Auto | Car | Sparepart

With Fuel Costs on the rise, filling a 17 gallon SUV gas tank can be a nightmare. Even worse, that full tank may not even last you the whole day. And the quick burning of gas fuel contributes to harmful car emissions that negatively affect the environment. But, instead of lamenting over your losses, why not consider an alternative? Hybrid cars are a great answer to the rising costs of fuel. They are very efficient and environmentally friendly as well.

What Makes a Car a Hybrid?

Essentially, a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that runs on two different fuel sources. A great example would be a sailboat that runs on rowing as well as electric power. Hybrid cars on the other hand run on both fuel and electricity. It then allows the car to run longer on lesser fuel. That makes the hybrid car an environmentally and wallet friendly vehicle.

Hybrid Cars and the Environment

Other than consuming lesser fuel, hybrid cars also generates lesser amounts of harmful car emissions compared to other vehicles. Here are a few ways that Hybrid cars save on fuel.

SUFFICIENT BATTERIES – The secondary power source of Hybrid cars are the batteries. Hybrid car batteries are capable of saving and reusing energy. It works similarly to electric cars, sans the plug, making it more convenient.

GASOLINE/ DIESEL CHOKE – regular cars use up a lot of gasoline when the engines continue running even when the car is at a standstill. Hybrid cars supplement that. They are designed to shut off the gasoline or diesel engine when it is not moving. During this time, the car relies on the power provided by the battery. A decrease in fuel use also means a decrease in car emissions.

Top Hybrid Cars in the Market Today

Hybrid cars are all the rage today because not only are they fuel efficient, they do the environment good too. The top three hybrid cars available today are as follows.

TOYOTA PRIUS – The Prius has been in the market for nearly a decade. Such longevity can only attest to the quality of the vehicle. It is the best car if you want to save money. This little beauty can run for miles and miles and still have a gallon or two to spare. The great thing about the Prius is that its manufacturers have made it functional as well. Unlike other hybrid models, the Prius comes with a spacious cargo hatch. It is also one of the most affordable hybrids in the market today.

SATURN VUE GREEN LINE – It may not be considered as a full hybrid, but the Saturn Vue Green Line can certainly hold off on fuel use. And, if you are looking for an SUV and save money on fuel at the same time, then this is the hybrid car for you. The only problem with this SUV hybrid is that it’s doesn’t have a 4-wheel drive option.

HONDA CIVIC HYBRID – The Honda Civic is one most recognizable car in the world. That is why it’s such a treat that the company has come up with a hybrid version. The Civic Hybrid can run up to 54% longer on a full tank of gas compared to a regular car. Not bad. As an added bonus, the Civic Hybrid is also a great car to drive.

While many of us travel in our cars we love to listen to music. To make our listening pleasure even better we will install various music systems in our cars. Now before these car stereos are bought we need to have an idea if they will work with our car specifications and that is where car stereo reviews can help.

These car stereo reviews are based on the opinions and information that many people – customers and test companies alike have given. While you may not agree with all of the information that has been stated, you can read these car stereo reviews just to get an idea about the different car stereos that you can now buy. Generally these reviews will have brief descriptions of the various car stereos that are being discussed. This information is very useful as you will be able to see the various items that make buying such car stereo systems worthwhile. Now the best place to see these various car stereo reviews is the internet. Here you will be able to access the information that you require all without having to leave your home.

Car stereo is the basis of the growing technology. It is very important to know about the fundamentals of the stereo system in cars. Getting as much importance as the design itself it is always good to know about the car stereo technology. Car stereos are meant to be installed in cars and are enjoyed while driving or riding around the city, along long country roads, or virtually anywhere else. The foremost car accessories to be place on cars, Car stereo acts as the heart of the car audio system. There are many things that have to be place with car stereos for example CD or cassette player, car speakers, car amplifiers, cables and equalizers.

Car stereos will give you the unlimited recording and playing options. They will definitely give you excellent sound and you can purchase brand name stereos that have little or no distortion or warped sounds. You can easily add components to them that can be self-installed like amplifier racks, car subwoofer enclosures or speaker pods.

