The Trabant is a small wonderful car produced by former East German auto maker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Zwickau, Sachsen. Once upon a time in East Germany, it was the most common car on the road. Despite being compact and light, the Trabant had a good seating space for 4 adults along with some excellent room for luggage. Despite its ordinary performance and smoky two-stroke engine, the car has come to be regarded with derisive affection as a symbol of the failed aspects of former East Germany and of the fall of communism.

The love for Trabant in the hearts of many enthusiasts is quite evident till today when we see so many tuned up versions in succession. Germany still remains as the best place to witness such cars. It is more of an inspiration to think that we might have a successor of this retro just like Beatle or Mini.

The best thing you could do to your Trabant is to transform it into a speed monster. A good 900 cc engine replacement is a wonderful modification. An ordinary engine won’t be able to cope up with the already existing configuration hence a customized version of cylinders, crank and pistons is needed. Backed by the new racing spark plugs from NGK and a buffed carburettor from FZ, the little Trabant produces a 65 bhp of power which can pump it to a top speed of 190 Km/h.

Some more modifications include modification of the chassis completely and chopping of front pillars. Reducing them by about 60-70 mm would give a great shape to the car. Windows and fenders can be used from any other short models available these days. The headlights need to give a trendy look. VW Golf makes awesome designs of headlights that suit the smaller cars a lot.

The mirrors need to come from a sports motorbike like Ducati or Honda for better looks. Since it is an old-fashioned car, hence it needs some protection gear as well. A roll cage, Jamex leather sporting seats and a 30 cm wide Raid steering wheel add up to the protection kit.

Koni shock absorbers are excellent in handling big deflections. Though the car looks awkward sometimes, but handling becomes very good and so does your protection level. Supportive alloy rims, heavy suspensions and a whole new set of round disc brakes can make a lot of difference in your Trabant.

Some subtle touches in the looks would also help a lot. Crystal black colour with some beautiful air brushes can change your car from a regular speed racer to a contemporary queen. The Trabant surely needs more oxygen intake for better combustion. Since the engine is a two-stroke built, hence a new exhaust kit needs to be installed so that the natural performance grows from within. The kit allows better performance and mileage as well.

Trabant has always been one of the most favoured cars on the roads of Germany. Who knows it might just scoop away the streets of Asia as well?

Learn more about Trabant Tuning.

The Mercedes Benz S 600 Guard is an awesome exotic car running on a 5.5 Liter Twin-turbocharged V12 engine, capable of 612lb-ft@3500rpm / 517bhp@5000rpm.

The Mercedes Benz S 600 Guard is able to accelerate from 0-60 mph in only 4.5 s and reaches a top speed of 130 mph.

This beautiful exotic car uses a 5 Speed Automatic transmission and weights 4895 lbs.

Are you sure you want one of these?

Well, you just need to put your hands on $0 and the Mercedes Benz S 600 Guard is all yours…

Try to drive carefully, a perfect car doesn’t make you a perfect driver.

Going as far back as the late 1890’s Renault’s first vehicles were manufactured by founder Louis Renault along with members of his family under the first company name of Society Renault. Along with his two brothers two friends also helped in the manufacture of the first cars - their first one was the Voiturette and was sold in December of (18)98. What had been done to sell it was a test drive by their father’s close friend and associate, who was impressed by it and bought it immediately afterwards. After this success they then began to drum up publicity in motorsports such as auto racing and other events.

Their company - within a year of its first car - began producing the first sedan, and by the end of the decade in 1910 they had branched into the manufacture of trucks, taxis, and other vehicles. During the First World War the Renault factories produced ammunition, armament, and many other needed materials, and afterwards focused on many successful car lines. However during the Second World War, Renault was taken by the Germans and forced to serve the Third Reich’s war machine. When the liberation of France occurred in 1944 Louis Renault was imprisoned, in which before he was able to have his day in court he was found with his neck broken. After this all of his assets were seized by the French government and the car manufacturing company was turned into a public manufacturing corporation under a man named Lefaucheux.

After the war and during its time as a public industry in France it was many new and innovative designs, and was able to compete heavily with other popular car manufacturing firms at the time, such as Volkswagen and even against the Beetle they maintained popularity. They continued to build massive and widespread support of their vehicles through genius marketing involving automobile racing and rallies.

By the 70s they had bounded into success that pushed them further, and even during the energy crisis of 1973 their top selling model, the economic based Renault 5, sold extremely well and continued to do so until it was replaced in the mid 80’s by the Super5. The late 70s was the era and legacy of partnerships for Renault, seeing a partnership with AMC and the formation of smaller firms in other European countries, in addition to agreements and technical information trades with Peugeot and Volvo, and even involvements and expansions into the South American markets.

