Auto | Car | Sparepart

Nitrous Application preview from Bradley David Automotive Animation

Converting your car to run on biodiesel can help you save a lot of gas. And this alternative fuel emits less carbon dioxide, making it more environmentally friendly than an engine which runs on conventional fossil fuel.

A regular car, running with a diesel engine, can run on biodiesel, which is a non-petroleum based type of diesel. This type of fuel is sold in a blend, by various pumping stations. But did you know that you can convert your diesel car to run on “Straight Vegetable Oil” or “SVO?”

What is SVO?

SVO is something you can find right in your kitchen. It can be made from a number of vegetables, such as corn, soy, hemp, palm, or hemp. If you want to help make the world a cleaner place for future generations, you can convert your diesel car to run on biodiesel.

Running on SVO can be expensive if you buy your oil off the counter. What some people do is ask local restaurants to purchase their used vegetable oil. Don’t settle for one single source. If you have multiple sources, you’ll have plenty in reserve, and won’t run out of fuel for your car.

Before you can use the SVO in a converted car, you will have to filter the waste vegetable oil you’ve collected. One of the simplest ways to do this is to heat the oil, and pour it into a strainer or coffee filter. The important thing is to get rid of the solid food particles in the oil, before you load it into the SVO tank.

Get a Conversion Kit

You will need to procure a conversion kit for your diesel car if you want it to run on exclusively on SVO. Shop around, and search through a number of online biodiesel communities. They can help you find where to buy one.

Prices can vary, for the equipment and the labor. Also, make sure that the kit is compatible with the make and model of your car. You could find a mechanic to install the kit for you, but you can also save a couple of dollars if you install on your own.

Most conversion kits are sold with instructions that are easy to follow. There are three typical modifications that are required, for converting your car to biodiesel. These are: 1) SVO Fuel Tank, Hose/Seal 2) overhaul for the fuel system, and 3) modification of the heating system. Running your car on biodiesel can help you save money in the long run. This is one way of not just helping yourself, but your environment as well.

Michael Schumacher will be returning to F1 for Mercedes, Gemballa’s joint project MIG-U1 is unveiled at the Dubai Auto Show, some rumors revolving around the Bugatti 16C Galibier, and My First Car in Rockafeller Center. Hosted by Derek deangelis. Fast Lane Daily is your daily source for the latest car news, car reviews and exclusive coverage of automotive events. www.fastlanedaily.com For More car reviews, check out our other channel www.youtube.com Facebook: www.facebook.com Twitter: www.twitter.com

Only a few things are there that provide you service without requiring constant supply of something. The rest of the things need to be fed well to serve you properly. Your car is an example of the second category of things. It needs regular supply of fuel to run smooth and take you from one place to the other. Not only this, it also needs removal and addition of car parts at certain intervals.

Leave alone the old, used cars; the brand new ones also may need addition of some accessory as soon as you take them out of the showroom. May be the most expensive cars like the high-end models of Lamborghini, Lexus, Rolls Royse and the likes will not require anything to be added to them. The rest of the cars will have to be adorned with some car parts so that they look attractive and give comfort.

So, unless you are a plutocrat and have a bank balance heavy enough to buy the swanky models of the world’s best car manufacturers, you have to be ready to make additions to your car in the form of accessories. Since car parts are necessary for all and owners cannot but buy them quite often, an industry of reasonable size has sprung up. This paves the way of a host of options to choose from.

Thus, with a plethora of options to pick out from, you are sure to get the type of car parts you need or want. There are options for the swanky cars as there are for the low-cost or used cars. No matter how expensive or how cheap car accessory is your choice, there will be no dearth of options for you. No only as per budget, there are parts available on style preference. Options are handy for the flashy as well as for the cheap cars.

The first step is to determine what your needs are. If you’re unsure, we will first look at the individual components that make up a complete system.

The Head Unit

AKA Source Unite. This is the most important part of your audio system. The decision you make here will either make or break your system, never mind you hearing.

What to look for in a head unit:

Manufacturer: Look for a well know manufacturer i.e. Sony, Alpine, Clarion, Blaupunkt, JVC etc.

Sound Re-production: Accurate sound re-production is a must, forget looks.

Warranty: Good warranty is also a must, avoid Grey-Market units.

Build Quality: Make sure its robust.

Low budget features:

Forget Fascination: Forget colorful displays, flip down panels, inbuilt equalizers, bass boost etc.

Higher budget features:

CD: If your music collection is on CD, then consider a CD head unit or one with a CD changer.

MP3 & WMA: If you have a vast music library then you may want to look for units that can read MP3 and/or WMA music formats.

VCD & DVD: Long journeys will benefit from this feature and keep the kids out of trouble too.

Amplifier: If you planning to add an amp to your car choose a head unit with RCA outputs.

Speakers

This is the second most important part of your audio system. Speakers convert electronic signals into sound waves.

What to look for in speakers:

Spending: Speakers come in several types, sizes and power ratings. Be careful before spending more money then you need to.

Power: Speaker power is one of the most over-rated features in head units and speakers.

Numbers: Don’t get pulled in by numbers like 300Watts or 450Watts etc. Even the big company’s use this.

