Auto Car Show

Archive for July, 2008

Why have we been buying big comfy cars with too many options? Causing all those environmental woes? Consumers want these rich cars for the same reason they want big new houses and kool short-term fads. Corporate marketing and branding! And they are continually at work.

Commercials often sensationalize a car model by showing it driven at extremely high speeds on highways, mountain roads, city streets and even in parking lots. They are sending the wrong message. Speed can look exciting but speed is costly and speed kills. But those exciting commercials apparently sell cars.

Automobile commercials are amongst the noisiest on TV and can interfere with the family conversation if they are not muted. But the invasive clamor attracts attention and the results are increased sales.

Advertisements often exaggerate the product and underestimate the cost to lure and snare buyers.

The marketing pressures to sell more expensive autos will not let up even though they may become more fuel efficient. Other perky features will be promoted and become standard in newer models to keep prices rising over the coming years.

Cars have played a major role in our current social makeup and are owned by most families. That they are important and useful is undisputable, however too much of the overall product is undesirable for society as a whole. They are a major polluter of our cities and the world, exacerbated by their larger than needed size and power. Why do consumers who only use their cars a few hours per week need ‘luxury’ transportation? Persuasion.

Around 1960 I was out to purchase my first new car. Having a long drive on weekends, I had set my mind on a particular smaller car to economize. There were only a few sub-compacts available and they were not that small. In a dealer’s showroom I was intent on completing a deal but I was continually steered to other larger models. It took awhile until I realized that he would not sell me the smaller car! The salesman and I both became irritated and I left.

Slow Forward 48 years >> A while ago I walked through a new car show in the local mall. All were higher priced and mostly larger in size, even as interest in pollution and the environment was spreading.

On TV during the previous oil crisis a spokesperson from the Automobile Association was defending why they aren’t marketing more smaller cars. “People couldn’t just sell their cars and buy smaller ones.” The TV commercial which immediately followed the newsbyte was for a flashy full size SUV.

Consumers buy these cars because the manufacturers want them to. But this necessary means of transportation needs a review of its design, effects, marketing, and use. The average person does not need luxury when spending only a few hours a week in the car. Nor does the car require fast speed and polluting power to drive at the speed limit.

The car needs to take a less negative and a healthier place in our society.

What the heck! Are corporations major shareholders in government??

“We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.” – Albert Einstein

If you have chosen the right trailer model from a cornucopia of horse trailers, you have won half the battle. The next objective is to get the horse to walk into the trailer. That should be a piece of cake, right? Well, sometimes it is. But in other cases, a horse may dread entering the trailer, due to rough rides in the past, the fear of being in an enclosed area, etc. Here are some tips to get the horse to feel at home, in the trailer.

1. The power of positive thinking

Winston Churchill, England’s prime minister during World War II, once wrote, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” While leading your horse up the trailer ramp, be confident! The horse will sense this emotion, and become confident itself. In all honesty, a trailer is not the most comfortable place in the world. It is dark. It is narrow. And it is confined. But when you must transport your horse, a horse trailer is more practical than a teardrop trailer or utility trailers.

2. Give your horse one option and one option alone

If you are able, back up the trailer to the door of the stable. That will limit the ability of the horse to dart off, and give it one viable option: the trailer’s entrance. By limiting the number of options that the horse has, it will probably become more cooperative about entering the trailer.

3. Introduce the horse to the trailer, one step at a time

One approach is to feed a meal to your horse, while it is on the trailer’s ramp. Every day, move the food a little closer towards the inside of the trailer, so the horse can link it to something positive. As with humans, food can be used as primary reinforcer. The potential reward of being fed can help to change the behavior of the horse.

Also, you can put your horse and the trailer in a pasture, open the trailer’s door, and then let the horse conduct an independent investigation of the trailer. Allow the horse to approach the trailer, take a peek inside, sniff it, and perhaps even take a step inside. The goal here is to put the horse in a relaxed environment, so the experience of entering the trailer before a trip, will later become second nature to your beloved creature.

4. Hold the reins on traveling

It is important to provide plenty of time to prepare the horse for traveling. The saying “haste makes waste” certainly applies. Animals are more perceptive than we often give them credit for. If you are hurried, your horse will sense it, and will then be more resistant about entering the trailer. Change takes time, so give yourself plenty of time to properly train the horse.

