Archive for April, 2010
Award-wining Pickup From Honda: The Ridgeline
One of the hottest commodities in the pickup industry is the Honda Ridgeline. It has swept almost all truck of the year awards given out by major motor shows. This may not be a surprise after all the giant of a company that is Honda has been known for introducing to the public innovative and technologically advanced vehicles.
It would not surprise a driver if he found himself enjoying the full sized pickup from the moment he set his eyes on it. The beauty of this car does not end in its looks. While the design of the car is modern and is an eye candy the manufacturers did not just stop there of course. This monster of a car boasts of a unitbody full frame structure. This in itself is an innovation which takes this car on top of its class. The design brought to life by engineering geniuses of the company gives the car a very rigid structure. It also has front and rear end crumple zones in addition to having a rigid frame thereby increasing the safety of both driver and passengers in case of crashes. It is also dubbed as the pickup that will most likely not roll over.
Another reason for the fuss about this car is its Inbed Trunk. The Ridgeline tonneau is also another innovation which gives the user a storage area below the pickup bed a convenient solution to storing supplies safe and dry.
Performancewise the vehicle is also one of the best in the market today. Its powerhouse is a 3.5 litre 24 valve SOHC VTEC V6 engine capable of giving the driver of up to 247 units of horsepower and a torque of 245 lb. ft. While this may not sound much compared to other models with bigger engines but it is enough to power the pickup very well. All this power is transferred on all four tires of the truck but during dry road driving it is a two wheel drive vehicle. Once the going gets tough the Variable Torque Management VTM4 system goes to work and sends power to the tire needing traction. It is done so through its fivespeed automatic with fluid cooler transmission.
In addition to that the vehicle has a Vehicle Stability Assist which keeps drivers from getting into troubles. The system automatically compensates for both oversteer or understeer. It has independent suspensions for both front and rear giving the driver the confidence to tackle hard off road conditions.
About the writer: Joe Thompson is the owner of a successful auto body shop in Ferndale California. This 38 year old is also a prolific writer contributing automotive related articles to various publications.
Automobile Batteries Which Makes Automobile Run
The heart being an indispensable part of the human body in case of automobiles it is the battery which makes it run. Although there are other parts also without which both the bodies cannot work but the heart and battery are the essentials. A small problem can become a very big problem in just no time putting you at risk in both the cases whether its a car or a human being.
Coming to its literal meaning the major function of an Automobile Battery is of supplying electrical energy to the electric motor and controlling the ignition system of an automobile. Usually it is referred to as SLI battery starting lightning and ignition it powers the motor lights the head and tail lamps and ignites the engine.
How it works? Automotive starter batteries are generally of leadacid type provide a minimum of 12volts. It works by connecting six galvanic cells which are in series. Each cell approximately provides 2.1 volts on a total of 12.6 volts. Leadacid batteries are made up of lead plates and separate plates of lead oxide. These lead plates are submerged into an electrolyte solution of about 35 sulfuric acid and 65 water causing a chemical reaction that as a result releases electrons allowing them to flow through conductors to produce electricity. When the battery starts discharging the acid of the electrolyte reacts with the materials of the plates changing their surface to lead sulfate. And it goes further.
Its different types Lead acid batteries the different construction technique depends upon the application of the battery. The Flood cell batteries which indicate liquid electrolyte are more commonly used in todays time. AGM or Absorbed glass mat battery is without liquid electrolytes and is gradually gaining acceptance by the SLI users. Batteries specified with SLI systems deliver a heavy current and has a low degree of discharge on each use. They constitute of many thin plates which are separated by thin separators and have a higher specific gravity electrolyte which reduces internal resistance. Deepcycle batteries have fewer thicker plates and have a greater depth of discharge on each cycle but do not provide high current on heavy loads.
Use and Maintenance Fluid Level Car Battery having lead batteries require regular watering up to maintain the water amount which was lost due to electrolysis on each charging cycle. More recent designs have lower water loss unless overcharged. Modern car batteries do not need much of maintenance and many a times do not provide caps for addition of water to the cells. These batteries have extra electrolyte above the plates which allows loss during the battery life.
Battery Storage Batteries should be charged timely if stored to retain their capacity. Stored batteries should be fully charged and cleaned of corrosion deposits and should be put in a dry environment for its longevity. Expensive assets like cars are not purchased on a daily basis so one should look after it. As a human being takes care of his heart and his body not only the battery but also the car should be properly taken care of.
About the writer: Albert Cain is a well known writer. He has written many articles on Cars Automobiles moped bikes scooter speaker and so on.
Are Luxury Car Sales In Deep Trouble?
Just as the auto industry struggles to remain afloat so do the segments it’s made up of. And luxury car sales are no exception. Since luxury automobiles are faced with a double whammy of being high priced and being gasguzzling are we to see their sales go from bad to worse?
Automobile and auto part sales have generally been affected negatively owing to high gas prices and economic downturn with auto stocks showing spikes only sporadically as crude prices lower a bit. Now when it comes to the sales of Luxury cars and trucks they’ve taken a hit of 11 yeartodate YTD while the auto sales throughout the US have been down by 18.
Based on the figures above it appears that luxury sales are much better than the rest of the industry and since they only account for for just about 10 of the industry’s sales they won’t have much of an impact. The margins however on all products within the segment are large and which is what makes it valuable.
At the same time given the shift from gasguzzling automobiles towards smaller ones it appears that no one would go for them but the recent announcement by the General Motors Corp of an SUV Cadillac Escalade Hybrid indicates that auto makers have different expectations. And it seems that they might be right because the highend products are directed towards a different target audience altogether. The target segment for luxury vehicles shouldn’t have problems with affordability per se including paying for high gas prices while the need to acquire highend products persists.
The factor aside from the gasguzzling ability that could affect the purchase of bigger automobiles is the perception that these vehicles are less environment friendly. Now while demand might exist whether the big autos sell well or not seems to depend on a lot more than their uniqueness. But auto makers seem to have an answer to even this conundrum by producing hybrids which have a better standing when it comes to ecofriendliness. The Cadillac Escalade hybrid seems to be proof enough and perhaps other car makers like Toyota or Ford would follow suit if the experiment goes off well.
On the whole some rough weather does loom large over the luxury car segment but given the efforts auto industry is ready to put in luxury sales could sail through the storm quite well.
About the writer: Fred is a journalist with 7 years of experience. Though as a professional he’s reported on myriad topics his favorites are the auto and the healthcare industry. Two of the platforms he’s previously worked on are Themedica and AutomotiveOnline. He now blogs at: Automobile Hotspot
