Car Tuning,Car Finance,Auto Loans

Archive for April, 2008

When I first started racing Gas Powered RC cars, I used to struggle to get the engine into tune, while I was able to get the engine to start on a dime and it used to run fine for almost an entire fuel tank, it always seemed to over-heat near the end of the run. After many hours out on the track I can now finally say that I’ve got it down, tuning for me is now a 5 minute operation before I take my RC car out, and once it’s dialed in I only need to adjust one needle a fraction of a turn to get it back to it’s optimal settings.

I assume that your understand the basics of a RC Nitro Engine and how it works, if not please see my other articles which you can find on my website, see the resource box for details.

The Idle Screw
I always start with the idle screw, I adjust it so that the car will idle high when I’m first dialing in the engine. Once I get the engine up to temperature and with a tube that can keep it running without stalling I slowly adjust the idle down to the point where it’s about to stall, then I turn it back about 1/4 to 1/2 turn depending on the temperature. If your car stalls often it can be worth while increasing the idle to prevent this, it’s only a temporary fix while you sort out the other tuning issue, but it helps keep frustration levels down.

Low Speed Needle.
One of the great debates is which needle to adjust first, if your carburetor only has one needle adjustment screw then it’s not a problem, but if like most glow engines you have two you need to decide which to tune first. I always start with the low speed needle, this is because when you adjust the low speed needle you change the high speed needle. Once the low speed needle is dialed in you shouldn’t have to adjust it again. Make sure you keep it slightly on the rich side, when you RC Car idles the combustion chamber should start to fill up with fuel, this helps keep it cool. After a while the engine will stall, by measuring this you can tell if it should be richer or leaner. A good time is about 30 – 60 seconds before it stalls. The RC Car should pull off quickly from a standing start and should not bog down or flame out when you apply full throttle.

High Speed Needle.
Once you have your low speed adjustment needle dialed in it’s time to start getting the power out of the RC engine. This is done with the high speed needle, which adjusts the air to fuel mixture of the engine while it as high RPM (about 40% and up). Keep an eye on the trail of smoke as this is your first clue about the tune. You want to have a lot of smoke coming out of the engine at all RPM, if at some point there is little or no smoke then you are running too lean.

Hints, Tips and Tricks
Turn the needle clockwise to lean out and counter-clockwise to richen the mixture. A lot of smoke means you tune is rich. The sound can tell you about your tune. Reading your glow plug after a run will tell you a lot about your tune. Make sure to run your engine on the rich side, this will extend it’s life. A lean engine will always put out more power, but it will shorten the life of your engine. Temperature, air pressure and humidity play if big part in the tune, different days will need different settings.

When buying a new or used car there are so many options now available. From personal loans to more specialist finance such as Personal Contract Purchase it leaves a lot of options for which to choose from. So what are all the options and which one is right for you.

Personal Contract Purchase

PCP is fast becoming a very popular method of car finance. You pay a monthly amount towards the purchase of the car and at the end of a pre-defined purchase period you can then choose pay a lump sum to buy the car or just return the car with no obligation. This style of finance is great for those people who like to change their car on a regular basis but do not want to pay the full amount for a new car.

Hire Purchase

This is the more traditional way to buy a car. You enter into a contract to buy the car over a certain period of time during which pay the car off in monthly instalments. At the end of this period the car is paid for and legally becomes yours. As a Hire Purchase is effectively a secured loan if you miss any payments then the seller has a right to repossess the car.

Lease Purchase

Lease / Credit Purchase is similar to a Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) in that a lump sum amount is deferred to the end of the agreement. This lump sum reduces the regular monthly payments and allows you to purchase a more expensive care than you thought possible.

Unlike PCP a lease Purchase offers no option to return the vehicle to the finance company at the end of the agreed contract period. It is up to the customer to settle the final balloon payment through additional finance, cash or part-exchange with the finance company.

Contract Hire

This is an agreement where a rental is paid in return for the vehicle over a period of 1, 2, 3 or 4 years. It is ideal if your business prefers to reduce its financial risk by not owning the vehicle and having to deal with the administration with new cars and also worrying about the value of the car over time.

As a business you may also be able to apportion some of the rentals towards tax relief if you are VAT registered. Contract Hire is also deemed to be an operating and is regarded differently to purchase contracts. As a result your business may benefit from other tax advantages.

Contract Hire payments are specific to the car you buy and are also dependent on the amount of mileage the car will do each year. A deposit will have to be paid and this normally amounts to 3 months of the contract hire payment.

Conclusion

There are so many car finance options now available it would be hard to see why you cannot get your hands on whatever car you wanted, within reason. If you don’t fancy taking on car finance then you can also look at secured or personal loans if you think it would work out cheaper or easier to make your dream car purchase.

Are you in the market for a car and you need it as soon as you can possibly get it? Do you want to know how you can find car finance with bad credit and make sure you do not have to put a ton of cash down on the vehicle you want? There are good ways to get your financing for your vehicle and there are bad ways that will set you up for the failure that you do not want to experience. Here is what you need to know if you are shopping for a vehicle today.

First, there are car lots known as buy here, pay here lots and they are not the best option. These are lots that will finance the vehicle of your choice, from their lot, for you and you will pay them directly when you make your payments. The problem is that they have a very high interest rate and they will charge you a price that is much more than the vehicle is actually worth. This is not good for you and it is not going to give you the best chance to pay off your vehicle.

Second, when you are looking for good car finance with bad credit you can get online and find a place that will match you up with the right type of lenders for you. They will give you many choices to use and you can usually find one or two lenders that can approve you for an amount of money towards a car regardless of your credit. Then, you can go and pick the car you want from anywhere. This is much better car finance with bad credit than using a buy here, pay here car lot.

Last, you should know that it is necessary to have any used vehicle you decide to buy checked out by a certified mechanic of your choice before you purchase it. You need to know if the vehicle is good for you and if it is going to run well for you. This is very important because this is going to be the mode of transportation you use on a daily basis so you need to be able to get back and forth without any issues at all.