pro trailer is equipped with a twin-axle, that experienced truck drivers can use to load bigger and more complex cargoes for transportation.

“Within the new market conditions, the cost effectiveness of car carriers plays a central role. In order to cultivate this fact in the future as well, Kaessbohrer‘s range of products has undergone thorough modernization. This will also enable our car carrier customers in the future to enjoy optimized load factors and cost effectiveness when providing their services,” Victor Kusnezow, Area Sales manager of Kaessbohrer, tells about innovations.

Asked about advantages and purpose of the Metago Pro, Victor admits that “twin-tyredcar carrier combines exceptional payload with maximum loading factor. This trailer is therefore top when it comes to efficiency. If the driver can use the possibilities efficiently. The position of the hydraulic control unit has been raised to an ergonomic level. The operability of the functions as well as the visibility of all moving components has been further improved. We have widened the loading options but it will demand more knowledge and skill from drivers to load the cars properly.”

Nowadays, the cars get heavier and bigger every year. That means that the efficient loading of the cars for transport companies is becoming a mission impossible.  Kaessbohrer’s Metago Pro car carrier trailer with twin-axle is a solution and a new way to go. Proved by Pēteris Ozoliņš, Kurbads driver, who recently loaded and transported seven BMW “X6” cars. It would not be possible without the additional axle.

“The benefit from the additional axle is crucial. The cargo load is significantly increased, bigger and heavier vehicles can be transported. The additional axle allows to increase the cargo load by three tonnes, that opens the way to load one more car,” says one of the most experienced Kurbads drivers Pēteris Ozoliņš. He has been using Metago Pro with the twin-axle for more than half a year.

“I strongly believe that looking in the future this equipment is a must for the vehicle transportation professionals, becauce at the moment in Lithuania and Poland there are special points on the highway where the load of the truck is checked automatically with a radar. Everything has to be right all the time.”

Kurbads transports World RX race cars!

Vehicle transportation and logistics company Kurbads is honored to transport World Rallycross championship cars from Bikernieki race track to the parade in Riga Old Town.

Race cars of Latvian motorsports superstars Reinis Nitišs and Jānis Baumanis, as well as cars of the biggest stars of the World RX circus will be available for general public in the Old Town before the races kick off on Weekend – the Neste World RX race in Bikernieki track.

See you on track!

Car carrier #96 joins the Kurbads fleet

On the afternoon of 10th September, employees of vehicle transportation and logistics company Kurbads gathered to celebrate a new car carrier. Continuing tradition, the car carrier #96 is decorated with ancient Latvian mythology sign of Auseklis, designed by Alfreds Paulausks.

The morning star Auseklis is especially splendid symbol of star, it symbolizes the light’s victory over darkness and also defends against the powers of dark, wizards and evil people. In the Latvian mythology Auseklis is mentioned as a son of God, the counter of stars and as the groom of Sun’s daughter.

In the celebrational ceremony, lead by folklorist Inese Krūmiņa, men performed the dance of the bear, sending positive energy to the car carrier, while ladies tied knots to wish the truck a good yourney every time it goes on trips.

The car carrier #96 will be driven by Oļegs Dovgans. “Oļegs was born in Ukraine, but he is living in Latvia for many years now and knows Latvian and English language very well. He is a long term employee of Kurbads and has an extensive experience with car carriers. A true professional, we can trust him the most difficult trips to Portugal, Spain or Italy, he will always do everything perfectly.” Oļegs Dovgans is described by Kurbads’ drivers mentor Anatolijs Vasiļjevs.

The new Mercedes-Benz “Actros 1843” is equipped with Metago and Variotrans Pro car carrier equipment. An additional axle increases the cargo load by about 3,5 t, allowing various vehicle loading options.

In “Actros 1843”, a compromise between comfort, conductivity and grip with the road surface has been found by using the newest technologies. The cabin is built so that the driver can concentrate on the road at all times and avoid traffic accidents.