Gone In Sixty Seconds…Your Cash!
What do sky high fuel prices, flashy cars, whale blubber, and ‘tree-huggers’ have in common? Not sure? Me neither, but they’re the subject of this article.
Crude oil prices have reached an all time high. At the time of writing, a barrel of crude oil cost $42 USD. But we shouldn’t feel too bad, even though gasoline prices here in Canada are fluctuating around the $1 per litre point. In the UK (my home land) they’re handing over about $2.60 for a litre of gas… and we thought we had it rough.
— Ouch!
In fact, the soaring price of gas in the UK might spark a country-wide series of protests similar to those that paralysed the UK in early 2000. I suppose the question we might ask is are we facing a similar threat here in Canada? Somehow I doubt it, we’re just too polite.
In a completely unofficial poll, randomly conducted, I asked a few friends what they thought. Regrettably the responses to the gasoline price increases are unprintable.
— @#$%&*!
Seriously though, all joking aside, while many people didn’t really flinch as prices crept up during the past six months, signs are now evident that some folks are feeling the squeeze. And of course, as you’d expect those in the lower income brackets are the first to feel the pinch.
Ironically the media has been speculating about the impact on the sales of bigger vehicles such as SUV’s. To date there is a general feeling that if you can afford an SUV (or some other monster truck) a few extra dollars for a tank of gas is not your principal concern.
I’m not sure I agree with this. Bigger vehicles often have bigger tanks (100 litre tanks are not unusual), so a price hike of $0.20 is still an extra $20. Add that to a tank of gas that already costs you $80 and it’s getting pricey. I’ve owned small cars and big cars. I still don’t like it when the gas prices jump up. $20 is still $20 – I could have done other things with that money…Like buy lottery tickets or half a dozen Starbucks coffees.
Of course the ‘tree huggers’ (that’s not my terminology – I’ve borrowed it from the media) who are more environmentally conscious and focus on consuming limited resources, well … they’re making quite a lot of noise about it. They’re saying we should conserve fuel, make it last.
— An Energy Crisis
They’re saying that if we continue on this course we’ll undoubtedly face an energy crisis.
Well I have good news. There will NEVER be an energy crisis…and I can prove it. It’s called The First Law of Thermodynamics. Simply put it states that energy cannot be destroyed or created, merely changed from one form into another.
And since crude oil is a form of energy that we transform into another form of energy, then what we really face (if we continuing consuming it) is a format shortage or a ‘crude oil shortage.’
— Whale Blubber
But that was on the cards from the beginning. We knew that crude oil couldn’t last because it was a fossil fuel. Prior to the early 1900’s we were carving up whales for oil, we didn’t have cars to consume it back then so we used it for heating, lighting and other more mundane uses. Rumour has it the whales got upset and decided to stop cooperating and so we went in search of alternatives.
It’s a fact, we’re going to run out of crude oil eventually. And while supply dwindles and demand stays high (or climbs) the prices will reflect that. Until someone develops a new way to synthesize crude oil, or create a new fuel for cars or even a new form of combustion engine. Wouldn’t that be fun!
I don’t know about you, but watching the way it all unfolds is pretty interesting, I just hope it all last longer than 60 seconds.
Author: JamesBurchill.com JamesBurchill.com
Understanding Handling Characteristics in Relation to Race Suspension Tuning
Two general terms are used to describe the handling of a car: understeer and oversteer. Understeer (also known as tight or push) occurs when the front wheels of the car lose traction before the rear wheels in a corner. The car is difficult to turn and “pushes” toward the outside of a turn. Oversteer (also known as loose) is the opposite condition. The rear tires lose traction before the front tires. Hence, the rear of the car is “loose.” It slides toward the outside of the turn, and the car feels like it is going to spin out when it is on the edge of control.
The goal of suspension tuning is to make the car “neutral,” not oversteering or understeering. When the car is neutral, you should be able to control what it does in a turn by using the throttle. Giving a burst of throttle should make the back of the car slide toward the outside of the turn and allow the car to turn better (in effect making it looser). Getting off the throttle should make the back of the car step back in line (”tightening” up the car).
When the car is neutral, it is easier to control, creates less wear on the tires, and usually allows for faster lap times. I say usually because a slightly oversteering car can also yield fast laps. However, this is difficult to achieve because the driver must react instantly to the car sliding by counter-steering. If the reaction is not quick enough, the car will slide sideways achieving a large yaw/slip angle (the angle between the direction the car is pointing and the direction it is actually moving). This will scrub off speed and may even cause you to spin out. Therefore, an oversteering car can be fast but only with a skilled driver.
On the other hand, an understeering car is limited by the grip of its front tires on the racetrack. Even a skilled driver will not be able to clock fast laps with a severely understeering car. Nonetheless, you may want to set up your car for slight understeer to make it more stable and forgiving. With an understeering car, overdriving (getting on the throttle too early in a corner, for instance) will simply make the car slide straight. The condition is easily corrected by getting off the throttle. Overdriving with an oversteering car is much more likely to lead to slower speeds or loss of control.