Sureterm Direct is the UK’s largest classic car insurer and we know instantly when a car has appeared in a popular TV or film as enquiries for classic car insurance for that particular model shoot through the roof.

So here’s the first installment of our guide to the most famous TV and film cars on the planet. We’ve even included a van – see if you can guess which programme that’s from!

TV Programme: Ashes to Ashes

Car: Audi UR quattro:

While the star of the show is Gene Hunt, a fictional police detective in a TV series set in 1980’s Britain, his bright red Audi UR quattro plays more than just a supporting role.

The car sprang into real life in 1980 and with 4WD and a whole raft of amazing other German car-making wizardry packed into it, the car became an instant cult classic.

Brilliant on the road, brilliant on the rally scene. And now in much demand thanks to Gene Hunt. If you can lay your hands on one – do it. Easy and cost-effective to insure.

Our star rating: 4 stars

TV Programme: Kingdom

Car: Alvis TE21

Fruity old thespian Stephen Fry plays an East of England lawyer in this gentle comedy drama and he scoots around Norfolk in a fabulous Alvis TE21 drophead – sparking an interest in classic cars from a whole new generation.

Alvis is a weird marque. In the best part of 50 years from 1920 onwards, the Coventry-based firm produced cars that were noted for top quality, great handling and a nifty, sporty character. The TE21 model arrived at the end of 1963 – and with a stiff suspension it could shift a bit.

The TE21 was pretty heavy yet managed a very respectable top speed of over 120mph and was available with automatic transmission or a five-speed manual gearbox. It’s a very, very stylish classic – and a restored version could easily set you back ?100,000.

Our star rating: 2 stars

TV Programme: The Sweeney

Car: Mk1 Ford Consul GT

When ITV in the UK screened The Sweeney for the first time, the programme marked a whole new concept in cop shows. Previously fed a diet of boring old ‘bobbies’ like Z-cars and Dixon of Dock Green, The Sweeney had fast cars, swearing, sex scenes, drinking and extreme violence.

And it made household names of main characters Reagan and Carter. In series 1 and 2 the mainstay of the CID crew was a copper brown Mk1 Ford Consul GT, reg NHK 295M – although in later series, Ford Granadas were the norm.

The Consul had front bucket seats as standard, a central floor-mounted remote control gear shift and the speedometer, fuel and temperature gauges all had black non- reflecting dials.

The Consul ‘L pack offered special seats, loop pile carpet colour keyed to the interior, vanity mirror, heated rear screen, clock and trip mileage recorder (not that the Sweeney ever bothered with anything within the law!). No surprises then, that they went for the GT pack option, which included the larger 3.0 V6 engine – capable of 0-60mph in 9 seconds.

Our star rating: 2 stars

TV Programme: Inspector Morse

Car: 1960 Mk II Jaguar

In Colin Dexter’s novels, grouchy copper Inspector Morse’s car was a classic Lancia, but ITV used a Jaguar MK II 2.4 from the start of the television series. In fact, the Carmen red Jag became so iconic that new editions of the earlier novels have been changed so that Morse’s car is a Jaguar!

The Jaguar Mark II ‘a compact four-door saloon’ was introduced in October 1959, at a price of just ?1,534.00 and was made until 1967. Morse’s Jaguar is a 2.4 litre model with a twin overhead-cam 6-cylinder 2,483-cc engine giving 120 bhp.

It’s a bit slow for TV coppers, only capable of accelerating from 0-60 mph in 17.3 seconds, with a maximum speed of 96.3 mph, but Morse didn’t exactly need to burn around the university city of Oxford. Jaguar made almost 84,000 Mk11s, 25,070 of Morse’s 2.4 variation.

Our star rating: 3 stars

TV programme: James Bond films

Car: Aston Martin DB5

Spy 007’s love of fast cars is evident all the way through the original Ian Fleming novels and when they eventually made the silver screen, car lovers everywhere drooled over his gorgeous DB5.

The 1963 DB5 is famous for being the first and most recognised Bond car, featuring notably in: Goldfinger, Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Casino Royale, while it also made background appearances in The World Is Not Enough and Diamonds Are Forever.

