Car Tuning,Car Finance,Auto Loans

Archive for the ‘Automotive’ Category

It is not easy to get your dream car. To make you save your money, you can buy second hand car. Second cars do not only image as a totally broken car. If you are patient enough and have experience in car machine, you can choose good second hand cars.

To make your research in Used Cars, you can use service in internet from Justgoodcars.com. This web helps you to find trusted dealers available in your area. You can also ask cars based on your average budget. This month, you can also get promo for used cars on sale. Not only for buying, this web also facilitates you to sell your car. Before selling it, you can use the service of Value My Car online. It helps you to determine estimation of the selling price. The value of new car, old car, antique car, and luxury cars are totally different. So, you need to know it for clear.

In this web, all the cars are protected by Car Warranties. For used cars, the warranty is given by the dealers. Usually these warranties give duration for three years to the ownership. It helps you to fund the car maintenance and repairing cost.

Hey, look under the hood!

It’s a bird!

It’s a plane!

It’s SUPERCHIP!

With apologies to Superman, performance computer chips or superchips are quickly becoming a popular way for auto enthusiasts to squeeze out more power from their cars. Basically what a superchip mod does is to store a new engine management program in your car’s computer. Noticeable increases in horsepower and torque as well as improvements in driveability are the chief benefits of this type of chip. Installation is easy and the price is right…we’ll examine just how easy and cost effective a superchip is below.

Depending on the make/model of your car or truck, a superchip can help your vehicle crank out from 9 to 60 more horsepower. Not too shabby when you consider some compact cars barely make it to 115 horses. Yeah, you could have elected for the more powerful engine with some cars but the $1000 or better mark up in price dwarfs the price of a superchip. Better to go with the superchip and pocket the savings.

So, how hard is it to install a superchip? Actually, it is really a simple procedure:

1. Locate your car’s computer chip [usually found in your dashboard].

2. Remove the factory installed chip and replace it with the superchip…one chip slides out and the other slides in.

3. Place a cover over the chip to keep it in place and to keep dirt and dust out.

That’s it! The hardest part will be to remove the dash, but even that job isn’t all that difficult.

As I said previously, the price of installing a superchip can be done for a lot less than an engine upgrade. Prices start below $300, so it ends up being one the cheaper performance enhancing mods out there.

You can also find other types of performance computer chips that will work well including Jet Chips and the Hypertech performance chip. With either chip you stand to wring out additional performance from your car for a reasonably priced mod. Hey, if it is increased performance you want then one of these chips is for you!

One of the best things you can do for your car audio system is to properly tune it. There are several variables to consider when doing this, and I am going to walk to through the most important ones so you will have a good understanding of how to get the most “bang” for the buck from you system.

Assuming you have an amplified system with one or more subwoofers, you can dial in your system to give you the best sound and have the durability you want from it. It starts at the head unit. You want a head unit with a good, strong output signal, between 4 and 5 volts on its pre-outs. Audiophiles tell us that 2-3 volts of good clean signal is good too, but that will require a little more amplifier power to get the decibels we’re looking for. You also want a head unit with an adjustable subwoofer level. Start by tuning the stereo without the subs on. Add your bass and treble until you get the desired sound with minimal distortion at the loudest volume setting you will listen to it at. This is generally about 2/3 max volume.

Once you are happy with the low/mid/high sound from the multi-range speakers, we can add in the subs. If applicable, tune the sub outputs to about 2/3 maximum, and head to the amp. Start at the amp and adjust the frequency and the level to minimum, and turn the volume up to the the same loudest point we were working with earlier. Pull your frequency to about half way, and slowly adjust the power level upwards. If you hit the zone you want, stay there. Keep in mind, this is only a safe adjusting technique with a speaker system that matches the power output of the amplifier. If you want more from your system, incrementally adjust the frequency down slightly with the increases in power level.

