Category: autos

Are You Overspending On Oil Changes?

by Dirk Gibson

Modern vehicles are incredibly complex when compared to their predecessors. That being said, they still face the same enemies of the very first engines. Yes, I am talking about friction and the resulting heat it causes.

When it comes to keeping your car on the road, you need to maintain it. This means you need to understand the ins and outs of when to change motor oil to make sure friction and heat do not shorten the life of your engine.

Oil will only perform for so long under the stressful conditions found in the engine of a modern car. This leads us to the question of how often you should change the oil in your car.

What answer immediately popped into your mind? I bet it was that the oil should be changed every three months or 3,000 miles, whichever came first. Right? Somewhere, an oil marketing executive has a big grin on their face.

As with many things we know, the 3 and 3 rule is wrong. It is just marketing with no basis in fact. Every car performs differently and does different tasks. This means there is a different guideline for each of them.

The simple truth is there is no one standard mileage or time period that should be used for oil changes. A big Ford truck simple runs differently than a Honda Civic. The oil in the truck will need to be changed well before the oil in the Honda.

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Posted in autos on Nov 12th, 2008, 10:19 am by Dirk Gibson   

Using A Water Fueled Car - Is It Possible ?

by Adrian Fletcher

Given the inexorable rise in gas prices of late, water as fuel for cars is getting a closer inspection by many people. Despite what the name might suggest, an engine that runs on water wouldn’t really be running on the water itself, but instead extracting the hydrogen gas from the water to be used as fuel. By using certain specialized equipment, the hydrogen can be separated from the oxygen in water and injected into the car’s fuel lines.

The two most common systems for using water as fuel for vehicles are a hybrid system, which adds hydrogen gas to your vehicle’s engine and the second system which relies on hydrogen gas production to fuel the engine either on board or separately.

Hybrid hydrogen gas systems reduce the amount of gasoline your vehicle uses thus extending your miles per gallon while also reducing your vehicle emissions, as the combination of gas and hydrogen gives a cleaner burn, zero emissions fuel. When burned by itself with only oxygen, hydrogen emissions are just water vapor.

Kits for converting to water as fuel for cars range in price from less than a hundred dollars for plans to build your own system using easy to find parts from auto parts and hardware stores, to kits costing several thousand dollars that include everything needed to convert your vehicle. True water as fuel for cars systems convert your vehicle to one hundred percent hydrogen fuel. This type of system is the most expensive and complicated to install but when you are done your visits to the gas station are over. Using much larger water holding tanks, or fuel cells with internal hydrogen processing equipment, these systems typically require much more room in the vehicle to install.

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Posted in autos on Nov 5th, 2008, 1:20 pm by Adrian Fletcher   

New Car versus Used Car

by Eric Jilson

This situation probably has happened to everyone: You’re driving along the road and you notice that your car doesn’t sound all that good. Before you realize what’s happening, your poor car takes its last gasps on the side of the road. You need a new car.

Television ads tell you that you need a new car. Although a new car does sound appealing, you’ve also heard from friends that buying a new car is a better idea in the long run. You’re faced with a tough decision. This article will look at the positives and negatives of buying new and used vehicles. This will help you pick the vehicle that’s meant to be yours.

The Glory of New

There’s something powerful about the looks of a brand-new car, all the way from the tantalizing smell to that shiny new paint. In this consumer culture, a new car is a symbol that tells everyone you have made it. There also are other benefits to buying a new car rather than a used car.

Positives:

Most new cars do have good reliability. The warranty also will likely cover any problems that do crop up. Buying a new vehicle also means that you shouldn’t have to worry much about how the vehicle was treated before it became yours.

A number of companies also have roadside assistance for new cars. This gives you peace of mind and can save you the expense of getting a roadside assistance program on your own.

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Posted in autos on Nov 5th, 2008, 6:26 am by Gary Antosh   

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