The DB5’s engine had been enlarged from the previous DB4’s 3.7L to 4.0L, while the addition of a five-speed transmission and three SU carburetors enabled the car to pull 282hp and propel it to 141 mph (238 km/h).

Standard equipment on the DB5 included reclining seats, pile carpets, electric windows and a fire extinguisher. All models had 4 seats and 2 doors. The UK recommended list price of the sports saloon (coupe) in December 1963 was ?4,248 including Purchase Tax, the convertible was ?4,562.

Our star rating: 5 stars

TV Programme: Dukes of Hazzard

Car: 1969 Dodge Charger

Testosterone-filled teenage boys remember a couple things about the Dukes of Hazzard – Catherine Bach’s never-ending legs (and pert bum in spray-on denim shorts) and the General Lee car.

The General Lee was a 1969 Dodge Charger with a 426 Hemi in every season of the hit programme (except season two, where it had a 440 Magnum engine). It was also said to be the Road/Track model.

Bright orange with a Confederate battle flag painted on the roof, and the words ‘General Lee’ and number ‘01’ on each door, the car’s name refers to the American Civil War Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

The show also used 1968 Chargers since the start (which shared mostly the same sheet metal) by changing the grill and tail lights to the 1969 model year style, and smoothing over the round ‘68 side marker lights, which were rectangular on the ‘69 model year.

Our star rating: 3 stars

TV Programme: Starsky and Hutch

Car: Ford Torino

We loved the 1970’s. Big hair, disco music, chunky sweaters – and all of this in just one TV series. Los Angeles cops Starsky and Hutch fought villains in a two-door Ford Torino, which was red with a large white vector stripe.

It was nicknamed the Striped Tomato by Hutch but the term didn’t come from the series’ writers – it came from a real-life comment that actor Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky) made. The standard Torino was pretty dull, so producers jazzed it up with a large white vector stripe, 5-slot alloys and larger rear tires. Air shocks were added to give the car an aggressive rake and it worked – especially for Ford, who built 1,000 replicas of the “Starsky and Hutch” car in the spring of 1976.

The ‘Starsky and Hutch’ replica was available with all Torino engines, and the limited production package was essentially a special paint option with the deluxe bumper group and dual colour-keyed sport mirrors as mandatory options. Seat colours were restricted to white or black and were available with all cloths and seating options.

Our star rating: 2 stars

TV Programme: Knight Rider

Car: 1982 Pontiac Trans Am

Forget Baywatch – bubble haired David ‘The Hof’ Hasselhoff first shot to fame in Knight Rider – a bonkers TV series that ran from 1982 to 1986 which featured KITT, a talking car equipped with mind-blowing gadgetry.

Unsurprisingly, given its low-budget cast, KITT became the star of the show, but then it was a gleaming black 1982 Pontiac Trans Am. The car oozed sex appeal and sparked a massive interest in American Classics, which exists still to this day.

By the way, KITT stands for ‘Knight Industries Two Thousand’ an eponymous doff of the cap to its weird technology-cum-crime fighting creators.

Our star rating: 3 stars

TV programme: The A-team

Car: The GMC van

Da-da-da, dada, da. Da, dada, da, da, dadada, da. It’s hard to believe any TV programmes, especially from Hollywood, could make vans sexy – but the A-team did it in bucket loads.

The black and metallic grey GMC van used by the A-Team – a crackpot collection of crime-fighting misfits – had a characteristic red stripe, black and red wheels, rooftop spoiler, and became an instant icon.

The van is a 1983 G-series which was heavily customised by the Universal Studios prop department. The engine is a 350 cid with minor modifications (mainly the carb and exhaust system), while the wheels are turbine style 15″ painted black with red accents.

Other modifications include – quad headlight conversion, full front brushbar, fog/driving lights, exterior sun visor, quad square exhaust tips (each side in front of rear wheels), and custom made rear wing. Interior was custom-white bucket seats, shag carpet, and custom gun case in the back.

It also had beefy air shocks in the rear to improve handling, which was poor and underpowered. In fact, scenes where it burns out were done by spraying bleach in front of and onto the rear tyres which creates billowing grey smoke.

