Fun Car Facts

Start your Monday off with a little humor and check out some fun car facts that many people rarely know about!

Americans have been driving for over 100 years now. The United States is currently ranked first worldwide in cars per capita.  Along the years, there have been an abundant of funny facts on cars and the culture. Keep reading to see the most outrageous true facts!

The Early Days:

·         The first speeding tickets were given out in 1902.  The top speed of most cars then was approximately 45 miles per hour in that time.

·         Some of the first cars used a pair of levers to steer the automobile.  The invention of the steering wheel was not introduced for several years later.

·         Before the 1920s, cars were not equipped with gas gauges.  This forced the drivers to estimate their fuel level.

Drivers:

·         In 1914, Cleveland, Ohio was the first city in the United States to incorporate a traffic light for their roads.

·         On average, Americans will spend a total of two weeks of their life at red lights.

·         In order to drive on all paved roads in the United States, you will have to drive nonstop at 100 miles per hour for over four years.

Miscellaneous:

·         Most car horns play in the perfect pitch in the note of F.

·         The average car contains over 3,000 feet of electrical wires.

·         One out of every 7 seven cars sold in the United States were bought in Southern California.

 

Read more funny facts from the eHow article by clicking the link: http://bit.ly/hHH1RC

Read more »

Car Seat Tips

To ensure that your precious cargo is safe during the summer trips, check out theses helpful tips on car seats.

Engineers are working hard to ensure that cars and car seats are designed to keep kids as safe as possible. But it’s up to every parent to take full advantage of these innovations by making sure car seats and booster seats are used and installed correctly. Here’s what you need to know to ensure that your most precious cargo is safe in cars.

Hard FactsRoad injuries are the leading cause of preventable deaths and injuries to children in the United States. Correctly used child safety seats can reduce the risk of death by as much as 71 percent.

Top Tips

·    Seventy-three percent of car seats are not used or installed correctly, so before you hit the road, check your car seat. Here’s a quick car seat checklist to help you out. It takes only 15 minutes. If you are having even the slightest trouble, questions or concerns, certified child passenger safety technicians are able to help or even double check your work.

·    Learn how to install your car seat for free. Safe Kids hosts car seat inspection events across the country where certified technicians can help make sure your car seat is properly installed. They will teach you so that you can always be sure your car seat is used correctly. Find a Safe Kids car seat checkup event near you. 

·    Buy a used car seat only if you know its full crash history. That means you must buy it from someone you know, not from a thrift store or over the Internet. Once a car seat has been in a crash, it needs to be replaced.

 

·    We know that when adults wear seat belts, kids wear seat belts. So be a good example and buckle up for every ride. Be sure everyone in the vehicle buckles up, too.

·    Never leave your child alone in a car, not even for a minute. While it may be tempting to dash out for a quick errand, the temperature inside your car can rise 20 degrees and cause heatstroke in the time it takes for you to run in and out of the store.

Learn More

While it may seem like you need an engineering degree to figure out which child safety seat is best for your child, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.

 

Article courtesy of: http://bit.ly/14BaDZ9

Read more »

Top 10 Improvements in Engine Design

Imagine your car only having 22 horsepower!  Sounds insane, right? 100 years ago, 22 horsepower was top-notch.  The engine has come a long way and this blog breaks down the biggest engine improvements.

Released in 1908 and known as the first affordable automobile, the Ford Model T was an amazing technology for its time. But the car only had a 22 horsepower engine! Incredible right?  And that’s even better than the horsepower of the first ever automobile – the 1885 Benz Patent Motorwagen, which had a single piston engine and ran with only two-thirds of a single horsepower!

Cars have come a long way since the first automobiles. Engineers are always finding ways to improve our vehicles. Here we take a look at the benefits and drawbacks of the top 10 improvements in engine design during the 150 year process of making vehicles what they are today. We can only imagine what the future holds!

