Happy Holidays to Me

All of the gifts have been unwrapped, the food has beeneaten, and your family and friends are slowly heading back to the parts of thecountry they all visited from. But in all of the holiday chaos you may have forgottento treat someone important with a gift this year: yourself. Don’t worry if you’rehaving trouble with your turbocharger or fuel pump. It’s the end of the yearand every car dealership has some great deals to land you behind thewheel of a new car.

Almost every manufacturer is offering financing as low as 0%on new purchases as well as cash back options. Chevy and Ford particularly are offeringup to $5,000 cash back on many of their new models if you buy before the NewYear. If you have your eyes set on a car that’s a little out of your pricerange for purchase, there is probably a leasing option available to get you inthat driver’s seat. Just to name a few, the new 2012 Lexus IS can be yours forlease at $329/month, or you can drive away in a new Nissan Maxima for$279/month. If your new year’s resolution is to go green you might want to takea Prius for a test drive, which are leasing as low as $219/month.

These prices are just deals stated on company websites. Onceyou’re at the dealership there is always wiggle room to get those payments to better fit your price range. If your car’s on its last leg, it’s a greattime to take advantage of these deals. I know many people who have driven offthe lot in a new car at a fraction of its price, especially those 2011 modelsleft behind. And hey, after all the shopping and preparing you’ve done forevery one else in the past few weeks, you deserve it. 

Will Technology Kill the Joy of Driving

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In the last few years the idea of a self-driving car has hit the scene in a big way, claiming that if we were to take out the human element traffic accidents and deaths due to those accidents will be decreased significantly. This all sounds great for the day to day grind in traffic, just imagine getting up at 5 am getting ready for your hour long commute to work. It sounds pretty horrible, what if you could go back to seep in your car? Now that would be great! On the other hand knowing the way the government is they would make it so that cars are all controlled by a massive traffic controlling computer. Now I don’t know about you but I for one enjoy the feeling of pressing the pedal and hearing the turbo spool up. Feeling the press into the seat by the extra horsepower from that turbocharger is a great sensation. I love driving maybe not in traffic but when the road is empty it is a great thrill to be behind the wheel.

The joy of driving is an interesting thought, on the one hand yes it is tedious getting on the highway and doing the day to day thing. On the other hand get on a curvy road and let rip (following the speed limit of course) is a great release. There are roads in the US alone that people travel from all over the world to drive on, The “Tail of the Dragon” on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina is just such a road. Now why would people come from so far away for a road? Well the joy of driving is exactly why there is nothing like handling the curves at a good clip with the wind in your hair and felling car pitch as you hit switchback after switchback. The Feeling of the acceleration and G forces as they pull you left and right in the seat while you control your car through each intricate section of this amazing drive that winds through the mountains. Yes there are some downsides, like the fact that you can crash your car at any moment. There is even a “Tree of Shame” which is a big tree at the beginning of the road where you hang parts of wrecked cars that have been crashed in the course of the drive. Each year the tree is emptied and it only takes a few months to be covered all over again.

On this tree can be found pieces of cars and bikes, from the cheapest Honda Civic to a head light from a Ferrari Enzo that was totaled 2 years ago it is all there. This may all seem a bit insane but it all comes back to the love of driving and the need for speed. The best way to put it is… no matter how the technology changes we will all find a way to make ourselves happy. For those of us that love speed we all want one thing, please don’t take our joy away by making only computer controlled cars.

The First Audi R8 GT is Delivered to One Lucky Customer

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This year we have seen our share of turbocharger andsupercharger using uber cars flowing into the automotive market. Despite gas hitting well over $4 a gallon it is more and more likely that the super rich just don’t care. To be honest neither would I, The Audi R8GT is a prime example of what a gas guzzling monster can be. With 0-60 in 3.8 sec and a top speed touching the super car holy grail of 200 mph it will be a contender for the coolest car of the year.

Only 333 of these cars will be created and not many of them will ever see the light of day, a car release like this is a collectors dream. The first person to receive the new GT did not tell his plans for the car but one thing is for sure it is not a trip to soccer practice. The one fact that is always good for a laugh is the fact that cars like this hit almost 20 MPG which is far better than the SUVs that most soccer moms are sporting nowadays.

