VD – Page 4

Test Drive A Car Like A Pro

April 10, 2021September 5, 2021 VD

No matter you buy a used car or brand new car, always test drive on leisure day at convenient time and place.

Always test drive on leisure day at convenient time and place

Schedule a test drive preferably on Sunday or Holiday. Scheduling a test when you are not in hurry will help you to understand your next car better. It takes 2 hours to complete a test drive and pre-post discussion with sales executive.

Always test all shortlisted cars on same day

Tests drive all shortlisted cars on same day, why? Driving experience remains fresh in your mind and you can compare cars better to arrive at final decision. Also test drive minimum three to four cars in single day for better comparison. Don’t forget to reset trip meter to check real life mileage according to your driving habits.

Test drive only the version/variant you have selected

Don’t hesitate to ask car dealer to provide a variant you intend to buy. Same thing applies to power train. Generally, test drive vehicles are top variants. In case that particular powertrain and variant is not available with dealer you can try to contact another car dealership. If the variant you want is not available for test drive, you can even ask a dealer to show that variant so that you can inspect features.

Check each and every features of car

Car manufacturers offer some useful features and some gimmick features. It is important to prioritize features you want before new car booking and also it is necessary to check each and every feature during test drive. You can even ask sales executive to demonstrate car features. Obviously, you cannot ask him to demonstrate airbags functioning.

Check "A" pillar size and obstruction

Driver may face visibility problems. Tall driver may face problems if car have a fillet round A Pillar, while short drive face visibility problems if a car has quarter window.

Check Gear low end torque.

Low end torque is equally important as car BHP numbers when car is driven every day in city traffic. When your car has good low end torque means you have access to power and you don’t have to down shift the gears when accelerating from lower speed and also during overtaking, so overall drive experience is more relaxed.

Check braking

Feel the brakes. Check the brakes are too weak or too strong. If brakes are powerful then braking efforts are less.

Check handling of car

It is important to drive minimum 10 KMs during test drive. Don’t drive only on highway and good road, driving a car on rough road will let you know suspension performance and rattling noise in cabin. Test drive at different gear ratios and different speed to check engine and gear box performance.

Check clutch travel

Driving a car with more clutch travel in city traffic condition is painful. Driving in slow moving traffic can be quite a painful experience when clutch travel is more. Clutch should travel down ¾ inch to 1 inch without any efforts and after that considerable efforts require to depress down the floor. Low clutch travel can relieve driver’s stress.

Car Engine noise and vibration in cabin

Vehicle interior comfort is very crucial. Sound produced by internal combustion engine can cause irritation, stress and reduced concentrate while driving. Engine vibration is major reason behind distress. Car buyer should never neglect engine noise and vibration while considering car luxury and comfort.

Car air conditioning

We live in tropical climate where we experience humidity and heat almost 8 to 10 months in a year. Hence it is important to check car air condition performance and it is more important to check engine performance when car A/c is switch on. Some cars offer bigger compressor for fast cooling. Car air condition performance also depends of cabin size, condenser, cooling coil and blower speed.

Call test drive vehicle at home.

Single most benefit of calling test drive vehicle at home is to check vehicle can be parked in available parking space with minimum efforts. Also, you can call family to check and feel the comfort of vehicle.

You can even book OR subscribe a rental car, you can experience the car for a month or two and then you can book your next car. At the end don’t forget to carry valid driving license for test drive a car. Also, if you are not satisfied don’t feel shy to ask for second test drive before buying a car.

Driving Habits

April 10, 2021April 11, 2021 VD

That May Ruin Your Car and Dig Your Pocket

More time you spend on driving more driving skills you acquire, you also acquire certain habits. Not all habits are good one and over period of time it becomes harder for you to break it. Some common habits are listed here that will ruin condition of your car. This post will help you to avoid ruining your car and saves unnecessarily expenditure on repairs.

Frequent Breaking

Braking is a skill to be mastered. It needs regular practice to do it correctly. Moreover proper braking makes driving process less stressful for both driver and the passenger. Unnecessarily braking requires regular brake check-ups and certain cases need brake pad and disc replacement. To avoid these expenses it is always better keep safe distance while driving in traffic. If you still decided to brake frequently better keep good amount of money for brake hose, brake pad and brake discs replacement.

