Archive for the 'Other Articles' Category

A recent debate in Honda’s world is that of fuel economy vs safety. However it is not just Honda who have to consider this, but every car manufacturer, from vauxhall to Alfa Romeo.

There are several reasons why this is important. Firstly in some countries such as Canada there is a legal limit on the fuel consumption for a car, if the fuel consumption is too low then a rebate is given, which in Canada is $1000 if under 6.5 litres per 100KM.

The most fuel efficient car on the market today (to my knowledge) is the Toyota Yaris, 999cc edition with 6.3 litres per 100KM, already breaching Canadian law.

The bigger reason for concern is the with the customer. As a youth myself you either go for two types of car within your budget and this is style or fuel efficiency and normally the two are opposites, e.g. my friend has a Chrysler Neon special edition 2.2 litre and it looks superb but it drinks petrol. My brother on the other hand has the 999cc Toyota Yaris and it does not look the part but he gets more for his money.

This becomes a problem when looking for a fuel economical car because people don’t realize that fuel efficiency is effected by several factors, from extras in the car to the weight of the car, and a lot of weight can be added with safety features such as extra airbags and supporting frames. Therefore in some context youths are looking for fuel economical yet less safe cars.

Honda claims there Honda Fit is 6.5 litres per 100km, however it does have more safety features than the Yaris including airbags all round and claim the extra weights adds litres per kilometers and without the safety features it would be as fuel efficient, but people don’t seem to pick up on this and if your looking for fuel efficiency then you would choose the Yaris, even though it only comes with driver airbag for safety features.

Vauxhall have also claimed several of there fuel economical cars have a heavier vauxhall body part, thus increasing fuel efficiency and this was done to add security. Vauxhall also are starting to use 6 speed vauxhall gerabox’s in there cars which aim at reducing fuel efficiency.

So my message would be if your buying a car for its fuel efficiency, also consider its safety features, and you far better put up with a little less efficiency for more safety, and look into company explanations for the vehicle like the heavier vauxhall body part and newer 6 speed vauxhall gearbox since you may find there reasons convince you to buy the car.

Some facts and information from AutoBlog

I recently had my car gearbox changed on my vauxhall corsa for 300 GBP (its a 1995 vauxhall corsa) so i was upset about that and now several other vauxhall parts have gone including my indicator switch, the window mechanism (wont wind down fully), and yesterday i was in a minor bump at tescos.

The bump is too little to go through insurance but enough to it go down in value (probably now worth around 300 GBP for the car).

After carefully consideration i have 3 options. I can fix and put it thorugh its MOT in may, possibly costing me more than the cars is worth. Secondly i could brake it down for vauxhall spare parts and sell them to make money, or thirdly i simply sell the car and get a new one.

I am unsure what to do. i might be able to make more money breaking the car down and selling the vauxhall spare parts, however i may not. The safety of selling it as a whole i like, but would anyone buy it. The third option of putting it through its MOT only seems ok if i pass, if i have to pay out it seems like a waste.

Well reader whats should i do?

I have been reading a few articles about killer car parts. The first of which is brake fluid in which over a third of motors tested had fatal brake fluid. What this means is that as brake fluid ages it can absorb water and boil, leading to failure of the brakes without any warning and if your on the motorway then that’s a deadly combination.

So what can be done I hear you say, well checks should be implemented and it should be covered in the MOT or service. Also you should have emergency brakes fitted on cars if the main ones should fail, I don’t know how it would be implemented but nothing is impossible (kind of like lifts in buildings with their emergency brakes).

The second most deadly car part is tyres according to several resources.
The reason being is they are one of the only car parts people think don’t need maintaining. Personally i get new tyres every year or so. All it takes is a blown out tire on a fast road and before you can say the word tyre you’re off the road in a ditch.

If any one has had any other deadly car parts then let me know via comments, personally I have not had any bad experiences in a car. I had to change my car gearbox last year, but fatal it was not (only to my wallet).

Remember if any of you need car parts then why not use CarSpareFinder for the cheapest car parts around.

One of the major weaknesses of the X factor TV programme that I can see is that although they put everyone through their paces in terms of singing there is no test of driving skills. Viewers may see that the contestants can warble their lungs out and grin while they are doing it but we never see their skill at high speed driving to get away from the paparazzi. We don’t see them being tested on parking outside night clubs.

There is nothing on basic mechanics either. There’s no point winning the chance to have a number one single before plunging back into obscurity if you don’t know how to deal with a leaking radiator. Do any of these hopefuls know how to change a car tyre?

Instead of getting them to yell out the latest power ballad Simon Cowell would do well to ask a few of them to get under the bonnet and see how they get on changing the oil on a Mondeo, then you could end up with a truly multi-talented winner and one who can do their own repairs using good used parts from the internet when it goes wrong and they can’t afford to send their Ferrari to the garage anymore.

I have read on several blogs and articles about studies on technologies and car parts such as abs and air bags. Some studies claim these car parts actually increase the accident rate.

This makes me sick, these people study over several years and claim conditions are set and then record stats. However how do we know the stats would not be the same is the car parts were not installed, and its just that more people are driving thus more accidents.

These car parts such as ABS and airbags have been tested in labs, outdoors, in crash simulations and have proven to be increase safety.

I was talking to my mother in law who told me a story of why she does not use seatbelts and she says its because one woman told her she had a crash and the doctor told her she would of died if she wore the seatbelt.

Firstly that sounds like crap. Secondly yes there maybe a odd occasion that a seatbelt worn would wrap around someone’s neck and strangle them. But for 99 percent of the time it will save you flying out the window and smashing your head open on something at a fast speed.Personally i love the safety car parts including my ABS, power steering and my airbags they make me feel safe.

What do you guys think?

The big question over the sad break up of Chris Tarrant’ marriage is who will get the Silver Mercedes? That’s the car that Chris was driving around in when his wife was having him followed and I would think he’ll want to keep it.

Chris’s wife is set to fight him for half his £35 million and I bet she’ll be angling for the car as well. That’s a lot of dosh. Imagine going on ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire?’ and winning 35 times in a row

I would think that a really high percentage of the money that Chris has given out on ‘Millionaire’ has gone on flash cars. Almost the first thing that anyone does who wins a lot of money is buy the car they’ve always dreamed of. Thank goodness that the rest of us can find good used car parts on this site to keep our cars going.

It’s a good pub discussion question to ask people what car they would buy if they won a million. Most people have a car in mind and it’s usually something very expensive and flashy and not very practical. In that respect I suppose Chris Tarrant is a bit unusual as his Silver Mercedes is very practical.