Your goal is to get a loud, clear bass from the subs that DOES NOT CLIP OUT under the loudest conditions you anticipate. If the amp clips out, then adjust the power level lower until it is back in the safe zone. Once the system is set where you want it, don’t mess with it. Leave the levels on the head unit and the amp alone. The mistake I see with blown speakers and amps is trying to show them off with all the levels maxed out. This produces a lot of power at a high distortion level, which is damaging to the speakers and the amplifier. If you want a louder sound than what you have by tuning your system this way, it may be time to upgrade.

Keep these guidelines in mind when configuring your systems, and you should be able to build a car stereo system that will sound great and have great durability. Good Luck and stay TUNED!

MOMO has long held the title of the worlds best interior auto accessories, but there is some competition coming from SHUTT. MOMO shift knobs are very popular worldwide and can be found in all types of rides. SHUTT is very popular in South America and has outsold MOMO, SPARCO, and GRANT for many years, there business started in 1993 and has recently come to the US market in the last two years. Both MOMO and SHUTT are of the highest quality auto accessories only using the best materials in their designs. It seems that the only area the two companies don’t agree is price, with SHUTT consistently coming in around 20% less.

SHUTT was at SEMA 2008 and had a variety of gear shift knobs available for viewing. Made from such materials as leather, carbon fiber, aluminum, chromed details and quality laser imprinted logos. The shifter knobs were very attractive and had a great feel to them…very comfortable. The leather was thick and durable, as it was in all the products. The shift knobs attach to your current shifter lever by way of set screws set around the base usually hidden behind a screw on base…function incorporated into the fashion. SHUTT has several leather shifter boots to go along with your new shift knob, that way you can complete the look.

You may have seen SHUTT ads in some auto mags like import tuner, car stereo tuning, full power and more. And I am sure you will see more in the future, SHUTT will only grow as word gets out that there is another top quality brand out there. SHUTT added a car audio line that will rock your world, 12 inch subwoofers that come in various watts and ohms, a component set and two different lines of amps, one of which is digital.

Overall both companies have very high quality parts, very unique designs, new models coming out every season…so why choose SHUTT over the well known MOMO? Well for one Shutt has a lifetime warranty, I could not gather any info online about the MOMO warranty. SHUTT prices were 20% less overall and in this economy everyone wants to get a quality product at a lower price. MOMO products are the established company and that alone can sway some buyers. Although there is something to be said about a company that will jump up and give serious competition to MOMO, that might sway younger car enthusiast to give SHUTT a try.

After much research I found that Shutt was not that easily located here in the US yet, I called several accessory shops nearby and most had not even heard of the brand yet. The only place that looks reputable is www.shuttusa.com, other than that a few other online sites and that’s it right now. Of course the manufacturers sites are nice but they do not allow any purchases. So you can call and check your local shops but you will probably be back online so remember that site name.

Anyways I can’t wait to go to next years SEMA show, the only thing that would have been better is if this economy wasn’t in a funk so I could have had more money to blow in Vegas. Until next time “tune it in” and have fun.

Tuning the exhaust for a car can make a big difference on how your car performs. The normal exhaust fitted by the car manufactures are normally a compromise between performance and production costs. The standard exhaust system is made to a budget and to keep the exhaust quiet which also makes the exhaust fairly restrictive.

By changing the system for a less restrictive type of exhaust should give you some gain in your cars performance. One of the first things to look at is the the manifold section of the exhaust. These are normally made of cast iron or even if they are made of steel will tend to have quite sharp bends in them. This can restrict the gas flow quite a lot. Checking that the ports of the exhaust match up with the cylinder head ports can make quite a difference to performance. If you are intending to keep the original manifold, then the simple use of a small grinding stone on a drill to match the two ports up can make a big advantage.

The design of the manifold already fitted to your car also makes a difference as well. The four-into-one or four-into-two-into-one makes, are generally a better design than the other types. So if your car is fitted with one of the first two types you might not have to change them.

