Archive for November, 2009
Front Wheel Drive Vs Rear Wheel Drive
If you will take a look on almost any web site or forum on the internet there will be an active topic in which the front wheel drive fwd and the rear wheel drive rwd is better.
Lets talk about the Front Wheel Drive first.
Most of the cars in the United States were rear wheel driven ever since they began to witness public success in the 1920s. With the fuel crisis of the 1970s and the alarmingly rising gas prices car manufacturers were forced to find new ways of engineering cars with greater fuel efficiency. Because the complexity required to build a rear wheel drive car one of the simplest ways to reduce the size weight and fuel consumption in a car was to make it front wheel drive. The engine and the drive axle are both in the same part of the car and thus there is no need to have a complicated transmission and a driveshaft which occupies both car weight and passenger compartment space. Another decision made was to position the engines transversely reducing the engine bays size.
But there are some downsides on building a front wheel drive car. It will not have the same handling as a rear wheel driven car because the front of the car will have the burden to house the biggest weight of the entire car. A front wheel drive is also not as suitable to a sports car because it will have to deal with the torque steer phenomenon. Torque steer happens when the steering wheel is pulled away from its straight position due to the power of the engine.
Now Rear Wheel Drive
The Rear Wheel Drive is becoming recently a car manufacturer preferred system after many years in which they mostly built front wheel drive vehicles. It is the preferred system of transmission for powerful cars because it is more efficient to have one pair of wheels dealing with steering the car and another axle dealing with moving the car. This way the car will be more balanced. Acceleration is improved and rear wheel drive cars and there is no torque steering phenomenon present. The handling is greatly improved because a rear wheel drive car will be closer to the preferred 50/50 car weight distribution. In the past there were problems with rear wheel cars and slippery surfaces but due to the recent improvements in traction control systems such problems do not represent an issue anymore.
Recently some manufacturers began to transition toward introducing more and more AWD all wheel drive cars.
But customers are very reticent when it comes to rear wheel drive cars. There has been a lot of publicity on front wheel drive cars and most recently on all wheel drive in the detriment of rear axle ones.
Because the fuel efficiency of modern cars is better controlled without sacrificing power a more objective comparison can be made between the two types of transmissions.
A front drive system is more efficient in regards of packaging and interior room
And there is no secret that a rear wheel drive car will have a better handling acceleration and due to recent electronic stability systems is no longer penalized on slippery roads.
About the writer: Dennis runs Car Dealer Check which is a independent Car Dealer Review site written by the car dealerships customers and a Car Forum.
Fog Lights For Safe Driving
A primary requirement of safe driving is that the driver should be able to clearly see ahead on the road for a sufficiently long distance. On a bright sunny day there is no problem. You will be able to see what is moving well ahead of you and take whatever action is necessary. When night falls or it is dark because it is cloudy headlights have to be used. They brighten your road but if it is foggy or misty headlights are not of much help. Under such conditions fog lights have to be used which are specially designed for this purpose.
To fulfill their purpose fog lights have to be able to penetrate through the fog. Special types of lamps are designed to meet this requirement. These differ from ordinary headlights. There are different types of fog lights available in the market. There are halogen lights and high intensity discharge lamps based lights. Mercury or Sodium or Halides are used in these lamps. You can know more about these lights at www.ilovebodykits.com.
Color of fog lights is crucial to have optimum benefit from them. Lights of different colors differ in their ability to penetrate the fog. From this point of view red is the best color. Its penetrating power is better than that of other colors. In mist or fog a red light is visible from a longer distance as compared to other colors. However red traffic lights give a stop signal and there are red tail lights. The use of red color in fog lights will therefore lead to confusion. So the next best color in terms of penetration yellow is mostly used. Fog lights of purplish color are also in use these days as these are very bright.
Fog lights are fitted in front of the vehicle. There is a vast variety of fog lights available in the market. Fog lights are sold by car aftermarket products vendors who also sell popular products such as car body kits. Your car will be safer for driving in different weather conditions if fitted with fog lights.
About the writer: Louie Liu has been in the car aftermarket products industry for 5years. He has specialized in body kits headlights cold air intakes and other aftermarket products. He has deep knowledge of a wide range of products including knowledge of benefits of body kits and other products product options and how to choose a car aftermarket product. You can learn about a wide range of body kits and other car aftermarket products at his site www.ilovebodykits.com.
Exterior Car Body Accessories That Can Be Used
There are many good reason why accessorizing of your car can be of that importance. One is when you want your car to look brand new even if it is as old as you. Remember a car without an accessories is just like a home without furniture or a garden without flowers.
Adding them to your car means minimizing the risk factor and maximizing the comfort level. If alloy wheels are there to make the wheels scintillating then security alarms are there to keep you free from tension. If exterior body styling is there then interior car styling are also available.
Ideally accessories are needed to equip car for higher comport or for better capability. Your car and you deserve to have the most significant accessories without so much time needed for accessorizing. Without these car accessories the car still able to serve its owner but it may be not that attractive at all.
If you want to make your car stand out from others and if you want to look your car on its best design and make it as comfortable place then you should care to put accessories on it. You can put some sticker designs of different colors and and shapes.
These are some of the accessories you can put as its exterior car bodies accessories:dash kits body kits alloy wheels car security and alarms lockwood dials rear spoilers snooper DPS detectors roof boxes racks etc. are mostly used. You can make use of these for your own.
Interior designs may also include the following: gear knobs tax disc holders pedal sets leather gaiters handbrake handles and loads are frequently in use.
There are also accessories that are designed for specific season. Winter car accessories may include designs for winter like snow chains and protection from frost tybond covers. Wiper blades for winter spoilers and light brows.
Use of various types of lights like rear lexus style lights halo ring headlights indicators and side repeaters add attraction to any car and contribute to increase its security level as well.
If you want to learn more about exterior car body design you can buy car magazine or visit your local car accessories store. You can also make use of the Internet for your car review and for finding some good accessories for your car. Just search the topic that you want to know in search engine and you will be prompted of things that you need.
About the writer: http://www.carinfo101.com/