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Archive for June 21st, 2010

The Right Process To Properly Change Your Brake Pads On A Vehicle

June 21st, 2010 No comments

Almost always there is a speed bully in nearly all drivers. It gives you at some kind of each time you are commuting at the rate beyond 80 miles per hour on the highroad. On certain occasions it gives you that inescapable hunger of driving that pedal to the metal yet have you considered that there is a must for you to stop, would you find a way to do so the moment you step on that brake pedal? That is definitely one thing which you must always look into each time you unleash the speed devil deep inside you. Because of this, it is required to consistently examine your brakes especially your brake pads.

Brake pads are one of those indispensable parts of your braking system that is exposed greatly to break up. That is why it is always important to replace them when they are thinning out. Now, here are a number of tips on how you can change your very own brake pads the second it has undoubtedly served its purpose. Here are some of the objects that you must have: your useful jack, a cross wrench or whatsoever socket wrench that would work with the lug nuts of your tire, a jack stand, a C-clamp, torque wrench (if you do not have one it is fine), and surely completely new brake pads.

Slightly ease off the lug nuts of the tire. Always remember to just loosen and not fully remove it. You never want your personal auto to flop on the ground without those tires on. Grab your jack and position it on the solid section under your car. Frequently it is placed under the step board of your vehicle. Next, lift your ride high enough until the jack stand would be adjusted to take the place of your jack in keeping your car during which time you are replacing your brake pad. Repeat the same process to the other side of your car. Now that your car is safely elevated by your jack stand you can finally unlock the lug nuts on those tires. Safely remove your tires.

The next step is to; remove one of the bolts that keep your brake pads in the caliper. Immediately after removing a bolt, you can already move the caliper to loosen those pair of brake pads. Take away the previous pair of brake pads and place the new ones in but yet before doing that you have to move the caliper piston back with the use of your C-clamp to ensure that the brand new brake pads will fit. You might ask which pad should work on which part of the car. So here’s a rather quick rule, advice, just imitate how the previous pads are put up when you put those new ones in. Similar process goes on the other part of your vehicle. Whenever this bit of the procedure makes you feel like uneasy, you can opt to take it to any kind of the Denver auto repair retailers so they could suggest you instructions or show you how it is done.

Congratulations! You have just changed your car’s brake pads. It may sound difficult but if you put your heart into it, it will only be like a walk in the park.

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Categories: Automotive

Volkswagen Bora V6 4MOTION I’LL Have 2

June 21st, 2010 No comments

Volkswagen’s Bora mixes high levels of luxury and comfort with sporty performance from one of the best small capacity V6 engines we’ve ever tried.

Is the Volkswagen Bora V6 4MOTION the thinking man’s WRX? Perhaps. Its tenacious four wheel grip, quick engine and responsive handling are certainly impressive, although it doesn’t focus quite as much on performance as Subaru’s turbo boxer.

In the real world the Bora is best kept on flowing roads. Tight mountain passes remain the domain of the sharper, more focused WRX – the constant change of direction upsets the Bora’s slightly softer, more supple suspension. The 4MOTION four wheel drive system is good, very good in fact, and definitely set up to push the front if you’re overly optimistic in assessing corner entry speeds.

Safety is also high on the list, with anti-lock brakes, electronic brake distribution, and traction control to keep you in control. Six airbags, and state of the art body construction methods should reduce injuries if you don’t.

Volkswagen fits the sporty Bora with traction control, which – given this car is four wheel drive – may have you scratching your head. We certainly were – until we went for a spirited run in the wet. The Bora’s engine spins so easily and freely, and is so responsive that, without traction control it could run away with you.

It has to be said, though, that the Bora is not perfect. A less than precise gear-change action takes some of the polish off the six speed ‘box, and the MacPherson strut suspension misses full marks with damping poorly matched to the engine’s performance.

And so, we can’t help wondering what might have been. We’ve seen a glimpse of how fast and capable the Bora can be while still bowing to comfort and luxury.

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Categories: Automotive

Peugeot 206 GTi A Little Sex Kitten

June 21st, 2010 No comments

When it comes to looks this little car is a sex kitten. Sleek and well proportioned, it’s the sort of car that you could imagine purring when you run your hand across it. However, like any good feline, there’s a side to the thing that’s more than ready to scratch and spit when the mood takes it.

In the fun stuff where the corners are no more than fifty metres apart, and wind around as God intended, the handling is both precocious and forgiving. Turn the wheel and the car turns with ease and accuracy. There’s little in the way of body roll and the suspension delivers plenty of feedback to the driver. It’s not easy to get the little Pug out of shape, but if you do start the car slithering across the camber, it’s easy to control on the throttle and you never feel that things are going to turn ugly.

Which brings me to the driving position and equipment. This is a small car and you’ll have to accept that once in the seat, you are more or less slotted into position rather than lounging about in armchair-like comfort. In truth the seat adjustment is good and the general position and feel is comfortable, but there’s a fly in the soup, the foot pedals are simply too close together.

Equipment is good and easy to operate, although the column mounted radio control stick is not as simple to use as other manufacturer systems. In terms of room there’s only really room for two, anyone getting in the back will either have to be very small or only traveling a short distance.