Harsh Braking on Bump and Potholes

Potholes are drivers’ worse enemy. Potholes can potentially damage tyres, rims and suspension. When you hit pothole and hit brake pedal at same time, there is dual pressure puts on car suspension system. This impact results in suspension system damage/bent, broken suspension components, premature wear and tear of shocks and struts. Always keep safe distance between vehicles so that you can spot pothole and slow down your vehicle that will save the car from the impact.

Resting your hand on Gear Stick

Never rest your hand on gear Knob, it puts small but constant pressure on gear knob. Transmission set is complex and they have many moving parts. Your habit might result in displacement of synchronisers and gear. Ultimately leads to a problem of shifting gears. Gear box that is not working seriously can cause serious problem on road and in car mechanics. This bad habbit may lead to huge expense on transmission repairs. Better move your hands to steering wheel to rather than resting on gear knob..

Be gentle while engaging reverse gear

It is advisable to shift reverse gear gently. In normal practice we shift reverse gear with full energy which cause potential damage to reverse gear teeth which why you may have notice noise coming from the transmission.

Refuelling only when tank is almost empty

The fuel filter starts damaging due to dirt, as fuel contains certain impurities. When car is not under use these impurities accumulates at the bottom and forms sediments. It is advisable that tank should be at least half filled with fuel.

Frequent braking while driving downhill

Many new drivers tend to keep their foot on brake pedal at higher gear while driving downhill so that car is ready to stop at any movement but this practice leads to braking system over heating and wearing out brake pads and discs. The correct method to do is to shift to lower gear and initiate engine braking; reducing engine speed reduces vehicle speed which helps to reduce use of brakes. Don’t get panic while hearing roaring engine sound that is pretty normal. Professional race drivers often use technique to slow down while taking another turn.

Neglecting to use hand brake

Car manufacturer recommend use of parking brake to immobilize any parking vehicle. When Car with automatic transmission is parked on the slope; the entire burden falls in lock gear. Also when car is in Park, Not a common but may cause car to roll away, hence hand brake is required. Hand brake helps to relieve stress and tension on transmission and other moving component. It doesn’t really matter if your car has manual or automatic transmission.

Ignoring Suspicious sound

Though most modern engines doesn’t need warming up but during cold freezing temperature it is advisable to keep engine running for 2 to 3 minutes. During that time you can adjust mirrors, adjust driver seat and clean windows, windshield.

Remember to driver carefully and patiently.

Things You Should Consider While Buying A New Car

April 10, 2021August 8, 2021 VD

According statistics Indian car owners change their car once in every six to seven years which is pretty long period. Consider these 10 tips while buying your dream car.

Resale Value

Never consider resale value of the car as important criteria while buying a new car since you buy car for your own use and not for the second hand car buyer. Even though resale value is still important criteria for you then you should consider some important features. First is the car brand matters a lot. There are brands e.g. Maruti Suzuki Cars are more popular among pre-owned car buyers. Old car sales market is bigger than new car sales in India. Don’t forget about its colour; white is most popular colour in India, one in every five cars is white followed by silver and grey. Red, Orange or green colours are not that popular here in India.

Features that you need

Make check list of features that you need right from most important one to least important. Choose car variant very wisely according to features that you need. If you don’t smoke you don’t need lighter. All active and passive safety features are important. Additional airbags, Auto dimming rear view mirrors, head restraints and ABS are important and never save your money by neglecting these features.

Car Maintenance.

Many people take car price into consideration. They forget further expense on technical service/maintenance, insurance and other hidden charges. Car maintenance cost will increase year on year. If your income is not aligned with it will be difficult for you to keep the car running.

Big car OR small Car

Always consider number of times you are going to use the car, number of passengers, think where you will be driving the vehicle, If you stay in metro city where roads are generally good think about sedan car, if you are a joint family consider MPV, SUVs can be consider for people who drive on bad roads.

New Launch Car

Never buy a car that is just launch in your country. For first three years company gather information, issues and improvements required to make car more reliable. Best choice will be a car model that is older than 3 years.

