Each of us at least once got into the situation when a jam in front of you was the incentive of finding the other ways of reaching the destination of the journey. This used to be done with the help of old torn city maps, driving along the small streets endangered to get into another jam. And just imagine how it would be like if you had a device which would tell you where to go in order to reach the destination as soon as possible. The device is GPS-Navigator. It is just about the time you replace the old road map with it!

What is GPS?

The platform of the satellite navigation is Global Positioning System – GPS. What this very system ahs got so widely spread? The answer is obvious: there isn’t an analogue of it. The GPS system includes 24 satellites, Earth tracking stations and control center. From 5 to 12 satellites are available at any point of the planet simultaneously, which enables the all-over-the-globe functioning of the system. In order to define the coordinates of an object 3 satellites are enough. But how can 2 dozen satellites track the millions of cars, planes and ships? In fact there is no tracking. GPS satellites send the signals of exact time to the navigators. Comparing the difference in time from all the satellites, the microprocessor calculates the distances and defines the current coordinates.

What can a navigator do?

The basic function of a GPS-navigator is the definition of current coordinates of the object (latitude, longitude, altitude). How precise they are? This depends on the quality of the microprocessor and the position of the satellites. For instance, in a city where a number of electromagnet noise is high, the precision of definition is significantly decreased and in tunnels it is almost impossible to define your position. Besides the definition of coordinates, a GPS-navigator has a number of other useful features:

• Reflection of the average and current speed, distance, time of the journey
• Reflection of digital maps (digital model of the current landscape)
• Automatic construction of the way towards the destination point
• Indication of alternative ways
• Voice advice on the changing conditions of the journey etc

What are digital maps like?

All the digital maps fall into two basic categories: bitmap and vectorial.

Bitmap are scanned paper maps or processed satellite photos. Using this kind of maps one can see a dot and manually “painted” route. Other features are quire limited:

• Scaling is conducted in very narrow limits
• Search features hardly all the objects you might need

Vectorial maps are the digital models of the landscape made using short segments (vectors).

The features of such maps are incredible:

• Scaling in a wide diapason
• Automatic scaling according to the speed and distance to the destination
• Automatic routing
• Step-by-step observation of the route
• Road infrastructure information (POI – “points of interest”)

How to work with POI?

The POI bases are supplied by software producers. But you can edit the current base (by adding “waypoints”) or create your own one. You can mark any object with these waypoints. Eah waypoint is given its shortcut and name. The majority of GPS-Navigators support downloading the waypoint to your PC. You can also do vice versa – mark waypoints on your PC and later on download then to the GPS-navigator.

How are maps downloaded?

The maps and POI and downloaded by the manufacturer or as CD appendixes. In the latter case you will have to connect the GPS-navigator to your PC or laptop via USB connection. There is also a possibility of wireless Bluetooth connection.

15-, 16- ,17-inch Tires Compared: Who’s the Winer?

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The usage of the tires of different diameter

Almost all the modern automobiles allow to install the tires of different diameter. At the same time huge low-profile tires are often the privilege of more expensive cars. But is it better to install wide low-profile tires? Or give the preference to narrow high-profile tires?

To get the answers to the questions a tire test has been conducted. The tire model was the same - Bridgestone Turanza ER300, but the size was different - 185/65 R15, 205/55 R16 and 215/45 R17.

Bridgestone Turanza ER300
185/65 R15

Overall mark 8.3 out of 10

Narrow tires cope with aquagliding quite well – at a straight line or in turns they seem to cut through the water. While braking the difference with the wider tires is minimal. In turns narrow tires work worse and on uneven surface you have to brake more frequently. At the same time the manner of driving on narrow tires is more easy-tempered than that on wide’s.

In general the narrow tires got the first place in the test, first of all owing to the resistance to aquaglining.

Bridgestone Turanza ER300
205/55R16V

Overall mark 8.2 out of 10

16-inch tires were the best in respect of noise and softness of movement. The size is optimal as concerns the control over the vehicle. If equipped with 16-inch tires, the car rarely reacts to gauges, moreover it shows the best results in braking on a wet surface. At the same time in maneuverability the gap is not that huge: the adhesion is better, but the car is more difficult to control. On a dry surface the tire win owing to more precise reactions to the control.

205/55R16 tires is a great compromise between comfort and adhesion.

Bridgestone Turanza ER300
215/45R17Z

Overall mark 7.4 out of 10

Wide low-profile tires have advantage on a dry road. The reactions of the car get more precise which stimulates more active driving. On a wet surface the adhesion is obviously better. But while braking 17-inch tires lose to 16-onch. As for the comfort, it could have been worse: wide tires lose to the narrow ones, but the gap is not that huge.
The major drawback of the wide tires is low resistance to aquagliding – that’s why the mark is the lowest.

