Archive for September, 2006

Driving for a living puts a lot of pressure on your licence, as well as your spare parts whether you’re a taxi driver, salesman or truck driver. You have to be so careful about racking up points not to mention the wear and tear on your vehicle parts. Obviously we all want to drive with full care and attention but the fear of losing your licence and therefore your livelihood is something that keeps many a speedster - or drinker in line.

As with most things technology has a role to play. If you are tearing from one end of the country to the other those sat-nav units that include information on speed cameras can be pretty useful I imagine although a bit pricey. The companies always promote them as ‘supporting safe driving’ and the fact that they make people slow down must have some effect.

I remember when the first ‘fuzz busters’ were launched in America and what a fuss was made. They were a big black boxes that sat on the dash and flashed a red light any time a speed check gun was being used on you. I think in some states they were legal but in others they weren’t.

I think that speed cameras must be the most universally hated things on country lanes apart from slow moving caravans on bank holidays. There can be nothing more aggravating than being on a journey, not even realising that you’ve been caught and then getting that brown envelope through the door a few weeks later. Not that it’s ever happened to me of course.

Obviously, no one advocates breaking the law and in fact there have been a few times when I’ve been cut up by a dangerous driver when I’ve been hoping they’ll get caught, but the speed limit laws must be the most broken laws in the land. Even my gran used to do 32 in a 30 sometimes, but only if she was late for bingo.

So I suppose the answer is that if your job relies on you having a clean licence don’t race to bingo.

A quick update, Richard Hammond has been said to be in a stable condition from several news sources. This was after his crash last night in a jet powered car while filming for Top Gear.

From all of us at CarSpareFinder get well soon

All the team here at CarSpareFinder were shocked to hear of ‘BBC’ s Top Gear presenters accident last night. It seems he was driving a rocket powered car on an air-strip near York when the car flipped over.

Reports say that he may have already broken the land speed record at the time of the accident.

Anyone who’s watched Top Gear will know that Richard has taken a fair number of controlled risks over the years and we’re used to seeing him walk away grinning. Hopefully we’ll be seeing that smile again on screen soon. This is a man who loves his cars and loves talking about them too.

We like all things to do with cars here and we love to see anyone as enthusiastic and entertaining as Richard. As a great presenter who’s driven some of the tastiest motors on T.V. he is a guy we all admire and everyone here wishes him a full and speedy recovery.

Car spares come in all shapes and sizes of course but when I was a kid and it was raining and I was in the house getting under my dad’s feet he was always telling me to stop hanging round ‘like a spare part’.

It was meant as an insult and I used to duck whenever I heard it because I knew I was about to get a slap on the back of the head. Actually ducking is an automatic reaction that I have to this day whenever I hear the phrase ‘like a spare part’, which can be embarrassing if I’m in a garage.

I don’t know what kind of spare part my dad was thinking of with arms, legs and a snotty nose but nothing that you find on a Merc that’s for sure.

What he didn’t realise was how valuable any car spares can be! If he’d known the demand for just the right spares he’d have called me something else a bit more useless than car spares I’m sure – like chocolate tea-pot.

It’s an in interesting point to me that not everything that is valuable costs a lot. For instance the clip that holds the radiator hose in place can be the difference between getting home or sitting at the road side in the middle of the night waiting for assistance. At 2 o’clock in the morning a hose clip can be extremely valuable, but they cost next to nothing.

This car, the Citroën C-Matisse, gets into the car part store for its superb looks, fantastic design, sexy interior and the pure amount of technology it is made from.

Best features include white leather seats in a centre console design, using the Hybrid HDi system (diesel 208 horsepower V6 engine capable). It is also environmentally friendly with its design, light weight equalling superb performance and an unbelievable 36.1 miles to the gallon. Oh and 0 - 60 in under 6.5 seconds. WOW.
This post is based upon a article by Rowan Pierce at Auto Blog and image from Auto Blog.

There has been a bit of controversy in the press over the retirement of the car parts king – Schumacher as mentioned in my previous blog.

It seems that not everyone will miss him, especially some of the other drivers. I’m sure it’s not because he kept beating them it has to be because he’s been hogging all the best car parts for the last few years and not letting them get a look in.

I know some of the drivers have complained about the way he drove in the middle of the track when he was in-front, not letting them past, but he was just scouring the track for spare car parts that any of them might have dropped.

Some have said that the old car parts king could be a bit ruthless when it came to snatching car parts but it seems to me that most of those complaining are the ones who had to look up at him from the bottom of the podium.

Formula One of course is absolutely riddled with rules and regulations about what car parts you can actually use. They’re not allowed to be too light or give you an unfair advantage and they’ve all got very precise measurements. I think Schumacher was the master of pushing the boundaries and it seems to have left a bad taste for some people. Not Ferrari though, as far as they’re concerned he’s not just a car parts king, he’s the car parts God who gave them so much success.

Car make ford is currently testing its new seatbelt design. The idea is to make a more secure and comfortable seatbelt by having a 4 point as opposed to the original 3 point wich is most commonly used in race cars, with the connection in front so it is easily undone rather than being to the side. You can read up on the testing of the design at detnews we will have to wait and see weather this new design will be incorporated into new cars and become the new car part to buy and mod your existing car with.

An interesting article from Auto Express saying that MOT tests rules are changing. Now if your car needs retesting within 10 days of a MOT due to faulty car parts, they can only charge up to 50% of the cost.

This will save motorists loads of cash, so they can spend it on other aspects like ‘modding’ their cars with new car parts or saving for that dream holiday.

Currently the rules apply for only some car parts including fuel emissions, headlamps, ABS and warning lights but soon maybe they will include all car parts or even make it free if the car needs re-testing within a month

Anyway these changes are definitively a good thing and can only get better!

If you love car engines then just look at this beauty. This car engine should be in an art gallery for all to admire. If there was a car engine god, this would be it. It is the Kate Moss car engine. Need I go on? Simply watch this video of this amazing piece of art which is hand crafted. Ladies and gentlemen I give you the Ferrari V12.

I first saw this video on a article in AutoBlog by Noah Joseph

[Image from Forumula1.com]

The legend that is Schumacher (who I call the car parts king due to the thousands of car parts he has gone through from tires to new vehicles) has confirmed his retirement in Formula One.

I read about this news on a article by Frank Filipponio at AutoBlog

He announced the news yesterday the 10th of September after his win at the Italian Grand Prix. He however says his relationship with Farrari will continue. Maybe this means he will train new car parts kings and legends. Who knows at this point.

Ferrari will announce a new team later this year, including the new car parts king role.

We will all miss the legend and car part kind that is Schumacher.