Our star rating: 2 stars.

TV Programme: Back To The Future (Film)

Car: De Lorean DMC-12

Look, make no bones about it, apart from James Bond’s DB5 this is THE iconic TV and film car. It grabbed attention in real life and it grabbed attention on-screen.

The De Lorean DMC-12 became a time machine for Back To The Future, but was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and manufactured for real in 1981 by the De Lorean Motor Company, in Northern Ireland. The 2-door coupe had a 2.8 L (2849 cc), V6 engine and was available in 5-speed manual or 3-speed automatic transmissions.

It was the only model ever produced by the company and featured gull-wing doors with a fiberglass ‘underbody’, to which non-structural brushed stainless steel panels are fixed.

The first prototype appeared in March 1976, and production officially began in 1981 (with the first DMC-12 rolling off the production line on January 21st) at the DMC factory in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. During its production, several aspects of the car were changed, such as the bonnet style, wheels and interior.

About nine thousand DMC-12s were made before production stopped in late 1982.

Our star rating: 5 stars

TV programme: Herbie ‘The Love Bug’

Car: 1963 Volkswagen Beetle ragtop sedan.

Peace and love, man. With the amount of ‘acid’ dropped in the hippified atmosphere of the late 60s, we weren’t all that surprised when a film starring a humanised VW beetle appeared.

Herbie The Love Bug was a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle deluxe ragtop sedan painted in Volkswagen L87 pearl white. The interior would normally be a matching white but Herbie’s interior was painted a special non-reflective grey, so the camera and studio lights would not reflect.

In this original 1968 film, Herbie’s stripes differ from those in later movies – the stripes do not cover the valances or louvers of the car and the blue is a lighter shade. Also, Herbie features color-keyed running boards, while in later films the running boards are standard black.

Our star rating: 2 stars

It has been said that Canadians are “among the stupidest people in the world”. Recent car pricing, in view of a rising Canadian “Loonie Dollar” is somewhat out of whack. For the most part a Canadian dollar in February 2008 trades at par – that is an American dollar roughly equals a Canadian dollar all things being equal.

A Canadian shopping in the U.S.A. for a car and then bringing it in, (importing the car), through relatively standardized channels can save a wallop of cash. For example – an Acura MDX models starts at $ 40,000 in the US but $ 54,000 in Canada.

The humorous part so to speak is that this car is made and manufactured in Canada, even with all kinds of federal and provincial government support and informal subsidies. In effect all the poor, luckless Canadian is doing is repatriating the Canadian citizen back home.

Importing a car from the U.S. into Canada is a relatively simple matter and process. First the prospective buyer researches his car in a standard and normal sense. Next he or she should check with the Canadian Government agency to check and verify if the car, truck or S.U.V. vehicle that they wish to import is admissible. The website is easily found, in a standard manner, from the Canadian Government Department “The Registrar of Foreign Motor Vehicles “or Riv for short. The website can be found at www.riv.ca . Prominent on the front page of the Riv.ca website is “Importing a U.S. Vehicle into Canada Find out how.”

The Riv’s process states to check and verify: that your vehicle is admissible and can be modified to meet Canadian requirements by checking Transport Canada’s List of Vehicles Admissible from the United States. The Registrar of Imported Vehicles program regulates only vehicles originally manufactured for the U.S. market. Vehicles originally manufactured to standards other than the U.S. or Canada, are inadmissible into Canada under the current laws. The program regulates passenger cars, trucks, vans, jeeps, chassis cabs, trailers, motorcycles, off-road vehicles and snowmobiles less than 15 years old and buses manufactured after January 1, 1971.

For information on the importation of vehicles into Canada from countries other than the United States, go to Transport Canada’s web site as well as Canada Border Services Agency’s web site.

Next in line with Riv’s procedure is to check for vehicle modification requirements. Even if your vehicle was manufactured in Canada for North American requirement your vehicle must meet Canadian standards. As examples Canadian vehicles are required by laws and standards that both have car infant tether mounts and daylight running lights.