Now my opinion of supercars is swayed a bit, always been a sports car kinda guy but who can say they don’t want something like this beauty in their drive way. The Chassis on the R8 is so well built that Porsche has decided that their next 911 will be based on it. This of course means that the 911 will finally be a mid engine…finally.

A Lamborghini Aventador VS a Ferrari 458 Turbo...Dream Cars Head to Head

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We all love a good race and we all love supercars, the only thing we love more is a modified supercar. Unlike a normal car with a turbo or super charger strapped to it supercars are purpose built machines that are for one thing only.....Speed! The trend of modifying a car is not just limited to Honda's with a fart can on the back of it....the need to make things fast spans all ages. Carroll Shelby is 90 and he is still supercharging mustangs and making cars that rival the Bugatti Veyron in top speed.

There are not many of us who can afford to even look at a Ferrari 458 much less think about adding a turbo system to it once we get it. Usually the people who can afford that kind of thing are not really in the mind set to do it. After all 1% of the population hold 99% of the wealth and that that does not leave the rest of us with much. Recently Underground Racing released a video of their twit turbo Ferrari 458 Vs a Lamborghini Aventador where both cars are sporting 700HP as a bit of promotional material.

The idea was to show the amazing speed of the 458 after adding the kit seeing as the Aventador can do 0 - 60 in less than 3 seconds. The final result of the race is pretty stunning since the Ferrari blows the doors off the Lambo. This may not be a fair comparison in so eye since this is a stock car vs a modified but in this case it is ok. The Lamborghini is designed to be as fast as possible so if you can out run it you are doing something right. Check out the video on youtube to see the results for yourself and not to mention get to drool over 2 beautiful supercars.

Diagnosing Issues With a Turbo Before Failure

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Most of the time when a turbo begins to fail there are some pretty noticeable signs but what are they?Turbochargers are very simple but complicated parts, basically just an air pump. Turbo units work by using the exhaust pressure to spin the blades on the exhaust side and in turn that spins the intake blades. While that may seem simple it takes some serious engineering to make it work perfect. The signs and causes of turbo failure are easy to catch if you know what to looks for.

Failure and Cause:

A turbo begins to burn oil:

Bad seals in the housing or too much pressure inside the oil system can be a common issue. When the seals in a turbo are low quality or have worn out over time they will begin to allow the oil to pass through and be pulled into the engine. High pressure inside the oil system in a car can also cause oil leakage, the pressure must go somewhere and the seals in the turbo are usually the first to go.

The vehicle is making no Horsepower:

There are a number of reasons this can happen but we will concentrate on the turbo related issues. I boost leak would be the first, any space where air can escape from the pressurized part of the intake is considered a boost leak. This will cause the vehicle to mix too much fuel since some of the air that was expected is not getting to the cylinders.

Too much back pressure can also kill horse power and can usually be caused by some sort of blockage (yes the old banana in the tailpipe) impeding the flow of exhaust gasses. The air has to go somewhere and it will usually stall the motor or blow out the seals on the exhaust side of the turbo. This is very dangerous to the motor.

The Turbo is whining under boost:

Whining can be caused by oil starvation or boost leaks, which can sometimes be mixed up.  Hope for the latter since a boost leak is simple to fix. Oil starvation will cause whining since the bearings are grinding against each other and metal on metal is not a good sound. This sound also means that your turbo is on its last legs and you need to stop the car. Turbo bearings can only last a few minutes at best without proper oil flow. Not only do the bearings need to stay lubricated but they also use the oil for cooling in many cases.

Many a mechanic will just tell you the turbo is bad to make a sale on parts that are not needed, so know your questions when you arrive. If someone says the turbo is bad ask why, protect yourself by knowing why it failed. When you know what the real issue is you can keep it from happening again, you might even be able to save thousands since the only real problem was a $3 seal instead of a $3000 repair. If you don’t know people will take advantage so be sure you are the one in control of your car, on the road and on the lift.