Ratings: Don’t buy speakers based upon the company’s ratings like PMPO, Peak Power, Max Power etc.

RMS: Root Mean Square ratings are equivalent of the actual power rating delivered.

Installation: This is one of the most important points of the speaker, “proper installation”. Direction, Height and Placement is key to the sound and if not installed properly can make the sound feel lifeless.

Manufacturer Locations: Usually speaker locations provided by the car manufacturer are not the best, but you can install the speakers in the provided spaces.

Speaker Types:

Coaxial: They are two (or more) speakers’ built-in the same unit. They usually consist of a mid-bass and tweeters. They are cheaper than separate component speakers and easier to install.

Component 2-Way: They consist of a mid-bass and tweeter. They are harder to install then coaxial.

Component 3-Way: They consist of a separate woofer, mid-bass or mid-range and tweeters. They are harder to install then coaxial.

Mid-Bases: Usually 5” to 8” speakers that are designed for low frequency sound and fill the frequency gap between the woofer and the tweeter. Because of there size they are hard to fit but do make the sound more lifelike.

Horns: These are funnel shaped speakers that are for staging, they are particularly good for vocal frequencies but are the hardest to install.

Tweeters: Usually 1” to 3” in size and great for high frequency sounds. They can be hard to install in some cars as there mounting is usually done around or in the dashboard.

Sub-Woofers: The largest speakers raging in size from 8” to 24” and sometimes bigger. They are the most important if you want to feel the beats and not just hear them. The woofer is usually found in the trunk in an enclosure but installations may vary.

Speaker Locations:

Front Speakers: Commonly located in or under the dashboard or in door panels.

Rear Speakers: Located behind the rear seats or in door panels.

Woofer: Depending on size, behind the rear seats or in the trunk.

Tweeters: Usually on the front pillars, front doors or dashboard.

Note: Try out your speaker positions before installing them so that you get the best sound.

Amplifiers

Amps amplify or multiply the input signals from the head unit to the speakers. The Amp not only make the sound louder they also make it clearer.

What to look for:

Class: Amps are classified according to their amplification, Class-A, B, AB, and D.

Channel: They can also be classified by their channel, Monobloc 1-Channel, 2-Channel, 4-Channel etc.

Crossovers

They are a combination of series and parallel placed induction coils and capacitors, or either of them. They are given the job of frequency distribution among different types of speaker for distortion free sound reproduction. Inductors stop the high frequencies from passing through.

A combination of these together make a band pass which cut through a certain portion of both the high as well as the low frequencies and are rightly called band-pass crossovers.

.

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) will be completing 60 years this December, when the first meeting was organized all those years ago by Bill France Sr., to discuss problems faced by stock car racing. From that first humble meeting, NASCAR has become one of the most popular spectator sports in the world. No one present in that meeting could ever have dreamed that NASCAR would turn out to become what it is today!

The Stock Car Evolution

The first race under the aegis of NASCAR was held on February 15, 1948 at Daytona Beach. This was the post WWII era. Obviously, there was a shortage of new cars. Most people were driving pre-war models, which were in a rattletrap condition, to say the least. The cars were ‘modified,’ which consisted of merely tweaking and tuning the engine.

Ropes sufficed as seat belts, and the more colorful drivers used aircraft harnesses. Roll bars, which have been mandated since 1952, were not in use during those early years.

The ‘stock car’ designation was strictly enforced and brought cars from diverse manufacturers, such as Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Ford, Hudson, Kaiser, Lincoln, Mercury and Oldsmobile. One of the greatest problems was the failure of the wheels and the suspensions, as the racing surfaces were rough, dirt tracks.

As stock car racing gained popularity, there was fierce competition, and this made modifications necessary. Many modifications were brought in, in the interest of safety, and many special ‘high performance’ parts found there way into the mainstream models. This enabled these ‘special’ parts to be used in NASCAR racing. The first special production was that of ‘racing tires,’ which in 1952, were manufactured and distributed by Pure Oil Company.

This made quite a change from the normal ‘street’ tires. Development in tires continued, with both Firestone, and Goodyear – to some degree – took keen interest. Such developments were necessitated by increase in car speeds.

In 1952, two-way radios were used for the first time in a NASCAR race, and today it is a vital piece of equipment. Faced with a spate of hubs, axles, and suspension failures, the Oldsmobile, Lincoln and Hudson car companies introduced usage kits, in 1953.

In those early times, racing drivers did not stick to one particular model, or even make. They fairly jumped from one model, or make, to another, depending on what car or model they thought was suitable for their needs.

Today, the cars and the tracks used in NASCAR racing are a far cry from what they were all those five and six decades ago, when there were ‘true’ stock cars, racing on rough and dirt tracks.

The Tickets

The NASCAR race calendar is always full, and its fans all over the country eagerly look to purchase NASCAR tickets for the races of their choice.

Your best option to lay your hands on your choice of NASCAR tickets is through legitimate and professional ticket brokers. Competent ticket brokers have the resources to arrange to procure your NASCAR tickets for you, and have them delivered to your doorstep.

0-100 km/h 4 sec. | Centric-Automotive.com has made a lightweight, fully electric, open sportscar, Thorr. Up to 200kw rated power. www.thorr.eu