One more recent addition to the lists is for a simple recall clearance letter. The recall clearance letter sates that the vehicle has no outstanding recalls by the manufacturer on it.

The recall clearance letter must be on official letterhead from either the dealer or manufacture.

Either can simply issue the letter. However the letter is mandatory at the time of entry, in order to pass the Canadian border clearance process.

Even though the car is your property you must receive export clearance from the U.S. border authorities too “export’” the car, if it is to leave the U.S. Simply fax the appropriate U.S. border post’s vehicle export fax phone number at least 72 hours before arrival.

Next, after receiving clearance follow the process outlined on the Riv site at the Canadian Border Port of entry. Not all Canadian border posts are set up for this process. Generally the larger entry ports are. You will be asked to provide documentation as indicated on the Riv site.

Title, documentation and sales receipts are required. You will need a valid Canadian address to be eligible for this process. You will be billed by Canada customs a Riv fee of approximately $ 300, General Sales Tax (G.S.T.) on the price of the vehicle. In addition, depending on the origin of manufacture of the car you will be required to pay 6.1 % duty if the car is not made within the NAFTA Free Trade Zone (U.S.A., Canada and Mexico). G.S.T. in 2008 now runs at 5 %. Provincial Sales Tax payment will vary depending on the province of the owner and importer of the vehicle.

Interestingly enough if the car is a “Classic Car”, older than 15 years of age; the car will fall in a different and much simpler procedure with few requirements and inspection. It all depends on the rules and modifications for that vehicle as stated on the Riv website. If in doubt phone. Remember that you will have to comply again with certain regulations – such as daytime running lights and other requirements in your specific locale and province.

All in all importing a car into Canada from the United States can be a fairly easy and straightforward affair, even if you do it yourself, without the need for a broker. Two factors come into play – always verify what the current rules are with the Government of Canada authorities – Transport Canada and the Registrar of Foreign Motor Vehicles (Riv). Lastly always pay close attention to fluctuations in the currency rates – Canadian dollars vs. U.S. American greenbacks.

Everyone has an idea of the type of car they’d ideally like. You’ve probably plotted out exactly which car, or cars, you’d buy if your numbers came up on the Lottery. Maybe you stand and gape in open-mouthed admiration and envy as someone drives past in your dream car.

But what would be the true cost of your dream car? Obviously if you’re a Lottery winner, money would be no object, but if you’ve scrimped, saved and sold your grandma to buy the luxury sports car you’ve coveted, you may not have all that much to spare on hidden costs.

What hidden costs? I hear you cry. Well, aside from the obvious road tax and MOT costs, there’s car insurance – a legal requirement – and repair bills which will be inevitable on some cars. Add to that any ‘performance’ extras such as filter kits, injection systems and even racing style in-car accessories (if that’s your thing), and the costs can easily mount up. There’s a lot to take into account when planning a car purchase.

Before you decide you definitely want that sports car, do some research into the insurance and other details. Try and find out what the most common faults on your chosen model are, and how much they typically cost to fix in your area. Repair costs are one of the things an insurance underwriter will take into account when deciding what to charge you for cover.

It’s almost a given that any high performance vehicle will be in a high motor insurance group. The Subaru Impreza, the Lancer, the Evo and most other popular sports cars are group 20, the highest insurance group possible. If you are under 30 years of age, you’ll be classed in the high-risk group for a performance car, and will pay more for your premiums than someone even 2 years older. Luckily there are companies who offer cheap car insurance for performance cars; it’s just a matter of shopping around.

As well as insurance and repairs, check the emissions to find out the possible cost of your road tax. For cars registered after 1st March 2001, the cost of tax is calculated by the engine emissions, which can easily be found on the manufacturers website, or ask at the local dealership. To give you an idea, the new Subaru Impreza STi has emissions of 243 g/km, which means the road tax on one of these will work out at £300 for the year, or £165 per 6 months. Doesn’t sound like a huge amount, but when you have to pay it all in one go it can be quite a hardship.