Of course, on other cars the results of the test could have been different. But the general pattern is likely to remain the same. If you want sport maneuverability – chose wide low-profile tires; adrenalin in turns – narrow ones. The middle size is a compromise  for the fans of comfort.

Automotive Parts Articles From Around the WEB - September 15-22, 2007

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The mid-part of September has been rich in various automotive industry news. Here are the most interesting headlines from the niche sites: 

Monster Auto Parts informs about Intake Mainfolds

Auto Parts Information For Automobile Lovers compares A Car-Tilt and a Car Jack

Auto Parts and Car Accessories speaks about Momo Corse: Leader All The Way!

Auto Parts Resources says Let’s Take It Slow…

OneAutoBox offers to Give Your Car a Brain Scan

Net Auto Parts speculates on Choosing the correct 1999 Jeep Front Hub Bearing

Automotive Parts & Accessories offers Schumacher SE-3000 Manual Fleet Battery Charger

Car Magazine informs about High performance car parts plus brilliant marketing strategy by Subaru

Findautopart.blogspot.com reviews 2006 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class

Auto Parts From A Lady Expert informs about Toyota Update on Jerez Test Last September 18, 2007

Speed on Ice World Record: Enabled by Nokian Hakkapeliitta SUV 5 Tires

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Earlier I wrote about the new speed on ice record set in Finland. We looked at the record from a gaper’s point of view. Now let’s discuss some technical details, the tires on which the record was set in particular.

The record was set when 4-time rally champion Juha Kankkunen reached the speed of 321 k.p.h. on the track near the city of Oulu. The car’s adhesion with the surface was enabled by Nokian Hakkapeliitta SUV 5 tires.

In order to get into the Guinness book of records the record had to meet the requirements:

• the speed is measured in 1-km track for 1 hour
• The place of the measuring is a straight section in the middle of the track
• The ice must be natural, it cannot be scraped making roughness or processed with chemicals
• The tires must be approved for usage on the roads the record is to be set in.

The role of the tires increases unbelievably at extreme speeds. They are the only contacting surfaces between the car and the road. The speed record was set in Bentley Continental GT equipped with Nokian Hakkapeliitta Sport Utility 5 tires. The tire has been created for city SUVs.

At the extreme driving on slippery ice the tire must have perfect adhesion, durability and power appropriate to the speed. The tires are exposed to ultra-strong power stress. For instance, when a car is moving at 320 k.p.h. a pin weighting 1 gram makes about 2.2 kg. In 1 second the car passes 90 meters and each pin touches the ground more than 40 times per second.

For the stable speed of 320 k.p.h. the traction must be around 300 kg or 3000 N. For the speeding the figures are even higher. The tires must be able to deliver such power to the ice, otherwise the wheel will inevitably slide and the car won’t accelerate to the required speed.

As the air resistance increases with the acceleration the adhesion must be even better. The tires are exposed to very high stress at extreme speeds and the diameter increases by 15-20 mm.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta tires with a powerful skeleton coped with such a test brilliantly: the adhesion with the surface was sufficient and all the pins kept firm.

What Everybody Ought to Know About Unknown Tires

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Many companies from the chart below are daughter companies of huge tire manufacturing corporations like Yokohama, Dunlop, Pirelli, Michelin, Bridgestone, Continental etc., thus the quality of the tires is undisputable, but the price can turn out to be much lower. Look through the chart and find out where you can get a real bargain.

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The mid-part of September has been rich in various automotive industry news. Here are the most interesting headlines from the niche sites:

Monster Auto Parts Automotive blog gives general car care tips

Auto Parts Information For Automobile Lovers announces Pricing of Redesigned 2008 Honda Accord

Auto Parts and Car Accessories speaks about how to Get the Best Deal - Find the Wholesale Blue Book for Used Cars

Auto Parts Resources informs about Jaguar XF In Frankfurt: The Debut

OneAutoBox speculates on Hella In Car Tire Pressure System

Net Auto Parts gives Jeep Hub Assembly Replacement Instructions

Automotive Parts & Accessories offers:

• Betty Boop Aloha Style Universal-Fit Bucket Seat Cover
• Lexol Value Kit
• Low Cut Backseat Barrier

Car Magazine advices how to get extra miles from your car

Findautopart.blogspot.com talks about Choosing the Right Car the Key to Fall Adventure

Auto Parts Information speculates on the leaked BMW 1-Series information

What Everybody Ought to Know About Tire Markings

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The sidewall of a tire features lots of various markings which carry useful information about the purpose and exploitation capabilities for our car.

