Car Tuning,Car Finance,Auto Loans

Archive for October, 2007

I’ve been racking my brain on something to write about this time, and it just slips my mind, oh oh writer’s block, the muscle for muscle cars has left the building, hmm maybe a cup of coffee will fix it, maybe hot water cascading over my noggin, need inspiration, need guidance, don’t want to disappoint, love muscle cars, I feel just like a cave man this morning ooo-oooo—aww, well give an old man a break, just maybe it’ll all come back.

Tuning is an important part of making your car run right, and I’m not only talking about the engine tuning, I’m talking about suspension and chassis tuning also, the engine in the easy part, unless of course you run a turbocharger or supercharger, either one of these make the engine harder to tune, and it has to be tuned perfect at all times if you have either one of these, or two fours on a tunnel ram, all of these things will make it go faster, but require exact tuning, you can no longer tune by ear, it takes timing lights, vacuum gages, and computers, no longer just a screw driver and a wrench.

No more just running to the auto parts store and getting your cap, rotor, wires, and plugs, and gaping up the plugs and throwing it all on, you will obviously do this also, but now you will hook up your computer, timing light, and vacuum gage, you cannot have any vacuum leaks, allow your car to over heat, or get lazy about your car in general, it’s a must to keep it in perfect running order all the time, or you can expect huge problems with it.

It used to be in the old days that if your engine decided to backfire when it had a supercharger, you could expect the motor to scatter all over the road, but there have been some advances, and simple ones, like pop off valves, that make this almost a thing of the past, but you’d better be ready for all the time you’ll spend maintaining your car after you add this kind of performance modification to your car.

Now the suspension tuning part can get just a little involved, and it’s really not my specialty, but I will give it the old college try, when tuning your suspension you’ll want to think about what it is your going to use the car for, if you build a 1/4 mile car, it obviously won’t handle that well in the corners, and if you build a car that handles through corners, it’ll still do alright in the 1/4 mile, but you probably aren’t going to win a lot of races, so you really need to give this some thought, so you get the right car for you.

The first thing that I can think of here if you want to be really competitive in any type of racing is the to look at the frame of your car, and the power of the engine that your building for it, if you have a uni-body car, and your building an engine with more then 500 HP, you might want to think about making it a full frame car, by either having a special frame built, by a company like Reher and Morrison, to insure that it can handle the power, if you decide to go with sub frame connectors to save money. then you should look in to the products that are on the market, compare, and buy the best that you can find, and weld them on, do not bolt them on the the best results.

What sub frame connectors will do for you, is fool your uni-body car in to thinking that it has a full frame, it will make the entire car a lot more rigid, which by nature will make it handle better, now I will try to explain the difference between the two types of suspension, first of all, if you’ve ever been to the drag strip, you’ll notice that when the drag car launches of of the line it squats down in the rear, this is the first big difference between the two suspension setups, with a drag car you want to transfer as much of the weight to the rear of the car as you can when it launches off of the line, this is how you’ll make those hole shots, and win races.

In 1/4 mile racing they use ladder bars, and four link suspension systems to get the power to the pavement, and getting the power to the pavement is the name of the game in 1/4 mile racing, you want as much of the power from those rear wheels getting to the pavement as possible, that is what the burn out is all about, it’s not just a spectacle, it heats up the tires and creates adhesion to the tarmac surface, it’s an integral part of the getting the power to the pavement that I have been talking about, once you get your ladder bars, and your four link suspension systems tuned in perfectly, it will hook up, and you will launch like a rocket.

The things that I explained above are exactly the things that you don’t need in a true road race car, in a road race car your not going to heat up the tires to gain traction, you’ll depend on tread patterns, and tire compounds to create the kind of traction that you’ll need to be competitive here, what your looking for here is the entire car to stick to the road, you do not want it to slide, so most people will try to get the major part of the weight over the center of the car, this is what is called a mid engined car, you want that weight to be distributed over the entire car if possible, by making it a mid engined car it goes a long way toward achieving this goal, you do still need to at least put weld on sub frame connectors on the the car, here again I would suggest to have a professional build a frame for your car instead.