And then there’s the thing that a lot of people seem to forget when purchasing a high-performance vehicle – the fuel consumption. Traditionally, the bigger the engine the more thirsty it is. And of course, the more powerful the engine the more fuel needed to run it. Sticking with the Subaru as an example, the urban fuel consumption is a mere 20.5 mpg, compared to a smaller model like the Peugeot 206 with an impressive 65.7 mpg.

The point is, all these things should be taken into account before going ahead with a purchase. There’s no point in spending a large amount for a car you can’t afford to move off your driveway. Lawn ornaments are much cheaper.

Created by Pimp My Movie @ Georgia Tech in 2005 as part of Campus moviefest, the worlds largest student film festival. After the reknowned success of mtv’s series Pimp My Ride where Rapper X-Zibit pimps or puts $30000 in each submitted car, returning it to its owner through West Coast Customs car modification. We have taken this to the next level, one that works seemlessly with the Georgia Tech atmosphere.

 

Getting a car loan can turn into a tiresome job if one does not wish to adopt the necessary tips to strike the best deal. It would be an obvious choice of everybody to go for a Getting a car loan. It is for the simple fact that you will get to save more money during the course of the loan. Moreover, you will be spared the choice of selecting the car which you have wished since such a long time. Given below are some useful tips which will help you in every possible way to strike one of the best auto loans at low interest rates:

 

Firstly, go and check out with as many bank car loan or financial institutions as possible on their current low car loan offering. Compare them thoroughly with each other. Soon you would strike upon the one which would suit your budget in every possible way. If you are too short of time, then you can very well log into the Internet and shop through the websites of various lending organizations. The quotes provided to you will be free of cost. In addition you would also save the time of personally visiting each lender and then sitting down to compare the rates.

 

Often in the process of financing our car, we forget that making a larger payment towards down payment would benefit us in future. This would also help you to gain the trust and confidence of the lender and consequently he/she might offer you with a low intrest car loan that would be very well out of your imagination. However, if your pocket does not permit, then of course you would be left with no alternative other than making a low down payment and financing the rest.

 

Thirdly, it is considered very important to fix up your credit score before you opt for thelow low interest car loan. You would find that most of the lenders rely on your credit history before offering you with suitable interest rate. It is widely recommended that you wait for at least six weeks after getting your scores settled and then opt for a low interest car loan. Also, before walking into the showroom, make sure that you have made a thorough analysis of your credit background and financial stability.

 

Also be aware of the current market rates before you simply sign the deal. Do not even allow any sales person to convince you thoroughly with their gift of gab until and unless you are sure of the difference in what he is selling and what you will get. Utilize the benefits of technology at its fullest and do as much research as possible over the net. You can also make a submission of your request and then wait for them to offer you the three best quotes. Following that, you simply need to click on the best deal. The interest rates on any car loan actually depend on the time and knowledge you have spent on analyzing your credit profile.

 

It always feels good to be floating in a pool of luxury, but make sure you do not have to pay a high price for it by getting into the trickiest low interest car loan deals.

It is a fact that today’s market is most competitive. There are several providers available selling same product. However due to intense competition it is sure that every provider wants to increase his/her profit by one way or the other. Thus it is important that the person must act prudently before buying any product from a particular provider.

There are many people who want to buy electronics gadgets as well as accessories from various sites that are available on the net. However with so many sites available it gets difficult for the customers to really go for the right provider. So if you are also facing such dilemma and want to know about the best wholesale provider in China then Webchinavasion is the name you must go for!

There are many important things that make this provider unique from the others. Apart from the fact that it is the first internet wholesaler in China that started in the year 2005, there are many other special features that make this online site different as well as remarkable than others. Some of the important features are listed as under:

Trustworthiness: the best part of shopping at Webchinavasion is that it is sure that you would get all sorts of gadgets, accessories as well as electronic devices of best quality here. If you are looking for quality car DVD player or high quality spy cameras or any other gadget, then Webchinavasion is surely the best option to go for. It is important to note that it is considered as the best wholesale online store that is quite high in terms of trustworthiness.