The next stage is to look at the silencers on the car. The normal silencers will tend to be pretty restrictive as they tend to push the gases through a U-turn to get more silencing from the silencer baffles to make the car quiet.

Fitting a straight through silencer instead with maybe a slightly larger bore, can help eliminate some of these restrictions. Beware about going too large though, as some back pressure is needed to help with the performance. If you loose all of the back pressure, you could actually loose power rather than gain it. The exhaust has to be tuned for the car and having some back pressure going back towards the engine actually helps to pull the rest of the exhaust gases from the engine. That is why you will find cars with no exhausts do not perform well at all. You may have been in a position in the past where your exhaust has broken when you have been driving and you can tell how much power is suddenly lost.

You will also have to check that the new silencer is road legal as these silencers tend to make more noise than the standard boxes. Expect to loose some cabin comfort because of the increased noise as well. Some people like to look at this noise as just a sporting or throaty sound but on long journeys this sound can get a little tiresome.

For greater improvement still you may want to change the manifold to a free flow tubular type. For normal road use it is best to try and aim for a system that will improve the cars’ mid range power for better acceleration and overtaking capacity rather than the top end power.

Camber is probably the most useful and popular alignment adjustment that can be made to a street car. The other alignment adjustments are toe and caster, which I have covered in accompanying articles. Camber is the angle of the wheel from the vertical as viewed from the front or the back of the car. Negative camber means that the top of the wheel is leaned in towards the car, and positive camber means that the top of the wheel is leaned out away from the car.

Maximum cornering force is achieved when the camber of the outside wheels relative to the ground is about -0.5 degrees. A slight negative camber in a turn maximizes the tire contact patch due to the way the tire deforms under lateral load. Hence, it is good to have some negative camber to increase cornering force.

Another reason why it is helpful to align your suspension with a slight negative camber is that camber will change with suspension travel and body roll. Most suspension systems are designed so that camber increases with more suspension travel. However, camber relative to the car’s chassis is not the same thing as camber relative to the ground. It is camber relative to the ground that affects handling. Therefore, even though camber relative to the chassis is made to increase, camber relative to the ground may actually decrease on the outside wheels if there is substantial body roll. To counter this tendency, it is important to use negative camber and to control body roll.

The only drawback to negative camber is increased wear on the inside of each tire. Since the top of the wheel is leaned in, the car is riding on the inside of the tire while it is on straightaways. In a corner, suspension travel and lateral forces on the tire’s rubber compound combine to straighten the tire relative to the ground. Therefore, the car rides evenly on the tire in turns, which improves cornering ability. However, extra time spent driving on the inside of the tire causes that part of the tire to heat up and wear. This effect is small if you avoid adding too much negative camber.

On most street cars (which use a MacPherson Strut front suspension), camber is not easily adjustable. However, if you choose to purchase aftermarket camber plates, you can set camber to improve handling. More negative camber tends to increase tire grip in corners. Therefore, if your car experiences understeer, you can decrease front camber (make it more negative) to improve front grip or increase rear camber (make it more positive) to decrease rear grip. Remember not to add too much negative or positive camber since it will decrease the life of your tires and may cause a blowout. Even pure race cars rarely use more than about 3 degrees of camber. As with any adjustments, make camber changes in small increments, and make sure to test the setup so that you can see the results from each specific change.

Visit my website for more information about camber adjustments:
http://www.240edge.com

Your car should get a tune-up, or major service, every 30,000 miles. And, this is probably the best preventative maintenance tip a car owner could get. The components of a good tune-up will check into and replace all the things that cause normal wear and tear on your car. If tune-ups are missed, this could lead to damage and further problems that cost a lot more than a tune-up. In addition, tune-ups can give you better gas mileage. Best of all, tune-ups can be done on your own, saving you the high cost of labor.

Here are the things you will need to do as you tune your own car, as well as an explanation why it is strongly recommended.