Car prestige and technical characteristics

If you can afford then go for a better car. Surprised! Better car will take you all new level of driving experience in terms of performance, safety and comfort. It’s always better to focus on technical specification, reliability and price. It’s not about prestige.

Research

Gather as much information as possible from reliable websites, consult freelancing specialist and most importantly test ride the vehicle.

Offers

Best time to buy a car is in Jan to March if you are looking for a better deal; during January and March dealer were looking for old stock to clear.

Not trying to negotiate/Lower Price

Rivalry between dealers is very high. Remember to leave different contact numbers at dealers as they have DMS system. Compare different dealers offer and negotiate to low price car.

Never show anxiety

Always spent some time to gather information, compare pros and cons, Think what is best for you and then only go for purchase.

Did I miss any point let me know in comments section below.

When Should I Change My Car

April 10, 2021May 17, 2021 VD

A lot of people get very attached to their old car. It’s just hard to say goodbye as the car become family member, but you should remember one thing very clearly that car you owned should let you reach destination safely. Sometimes you should keep sentimental value aside and go and replace the car. Make sure your vehicle is reliable.

There are other set of customers who overwhelmingly said car ownership is average three to four years beyond that period you should replace your car. These people are targets for new car buyers. These people lose lots of money in paying interest and car depreciation.

You can consider following points before you actually to replace your car.

Does your car suit your needs

If you are a joint family; it is useless to have 5 seater vehicle. If you stay in rural area where road condition is really poor it is useless to own a sedan, you will need to keep good amount for funds for car suspension work. It is more important to understand needs and if car doesn’t suit the purpose its time upgrade and move on to something else which will serve your purpose.

Safety

Car safety is the #1 important reason among all reasons listed here. Your car may have basic safety features like airbags, three point seatbelts and ABS but if it don’t have active safety features like Electronic stability control, Brake assist, LED headlamp and autonomous braking. These are the real reasons to upgrade to new car. Never get mislead by gimmick features like upmarket music system, engine push start, auto headlamps, rain sensing wipers, voice commands etc. Safety should be your top priority.

Cost of repair vs value of the car

If cost of repairs is two third of car valuation, then it’s time to look for a new car. If your current car worth is INR 6 Lakhs and it needs INR 2 Lakhs cost to fix a problem in transmission; this is the time to upgrade to new car.

Future Repairs

Good mechanic will tell you future car repairs. Check requirement beyond regular maintenance of the car with help of your local mechanic. Garage can diagnose major failure in car. Start the look at whole vehicle on the exterior. Then check the car tyres; use simple methods like measure tyre depth. Once you give general look around your vehicle. Check brakes, suspension points and try to assess with help of expert. Your car may need brake pad replacement, bushing, suspension work, tyre replacement in near future. These things need to be considered before you sell old car and going for new one.

Fuel Economy and Reliability

Fuel is getting dearer every day. If you are spending INR 5000 on fuel in month and if you get car which is 30% more efficient than current car; you can save INR 1500 on fuel per month.

If you stay in coastal states where climate is humid; car gets corrosion and you need to change your car early.

Car Payment and insurance increase

It is worth fixing your vehicle based on car payment affordability and also other things to consider like insurance payment, tax payment and car maintenance.

Above things will help you to consider and better decision making when to go for new car.

Will You Pay Premium Price for These Useless Features?

April 10, 2021April 13, 2021 VD

Car Sunroof

Sunroof is the most overhyped feature in Indian automobile market. Sunroof is the feature which is primarily available in luxury cars like Mercedes amg, BMW, Audi but slowly and steadily in recent past sunroof have come down to mass market cars in their top trims. Now there are many other cars which gets sunroof like Honda City, Honda WR-V, Hyundai Creta even Tata Nexon got the sunroof as an accessory.

One purpose why sunroof in a car came into existence was countries abroad where the ambient temperatures are cooler and you need sun to feel that heat hence need to allow that extra light inside. But eventually in India. It has become more stylized feature. In India if you are driving in the afternoon at 12 to 2 you just cant have it open so actually it becomes useless to have sunroof in your car in the afternoon. In India has major problem of dust. When you open the sunroof it allow unwanted dust and smell inside the car passenger cabin.