Road cars use aerodynamics to create down pressure on the car to help keep in on the road, and to cut through the air to help the car to move along the road easier, and they use shocks, springs, and sway bars to help limit the pitch and roll of the car body when it goes it to a hard corner, the car need to stay as level as possible to keep in on it’s wheels, instead of on it’s roof, and this is a highly specialized type of tuning, you should always have a professional to set this up for you, it needs to be perfect if you want the best results from your work, time, and money, the professionals will also do their magic on the steering of your car also, and they will do it right and safe.

What I’m saying here, is spend a lot of time thinking about what you want your car to do, your the only person that it has to impress in the end. MuscleCars High Performance Cars

You’ll rest easy once you finally find out that you don’t have to put up with the rising prices of gasoline anymore. There is an alternative energy source that you can use to power up your vehicle. Electric cars are becoming the wave of the future as more and more people are cottoning up to the idea of doing an electric car conversion.

You can build an electric car out of your gas-guzzler without very much difficulty at all. All it will require is a modicum of technical knowledge and very little expense.

You’ll be surprised to learn that electric cars have been around since the turn of the century. During the early 1900′s, gasoline was extremely expensive and people drove electric cars instead. The technology behind gasoline-powered cars then was so primitive, there was no key to start the engine. People had to laboriously crank up a lever in front of the car to start it up. Gasoline-powered vehicles during that era emitted a lot of smoke and had very noisy mufflers, as well.

As years passed, people found new ways to make gasoline. Newer cars featured electric starters and enabled vehicles to travel further than electric cars could. Soon gasoline-powered cars became the widely-used means of transportation.

These days, however, with the rising prices of gasoline and the push towards a cleaner greener environment by minimizing the emission of carbon gasses into the atmosphere, people have started to gravitate towards the idea of bringing back the electric car once more.

Electric cars have no need for gasoline at all. They are powered by the electricity in their batteries. The batteries, around 12 to 24 to a car, are responsible for powering up the motor which impels the movement of the wheels. All you need to do to charge these batteries is to plug it into an electric outlet during the night. Electricity is then stored into the batteries while you sleep. You’ll wake up the next morning to a fully-charged car which will carry you for up to 200 miles before it will need to be recharged again.

An electric car conversion will save you from having to spend money on gas. The money you save can go to other things you’ve always wanted, such as taking your family on a vacation or indulging in a brand new home theater system. You’ll also be able to join in the movement to reduce pollution, thus easing up on the effects of global warming.

Converting your car into an electric need not be expensive either. You won’t need to buy a whole new vehicle. All you need are those easily available DIY electric car conversion kits, or a downloadable DIY electric car guide that you can find on the internet.

Guides that show you how to build an electric car are well worth getting. For a very minimal amount, in fact just about the amount it takes to fill up a gasoline-powered car, you can get a step-by-step guide on how to convert your current gas-guzzler into an inexpensive environmentally-friendly green car! Electric car conversion guides that you can find on the internet will help you towards driving the roads with a clear conscience and considerably more money in your pockets.

If you have found your dream vehicle by way of a used car dealer then the next thing you will probably be looking for is the best used car finance deals. The easiest way to find the best deal is go online to a specialist website and allow them to search around on your behalf with the whole of the marketplace. By doing so, you will be guaranteed of finding the cheapest rates of interest based on your personal circumstances.

The dealership will probably tell you that they can give you the cheapest and best possible loan. However, it is not the actual dealership that is providing the loan but a lender whom they use on a regular basis. About the only way you would be able to benefit from taking a loan offered by the dealership is if you got a 0% interest rate and could pay off the loan within that specified period.

Used vehicle finance deals vary and it is essential that you read the terms and conditions that come with the loan. It is here where you are able to find out how much the loan costs in total, how much interest will be added onto the loan and if there are any fees attached to the loan. Some loans will come with early repayment fees and this would mean that if you were lucky enough to be able to repay the loan off early you would have to pay a one off lump sum of money, typically around two months’ interest.

The interest rate for the borrowing will depend on certain factors. One of the very first things that are taken into account is your credit rating. A poor credit rating will mean that you will have to pay a higher rate of interest than those with an excellent rating. After this how much you wish to borrow will come into it as will how long you choose to take the loan over. If you do not need to borrow a large sum to finance your vehicle then you could be able to take advantage of an interest free loan for so long. If not and keeping the monthly cost of the loan down is a necessity then you might have to spread it out over years. However when doing this you will be paying more out in the long run due to the interest that will accumulate on the borrowing. Therefore, you will have to come to a compromise.

