Protecting your Ride, Benefits of a Car Alarm System

Has your vehicle ever been broken into?

Having this done to you is a horrible feeling. Some cry, others have the overwhelming feeling of wanting to get even. When I was 17 I had my first break in. The Toyota Celica was my first semi-sports car. While visiting a friend one day, someone tried to pop the trunk and steal my subwoofer but was ran off before he had the chance to make off with it. You think I would of installed an alarm after that but at that time I didn’t have the funds. My second break in occurred when I was 20. I was driving a Turbo Charged Eagle Talon with some goodies under the hood as well as a system in the trunk. This is where I wish I had an alarm system installed. I think it happened around 3:00 am. The thief first broke my back-side window and then my drivers side window to get in. After this he ripped the CD player out and popped the trunk for the rest. This night resulted in over 500 worth of damage and about $800 in audio equipment. All of this could of probably been avoided with a simple alarm system installed.

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Texting While Driving – How serious is it and do we need laws in place to Ban It?

While we enter the season of youngsters returning to school it reminds us of when we used to be a teenager faced with peer pressure, an acne filled face and maybe if we were fortunate enough, a car to drive to school. Although I never got a car until after high school, I can never recall a situation where I used my cell phone while driving, let alone, texting while driving. Simply put, the reason was, we didn’t have cell phones. Today surveys and “studies” will tell you that over 85% of teens will have a cell phone before graduating from high school. Of those teens, a majority of them will be guilty of texting while driving. It is not only teenagers that are texting while driving, adults of all ages are just as guilty.

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Asbestos Still Used in Manufacturing of Auto Parts

Though it is regarded as a “problem of the past,” asbestos should still be a major concern for those in automotive industry.

For the most of the 20^th century, asbestos was utilized by car manufacturers in clutches, gaskets, brake pads and linings. Asbestos appeared the ideal choice for car manufacturers due to its flame resistant, durable and inexpensive qualities.

Today, as asbestos has not yet been totally banned, many of these products may still contain asbestos. When materials that contain asbestos become damaged, they can release its fibers into the air. A big portion of the substance is inside the brake housing or clutch space and can become airborne when repairs or work is performed. This creates a major health risk to auto mechanics and car enthusiasts who maintain their own vehicles.  

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2009 Nissan 370Z – Down-Shift SynchroRev Match What?

Kid Racer: Look Ma, I am only using two feet instead of two-and-a-half. No more heel-toeing!

Mom: What’s heel-toeing?

The days of calling any type of transmission found in cars “Manual” are almost over. Only 15% of the driving population even knows how to drive a manual transmission equipped vehicle let alone know how to heel-toe or “double clutch” in an attempt to match a rev during a down-shift.

Sport mode, launch mode, S5, S6, SMG, DSG, Single Clutch, Dual Clutch, CVT, Sequential Manual, Triptronic, paddle shift, throttle blip, and now I am getting a serious headache. The list goes on as to the technological advancements when it comes to shifting gears. Who would have thought so much thought would be put into gear changing.

Now we have something that I have honestly never seen or heard of in a full manual transmission which is found in the new 2009 Nissan 370Z, a SynchroRev Match system. Basically, from what I have understood from my research, this system automatically blips the throttle when you attempt to up-shift to a higher gear using the shifter. Of course you find a throttle blip system built into many of the new, what Jeremy Clarkson calls them, floppy paddle gearboxes, in new cars today. This is the first full manual setup that incorporates an automated throttle blip and remains to be a full manual tranny.

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Four Ways to Save on Your Car in a Recession

With the economy still going bad with no immediate promise of recuperation in the next few months, a lot of people are finding the need to be more frugal in their spending decisions.  Cutting costs and saving money seem to be more important than ever as people are losing their jobs or are now faced with financial uncertainty in the next few months.  One of the challenges motorists face today is how they can be wiser in expenses that involve their vehicles.  Cars are a necessary commodity for us to get around effectively.  And since replacing our current rides prove to be an unrealistic thing in the road ahead, one must learn the necessary skills to keep their cars in top shape without having to spend more.  The following are practical ways one can be frugal on common situations where motoring expense cannot be avoided.

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What Happens To Your Nissan GT-R After The New Firmware/ECU Update?

We ventured over to NAGTROC.org and gtrblog.com and discovered that a member has already taken his GT-R to get the new firmware/ECU updated and he has shared his experience afterwards. It seems the launch control was NOT disabled but the launch RPM changed. Also, the new launch control can be done with VDC on. Do you know what I am thinking? Yes, I can break the transmission and get it covered under warranty provided I leave the VDC on and the transmission decides to take a dump on me! Yes, off to the dealership I go!

Below is the post from NAGTROC.org and gtrblog.com and video of the “new” launch control RPM after the jump…

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Mercedes Benz Will Have “Splitview” Screen Technology In New S-Class

Mercedes Benz said it will offer a new Splitview display technology in it’s new upcoming S-Class that allows the driver and passenger to view to separate programs/images at the same time. This means your passenger may be able to view a DVD movie while you are trying to navigate to the nearest strip club. Okay, only kidding about the strip club. But can you only imaging, using the same display device to view different images. We already know the S-Class has a self-drive option (accelerate and brake in traffic on its own) but this one seems like a lot of commotion and a potential distraction if you ask me.

Have you ever seen those traffic lights with the blinds on it or the ones angles in a way that you can only see it from a certain angle? What about old LCD screens that the viewing angle was so narrow that you really could not read the screen if you were looking at it from an side angle? Well, this new technology kind of revisits that same concept only it actually works for the purpose of displaying two separate images viewed at certain angles only. Some may refer to this new Splitview screen as “DualView” which was actually previews in February by Bosch and Blaupunkt who happen to be the new systems developers.

The new system will be a touchscreen but only for the driver. The passenger will get a separate remote control device that may be used to control the passenger section of the screen more for watching movies in your new Benz.

We are not sure of the price on this new option but we are certain Benz will be offering it first in their newest S-Class as early as 2009.