10. The Four –stroke Engine Cycle
 Benefits: More fuel-efficient, less polluting
 Drawbacks: More complicating, more expensive to manufacture

9. Forced Induction
 Benefits: More power without an increase in engine size
 Drawbacks: Fuel consumption and turbo lag

8. Fuel Injection
 Benefits: Better throttle response, increased efficiency, & more power
 Drawbacks: More complexity and potentially expensive repairs

7. Direct Injection
 Benefits: More power, better fuel economy
 Drawbacks: More expensive to make, relatively new technology

6.  Aluminum engine blocks
 Benefits: Lighter weight leads to more efficiency and better handling
 Drawbacks: Can warp at high temperatures

5.  Overhead Camshafts
 Benefits: Better performance
 Drawbacks: Increased Complexity

4.  Variable Valve Timing
 Benefits: Fuel economy, more flexible power delivery
 Drawbacks: Greater cost to produce

3. On-board Engine Computers
 Benefits: Fuel economy, better diagnosis of problems
 Drawbacks: Cost, complexity

2.  Clean Diesels
 Benefits: Torque, fuel economy, cleaner emissions
 Drawbacks: Cost of fuel, low RPMs, higher initial cost

1.      Hybrid Engines
Benefits: Fuel Economy
Drawbacks: Higher initial cost, complexity

To read the full article and find out more about the Top 10 Improvements  in engine design click the link: http://bit.ly/174ZaHM.

Read more »

10 Most Annoying Things Other Drivers Do

When it comes to driving we are perfect and everyone else is no good…right? But what is it exactly that makes each of us tick when it comes to sharing the road? An article from Cars.com explores the 10 most annoying things that drivers do. Here is a brief rundown of the list:

1. Talking on a Cell Phone – Did you know you’re just as likely to cause an accident talking on a cell phone as you are when you’ve been drinking. Of course we don’t like it when somebody else when somebody else could potentially be risking our lives just to order a pizza or chat with grandma.

2. Driving too fast for road conditions – Just because the speed limit says 60 doesn’t mean you should always be driving 60. Some people like to drive a max speeds when it’s raining…or worse…snowing. These people are not only annoying, they are putting the rest of us at risk.

3.  Not cleaning snow off cars – Only one thing can happen when someone starts driving 60 mile-per-hour with a foot of snow on their roof, it flies off! And it’s very likely that when that snow falls off it hits your car. Anyone who has had this happen to them know just how terrifying this can be.

4. Not signaling when changing lanes or leaving a signal on – Turn signals should only be used for one reason, and that’s when you’re turning. If someone forgets to turn their turn signal on it can cause massive confusion for drivers behind them. It can be just as confusing when someone tries to turn with no turn signal.

5. Leaving high beams on- This one is self-explanatory. No one likes trying to drive while staring into a bright beam of light.

6. Faulty equipment – Yes, getting things fixed can cost a lot. But when your car has so much smoke pouring out of the exhaust that other drivers can breathe or see, it’s probably time to do something about it. Not getting equipment checked or fixed may even make it so that a vehicle is not safe to drive.

7. Taking two spaces in a parking lot – Nothing says jerk more than taking up two parking spaces, especially in a crowded lot or parking garage. Apparently the paint job on their car is more important than you being able to park or not.

8. Staying in the far left lane – We all know the left lane is the passing lane. So why do people driving slower than everyone else have to ride in it for miles?

9. Not acknowledging making a mistake or overreacting to an honest mistake – We all make mistakes. And it’s a normal reaction to be mad about somebody else’s mistakes, especially when driving. But when a driver tails you for miles or screams at you out their window, flipping the bird, they just look plain crazy.

10. Dangerous loads improperly secured – This one is similar snow not being cleaned off of a moving car, but having a folding chair fly out of a car is much more dangerous than snow. Not only will it scare you and possibly cause an accident, but it could damage your car as well.

 

Click the link to read the entire article from Cars.com: http://bit.ly/lMoeX0

Read more »