If you have a very bad credit rating then you might have to look at secured used car finance deals. This means that you will have to secure the vehicle on the loan and if you should default on the repayments, you would be at risk of losing the car. Another option is to look at bad credit car loans for your used vehicle finance deals. A specialist will gather together quotes from those lenders who specialise in offering credit to those who have a poor rating and will be able to get you the cheapest possible quotes for your circumstances.

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Trying to finance a car when you have bad or poor credit can be a difficult challenge. Your personal credit is something car lenders look very closely at when they are determining to approve or deny your application. The good news is that there are several things you can do to improve your chances at getting approved even though your credit might not be the best.

The first thing you should do is to get a copy of your credit report so that you can truly get an idea just how bad your credit situation is. You need to look at your credit scores from each of the three credit bureaus to determine just how low your score is. If it is in the low five hundred range or below then you have some serious work to do, and if it is in the mid five hundred to six hundred range you will have an easier time but you will still have to put in some serious effort. After getting a grip on your scores, you then need to analyze your entire credit report to see if there are any errors, late payments, defaulted accounts, or bankruptcies. These are the kinds of negative marks a lender will use to disqualify you, and if you can take any action to resolve these kinds of marks then you should go ahead and do so.

If you don’t want to try and improve your credit you may still may have a shot at getting a car loan despite your bad credit. These are what are called “bad-credit’ and “sub-prime” lenders, and these kinds of lenders specialize in providing loans to individuals with bad and poor credit. You can find these sorts of lenders quite easily online, and once you identify a few that look promising you must then make sure the company is in fact who they say they are because many websites appear as if they are legitimate when in reality they are not. Your chances of being approved after finding a company that checks out is still not the greatest, and if you do get approved you’ll end up paying a high interest rate as well as a number of fees. This may be your only option and if that is the case then just be aware that you can always refinance later on if you improve your credit.

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It is hard to imagine an automobile without an audio system. Car audio systems are important to all car owners and a mind boggling range is available to choose from. A car audio system is a combination of components such as head units, amplifiers, speakers, and auxiliary input devices. All of these work to complement each other and have no meaning on a stand-alone basis.

The head unit of a system is like the brain and central processing unit. Control and tuning of the volume, bass, equalizer, etc., is done through this unit. There are different kinds of head units. Some allow you to play only tapes, CDs or the radio, while others allow all of these choices. Advanced devices can also hold many CDs at a time and allow shuttling between them. Speakers are obviously important if we want to hear anything. However, different kinds are available, like cone or ribbon type. All have their own advantages. The placement of speakers also makes a difference. Then there are amplifiers, which amplify or increase signals to make them audible. They too are available in different configurations, like mono, stereo or multi-channel.

Car audio systems can range from basic to very high end and funky models. A basic system costs less and can have good sound quality if components are of a standard make. Some decisions also depend on intended use. If you feel that you do not require a tape player but a CD player, then invest in a good-quality CD player rather than a cheap combination. For a basic system, you can go for only front speakers and avoid rear ones. Advanced models are available in compact sizes, with or without remote control and all other features one can imagine.

Depending on your budget and personal preferences, you can self-assemble a unit or buy an all-in-one system. Branded ones may be costlier but come with a guarantee and are easy to service. For some things like speakers, it is advisable to buy from standard, reliable and tested manufactures. If sound quality is low or harsh, then money saved is also wasted.

Auto loans with bad credit

Bad credit does not mean that you automatically disqualify for any sort of loans. If you are worrying about the high interest rates and the huge down payments that you need to make for your car loan, it might not be as gloomy as it appears.

Even with your poor financial condition you can hope to get yourself a car loan if you are aware of certain facts about auto loans with bad credit.

How Loans Work

Going for a more expensive car will mean a higher down payment and higher rates of interests. This is something that you need to consider with your auto loan. The cheaper the car you want to purchase, the lower the rates of interest and the down payments will be.

Consider this before you select a car or an auto loan with bad credit. Plan your purchase according to your condition and requirements to make the transaction and the deal easier.

Car Finance

There is a huge difference when going for a car loan through a car dealer versus going straight to a finance company. While a car dealer’s main objective is to sell a car and not concentrate on the financing, they often have higher interest rates and down payments. But the finance company’s business depends on the amount of money they can lend out and to ensure that they will get their money back.

So it is often seen that the finance companies have better rates compared to the dealers. However most of the finance companies might be quite strict about the loans they hand out.