These days how much fuel gets sucked through the engine is a key buying factor and once again Peugeot have produced a car with stunning economy. The base model 206 was astounding, returning 16.4km/l on test, and the GTi version was not far off the same. This puts Peugeots hot hatch into budget micro car territory, and is something the competition will have to work hard to match.

The Peugeot 206 GTi is a great small car that is easy on the eye, easy on the pocket to run, and immensely satisfying to own and drive. It’s not a family car, nor a commuter hatch, nor a full-on sports car. It’s a mixture of all three. It’s like a French mistress, chic and adorable, with enough rudeness to make it exciting.

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Categories: Automotive

Opel Zafira Put Through Its Paces

June 21st, 2010 No comments

Every now and again along comes a car that surprises you, and sometimes that’s a really nice thing!

This is the case with the Opel Zafira. From the outside it looks a lot like a whole swag of other family style people carriers, same sort of general shape, size and on paper specs. Yet here is a car that’s more than the sum of its parts.

What’s it drive like? Now here’s the good stuff. Despite the lack of stand out styling, the car drives like a good one. First off there’s the engine, also found in the Vectra. The power delivery is lively and invigorating. Even fully laden there’s plenty of grunt and the revs zip up the range with an urgency that completely belies the size of the vehicle and the design parameters.

The Zafira’s driving position is as expected; multi adjustable and allows that high and commanding view point which suits the vehicle and will appeal to a lot. Seats are comfy and supportive and the general view of the equipment from the driver’s seat is pretty satisfying with everything being where you’d expect it to be. It would have been nice to see the column mounted stereo controls found on other cars in the range fitted here also.

Giving the Zafira an engine without matching it to decent handling would be a tragic waste, and I’m pleased to report that things are well looked after in that department. As mentioned the chassis is based on the Astra, and as a result looks like the car sits quite low to the ground.

Whoever Opel gave the job of weighting the steering to, had a good handle on the relationship between what you want, and what you need. Light and accurate without divorcing the driver from the sensation of turning the wheels, which some power steering systems do, the Zaf’ is as happy do the parking lot pirouette or the bung it in and bang it on. In fact you can be forgiven for driving the thing in a manner that makes a mockery of the design purpose.

In terms of outside visibility, the Zafira wins bonus points, and it’s clear that the big H has put a lot of thought into keeping things like the ‘A’ pillar as narrow as possible, in so doing maximizing observation opportunities.

There’s a fair bit of storage space elsewhere, and some useful little compartments including one strategically placed to catch the change that falls out of your pocket and ends up under the seat supplementing the kids pocket money.

As for fuel usage, well all that down changing and performance has a cost, and even though the car slips into neutral when stationary to save fuel, as well as preventing strain on the drive line, the best I could get was 8.1 km/l (12.3l/100km).

Did we like it? The answer to that is a yes. It’s a well-rounded and practical package that puts some of the driving experience back into a class that could be as dull as coal. Try it and see if I’m right.

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Categories: Automotive

Smartphone Apps Help The World Go ‘Round

June 21st, 2010 No comments

Remember a few years ago when texting was the new thing? Remember when a lot of people still didn’t really know how to use it? (oh wait, that’s still true). Heck, cell phones themselves are still a pretty new concept. Have you noticed, though, how much the idea of what a cell phone is and does has changed? The fact is, the evolution of the phone is far from over–smartphone apps are still a new concept, and the technology that they keep applying in news ways isn’t done changing either. Any guesses as to what a cell phone will be 20 years from now? 50? Me neither, but here are some of the basic technologies behind the latest cell phone innovations–see if you can envision what will come next.

One of the latest big advances has been to use an accelerometer to detect and track the phone’s motions. Some of the first applications of this technology have been in the new cell phone games that draw some funny looks if you play them in public as you tip for phone from side to side. Smartphones can read that! They can also track your movement for navigation apps or even automatic collision notification (think Onstar). And this is just in the first few years that the technology has existed! Who knows where it’ll go from here?

Then there’s GPS. Your phone knows where you are, and where everything else is in relation to you, meaning that you never need to be lost again. It was not that big of a leap, therefore, to tach your phone to alert when in a severe weather area, or high crime area. Again, this technology already exists in an app. I’m willing to bet that we haven’t imagined all the applications of GPS on a phone, in conjunction with all the other technologies available.

How about internet on your phone? Do we appreciate what a leap in technology that is? If we could travel back in time (don’t get your hopes up, the future would’ve told us by now if it was ever going to happen), the past generation would be mind-blown by the concept of being connected to everything you could want to know by a device that you carry in your pocket. That is, after getting their minds blown by the idea of the internet and the idea of cell phones. I don’t doubt that we’re in for more improvements on the ways that we can connect with the rest of the world, wherever we are.

Stop and think for a moment about how far phones have come in the last 15 years. Now think how much more your phone will be able to do in 15 years, at this rate. Just as the you of 15 ears ago would be surprised at how much a phone is capable of, I feel confident that the me of today would be stunned at the phones of 2025. That it is realistic to think that technology will surprise you says a lot about the age that we live in–the world changes faster than ever, and cell phones continue to be perhaps the greatest evidence of this.

The My-911 smartphone app provides Automatic Crash Response wherever you are. See how they’re changing personal safety here.

Categories: Automotive