You might have seen many times, parents allow kids stand out from sunroof. Now the way they are doing it by standing on seats or central console and then they try to grip the roof. This is crazy and this absolutely not safe. When you pose the wind deflector might get damage as it is not made to grab body weight of a kid or an adult. Sunroof parts are not cheap it is expensive. Never stand in sunroof, when car is driven or it is in motion.

Sunroof maintaince is not cheap. Also if sunroof stops working completely and you want to sell your car it become negative point against your car for second hand car buyer and car affect car resale value.

Rain Sensing Wipers

When car detects any type of moisture it can be mist or drizzle it can be blizzard car automatically starts using wipers. When sensor senses rain is coming it automatically starts wiper working. There are lost of electric car circuits installed but do you really need this feature. You just pull one stalk and wipers starts working. It takes only second to move stalk to turn wipers into working mode?

Automatic Head Lamp

A digitally supported camera system which continuously regulates the high beam when driving in the darkness. Intelligent head lamp control when detects approaching car system continuously regulates light beam so that on coming traffic is not impacted. It automatically switch from high beam to low beam. The camera recognises car going back into the lane after overtaking it immediately regulates the lighting range. As soon as there are no further vehicles inside the full beam is regulated to offer more driving range to driver. How much time does it take to move headlamp stalk provided just behind the steering wheel.

Day Time Running Light

There has been a bit hype about day time running lights. DRL are meant to always be on during daytime driving and may dimmed or turn off at any time. Usually at these are important because it increases your visibility to other drivers. DRL were primarily develop in Sweden, Sweden has low light scenario for most part of year. These light according to some studies have been shown importance to reduce road accidents. Using DRL during day time increase longitity of headlamps. But India it is just a styling an esthetic feature since in India, we have abundant day light hours. Where the visibility is low DRL is actually a safety feature but in India companies successfully marketed it as a aesthetic features.

Push start button

Let us understand key less entry cars is a stupid idea? Keyless system offer to keep the keys in pocket when unlocking, locking and starting car engine. Key is identified one or several sensors and antennas in the cars bodywork and radio pulse generator in key housing. They also have mechanical key. It is convenient feature that offers hands free operations. There is high chance that you keep a car running and walk hurrily out of car. Hackers can easily hack codes and steal your car. Thief can easily hack car electronic system to operate vehicle. If you accidently hit push start button on highway speed make sure car has safety feature so that car doesn’t stop. How much time does it take to start a vehicle just rotating the normal key.

Rear AC Vents

Cooled glow box

Cooled glow box is a myth because separate A/c is provide just behind glow box of car but this is not the actual case. Normal ac of car extension is take simply inside the glow box. It really cooled glow box doesn’t chill the water bottle or a can place inside the glow box.

Voice Commands

Indian voice essence do not match with the voice accent of the car’s command system even if you modulate you voice according to car’s accent. How much time does it take just to press a button to open windows and sunroof. Processing of commands also take lot of time.

Don’t pay car loan emi for these gimmick features which are less practical and more stylized.

10 Old Car Features That Will Be Missed in Brand New Car

April 10, 2021May 15, 2021 VD

Steering

Cars with unassisted steering gives descent road feedback to driver. Driver feels lively and engaging driving experience through unfiltered road feedback delivers to hands by unassisted steering wheel. Even cars manufactured in late 90s and early 2000 were pretty good, they had hydraulically assisted power steering that helped driver steered with uninterrupted information from the road. But now a days; most of the cars have power steering which are electronically assisted and electrical motor can either be switch on or off. So, it’s hard to know road feedback though some electric power steering is exceptionally good like Honda Civic. Somehow these new power steering stole that feedback and information from the road. It takes away from the driving experience.

Manual Hand Brake

To pull manual handbrake you need to use all your strength. Manual parking brakes are simple, safe and reliable. Even if you face any issue, It was relatively cheaper to get it fixed with help of local mechanic. Car enthusiast prefer manual hand brakes over electronic brakes. On other side Electronic hand brake requires fewer physical efforts; Electronic hand brake is a luxury feature. Electronic hand brakes are sleek and free up car cabin space. Since it is electronic there are several electric part are attached to it and hence You will need to get the car brakes regularly checked by an expert to ensure proper functioning of electronic hand brake.