Finance companies want to be sure that they don’t lend out their money to a person who might turn out to be unreliable.

But if you can get hold of a finance company that deals with auto loans with bad credit, you may be able to get a car loan with lower down payments and interest rates.

Being aware of such information helps considerably when you are in a financial crisis and need help with your car loan.

Bad Credit Car Loans Canada

There are times when one can be in a position of bad credit for many reasons, be it medical, divorce, lack of job or any other reason. In situations like this if a person wishes to get a car loan, he has to face difficult road ahead, but in-fact things are not as bad as may appear to be. These car loans are somewhat easier to get compared to personal loans, for the simple reason that for any reason if a person unable to pay properly, the lender can claim the vehicle back; this is not possible in the case of a personal loan.

In Canada having a car of your choice is now a necessity. When people are rushing with time, everyone is looking to get car loans. With increase in demand for bad credit loans, companies start to take them as potential group of customers, with special schemes and wings to take care of their applications and needs thereof. So wipe out misconceptions about Bad Credit Car Loans, which is totally untrue. All this happened as Canadian companies realized there are scores of bad credit customers waiting in the queue for car loans. All that matters for lenders is profits and as long as they make sure a person can afford to repay loan, there’s no difference whether his credit is bad or good. Only difference is stipulations will be tight and so too repayment options.

In Canada, there are many players in the market who can lend car loans for bad credit customers. These are private leasing agencies VFC, Scotia Dealer Advantage, Rifco and Carfinco. The car loan application form can easily be refused when a person approaches either banks or the car dealers. So for those who are having bad credit history, role of the private lenders comes into play. They can do all the preliminary work for the application, verification of personal details, current financial status, age, employment etc and then they deal with the car dealers to help you get the loan. Their rapport with dealers is of help for a customer. The loan can be for the purchase of either the new or used cars.

There are many factors that can influence the grant of car loan and its structure. They include credit score, duration of current job, salary, bankruptcy etc. To avail a loan, the person should be discharged of bankruptcy, the minimum salary limit usually be $1750.00 per month and the minimum of 6 months with the current job. The exact terms and conditions to grant a loan vary between the lenders. Some of the agencies might place emphasis on the credit history and some play emphasis on the current status etc. So it’s wise to approach as many lenders as possible. People might get refused with one agency still may be successful in getting the loan with another. So never get bogged down or disheartened when your application is turned down. Under certain conditions, even banks may grant the loans.

The information about the lenders can be obtained from Internet, yellow pages, local newspapers etc. Online quotations can be obtained from them and they can be compared with one another. Some of the lenders in Canada are Auto Source Financial and Credit Net Financial. The bad credit history, salary will influence the down payment amount, interest, and the duration and the type of cars etc. The amount of down payment will also depend on the type of car purchased. The more expensive a car, the more down payments will be. Along with that some lenders can limit the choice of cars you can loan but others many not have that restriction. So make a list of favourite cars and also study for which of them lenders are offering loans.

Plan, do vital research to understand bad credit loan market and also about companies in Canada. Realizing where we stand helps a great deal, and then only we can put future targets in accordance to our capabilities. Look out for friends who have taken bad credit loan and take their suggestions. Thereafter get online quotes from several banks, compare, and finally arrive at a decision that suits you. Even though interest rates are on the higher side, hidden advantage with these loans is that timely repayment leads to positive effect on your credit rating, say after a year. One of the most important steps is to calculate repayment keeping in mind interest rate fluctuations which varies from 15% to 18%.Online auto loan calculators help us to know exact repayments at any time of the year. Have a holistic view of scheme of things and then apply for car loan.

Another aspect that’s mooted for securing bad credit car loan is to apply for loan along with your friend who has better or good credit ratings than you .Even if there’s no such option for you still try to repay small debts so that it shows cash flow. For example lenders asking for a running bank account for the last few months. Being open minded with the lender is always good, when you meet them explain how you play to repay debts and this obviously instils a sense of confidence. All this has to be done before applying for car loan.

Before a person decides to take a loan, he should be aware of the terms and conditions thoroughly. This can prevent any future complications with regard to warranty, cancellation or termination of the loan etc. Lastly, there is help available to get car loans even in situations of bad credit history. So, be cool and get an affordable car loan of your choice.