5. Change the horse’s attitude by changing its environment

If your horse is startled by the thump of the ramp as it walks up it, position padding or bedding on the ramp, in absorb the sound. If your horse trailer is tall and the ramp is steep, park the trailer where you can position the ramp on a hill, reducing the angle at which that horse has to walk up. Your physics teacher would be proud! If your horse is shy around strangers, only allow 2-3 people who it is familiar with, to be present when loading the horse onto the trailer.

6. Carrots, oats, and a step in the right direction

As the horse inches towards the entrance of the trailer, reward it with carrots, apples, or grain. It is important to keep in mind that a little reward goes a long way—even if the horse is not anywhere near the trailer’s entrance. For horses that are particularly timid about entering the trailer, reward the animal even if it is not yet completely (or even halfway), inside the trailer.

After securing the ideal horse trailer for your horse, the next project is to get the animal inside it. Sometimes this task can be quite challenging, due to the trailer’s cramped environment, or past uncomfortable travels in them. However, by using some basic methods, you can make the experience horseplay for your steed.

Hybrid automotive is a vehicle, which uses a dual engine power automotive technology to run. This is an old technology. For instance, the technology was used in older diesel electric submarines. The idea behind hybrid automobile is the usage of two power sources to increase overall efficiency.

Now, there may be a question in your mind that why use dual-power sources in a vehicle. The answer to this is very simple. Researchers thought that common people might not meet the expense of gasoline in future. Excessive usage of gasoline in recent century is an alarming trend for increased CO2 emission. Hybrid automobiles intended to provide a cheap journey to passengers at an affordable price.

Working of Hybrid Automotive:

A hybrid automobile mainly uses gasoline and electric power to function. There are few diesel electric vehicles too, which are running on this technology. A hybrid makes use of electric power only when the engine requires power. For instance, when a hybrid vehicle reaches a speed of 30-40 mph, it uses electric energy.

Almost every automobile makes use of a conventional small lightweight engine. It provides the required speed to the vehicle. When the car needs acceleration, electric source may add some extra power to attain that speed.

Generally, these vehicles can touch a speed of 75 miles per hour similar to the speed of V8 (supercar). However, V8 has a greater acceleration power, so why waste fuel on a V8 car, when such hybrid cars can give you the same performance.

Types of Hybrid Automotive:

There are two types of gasoline hybrid automobiles. First is the Series hybrid vehicle and the second is the Parallel hybrid Vehicle. Series hybrid use gasoline engines to activate a generator, which powers an electric motor or charge the batteries. Next, parallel hybrid vehicle combines two sources of power to generate more or average power with better mileage.

Hybrid automobiles deliver good performance, even though they have small engines. The main reason for such a credible performance apart from the small engine is the use of lightweight materials used in the creation of these vehicles. The lightweight materials used in hybrid vehicles are low-rolling resistance tires, advanced aerodynamics and carbon fiber components.

Due to these lightweight materials, there is less load on the vehicle. A hybrid automobile automatically turns off the gasoline engine, when the vehicle is not in use. For instance, when the vehicle halts at a traffic signal, it automatically turns off the engine.

Some hybrid vehicles have regenerative braking system. By using a regenerative braking system, the vehicle may lower the speed by decreasing some amount of power. The generator thus, uses the decreased power to generate electric energy.

The cost of such hybrid automotive ranges from $23,000 to $54,000. Even hybrid SUVs are available in the market. Thus, the demands of such hybrid vehicles are increasing profusely.

Recently, the technology has successfully developed plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), which are rechargeable with the help of power grid eliminating the need of conventional fuel (gas) for short tours.

Would you be interested in owning your own car? money! an how to save it Then why not try to buy a rental car? Acquiring a rental can be a best deal to save thousands of dollars in your pocket. There are many things to consider. In United States, many states have laws implemented in order to give the customer the safest way to obtain rental cars.

The laws intend to stop the dealer or private seller from escaping if they sold a stolen vehicle. If a dealer buys a lemon of a rental vehicle, the law allows for recourse.

It is advisable for the buyer armed with knowledge when purchasing rental cars. When the consumer goes out to search for an available rental car, he should not purchase based on a single impulse.

Most of the car dealers have a sales strategy to convince their customer. Don’t be pressured by these tricks when you’re buying a car.

