Car Accessories for a Better Ride

Although your vehicle can still run without auto accessories, you just can’t discount the importance they give to your ride. They make your ride protected from road damaging elements as well as enhance your vehicle’s aesthetics. The benefits you enjoy from using these add-ons are enough reasons why you should invest on them. Indeed, buying useful automotive accessories is definitely not a waste of money. While there are lots of auto accessories you can integrate in your precious ride, an article from autonews24h recommends the following.

Car Cover This is one of the most popular auto accessories, especially for those who do not own a garage or carport. A car cover can protect an automobile from inclement weather and even from the occasional flyover of a bird. However, when purchasing a car cover, be sure to read the instructions carefully to avoid damaging the car or having the paint peel off from an improper application.

Seat Cover. One of the most popular auto accessories for your car’s interior is a seat cover. They can help to protect your car’s original seats from stains, cigarette burns, tears, etc.

Steering Wheel Cover. This product, which is designed to provide improved grip on your steering wheel, is created to help your interior in a number of ways. If you purchase a cloth steering wheel cover, it will protect your hands from grabbing an otherwise hot steering wheel after your car has been sitting in the sun. Additionally, a steering wheel cover is one of the more popular auto accessories because it helps to protect the steering wheel from scratches.

Floor Mats. Every automobile is susceptible to dirt, mud and anything else on the bottom of our shoes. In an effort to keep the floor clean, mats are ideal auto accessories.

Handheld Vacuum. Not commonly thought of as auto accessories, handheld vacuums are essential to keeping your interior clean. These handy little gadgets are ideal for cleaning seats and the floor of your car.

Hands-free Cell Phone Connector. Although it is not recommended that anyone drive while talking on the cell phone, there are often emergency situations or calls that need to be addressed and this is why a hands-free cell phone connector is one of the best auto accessories that you could have. Rather than shuffling for the phone, using a hands-free connector is much more convenient and will not distract you from driving.

Cell Phone Charger. This is one of the essential auto accessories if you own a cell phone. A cell phone charger connects to your phone and also to the cigarette lighter in order to recharge your cell phone’s battery. If you happen to encounter car trouble on the highway only to find that your cell phone battery is empty, you will be glad to have this handy little device to give you instant use of your cell phone.

Emergency Battery Charger. Owning one of these auto accessories could be one of the smartest purchases you make. They are charged at home using a regular outlet, then placed in your car. If your car’s battery runs down, you are out of luck unless you have an emergency charger. These will help get you back on the road quickly and without the help of a tow truck.

Child safety seat. If you have a child, the proper safety seat is a must-have for traveling. While you are on the go, you want the little one to be safe right along with you. A child safety seat is one of the best auto accessories in existence for both you and especially your child.

Harness seatbelt for your pet. If you have to take your pet to the veterinarian or on a road trip, but have difficulty finding a travel crate large enough to fit him/her, a harness-style seatbelt for your pet will be ideal for keeping your pet in the seat and will prevent it from wondering aimlessly throughout the automobile. This can be both distracting and dangerous to the driver and other pedestrians on the road.

Mondeo Madness

I love Ford models! Last year, I had a plan to buy the 2007 Ford Mondeo but failed because I thought it was not right the time. Now, it’s 2008 and the thought of buying still crosses my mind. Just so you have an idea of this high-end wheeled machine, let me share some of its interesting info.

The Mondeo appeared in the UK’s top 10 favorite cars. It actually happened every year since its launch in 1993, selling more than 1.5 million examples. From then, it had a stellar reputation in the nation. It was first seen in prototype guise at the Paris motor show and then making a cameo in the latest James Bond film. Indeed, it has a lot to live up to. With its latest iteration which is the employment of the kinetic design language, Mondeo has created a unique front end with beveled comers and a deep offset between the top of the bonnet and the front wings. Accentuating the flanks is the muscular line rising gradually toward the rear whilst a sturdy undercut line runs from the front wheels arches through the side of the car.

From launch, three distinctive body styles are available – the saloon, five-door hatchback and estate. Within these are four distinct trim levels such as the entry level Edge, mid-spec Zetec, the top of the range Ghia and finally, the Titanium X models. The Duratorg diesel and Duratec petrol engines supply the power for the new Mondeo. The diesel units are specified in 1.8 litre or 2 guise, with power ratings between 99bhp and 138bhp.

Tips to ensure vehicle safety

There are factors you need to take into consideration to ensure safe driving. Come to think of it, safe driving is greater than taking a course in driver education. It entails both intelligence and commons sense.

Learning to drive
It is a bad idea that you assume that you are the best driver in the city. You have to continually analyze your own driving. Answer questions like ‘do I make the entry onto the freeway properly? or do I almost risk an accident because I jump into traffic too quickly?