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You can play the Cars game online, download it to your computer and play it on a Microsoft Windows system, an Apple Mac or an OS X, or, if you have a game console you can play Cars the movie game on PS 2, PSP, Xbox 360, Xbox, Nintendo DS, Nintendo GameCube, Wii Xbox and many more.

Even though it can be played on several different kinds of players, Cars the movie game is not exactly the same from one player to the other. For instance, if you play Cars the movie game on Nintendo DS or PSP the game play will be different from a Cars game that you would play online or on the Wii Xbox.

Like any other free car racing game, Cars the movie game has several different levels that are lots of fun to play. In the Nintendo DS version of Cars the movie game the levels include Piston Cup, World’s Best Backwards Driver, Gesundheit!, That Blinkin’ Light, Casa Della Tires and many more.

Cars the movie game is more than just inspired by the Pixar/Disney movie bearing the same name, it is also intended to be a sequel of the film. Lightning McQueen is still trying to win the Piston Cup only now the players can race as their favorite characters and help him.

The list of characters that you can race as is different from one version of Cars the movie game to the next. For instance, in the PS2 and Wii Xbox versions you can play characters like DJ, Luigi, Boost, Mater, Wingo, Sally Carrera and Sheriff.

On the other hand in the PSP version, in addition to the characters already mentioned, you can also play Lightning McQueen, Doc Hudson, Lizzie, Flo, Fillmore, Ramone and Sarge. The race cars that you can drive in the Nintendo DS version include Sputter Stop, Vinyl Toupee, Gasprin and Leakless. This free car racing game offers the player five Piston Cup races, twenty road races, countless mini games and it also features clips from the film. If you want to view the film clips make sure you collect all the lightning bolts that are scattered around Ornament Valley, Radiator Springs and Tailfin Pass.

There are three kinds of people when it comes to credit scores. The first
group of people can tell you exactly what their credit score is because they
check it religiously. The second group of people has a vague idea of what their
credit score is, but they aren’t too worried because they generally pay their
bills on time and don’t exceed their credit limits. The third group of people
has no idea what their credit score is other than knowing it’s probably pretty
bad, and they feel it would simply be better to not know.

Eventually, people from all three groups walk into a car dealership with the
intent of purchasing a new car, and one of the first things the dealer will do
is pull a credit report. The dealer is looking to establish what sort of
interest rate will be available to each particular person, because a credit
score basically defines if a buyer is a good financial risk or a dangerous one.

A credit score is comprised of many factors, including past and present payment
histories, credit balances in relation to available credit, and the amount of
credit available. The reason why it is important to keep a high credit score is
because it is these people who are offered the best interest rates. The 0%
financing offers which are so widely publicized by dealerships are actually only
available to a minority of buyers whose credit is immaculate. Everyone else gets
offered a higher interest rate, and, for some with poor credit, these rates can
be up into the double digits.

This is why it is so important to not only know what your credit score is, but
to keep close tabs on your financial health. A couple of missed payments can
damage your credit score considerably and may wind up adding hundreds of dollars
in finance charges to a high interest car loan. Having a high credit score will
pay off when financing a new car.

For your RC cars suspension to absorb large impact or bumps, we must use a ”thicker” or more viscous oil. The more viscous the oil, the more denser it is. This helps to decrease the rate of body roll.

When tuning large RC cars such as the buggy or truck, one is to note that any impact sustained is to be absorbed by the chassis (framework) and not the suspension.

The thinner your shock fuel,the faster the body roll of your car. Hence it will have more grip on the road and a higher “turn in”.

There are two ways of increasing the grip of your vehicle. Firstly, you can soften the suspension at that particular end. This can be achieved by decreasing the tension of the spring, using a less viscous oil or using a shock piston with more holes. The last two steps allows oil to reach the carburetor and get burnt more quickly. Alternatively, you can change the position of the shock shaft relative to the chassis. If the shock absorber is mounted at the end of the arm, the tyre will experience a force equivalent to that of the entire spring.

Another thing to note is that when the shock is placed closed to the chassis, the car will have more suspension travel. This is because of the force exerted primarily by the spring.

There are also more complicated factors such as adjusting the angle of the shock to influence the resistance being applied to the arm. If the shock is in a more ‘layed down’ position, the shock will definitely be softer.

These are just some of the factors to consider when adjusting your suspension to suit the needs of your “over-sized” RC truck or buggies. Enjoy yourself and have fun!