1. Fuel Filter- You will want to replace your fuel filter. Dirty fuel filters can lead to difficulty starting the car, can restrict the engine, and cause the car to lose power.

2. Sparkplugs and sparkplug wires- you will want to replace these, as bad plugs can rob your car of fuel efficiency and even take away from drivability. Bad spark plugs can even cause breakdowns, meaning an expensive tow. Bad wires can also cause problems. (See our article on this process)

3. Distributor cap and rotor- these two parts are usually made of plastic, therefore they deteriorate with age and use and cracks may develop, allowing moisture in. Because of this, metal contacts on both can corrode, which causes misfiring.

4. Valves- you will want to check and adjust your valves as needed. Also, you will want to replace the valve-cover gasket, especially when you see oil on the top of your engine.

5. Belts- you will want to check all of your belts to make sure that they are not worn. If they show signs of extreme wear and tear (fraying, tension) you can replace those as well.

6. Air filter- A dirty air filter blocks airflow to the engine, making it work harder. This results in a decline in horsepower and fuel economy.

7. Fluids- check all of your fluid levels underneath the hood. If any appear to be thirsty, give them what they need. (Transmission, brake, etc.)

8. Battery- give your battery a cleaning. (see our article on this process)

9. PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation)- this should be replaced because a clogged breather filter prevents the PCV from siphoning the blow-by gases and moisture created by engine combustion. This results in oil breakdown and sludge buildup.

The previous nine tips are the usual for tune-ups. When giving your car a once-over, you may also want to check your brakes, wiper blades, lights and other gauges. Also, while much of the aforementioned parts can be changed with a major service every few years, from time to time, you may need to replace one or more as a stand-alone project. But, all in all, following this guide will keep you with a smooth, reliable ride!

We are talking about two of the worlds highest quality auto interior accessory manufacturers. MOMO has been known for over 40 years as a leader in the industry, when you see a steering wheel you can tell if it’s a MOMO just by its style. On the other side we have SHUTT a relatively new company only being in the interior styling accessories game for 15 years but gaining ground rapidly.

Competition always makes businesses perform better and with that in mind you can probably expect these companies to compete for your attention in the future. MOMO has it’s name already established but after attending the 2008 SEMA show it is clear that the public is waking up to SHUTT and loving it. Comments at the SHUTT booth were very positive and many actually asked where they could buy the products for their own rides.

These two companies have similarities like high quality and unique designs but where they differ is when it comes to price, SHUTT being the more affordable of the two usually by a whopping 20%. Everyone knows that MOMO is high quality with a high price, some say It’s worth it. Well I don’t know about you but if I can get a high quality product that I like and save money while doing it….I’M THERE… especially in this economy. I am not going to stop tuning my ride just because the economy is in the crapper, I will just do a little more research into the products I am about to buy and choose the highest quality for the best price. I did a little research and found that there are not to many places to buy SHUTT in my town, I could not locate a single shop that has even heard of it…don’t these guys ever go to the SEMA show? Anyway ShuttUSA.com was one site that looked to be a reputable source since I got the card at the SHUTT booth while at the SEMA show.

They have a new car audio line coming out in 2009, and it looks great. A component set consisting of what looked to be a 6 inch mid and a 1 inch tweeter with a crossover. They also have a 12 inch subwoofer and a line of amps including some digital amps.

You may have seen the SHUTT ads recently in “import tuner”, “super street”, “full power”, and “car stereo tuning” displaying their quality products but if you don’t read the MAGS then you probably haven’t even heard the name. Trust me in the next few years they will become just as well known as MOMO, SPARCO or GRANT.

Tuning enhances the performance of the car. It is regularly needed for a car especially if it is modified one. With proper car maintenance, the tuned up car will surely give its best performance giving maximum efficiency. The main idea behind car tuning is to improve its handling and performance.

If the car is not properly maintained and regularly checked then it cannot be considered a tuned car even if had undergone tuning before. A car can get permanently damaged if it is not given proper attention and fixed right away. A tuned car will need much more attention as compared to a regular car. Tuning ensures that the car is at its best all the time consequently prolonging its life length.