Time
Initially, you have to fix firmly in your mind that your sense of time goes out the window at the time you get into a car. To illustrate this, you need to time how long it takes to get out of a side street onto a regularly-used road. Ask someone else in the car to estimate how long you were sitting there. If actually it was 10 seconds, the other person would most likely say 30 or more seconds.

A typical example of such point is an instance when you leave late and try to make up some time by driving extra fast to work. Here, you may save say two or three seconds. On the other hand, if you leave two minutes earlier and spend a fraction of time driving slowly, then you will get there is two minutes early. But if you really drag your feet, it will be probably one minute and 56 seconds early

A quick instance to prove the same point comes from watching the progress of somebody who has passed you out your feeling that you are driving too slowly. Pick up a marker when that person passes it and count seconds until you reach it. Someone who’s steaming down the road will pick up as much as five whole seconds in a mile or maybe even 30 seconds in a trip of five or ten miles.

Cushion
As a standard rule, you need to leave a two-second cushion between your car and the one before you. It’s a basic arithmetic – at 60 mph, you are traveling 88 feet per second. Two seconds puts you 176 feet behind the person you are following. Now think of what can happen if the guy hits the brakes immediately? Note that it takes an average driver to notice the brake lights and realize that the vehicle before him is slowing down. It will be a little late for him to move the right foot from the accelerator to the brake and depress the pedal – you have traveled 44 feet before your brakes start to slow down. Now you have one and a half seconds and 132 feet of maneuvering space left and you don’t know what’s going on. This is an assumption that the pavement is bone dry and there is no other traffic to worry about. The brakes are working well and your attention is directly on the brake lights of the vehicle before you. It is safe to say that the two-second cushion does not leave much room for errors.

It is definitely advised that you allow as much as space as possible. It’s a big NO to drive directly behind or next to anyone especially if the situation doesn’t call for such action. This all pays off when someone has some sort of emergency. Definitely you would not be caught in it. You have adequate room to use your brakes, swerve out of trouble, or just continue driving.

Brains
Alertness is of high importance to a driver. He must watch the traffic, road conditions, driver behavior, external influences, weather, visibility, and the working condition of his vehicle.

Money
Observance to traffic rules and paying attention to automotive tips like this will save you heaps of money on insurance costs, tickets, and body work.

A modern crash technology

Getting some real-world testing this season is a high-tech system to help car and commercials prevent crashes by warning them of possible road dangers and assessing their options. Tested under a federal grant to the University of Michigan, the program will help motorists pick the path of least danger when stopping or changing lanes present risk. It is called as the Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety System. It goes beyond the collision warning detectors which are now found in some luxury models by integrating data from multiple sources.

Sayer said that the Government’s approval of the second phase of the $32.3 million study clears the way for 16 passenger cars and 10 commercial trucks equipped with the system to the nation’s roads.
”We’re going to get a good cross-section of the driving public,” he said.In a recent study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, it was asserted that the expansion of the availability of the forward-crash and lane-departure warning systems now offered in some high-end vehicles can actually save tens of thousands of lives annually.

The University claimed in a statement that the system designed to warn drivers when they are about to leave the roadway and that it is in danger of colliding with another vehicle while attempting to change lane, or in danger of colliding with the vehicle ahead.

The University further said ”It will use information gathered by inertial, video and radar sensors, plus a global positioning system, to warn drivers of potentially dangerous situations to prevent or lessen the impact of crashes.”

Part of a joint initiative by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the University’s Transportation Research Institute conducts the study. $7.1 million will come from Battelle Memorial Institute in addition to $25.2 million in federal funding. Other fund sources include Cognex Corp., Con-way Inc, Eaton Corp., Honda, the Michigan Department of Transportaion, Navistar International Corp, and Visten Corp.

The university’s Transportation Research Institute is conducting the study, part of a joint initiative by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

In addition to $25.2 million in federal funding, $7.1 million will come from Battelle Memorial Institute, Cognex Corp., Con-way Inc., Eaton Corp., Honda, the Michigan Department of Transportation, Navistar International Corp., and Visteon Corp.

Meeting the Renault Ondelios concept

Renault has something to unveil next month at the French carmaker’s home. It is the hybrid-powdered luxury crossover concept called the Onedelios. Influenced by an awesome aviation design, this concept vehicle features six passengers capacity with individual bucket seats arranged in three rows of two.

