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2008-07-19

Buying New Cars  

If you have had the car you are currently driving for more than 5 years and the car is giving you maintainance problems, it is time for getting a new car. New cars usually give no maintainance problem and in the long run, my save you money as an old car frequently needing repairs will be a drain on your bank account.

However, before you put your deposit for a new car, it would be wise to check on car prices so that you will get the best car for the money you spent.

2008-06-15

Buying New Cars. Car Reviews and Road Tests  

New Cars and Pre-owned Cars

Previously they call New Cars which have been used by others, then put on the market for resale as used cars or second-hand cars. Not anymore. Now it is all fancy, nice sounding names. Used cars are now known as pre-owned cars. Nothing second-hand about them.

What is the difference new cars and pre-owned cars. Obviously, the former had not been owned or registered for use on the road before while the later had. Now if you are buying pre-owned cars, you have to be vigilant and check the car thoroughly before you put your money down for the car. One question you must ask is, why the previous car owner is selling it. If it is to upgrade to a higher class car or the owner is moving to another country or something, then you should be more confident about the pre-owned car. What you need to watch out for is cars being put on sale because the previous owners have had to put up with many mechanical problems.

The most important details to check is the paint work. Examine the car body surface at a glancing angle against the light. If you see wawy surface, it means that area had been knocked back into shape and repainted. That area had suffered a car accident before. Also, check very carefully for sign of rust. Mechanical problems can be fixed. Not a rusting car body.

New Cars and Car Reviews

If you can afford it, it is better to try to save a bit of money buying pre-owned cars. Look at and consider New Cars instead. With new cars, you can be assured that the car have never met with an accident before and it is guaranteed for a sufficiently long period of time. Pay a bit more but sleep better at night. There is a huge choice of different car manufacturers and models. The choice can be bewildering. Best is to read up on Car Reviews to get a good idea of what is available on the market, a car model good points and bad points. Armed with knowledge of various makes of cars, you will be in a better position to make an informed choice when you buy your new car.

Fast cars. German Autobahn, Speed Limits and Car Testing  

Fast Cars

"Fast Car" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman which won a Grammy Award. Fast cars also runs in the blood of many youngsters including my two sons. Currently the fastest production car is the SSC Ultimate Aero TT which was verified by the Guinness World Records on October 9, 2007. SSC Aero is built by Shelby Super Cars of the United States of America. The SSC Ultimate Aero TT is a high performance limited edition mid-engine car which have achieve the fastest recorded speed of 413 kilometer per hour or 257 miles per hour to get into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Car Reviews

Want to learn more about fast cars? You can try theCarConnection's Car Reviews which even have a provision for you to schedule car review for a make of your choice and get a price quotation. Unfortunately, Shelby's cars are not included. Ferrari is in the list though. Ferrari too once held the title of the fastest production car three times, once in 1955 with the Ferrari 410 Superamerica, once in 1962 with the Ferrari 250 GTO, once more 1984 with the Ferrari 288 GTO and the most recent one in 1987 with the Ferrari F40.

Ferrari

Ferrari!! I have 3 T-shirts with the official Ferrari logo, all in its standard red color. Ferrari is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929.

German Autobahn and the speed limit

Your mouth may drip saliva at the though to testing fast cars mentioned above, however you will not be able to test its top speed. Those fast cars all have top speed way above the highest speed limits in the roads of almost every country in the world. The only exception I know is Germany. The German autobahn do not impose a speed limit although there is a recommended speed of the German autobahn is 130 kilometer per hour or 81 miles per hour. So if you want to sit behind the steering wheels of the fast cars and push them to its limit, you will have to do it on the German autobahn.

2008-06-06

Motor Shows and Concept Cars  

Importance of Motor Show or Car Show

The history of cars dates back to the year 1769 according to Wikipedia: History of the Automobile. 1769 is 3 centuries back in time. That is a mighty long time. Other than electric cars and hybrid cars, practically all the cars currently on the road are using very old technology, the internal combustion engines. A revolution in car technology is definitely overdue. The hosting of Motor Shows or Car Shows hopefully can provide the impetus to the birth of truly revolutionary New Cars. I own 2 patents, one of which had been infringed upon by the tolled road operators in my country. I still have lots of ideas that have not seen daylight. As an inventor, I know the importance of brain storming. I am pretty sure there are lots of brain storming prior to any motor shows. The whole world is currently eagerly awaiting to a truly new technology car can will solve the current woes of the environment and meet the ongoing energy crisis.

Concept Cars

At any motor shows, especially the Tokyo Motor Show, you will see lots of concept cars. Concept cars are prototypes created to illustrate a concept. Most of these concept cars on display at motor shows will never make it to the production lines. Most of the ideas or contraptions probably never even made it to the motor shows. However, it is in the brain storming of new concept cars in which our hope for a real revolution in car technologies lie.

concept car
Photo of a concept car? is property of antje verena


The most likely new technology car

Futures are hard to predict, but let me go out on a limb are be a fortune teller on this new technology car. My predictions are that cars using internal combustion engine will be replaced by electric cars. What make the difference between the predicted new electric cars from existing electric cars would be way the electrical power is generated or stored.

Electric cars with power generated by fuel cells

This would be an easy one as there are already prototype electric cars with electricity generated by fuel cells (fuel cell is "some kind of battery" which uses chemical reaction between 2 substances, for example between hydrogen and oxygen, to generate the electricity). All that is required is refinement of the fuel cells to a point where electric cars with fuel cells become a practical realty.

Electric cars with power generated by nuclear fusion

It would be ideal if the electricity is generated by controlled nuclear fusion. Those familiar with power generation using controlled nuclear fusion will know that it involves nuclei of hydrogen (can also be other elements) fusing together to become atoms of helium (if other than hydrogen, the "final product" will be other elements) with huge amount of energy released. If you know nuclear fusion, you will know that had already been demonstrated, but it involves huge apparatuses plus so far, energy input needed to get the nuclear fusion going exceeds the energy output. However, I have heard of a development where nuclear fusion had been demonstrated using small apparatuses plus with power output greater than input. If this can be confirmed, then the raw material for this nuclear fusion reaction is just water. Plenty of that stuff. Don't you find that exciting?