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What are Performance Tyres?
March 25th, 2007 by Shenron
A vehicle would not be a vehicle if there were no tires under it. A tire plays an important role in a vehicle’s life just like the alloy wheels. There are plenty of tires available in the market and you can choose a variety of sets on their display racks for the designs. Designs are perfect for those car owners who want their car tire to be unique than others.
What are performance tyres? Performance tyres are the wheel’s protection from wear and tear as they provide a high-friction bond amid the vehicle & the ground to improve the increase of rate and handling in most ground vehicles thus serving the purpose as cars primary protection against road accidents. We can often see performance tyres on racing cars because it is the best tire to use on dry areas. We can use performance tyres even on streetcars but it is not advisable to use slick tyres due to its extremely poor wet weather characteristics.
Slick tyres are the ultimate variant of performance tyres that has no tread pattern at all. Aside from this, there are cheater slicks available that a car owner can use. Cheater slicks meet all the requirements bounded by the law so it is somehow advisable for common car owner’s use. On choosing performance tyres, one must know the perfect fit for his or her car. The grip of performance tyres is important, as it is the one responsible for the control on handling and acceleration. Many people say that a directional “v” pattern is much better than any performance tyre designs in driving car in wet or dry condition. Routine check ups for performance tyres are advisable as it tears quickly every minute of use. Checking your performance tyres every now and then helps you from accidents and any car related harm.
Another variant of performance tyre is the compound tires, which are typically same as cheater slicks, used to cater car racing vehicle needs. Aside from this, car owner’s can use the summer or three-season tires since it is the highest performance tyres available and designed for street-driven cars. One can ask experienced car enthusiasts or an expert regarding what performance tire is ideal for his or her car because inexperienced car owners tend to buy things that are not necessary. Prices of tyres like these vary if it is rare or not, so an expert’s advice helps well. It is safely advisable not to run a vehicle in its flat tire condition because it will permanently damage the rim and tyre. In case of this, a new one that is not flat should replace flat tyres.
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What are Performance Clutches?
March 25th, 2007 by Shenron
First of all, what are clutches?
A clutch refers to the coupling of two rotating shafts. One shaft is attached to a drive motor, which continues to rotate as long as the motor is engaged. The other shaft rotates at varying speeds depending on the locking system of the clutch. By this, it simply means that the other shaft may turn at the same speed as the shaft connect to the drive end, turn at slower speeds, or not turn at all. In the case of a motor vehicle, the clutch is what is responsible for delivering the power of the motor to the wheels, making them turn and allowing the vehicle to move.
In manual transmission, the vital components of the clutch include a flywheel, (a plate connected to the shaft of the drive motor) and a clutch plate which is connected to the shaft controlling the movement of the wheels. When the plates are locked, both shafts move with the same speed, and this is when the plates makes full use of the friction between them. Whenever the clutch pedal is engaged the plates are allowed to part. It is at this time, when the clutch pads experience wearing, similar to the brake pads of the brake system.
Clutches are made with different materials and design depending on the manufacturer. Because of this, clutches also vary when it comes to performance. A clutch is only said to perform well when its plates are still capable of producing friction, and in effect transmitting power to the wheels. Performance clutches make use of innovative design and materials which exhibit the best gripping capability. The more friction a clutch is able to produce the more efficient is the delivery of speed. Friction is delivered more efficiently in varying methods. First of all, a clutch kit made of lighter materials delivers more power than a heavier one. This makes sense considering heavier materials consume energy simply to turn so with reduced weight, power loss is also minimized. Secondly, the clutch kit has to be made of a material, which can handle friction without suffering considerable wear and deformation from the heat. On this aspect, carbon-carbon is the material of choice. Not only, is this material resistant to heat produced by friction in the plates, it actually performs, holds, and delivers more power the hotter it gets, plus it never heats up or glazes over. This material also wears a lot slower than other materials, making it the ideal for drag racing and hard street use.