The buyer must look at the car. He should find out what is the value of its blue book system. The blue book is a kind of publication that records the fair price for most rental car available.

It’s essential that you get a full diagnostic check up performed by a professional before purchasing any car. The mechanical parts of the car should have a good standing. If the dealers ask to take a look at the engine, walk away and don’t buy that vehicle.

Pay special attention to the tires, brakes, belts, rims, and mirrors when you’re looking at the vehicle. If those parts are in bad repair, fix them right away so you can stay safe on the road.

For instance, if a buyer is fined with a well-maintained car for at least one month of its life, do you think he will get it?

Regular car is that of oil changes and brakes within the owner manuel they would also list other parts that may need to be checked as often. There will be a warranty included on the best rental car. For example, the warranty must be at least one-year wit a five moth/12,000 miles and a seven day purchased warranty policy. If that quality is present in a rental car, most buyers will be eager to purchase it.

Most rental auto prices are geared around their availability. A few of the automobile dealers offer the best price deal, for exmple “purchase a rental now”. Usually, the deal provides the buyer with enough advance notification of discounts to negotiate optimally with the dealership.

In the year 2005, about 1.The total amount of rental vehicles sold out in the United States is 9 million. Many types were directly released to auction or bid sales. Autos can be sold in the lot or even out of the dealer’s show room.

On the other side of the story, several rental companies for their own marketing strategy selected almost ten thousands.

Many companies can not maintain a good performance or not even show any significant progress. Some companies are not able to adjust themselves to the global change which occurs continuously. The presence of competitors may also give impacts to the company. In such situations, the company may try to have self inspection to find where the mistakes are. Or if the issue can not be addressed internally, the company may hire the consultant to help solving the problem.

Consultants are everywhere, so a company which needs a consultant should be careful to find a proper consultant. A proper consultant provider is the one who possesses comprehensive services and extensive experiences in handling clients. The good consultant must have certification and adjust the service using the modern tools.

CriticalEdge group is a gold certified consultant which upholds the use of Microsoft GP Connecticut. The consultant will analyze the company first to identify the goal as well as problems. After that the hardware recommendations will be given to the client by the consultant on what hardware and software to use in order to answer the problems.

Training will be prepared to the company workers to help them understand the use of software. CriticalEdge Group is absolutely different compare to the other consultants as it adjusts the solution with company’s requirement as well as company’s goals.

Corvette Z06 Car ReviewAsk any first timer about their first trip to America and it’s always the excess that sticks in the mind. The food platters that you pick at and leave the remaining half, the enormous vehicles, the eight-lane freeways and the overblown patriotism. Everything is supersized, instantaneously gratifying and crashingly free of subtlety. The Corvette Z06 is possibly the most American car that’s ever been built. Extravagantly powerful and unashamedly gaudy, it’s nevertheless hugely effective and, when you put aside your prejudices, really rather endearing.

Think about it. £62,000 doesn’t even buy you a base model Porsche 911 with leather seats yet spend that on a Corvette Z06 and you’ll have a car that can lap Germany’s Nurburgring in a staggering 7 minutes 42 seconds. Of course, it’ll help if you’re as handy behind the wheel as ex-F1 driver Jan Magnusson, but this is a car that has set a benchmark time two seconds faster than a Pagani Zonda S and eight seconds quicker than a Lamborghini Murcielago. Even a Mercedes McLaren SLR would be ten seconds adrift. Asking prices for these three stragglers? That’ll be £340,000, £197,460, and £317,700 respectively. Suddenly you begin to appreciate the scale of the Corvette’s achievement. This is by any measure an apocalyptically rapid car and one that should forever put to rest the notion that American sports cars just don’t do corners at all well.

Given that there is a 7.0-litre V8 lump under the bonnet churning out 512bhp, it is perhaps little surprise that the Z06 is so quick in a straight line. Aiming a car at the horizon and mashing the loud pedal doesn’t require a great deal of expertise, however, and this Corvette not only wields the big stick but also uses a lot of high tech engineering to achieve its ends. Take the floor of the car for example. Not always a place to start when assessing a performance car it’s true, but as an exemplar of the depth of focus in the Z06, it’s as good a place as any. Most sports cars will utilise a pressed steel or sometimes an aluminium section for the floor but the Corvette opts for a wafer of featherweight balsa wood sandwiched between two slivers of carbon fibre.