The concept vehicle measures 4805mm long, 1998 wide and 1605 mm high. Another interesting feature of this creation is its low drag coefficient of just 0.29 and lightweight carbon body. Talking about aerodynamics, it has a steeply raked windscreen that extends down the hood. It has an aluminum finish grille flanked by LED headlights and boomerang-shaped tail lamps mounted near air extractors that control ail flow from wheelarches. With a lattice-type design, the vehicle’s polycarbonate roof glazing decreases weight, thus promoting drag reduction.

Providing the access to the breathtaking interior is a butterfly-type side doors hinged to the roof. The interior features a cabin reminiscent of the business class section of passenger jets, with six individually adjustable and reclining seats, each having a footrest. Its layout is said to have been designed to profit from all the available space. Check this out and be amazed.

The facts about car alarms

Have you ever encountered a dumb thief who got a heart attack while unlocking a car? How funny it will be to see him startled by a loud alarm that comes from nowhere but your ride.

Car alarm systems have been prevalently used in the US not just to witness stupid thieves run but to keep their invested cars from troubles of vandalism. A lot of cars today are equipped with sophisticated electronic sensors, remote-activation systems, and blaring sirens. Such gadgets will also provide ample security to your ride, even with your wheels that can possibly attract thieves.

So what basically is an alarm?

Most modern alarm systems are much more sophisticated as they are composed of:

• Sensors that have switches, motion detectors, and pressure sensors.

• Siren that provides you with a distinct sound for your ride

• Auxiliary battery that gives emergency power

• Radio receiver that facilitates wireless control from a key fob

• Computer control unit (CCU) that stands as the brain of the system

The CCU is a small computer that closes the switch to activate the alarm devices, which include the headlights, horn, and siren. Security sensors may differ on how these devices are wired into the CCU.

As the brain of the alarm, CCU should be properly powered by the battery. This power supply device is often backed up with a hidden battery that kicks in when somebody cuts off the main power source. Cutting the power is one of the possible indications of a trespasser; thus, the brain will be triggered, consequently sounding the alarm.

Here are some of the alarm sensor elements to which the CCU communicates:

DOOR SENSORS

Door alarm is a basic element in a car alarm system. Once the hood (or other doors including the trunk) is opened, the CCU will trigger the alarm system. In modern car models, the inside lights are turned on when any of the doors is opened. The switch regulating this mechanism is the same as that with your refrigerator. Once you close the door, it presses a small spring-activated button or lever that opens the circuit. On the other hand, when you open the door, the spring pushes the button open closing the circuit. This is the reason why the inside lights are turned on.

SHOCK SENSORS

Highly-advanced alarm systems principally depend on the shock sensors. These sensors are very effective on deterring thieves and vandals. Once somebody moves you car, shock sensor will send a signal to the CCU. Consequently, this unit will communicate with the alarm system, giving off warning horn beep or other sounds.

Setbacks…..

You may have heard about a lot of cases for false alarms. For this issue, many vehicle manufacturers are not anymore designing factory fit simple noise making alarms. They are instead offering silent yet effective immobilizers. Also, vehicle tracking systems are also used to have stolen vehicles traced. These systems are however more expensive.

Installing an alarm system in your vehicle is quite complicated. Make sure that you have it done by an experienced auto mechanic. Otherwise, the thief will be the one laughing at you.

Introducing the 2009 Kia Borrego

Today’s automotive trend is like moving away from big, body-on-frame V-8 sport/utilities to more compact crossovers. And for that, Kia has come up with 2009 Kia Borrego which is a V-8 model for North America. It features a body-on-frame and a capacity of seven passengers. Its V-8 engine is like that of the Hyundai’s Genesis which is a 4.6 liter engine that produces about 375 horses.

“It’ll bring the new Hyundai V-8 here first, though given what Hyundai says about the Genesis’s on-sale date, it looks like a dead-heat. And therein lies the issue: timing” said Kia.

Gas was under$2 per gallon and automakers were like expecting for a big truck boom when the Kia was developing the Borrego about five years ago. It was also the time when Toyota was working on its new, bigger-than-ever Sequoia. Luckily enough, although Kia didn’t have initial dimensions, the Borrego is essentially smaller than Sequoia. There will also be Borrego models that will come with V-6 engine, most likely the 3.3 liter that can produce 242 horsepower. A new clean-diesel will be added to the lineup after the Borrego’s summer launch, although this will not be realized quickly.

Kia announced that the Borrego’s platform is unique, although it’s not like a stretched Sorento’s body-on-frame, also featuring an independent rear suspension. The company further said that the public should expect Borrego to be virtually as good as off-road vehicle like the Sorento and exceptional on the road refinement. The Borrego will also employ all-wheel drive system with standard electronically switched part-time with a low range or optional Torque-On-Demand full-time with a low range.