With regards to design, innovations in the design of the diaphragm spring and pressure plates, the flywheel, and the clutch plates also help ease the stress on the transmission and the engine. By replacing solid hub disks for example with a puck design which makes use of springs, less stress is experienced by the transmission, and the clutch is engaged more smoothly. In the same way, by incorporating a dual diaphragm pressure plate instead of the common single diaphragm, a clutch gains the flexibility of handling pressures up to double its normal load. A common problem within the clutch is that the flywheel is susceptible to deformation because of the heat. The basic clutch design involves the use of heat shields. Commonly, these shields are made of solid one-piece rings, which warp due to the uneven exposure of heat. Because the entire shield is connected, contraction or expansion in one part of the shield affects the portions as well. An innovative design to address this problem comes in the form of segmented shields. Because the segments of the shield are not connected, portions exposed to the heat may expand and contract freely, and thus there’s a lesser chance of warping.
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What are Camshafts?
March 25th, 2007 by Shenron
Knowing your car inside and out is one of the best ways of keeping it to its top shape. And you could also save a lot of money on repairs and maintenance if you’re able to fix your car by yourself right? And the important part of the car is its engine.
The engine has a lot of smaller parts and one of which is the camshaft. The camshaft operates the poppet valves. It controls the inlet and outlet ports. Cams or lobes also helps create more power in the rev ranges. It is composed of cylindrical rod with a length of its cylinder bank w/ a number of oblong or more of a pear shaped lobes or cams sticking out from it. There is one lobe for each valve. The lobes or cams compel the valves to open as it rotates and creates a lifting motion to the valve. The camshaft is connected with the crankshaft of the engine and the timing of the two rotating parts is very critical to the engines performance. Because the camshafts control the valves movement and the valves controls the fuel intake and exhaust so it must be opened & closed at the right timing during the stroking of the piston. So the camshaft is directly connected to its crankshaft via a gear mechanism or also indirectly with a timing belt or a timing chain. The proper rotation must be two full rotations of a crankshaft for each rotation of a camshaft. But there is a different timing need for each specific kind of engine. The camshaft position depends on its location. In a direct operation the camshafts must be positioned at the top of the cylinders. But in a more modern engine the use one camshaft each for the intake and exhaust valves.
The development of camshafts has really come a long way. From the design of Rover which devised a VVC cam where the cam rotates within a rotating holder. The cam durations and lift can be adjusted to match the engine’s speed. And then there’s the Honda’s VTEC valve timing system which is I think the most in demand type of camshafts. This provides two stages of valve timing. There are two cam profiles to each valve and the lifter is made rigid to pick faster cam at a rev range. This would give the driver an explosive power and its like getting two cars with this kind of camshafts.
Maintaining the camshaft is very important for it is one of the most important parts of an engine. Most auto engine has hydraulic lifters to eliminate the need to fine-tune the valve lash at standard intervals as the valve train wears. There are modern lubricant motor oils which contains additives that reduce the sliding friction which is one important factor to avoid. This causes the cam or lobe to wear faster than the followers or vice versa which is not good for your car’s engine.
Now its up to you on how you use this information and hope this help you taking good care of your vehicle.
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What are Alloy Wheels?
March 24th, 2007 by Shenron
Most of the day, we experience certain road traffics. We cannot even count if how many vehicles passes by every time we are in the road traveling to get work or home. We only notice the brand of a car or a vehicle if it is in front of us and get amazed when we noticed that it is made of a top car company like those branded or luxury cars we often see in television. Vehicles are all the same when it comes to necessities, such as the machine itself, the seat, the breaks, as well as the wheels and any other parts of it. The only factor that affect is the brand that many people knows that if it is well known, the maker guarantees its use and one of these are the alloy wheels.