1. The name of the tire
2. The index of the maximum load
3. Traction Index
4. Temperature index
5. Max pressure
6. The manufacturer
7. Reference designation
8. M+S
9. The size of the tire
10. Carrying capacity
11. Speed category
12. Construction data

1. The name of the tire.

Characterizes the design of the protector. Each manufacturer uses its own code system, so the same letters and digits might not mean the same.

2. Max load index

Some companies decipher the index and write down MAX LOAD then follows the value of the index (for instance MAX LOAD 515kg(1135lbs), 1lbs=0,4536kg). I want to warn you against multiplying the value by 4 to get the critical mass of the automobile. It is wrong. First o all, because the mass calculated this way is overestimated. Tires shouldn’t work under the critical mass. You should subside from 20% to 30% (for a passenger car and SUV accordingly).

3.4.5 Markings demanded by the US customers’ information requirements.

6. The max pressure

The pressure is written in kps. For example 3.0 kps(44psi), 1psi=0.0069 MPa

7. The manufacturer

The name of the tire manufacturing company

8. DOT states the correspondence to the US normative documents

9. The letters M+S

Mud+Snow mean that the tire can be used in winter. Besides there are other indexes: WINTER, AQUATRED (AQUA CONTACT), AS (All Seasons), AW (Any Weather).

10. Tire size index

For example 195/60R14. It means:

1. the width of the profile (195). The width of the profile means the distance between the outer sides of the sidewalls of a pumped tire.
2. Profile height and width ratio (60) in %. This H/B ratio (H- height, B- width) is often called the tire series. Some manufacturers place P index in front of the size of the tire, for example Р195/60R14 (P stands for passenger vehicle). There can also be LT index which means Light Truck.
3. The letter means the radial construction of the tire and the rim diameter in inches.

11.Load capacity means the critical mass that the tire can stand.

12. Speed category

The index shows the max calculated tire speed. The table below shows the equivalent max speed in k.p.h.:

The speed category is given to the tire after special stand tests and it means the max speed the tire can stand (the max speed that guarantees the tire to work normal). You car’s max speed must be 10-15% less than the tire’s max speed index.

13. Construction details

Additional data:

Tubeless
This means that the tire should be used without inner tube

PR
Ply Rating. For passenger vehicles it is typically 4PR or 6PR. 6PR and 8PR tires can be used for light trucks and mini-buses (that’s why the index C = commercial is often added to the name: 185R14C).

All You Need to Know about Winter Tires. FAQ

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Why do I need winter tires?

First of all, do you want to get stuck in snow or find yourself in a ditch?

Of course, in the cities like Atlantic City, Memphis and Seattle, where snow is a rare phenomenon, all-season tires will be enough. But if snow in your regions falls down regularly, the situation becomes quite different.

Any tire is a kind of compromise. It is impossible for any tire to feel comfortable on all the surfaces: a racing track, deep snow etc. A racing tire keeps the ground perfectly well when it is heated to 100 degrees, but at 0 it looks more like hard plastic. Although many manufacturers of all-season tires pay attention to winter features, as a rule other qualities are stressed.

Only winter tires have the purpose of struggling with low temperatures, snow and ice, which cover the roads for 3-4 months a year in some regions.

It should be mentioned that the modern control systems as ABS and other do not increase the coefficient of adhesion.

Why I need 4 tires? Aren’t 2 enough?

Modern winter tires perform perfectly on snow and ice. The technology of protector making has made a huge step forward. All the tire manufacturers recommend to use winter tires on all the types of cars. A car with different types of tires behaves unpredictably. Each axis of the car will react to the changing road conditions differently.

If you want to guarantee yourself against such “surprises”, you’d better equip the car with the same tires.

What if I have anti-slipping system?

Anti-slipping system helps avoid the transition of excess torque to the leading wheels, but it doesn’t increase the actual adhesion of the tires and the road. The only way to increase the road performance in winter of the car is to equip it with appropriate winter tires.

What if I have ABS?

ABS helps avoid the blocking of the wheels while braking, but as well as other system it doesn’t increase the actual adhesion of the tires and the road. And again, the only possible way to avoid problems is to equip the car with winter tires.

What do I need for the front drive?

Front driven vehicles have distinct advantages, but they should be added by appropriate tires. The advantage of the front driven cars is that while speeding 60% of its weight falls on the leading axis. This only helps you start the movement, but doesn’t affect the braking process. Winter tires might help you feel a front driven car: perfect maneuverability, effective braking, stability in turns.

What if I drive slowly and carefully?

If you ask such a question, you understand that it is dangerous to drive without winter tires. Isn’t it better to make precautions and relieve yourself from potential crashes an other surprises? If you cannot move at the same speed as the traffic, you enlist yourself to additional dangers!

Is it true that winder tires are very costly?