Widest selection of various accessories: Another important feature of Webchinavasion is that this online store offers you widest selection of various accessories. You can buy car DVD player, cell phones, computer accessories, security equipments, spy cameras, handsets and digital cameras etc altogether at one place i.e. at Webchinavasion. Not only that in addition there are several brands available so as to offer widest selection to its customers.

Security: Another important feature of Webchinavasion is that it offers remarkable one year warranty on every product to its customers. Thus you can buy any product in any quantity at Webchinavasion without any worries. What else you need?

Facility of Live support: Unlike several other sites where you need to write hundreds of mails in order to get the solution of your grievances as well as to clear your doubts, such problem is not at all possible at Webchinavasion. It is so because it offers facility of live support to its visitors. So in case you have any problem their dedicated support fellows would be happy to assist you.

Other features: In addition to above stated features there are several other remarkable features that compel one to buy their favorite car DVD player or spy cameras or any other gadget from this unique site. Among various features, one best feature is that it offers best packages to its customers even if they buy goods in limited quantity. Thus the customers have the option to buy best quality goods and that too at best prices at Webchinavasion.

The above mentioned are just some of the features that make Webchinavasion different from rest of the sites. If you really want to feel the different then it is advisable to visit this site and to have your much desired accessory like car DVD player or spy cameras from here.

After watching this video, you will be able to safety test alternator voltage output. This test can be completed using a basic multimeter (~$25). Multimeters are also known as voms (Volt-Ohm-Meters) or dmms (Digital Multimeters). The surface voltage of a fully charged battery when a vehicle is not running should be between 12.5 to 12.8 volts. Most automotive batteries are lead acid 12-volt DC (Direct Current). Each of the six cells in a 12-volt DC battery produces 2 to 2.1 volts. When the engine is running, the alternator will typically put out between 13.8 to 14.8 volts. Cautions: Park the vehicle outside or connect the vehicle’s exhaust to an evacuation system. Carbon monoxide is deadly. For more car care information, visit autoupkeep.com.

In any car audio system, the subwoofer must absolutely be present. It might not sound important at first, but if you remove the subwoofer component, there’s no bass left. A subwoofer by definition is a loudspeaker dedicated to producing low frequency sounds. Have you ever heard the booming beat screaming from a car? That’s the subwoofer at work. Of course, it’s turned past what the average car owner would have it at.

The top companies you’ll want to look for if you want to upgrade your car subwoofer are JL Audio, MTX Audio, and Kicker. These three are leading the car audio industry, all with early origins. JL Audio’s W7 line is one of the most advanced and most powerful subwoofer lines available on the market (pricey, but well worth it if you care about the quality). MTX Audio has released an amazing 60-inch subwoofer that holds the record for the size. They also have the largest consumer subwoofer that measures at 22 inches. Kicker’s L7 seems to be the best from the Kicker lineup, and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be.

Cars usually carry their subwoofers in the trunk or back parts of the vehicle because of the lack of space. Subwoofers and their enclosures tend to take up more space than is expected. As such, fitting them into dashboards and doors is extremely difficult.

An interesting thing subwoofers are used for are volume competition, also known as SPL wars. SPL (sound pressure levels) get extremely high in these battles, and some companies decide to produce subwoofers geared extremely towards the SPL rather than the sound quality. Companies like JL Audio have focused on both SPL and sound quality, as shown in JL Audio’s W7 series.

When installing a car stereo subwoofer, it sometimes requires modifications to the vehicle itself. Obviously, each car is built differently, and that includes the space allowed for upgrades/changes like the subwoofer. If you want to shoot for a larger one or one with a different shape (although mostly circular, some subwoofers are square), it’s important to make sure you have the right size available; otherwise, its time to bust out tools to make it so that you have the right size.

Never assume that a smaller subwoofer is weaker. For example, JL Audio’s 8-inch W7 subwoofer is more powerful than some 12-inch subwoofers from other companies. Because of this, you must always read reviews on the subwoofer you’re looking at before buying it in case that smaller subwoofer is indeed weaker. If you keep with the more popular brands, though, you shouldn’t have many problems, because these have been reviewed many times over and won’t fail to deliver.

Car stereo subwoofers sound like enthusiast-only business, but they dig deeper than most people think.