What are alloy wheels? Alloy wheels play an important role in every car features as it supports every car tire in its everyday usage. An alloy wheel can be lighter, taller or wider depending in an owner’s preferences. Some people are often attracted to allow wheels because of its design and this is because some car owners prefer to personalize their car from top up to the tip of their wheels. Other says that if a car owner’s alloy wheels are personalized then it’s really worth much. Racing car on rally often uses alloy wheels such as magnesium alloy wheels. They use this for better performance because it is lighter than steel or aluminum wheels that are heavy. Alloy wheels are expensive and hard to recycle and that makes it not advisable for street vehicles.
Racer uses lighter wheels because they believe that less weight means more speed, which is what they need to win every race. It improves handling because it increases the cooling of the break disks that makes it lasts longer. Big wheels look more stylish if they are alloy wheels and low profile tyres support it because low profile tyres are noisier and have low flexing thus giving an excellent handling individuality. Some people said that wider alloys are better than taller ones because the latter affects the speed and handling and causes problems such as bumpy rides.
If you are inexperienced about alloy wheels but you want to try it because of its good publicity then you have to find experienced car mechanics and someone related to the field in installing alloy wheels on your car. Expert car mechanics on alloy wheels does the checking such as the alignment of the wheels, the nut matches, and the measurements before he declares the job done. On experienced people like them, you know that you can trust them as they guarantee you that their job is excellent.
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What are Induction Kits?
March 24th, 2007 by Shenron
The primary function of an induction kit is to clean air before it is charged into the system of a turbo-charged car. To accomplish this, an induction kit serves as a filter, which screens out dust and other debris from entering the engine. In this manner, it also serves to protect the engine. In the absence of an induction kit, the compressor is attached to a stock air box, which partially restricts airflow preventing a turbo-charged car from achieving its optimum power output. This is a common problem even among induction kit designs, for not only must an induction kit be able to remove impurities from air, but allow sufficient air to flow through it as well, and thus a well made induction is one which is able to filter out dirt effectively, but also allow as much air to pass as possible.
Because the motive behind the installation of an induction kit is increased power, careful consideration must be made to ensure that an appropriate design is used with the internal piping of a car. If installed properly, an appropriate induction kit will lead to improved turbo reel up, throttle’s faster response and superior top end power. If done incorrectly, however, the result is often higher intake heat, poor drivability, lean running, and in some cases even engine damage. For this reason, if a turbo-charged car performs less efficiently with the installation of an induction kit, it is much better to find a more suitable brand or revert back to the stock air box. When a turbo-charger system is installed in a car, usually a standard induction kit already comes with it. An induction kit only works properly if the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) is configured properly with it. This is why in most cases, it is much better to stick with a standard induction kit, than customize with a different one. Several issues must be taken into consideration when choosing the piping layout of system. For one, the air scoop of the induction kit needs to be mounted high enough to prevent it from scooping puddles during wet weather. Secondly, if the piping needs to be modified to work the induction system, the ECU would need to be reconfigured as well.
There are many brands, which provide induction kits for turbo-charged cars. The most popular of which are HKS, Apexi, Blitz, and K&N. Each of these brands costs £200. The HKS design (HKS Mega Flow) is a wet foam type filter made up of multi-layered polyurethane and a special oil to prevent dirt from passing through. Among the four, this brand is known to sell more kits overall and is considered to be the first choice in UK. The Blitz design (Blitz Sus) is a dry metallic mesh type filter, which requires zero maintenance due to the fact that it is metallic and that no oil is used to aid the absorption of dirt. This brand is also widely used in the UK, but only ranks second to HKS in the number of units sold. The current Apexi model (Apexi Power Intake) is an improved version of the Apexi Super Intake Filter. Its design is a dry mesh filter which makes use of a dual funnel in its upper and lower portions. This type of filter also requires zero maintenance. The K&N design (K&N Filtercharger) is made of cotton fabric sandwiched between aluminum screen wires, and is also saturated with oil for more dirt absorption.
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