Whereas a standard Corvette has a hydroformed steel chassis, this one uses an aluminium spaceframe. The standard car uses aluminium for its front suspension crossmember assembly whereas the Z06 junks that for an exotic magnesium setup. The front wings change from glassfibre in the standard ‘Vette to carbonfibre in the 06. Both front wings combined – and they’re sizeable panels – weigh in at 2.8kg. The fixed roof structure is cast magnesium and adds stiffness without adding weight where its least desirable. All up weight is around 1420kg, roughly about the same as a Ford Focus C-MAX.

That 7.0-litre engine is the biggest and most powerful General Motors ‘small block’ ever built. Success in the GT class at Le Mans has spawned some race-derived technology and the Z06 benefits from a dry-sumped lubrication system, conrods and intakes made of titanium as well as a forged steel crank and pistons. A manual six-speed gearbox is fitted as standard and requires a beefy right arm to guide the stick around the gate – yes all Z06s are left hand drive. You won’t need to make a single change to notch off 60mph in 3.9 seconds, just some steely determination and the ability to pick a point that marshals the 470lb/ft of torque such that it generates a mere chirrup of wheelspin from the 275/35 ZR18 tyres at the back. A top speed of 198mph is claimed for the car, eclipsing cars that cost twice as much such as the Lamborghini Gallardo and the Ferrari F430.

A small slot at the front of the bonnet is possibly the first clue you’ll get that this is no ordinary Corvette. Look a little closer and you’ll also see a black splitter that runs under the spoiler to aid aerodynamics. The wheelarches have morphed into something a little wider to accommodate the gumball rubber, something worth bearing in mind if you’re squeezing the car through urban width restrictors.

The interior looks a good deal more European than ‘Vettes of old, even if passengers do get a hugely unsubtle ‘Corvette’ script emblazoned across the airbag cut out in front of them. The fascia features some brightwork to lift it and some of the minor controls now have some chrome detailing. The steering wheel is smaller than in the standard car, helping to effectively gear the steering effort up a little. The two tone leather seats offer plenty of lateral support but what the cabin lacks in quality it makes up in quantity, both in terms of space and when it comes to standard fit features. Elbow, head and shoulder room is all very good, legroom not quite so stellar. What’s refreshing is that the Corvette isn’t trying to be self consciously smart. Sit in a BMW 6 series and you end up intimidated by the impenetrable i-Drive and the myriad obscure minor controls. Sit in a Corvette and you just punch a few chubby buttons and get on with it.

If you appreciate a car for what it is as much as what it does, it’ll be difficult to sell you the Corvette Z06. It can’t rival even the most basic Porsche Boxster for handling sensitivity or perceived quality. If you prefer to concentrate on doing rather than having, this Corvette could well be the performance bargain of the year. In short, its capabilities eclipse cars twice, three times, even six times its price. If that doesn’t appeal, nothing will.

With zero emissions, solar cars present a sunny solution to eco-friendly car buyers. It also makes good sense to develop a green car technology that doesn’t call for a complicated infrastructure or any type of fueling station. What could be easier than using an already existing solar energy source from the Sun, right? If it were only that simple, we’d probably already have done it. In spite of universities and corporations building solar cars every year for the past 20 years for the annual Australian World Solar Challenge solar car race, we’re not quite there yet.

How do they work?
A solar car is really an electric car powered by solar energy. Photovoltaic (PV) cells in the form of solar panels convert sunlight into electrical energy. The process generates heat, which is converted into electrical energy and stored in an on-board battery. The battery serves the same basic purpose as a gas tank on an internal combustion car.

In spite of the great bounty of sunshine there for the taking, solar car technology is elusive. The solar electric power source needs a lot of PV cells, which are expensive, and the efficiency level of PVs is estimated to be only 10% to 15%. These are daunting challenges facing engineers, and it’s more likely a hybrid solar with another fuel source is the only viable option in the near future.

Are there any solar cars out there?
French manufacturer Venturi says their solar electric AstroLab hybrid concept car yields an improved PV cell efficiency level of 21%. It’s not exactly a family car with its 2-seat tandem cockpit configuration, but it’s one possibility. The Hungarian manufacturer Antro has designed a solar gas-electric hybrid scheduled for production in 2012, and Tesla Motors has an electric car that can be recharged with solar power with 2009 models available in the U.S. and Europe.