About Borrego’s external looks, the model seems like a boxier and more conservative Sorento, with twin hood bulges and a Nissanesque tail. It is basically a handsome KIA model whose interior proves that Kia and Hyundai, a sister company are spending a lot of money and rapidly requiring interior quality. Although Borrego’s perforated leather seats are not as soft like that of the Mercedes Benz, they are good enough as compared to the Japanese-made seats and those found in Saturn and Chevrolet. Moreover, the model’ s switchgear looks and feels of quality and panel fit and parting lines are tight.

Old? It’s Antique.

Antique cars symbolize some junctures in the past where people can afford to travel especially on countryside and there was still no traffic. By doing some inquiries and keeping a little savings in your bank account a person can really afford to get his own antique model but maybe not most of the time though.

Any vehicle reaching 26 years old can be deemed as antique. These initial antique cars are very unique in a way that they can reach 26 years unlike the modern cars manufactured today. The cost of these incomparable vehicles increases because of the historical value each of these cars obtained from their previous years. These vehicles were represented as the pathfinder of modern cars since the technology back then set the road for safety belts, power steering and other aspect available today in all vehicles.

Maintaining an antique automobile is no joke at all. Since these models are very old their previous manufacturers may no longer assemble these models and you may find it difficult to search some parts for it which are also expensive.

Most collectors today choose to put their collections to the garage instead of using it on a daily basis. The car is old and obviously, there is a high probability that these old engines may cause failure and collapse on the streets. If you are planning to use these vintage models anyway at least try to always check your brakes to avoid extreme danger. Make sure that you have these antique cars covered with insurance. They are not like the same modern models armed with several security device installed for theft protection etc. You can also view some related stories at Autopartswarehouse.com blog.

Fuel Economy

Car manufacturers that have not propelled definite agenda to ameliorate fuel conservation have nonetheless created mid-cycle adjustments in designating operatively. Let’s take Honda as our example. Between the 2007 and 2008 models, the company bestowed the deactivation in the cylinder of Odyssey. It unites to a lot of examining for somewhat little acquisitions, but the car manufacturers tell these amendments to increase annually, and anticipating the ameliorations will be satisfactory to tide consumers over until the latest editions with greater and better fuel efficiency strike the roads.

While some car manufacturers have engaged mass of awareness with green cars like the impending Chevrolet Volt and the popular Toyota Prius, they are also taking a quick view at their newest models to eke out each last mile per gallon.

GM is expanding the XFE trim to additional cars, comprising its huge pickups. Other car manufacturers have pursued suit. The Mercury Mariner and 2009 Ford Escape will construct an electric power steering, variable valve technology, and a six-speed automatic transmission to net a two mile per gallon improvement on the streets. Chrysler engineers found an extra mile per gallon on the highway for their Sebring and Avenger sedans by switching in a more efficient air conditioning compressor, re-calibrating the gas pedals, and tightening shifts.

GM improved highway fuel economy on the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 by changing the gearing on the five speed manual transmission, swapping in tires with lower rolling resistance, and adjusting the intake and exhaust valve timing on the 2.2-liter Ecotec engine. The cars, dressed in “XFE” badging, have met with success in the marketplace. The Cobalt XFE, rated at 36 miles per gallon highway compared to 33 for its predecessor, sat on the lot for an average of only 18 days in July and accounted for eight percent of Cobalt sales, far surpassing GM’s expectations. And the 2009 model is rated for 37 mpg on the highway.

Terrible Truck Trouble

GMC’s are one of the most satisfactory vehicles available in the auto markets today. It’s quite difficult to comprehend why GM offers no less than four Lambda crossover utility vehicle versions. As the Automotive News advise GMC may remove it’s Acadia model before the year 2010 model.

As several consumers continue to refuse picking huge trucks and SUVs, the chief truck division inside GM’s domain which is the GMC, turns out to drop the most. There’s some couple of analysis why the branch plans to sell compact crossovers and vehicles in the next few generations.

If it should stay improving until 2010 which will be expected to come along with a new V-8 selection. I do not know exactly what kind of eight-cylinder block that would that be. The Ultra V-8 was once scheduled for the Lambda.

Unlike GMC’s Terrain model that has been reported to appear until 2011. The anticipated release of Chevrolet’s Equinox has been rumored to launch for the next two years to come. Substituting the Pontiac Torrent, the Terrain will also ride on an updated Theta platform, and be little more than like a re-skinned Equinox.

Meanwhile, the replacement for GMT355 is already in the works. This model was tagged at the market as the GMC Canyon. While the development of the new truck is occurring in Brazil, it is uncertain if the Canyon which is a slow seller, will make it ’s way back to the US market. Time to browse Autopartswarehouse.com for new parts.