However by the early 80s poor production quality plagued the lines, and by 1981 restructuring had to begin. In 1984 they were loosing millions of dollars, in fact, billions of francs - 12 billion in one year. A new chairman was appointed, named Georges Besse, and was charged with turning Renault around.

In swift action Georges cut many aspects of Renault, cutting costs and cutting losses. His changed were widespread and reverberated throughout the company - but in 1986 he was murdered outside his own home by Action Directe, a terrorist leftist group. His successor, Levy, continued the former’s policy and the deficit was eliminated by the latter 80’s. After this in the mid 90’s Renault became privatized and a traded company, then they made a shocking move by forming an alliance with the Japanese automaker Nissan in 2000.

Since then the profits have risen an astounding 45% for Renault, and a 5% increase in worldwide sales - about 2.5 million vehicles. New plans include a program to sell 800,000 more cars next year, and the introduction of the new Laguna.

While cartuningcentral.com is covering everything that somehow relates to the auto industry, we thought that maybe we should start something a bit different, something that’d cover Tuning, Styling and Modifications only, therefore we recently acquired an aged domain that used to have a car site on it and fully revamped the place.

Tunedautos.com will be our brother site, where we’ll dedicate only to those 3 aspects referred before (tuning, styling and modifications).

While we think we still have a lot to learn and to improve there, we’ve already posted a few articles and kicked the place of.

Go ahead, visit tunedautos.com and remember to bookmark it and subscribe to its RSS feeds.

We’ll try to do our best with that site too, keeping it updated regularly and throw a lot new fetures we’re sure you’ll love.

Don’t leave your car keys behind. But don’t forget to turn on the car alarm too. You want to get back to your beloved car after a night of partying or from work, that’s for sure. Today’s car alarm has gone from low tech to high tech.

A car alarm can be set to be silent, on this mode; it allows the carnapper to bring the car at a certain distance before it kills the engine suddenly. When the engine dies it sounds its blatant siren alerting everybody within a kilometer radius. Modern car alarms are activated remotely and will sound off when the car is at a certain distance from the car owner. That will tell him if the car has been moved from its location.

It is possible to leave your top of the line car without the worries. Car alarms can really be your best pal!

Nowadays it’s normal to see a car that has a roof rack on top. Gone are the days when you can only put all your travel belongings on the trunk of the car. Looking at this kind of set up, the inspiration may have originated in the times of the rajahs when elephants had similar travel racks on top of them. Normally some items like surfboards or huge luggage don’t fit in the boot of the car.

Roof racks are ideal for campers and sports enthusiasts because the design is made to fit bikes, kayaks, surf boards, skis, and other sporting gear. The design is such that it sits squat on the roof of the car and comes with high tensile straps that securely fasten your luggage to the rack. By centering the position of the rack squarely, the center of gravity of the car is maintained keeping it grounded and stable even in long distances.

It is definitely a great way to look stylish and at the same time organized so that even big, bulky items fit.

This seat heater kit has three temperatures: High, Medium and Low. It comes with a digital controller for a more manageable and constant warmth with an illuminated membrane switch. It makes the job easier for you with its Add-a-Circuit mini-fuse adapter and controller mount. It has its individual lighted switches to make sure that all seats are warm.

This seat heater’s elements are as thin as paper so it can be installed between the seat cover and the seat cushion. They are not waterproof, but they are water-resistant. So you don’t have to worry about wet pets, spilled drinks or those damp winter cloths.

And it doesn’t affect your car’s interior design, since it is not visible. The heating elements are fastened to the base foam of the seat, where it becomes out of sight. So you only need to remove the seat covers, fasten the heating elements and put the covers back on. It’s as easy as 1-2-3! Each one of these seat heaters is wired into the car’s electrical system and provided with separate lighted switches for more personalized options.

The heating elements have been tried and proven safe &sturdy enough to use for many years. These heating elements include a thin peel-and-stick part which fits under the seat without detection. This means you don’t need to mess with any screw or special glues. Just peel it off and stick it! The other elements, such as hardware, fuse and wiring harnesses, are fastened out of sight.

These comfortable and practical seat heaters are now available for most vehicles. Plus, it can be easily installed by your local auto upholsterer or your dealer. You can even watch while they do it, since it only takes a few minutes to install!

Why not save yourself from those expensive replacements? Try this new innovation in car technology now and feel the comfort & warmth it has to offer!

A heater core works in cooperation with the engine’s cooling system. Now, the cooling system is in charge of removing the heat from the engine. It sends this anti-freeze to the radiator when it will be cooled again be the rushing outside air.  When it is cooled, it is sent to the engine. The heater core can be thought of as a mini radiator located inside the dashboard. So the anti-freeze circulates throughout the engine, radiator and heater core.