It is recommended to tune-up a car after every two years or after 30,000 miles. During the tune-up, the car will get some new parts that will be helpful in keeping it out of the shop for a time. Following is needed to be done for tuning the car.

Step 1
The fuel filter has to be replaced. If there is a fuel-injection system then its not necessary to do regular cleaning the injectors are blocked.

Step 2
The spark plugs have to be changed. If they are platinum made then the car can run for 30,000 more miles. The wires of the spark plug also have to be examined and can be replaced if required. A new set consisting of high-quality wires is worth the cost. They can be permanently attached to the distributor cap so it will also have to be changed.

Step 3
The rotor and distributor cap also has to be replaced. They can be only changed if they are present in the car because some new models with distributor less ignition don’t have it.

Step 4
The condenser and points have to be changed. In case of old car roughly 1978 model or older, then it does not have feature of electronic ignition. The points would have to be preferably changed or at least they can be adjusted after every six months or so. If they are changed then the ignition timing can be also checked.

Step 5
The ignition timing has to be checked and adjusted if needed. It is rare for a car that has an electronic ignition like post 1980 models and some cars don’t have this at all.

Step 6
The valves have to be adjusted as needed. It is not required in case the car has hydraulic valves. It must be made sure that the valve-cover gasket is also replaced as well, especially if oil is seen on top of the engine.

Step 7
The fan belt also has to be checked. They would have to be replaced if they are worn out.

Step 8
The fluids under the hood have to be checked and they must be refilled as necessary. The engine oil and oil filter would have to be changed if the car has crossed over 3,000 miles since the last oil change.

Step 9
The air filter has to be replaced; it should be changed between major car services or after every 15,000 miles also.

Step 10
The clutch has to be adjusted if there is a manual transmission. Even though some cars are now sporting self-adjusting clutches.

Step 11
The battery has to be serviced; distilled water can also be added if required. The cable ends and terminals are also needed to be cleaned.

Step 12
The PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve has to be replaced. This can make the car run roughly or also get stalled if it gets blocked. It is not expensive and it’s easy to replace.

Even a used car can make a severe dent in your bank balance, which is why many people opt to apply for a car loan to pay for their purchase. But quite apart from the fact that car finance enables you to keep your savings where they belong – namely in your pocket – it also has several other advantages over a cash transaction.

Firstly, it enables you to buy a better car than you could otherwise afford. Trying to save money by buying an older model can result in more costly repairs being needed, which all amounts to a false economy in the long run. Taking out a car loan also means you can spread the cost over a longer period of time, which in turn makes your car much easier to pay for – and you will always know where you stand with your monthly payments. You’ll also know exactly how long you’ll be paying the loan for until it’s completed.

If the car credit you get is either unsecured or secured on the car itself, it’s a very low risk option – much more attractive than a secured loan, which could put your home at risk should you default on payments.

Car finance is often also easier to successfully apply for than a standard bank loan. Many people who have bad credit problems are still able to get a car loan and if you are unable to buy a car in any other way then yes car credit could change your life. Becoming more mobile could enable you to apply for better jobs further afield, for example.

Another key benefit of opting for car credit to buy your new motor is that whatever APR you get, it will often be fixed for the length of the loan term. This takes away the worry of wondering how high your repayments could go if interest rates go up, as you will be unaffected. It means you can have more confidence in taking out this kind of loan than another loan which doesn’t have a fixed repayment amount each month.

Car credit is also better than a standard loan as it often comes with added perks. For example, if you buy your car from the same company that provides you with the loan, they may add in six month’s free road tax or a full vehicle inspection before you drive the car home. These give the loan added value that you wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere.

So if you are considering buying a new car, opting for car credit to make it possible could well be your best choice. Not only can it bring added benefits, but you’ll always know exactly where you stand.