Visit my website 240edge.com www.240edge.com for more information about handling characteristics.
Feel free to republish this article, but please include a text link to my website mentioned above.
I have been an automotive enthusiast throughout my life and have participated successfully in various amateur racing series. I specialize in tuning the Nissan S platform cars, particularly the US domestic market Nissan 240SX. Visit my website 240edge.com www.240edge.com to get information about 240SX performance modifications.
The History Of Hot Rodding Power and Performance
When the hot rod was invented, one of the first steps in the process was to tear off the hood and throw it behind the barn. Easy and open access to the powerplant was required at all times. And of course there was also the need to show off the engine to everyone else on the street. It doesn’t take a doctorate in psychology to figure this one out:
Since day one, hot rodders have been all about engines and going fast.
With our roots firmly planted in horsepower, Hot Rod though it was important to recognize some of the great engines in history of hot rodding.
What defines a great hot rod engine?
Here is some criteria that found the facts: First, it needs to contain American parts, Next, it must display the ingenuity and can-do attitude that was as American naturally take to be the American spirit. And Except in the rarest circumstances, it ought to be a V-8. So here are 10 of history’s greatest hot rod engines. No doubt some readers will scream that we left their favorites off the list. We expect that, so if you’re one of them, we apologize for the inconvenience.
(#1) Grumpy’s Pro Stock Small-Block: In the 70’s Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins was the reigning guru of the small-block Chevy V-8 in drag racing. Racers hung on his every word; when his hood came off in the paddock a crowd formed. But there was no heads-up pro category for the small-block in NHRA until 1972, when the Pro Stock rules were rewritten to permit small-displacement engines in short-wheelbase cars, handing them a weight break against the Chrysler Hemis then stinking up the show. Spotting his opening, Jenkins waded in with Grumpy’s Toy IX, a Vega hatchback sporting a 331ci small-block.
(#2) Richard Petty’s ‘64 Plymouth Race Hemi: Just so you know, maybe this is not the complete story of the debut of the Chrysler 426 Race Hemi at the ‘64 Daytona 500. Development on the 426 Hemi-the engine that turned Bill France purple was assembled in the final week of November of 1963.
(#3) The Swamp Rat’s 200-Mph 392 Hemi: Chris Karamesines clocked at 204.54 mph at Alton, Illinois, in April 1960. In these days of billet Fuel Hemis, the engine in Swamp Rat VI is jaw-slackening to behold. In 1964 racers couldn’t just assemble parts off the rack; ad-hoc engineering and experimenting were required. Big’s 200 motor was built around a cast iron 392 Hemi block and heads.
(#4) Ford’s ‘67 Lemans-Winning 427 V-8: The 427 had a bore of 4.23 inches and stroke of 3.78 inches, its actual displacement was 424.9 But ford decided to call it a 427.
(#5) Repco-Brabham V-8: Did you know the Oldsmobile won the Formula One World Championship? Built around a 215ci the Brabham 620 was a clever bit of blacksmithing.
(#6) Ron Main’s FlatFire V-8: An original ‘46 Ford 59AB block with three main bearings, the motor was almost totally re-engineered by Mike Landy and the late Dick Landy of Dick Landy Industries. At almost over 700 hp the FlatHead happily zinging to 7,000 rpm’s on the dyno. “The FlatHead is just a pretty little motor.”
(#7) Eddie Hill’s Four-Second Hemi: Eddi Hill laid down the first four-second pass in drag racing history: a 4.990, bumping the speed record to 288.55 mph in the process.
(#8) Bill Kuhlman’s 200-Mph Big Block Chevy: With the juice flowing, it produced over 1,000 lb-ft of torque at 6,500 rpm,and at 7,000 rpm it made 1,379 hp. Pretty good for a kit motor, especially in 1987.
(#9) Reher, Morrison And Shepherd’s 83 Pro Stock Chevy: A fabricated sheetmetal intake manifold an a pair of 4500-Holeys completed the set up. There 605 motor took the IHRA title in 1983 along with the third consecutive NHRA championship in the same year. Simply put this was a bad motor.
(#10) Smokey Yunick’s 427 Mk II Mystery Engine: The Mk II’s short block used the same 4.84-inch bore spacing as the 348/409, and its 4.31-inch bore and 3.65-inch stroke were identical to those of 427ci ZII version of the 409. Smokey believed the motor was good for 600 hp or more.
Buy It, Build It, Drive It, Love It… of course there are many more great engines in our history that were not covered here. The tough get going-and the going get faster.
Adam P Archer is a serious hot rod fanatic, absolutely loves all antiques, classics and just good old American muscle cars. If you enjoyed this article please feel free to visit our site, that we dedicated purely inpart for racing and performance expert Vic Edelbrock. edelbrockperformer.com” target=”_new American Made Muscle Cars