If you turn on the heater, a door opens in the heater core area. The blower, or also known as the a/c fan, will blow air from the heater core into the dashboard until it reaches the passenger compartment. If you find a leak on your passenger floorboard under the carpet, it means that your heater core leaked anti-freeze. Other signs of leakage are sweet odor in the car and a greasy film on the inside of the windows.

You are probably wondering what causes this. Well, the most common cause is rusting. When you don’t flush your cooling system regularly, rust can build up.  Anti-freeze in the cooling system can cause rust to build up. So it is highly recommended that you flush and replace it periodically to make sure your system is working. It can also help you avoid those expensive repairs. If you have rusty anti-freeze, it could mean that you have a coolant leak in your cooling system so air is entering the system. It can be caused by leaky radiator, heater core, water pump or radiator hose. The rust can damage the radiator and other internal engine parts too.

To stop the anti-freeze from leaking on the floorboard, you can just replace the defective heater core, as recommended by most mechanics. In case you want something temporary, you can use a can of radiator stop leak additive and see if it can fix the hole. In more extreme measures, you can just cut off the flow of anti-freeze to the heater core. There are two heater hoses connected to the heater core. You can cut or block these with a hose clamp, or you can insert a small hose splice between them to create a loop so they avoid the heater core. Blocking it is useful in summer time as a temporary repair. But if you have the budget for repairs, it is advised to go to a mechanic.

During those cold winter months, you may become snowbound for several days without help from the outside. It is in those times that you will need to heat your car with few resources. So having a car survival heater is really handy. Or you could have it just to be in the safe side. You never know what can happen during those long drives in the cold weather.

Here is how you can make your own survival heater.

You have to gather the following materials:

• roll of unscented
• Half a dozen bottles of unscented 70% to 91% isopropyl alcohol
• empty metal can that is a little taller than the toilet paper roll
• larger metal can such as a 3-pound coffee or large popcorn container
• Aluminum pan or pot a little wider than the top of the larger can

The can that you will use must be metal, it would be better if it is not painted and without the outer paper. The preferable size is that of a one pound coffee can or a 30 ounce fruit can so it can hold the full roll of toilet paper as is. Next thing you do is remove the cardboard core of the toilet paper roll. Take off enough sheets so that it fits into the can when pushed hard. Make sure there is no space around it and it is completely below the rim of the can.

Place the can with the toilet paper inside the larger can. Place your car heater in an area in your car which is has free space 18 inches all around. When you have found the right spot, you now add a few ounces of isopropyl alcohol, but not the whole thing, on the toilet paper. You will see that the paper absorbed the liquid.

All you have to do now is light your survival car heater. You have to open your window a little bit so some fresh air can come in. When you’ve done that, carefully light the toilet paper with a match or lighter. Once you lighted it, a small flame appears that will burn slowly and warm enough for your car. If you feel that the car is warm enough, place the aluminum pan over the can to conserve your fuel. When you start to feel cold, just add more alcohol to the car survival heater and light it again.

Before you can determine the problem, you must first know how your car heater works. Remember that the part that transfers heat into the passenger compartment is the heater core. This can be thought of as a mini radiator. The coolant flows through the heater core while the fan, also known as the blower, blows air through the heater core’s fins. When the air blows through these fins, it is heated and that heated air warms the passenger apartment.

Now we can check why your car heater is blowing cold air. You can start by checking the coolant. This coolant is the substance that warms the heater core. Therefore, if the coolant is low, it is possible that that may not be enough to warm the air that blows to the passenger compartment. If you’re wondering, why can’t your temperature gauge just warn you about the low coolant, it is simply because the temperature outside is cold so low coolant may not affect the operating temperature of your engine. Once the coolant is full, put the engine at normal operating temperature. Feel the heater hoses that go through the firewall; they both should be hot to the touch.

If only one is hot, this means that there is a blockage in the heater core or there is air trapped in the heater core. Use a coolant funnel to purge the air from the cooling system. If the coolant is really brown, it has been neglected. If “stop leak” has been used at some point, the heater core could be blocked up. This blockage can be removed by flushing the heater core through the heater hoses using a garden hose with a sprayer.

If neither of them is hot to the touch, there could be a malfunctioning heat control valve. Check for the heat control valve by following the heater hoses back to the engine. There might be a broken vacuum line so the valve cannot operate. And maybe you by-passed the heater core because of a leak, so you looped the heater hoses.

If you are sure that the coolant is in good shape, but cool air is still blowing out your car heater, you can check for proper airflow. Adjust the heat control to the highest and lowest; listen for the movement of the doors within the heater case. These doors can be controlled by vacuum motors, cables or electric actuators. If it is controlled by electric motors, tapping it can sometimes make it work. If it is controlled by cables, find the door that controls the airflow across the heater core. If it is controlled by vacuum motors, the diaphragm needs replacing.