Winter tires and rims can become a real bargain. Using winter tires will significantly prolong the life of your summer ones. Using winter rims will protect your light alloy or other rims from the negative effect of salt, snow and mud which leads to the corrosion of the alloy.

All About Rims: FAQ. Part 1

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It’s really difficult to imagine modern life without cars. A car is like a baby that needs care and love. From time to time we have to buy them new auto-parts and various accessories, but often it is so difficult to find time to do this. At this on-line store you can find help: to repair your car and save money.

Drivewire.com is one of the leading on-line retailers of auto-parts, summer wires, rain wires, different accessories and so on. It offers the lowest prices on the replacement parts. Collaborating with Drivewire.com you’ll avoid going from one auto-shop to another in search of rare and expensive accessories. Among the advantages of the Drivewire.com are the following: it guarantees high quality, provides one of the largest on-line catalogues of OEM Replacement Parts and Accessories, Eibach pro kit for whatever car you need from Acura to Volvo including : Mazda, Plymouth, Lexus and many more. Here you will be able to find:
- AC condensers
- AC Evaporators
- Air Filter
- Fuel Injector
- Fuel Pump, etc.

All Alignment kits - which are also in the list of the products - are tested and can be trusted undoubtedly. Moreover all that is at reasonable prices.
Ford Mustang Eibach is one of the Drivewire.com top priorities – all the kits are stock products – the quality is excellent the price is reasonable. Auto parts for almost all Mustang

So now staying at home you can choose and buy everything you want. You also don’t have to worry about delivery as Drivewire.com has free-shipping.
More than that Drivewire.com is a wholesale distributor of Eibach Springs. All the world- known tuners and top race teams from F1 to NASCAR trust and recognize Eibach.
Due to the collaboration of highly-qualified engineers from different countries exclusive and safe auto-parts and accessories were created. They are sold at reasonable prices and help you to stay within budget.

This is a paid review.

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The majority of drivers are aware of the fact the carrying capacity of a tire is determined by its size and pressure. The bigger the tire is and the higher the pressure inside it is the bigger the carrying capacity is. And vice vesra, the smaller the tire is and the lower the pressure is the less the capacity is.

The insufficiently pumped tire wears out the shoulder zone faster than the middle of the protector. The correctly pumped tire distributes the air-pressure throughout so that the structure of the tire remains stable. And although the majority of drivers know that is affects the deterioration of the tire, only a few understand the reduction of the pressure affects the tire resistance towards aquagliding and control on a wet road.

Physics says that a gas is easily compressed and transferred, and a liquid is impossible to compress, and even a slight transfer of it requires energy consumption. When the road is wet, the ability to cope with aquagliding is determined by the speed and the weight of the vehicle, the design of the protector and the uniformity of load distribution.

One of the means of examining the ability to resist aquaglining is running a car through a glass capacity with a torque water level. For better visibility the water is painted and the whole process is shot with the help of high-speed cameras. The shots feature all-season premium-class Michelin HydroEdge tire:

In the first photo the tire stands in the water on glass surface. The pressure is as required 35psi. The size and the shape of the contact are clearly visible. Black color corresponds to the zone of full contact between the tire and surface. The green color corresponds to the water in canals. Properly pumped tire doesn’t allow the central part of the protector collapse inside.

The second shot features the same tire with the pressure of 35 psi moving on the same surface at 95 k.p.h. If the glass was dry the shot would have coincided with the first one. But when a tire is moving at 26.6 meters per second on the glass totally covered in water the canals must be able to remove it from the zone of contact. Pay your attention to the fact that the protector still has good contact with the surface.

This photo shows the tire with 30 psi. The speed is the same 96 k.p.h. The protector unsuccessfully tries to remove water and its central part rises. The shot shows that the protector hardly touches the surface and the zone of contact is noticeably smaller then that of a properly pumped tire.

At lower pressure the central part of the tire sags inside and water is not removed through the canals and accumulates under the tire.

The last picture shows the tire with only 1.7 psi at 98 k.p.h. At the tire’s passing the capacity, the water raises the front part of the protector. It is evident that the zone of contact is practically absent.

The investigators tested Michelin tires on wet roads. The drivers compared the behavior of two tires: 35 psi and 25 psi.

On wet surfaces it is much harder to control the car in critical modes, but it the tires are properly pumped the behavior is still predictable. It turned out to be much harder to drive a car with the rear tires drained, the drivers has to brake to gain control over the vehicle.

The tire manufacturers produce models with the great figures of aquagliding resistance, but it they are not properly pumped all the technologies are in vain.

Conclusion:

Pay great attention to the air-pressure in your tires, check it not rarer than once a month and before long trips.

The Secret of Rain Tires and Aquagliding

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