Weight

Cars now a days are just a number more than driving experience. Car are losing mass due to horsepower and average fuel economy number games. Driver’s involvement is not just speed and power but driving experience also counts as well but unfortunately, we are losing driving experience. Prime example is Suzuki Swift second generation curb weight was 1030 KGS, fourth generation curb weight is 870 KGS. Now a days cars are just about Power and fuel economy numbers instead of feel. Ford and Fiat are exception to this rule.

Sound/Engine Exhaust

Many cars in 90s and 2000s decade used to be naturally aspirated and not turbocharged. 2020 decade is a decade of turbocharged cars. Due to couple of reasons like emission regulation, environment, social factors, many cars today are facing engine downsizing. Engines’ refinement is so well that sound output is almost muted or even down. Many cars are insulated so well that automobiles manufacturers had to put sound back to the cabin with help of speakers. Obliviously there are some cars which makes sound absolutely fantastic like Ford Aspire petrol, Ford Figo and Ecosports.

Unique Styling

Modern cars are getting bigger and bigger in size. Massive front grills, fake vents and fake exhausts in modern cars are actually irritating to eyes. Safety, Aerodynamics and other things have come into existence and car designs are screwed. But this was not the case few decades back. Designs were not so bad. But if you go back few more decades, cars were design purely for beautiful designs like American muscle cars, European sports cars, classic Italian design houses.

Physical Button

New age cars has everything inside controlled through digital touch screen which actually distracts driver. Driver will have to take eyes off the road to swipe menus to access A/C control, infotainment and volume. Even entry level cars like Maruti Alto and Renault Kwid offers touch screen infotainment system in top variants. Gesture control is incredibly fun but nothing is superior than old school buttons and knob. Physical buttons allow driver to access A/c controls, music system control, and heated seat control without getting distracted while driving. Physical controls are actually taken for granted until it started stripped away.

Aggressive Safety Features

No doubt car safety has drastically improved in every sense over the years but some time it makes situation worse. Safety system like Brake assist, lane keep assist prematurely corrects driver’s behaviour by making situation even worse when system slams the brakes too hard and oversteer wheel. if smart key battery is dead, the push start button does not work because car thinks you don’t have keys.

Maintenance and simplicity

Not too long few year back when anyone faces breakdown on highway, he could fix problem on their own without having too much worry about specialized spare parts and sophisticated equipment that need to buy from OEM manufacturer or certain type of diagnostic cable that can only be used by professional on certain type of machines. Though auto mobile manufactures offer roadside assistance service but nothing can beat local mechanics. When car warranty is expired, it is pretty sure that car owner is screwed. Nobody can comment on reliability. Take an example of Toyota it refuses to die at any circumstances and over long period of time.

Price

The year 2011, Honda City third generation was introduced at a price of INR 7 Lakhs but in the year 2020 cost of Honda city is INR 11 Lakhs. There is technological breakthrough in terms of power, safety and comfort every three to four years. Some cars are exceptional to this and really don’t jump much. If you compare technology vs car inflation, cars are generally offer at same priced but average purchasing power of common man has not increased enough to afford new car every 3 years and hence average ownership of cars in India is 6 to 7 Years.

Easy to read instrument Panel

Analogue Instrument panels were easy to read. It used to be simple, intuitive and predictable. Driver can get all required information at one glance but now it takes minimum two to three glance to know the speed, fuel and RPMs. Now have a look at instrument panel of brand-new cars. Tachometer tach goes backward which confuses the driver. Also, it’s not clear, Red needle on red or blue background, minimum space between the fuel gauge and multi-information display.

If you know anything add to this list lets know in comments.

What’s the Difference Between SUV & Crossovers?

April 10, 2021May 15, 2021 VD

Every Auto enthusiast always come across one question the difference between SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicle) and Crossover(Crossover Utility Vehicle).

You might have heard from experts that crossovers are more superior machines over SUV. However, that may have been true once upon a time but now in 2020s things have changed a lot. SUV cars’ market have evolved immensely over past 10 years in India. SUVs now outsell all passenger car segment in India. Early 2020s term SUV became popular for not only its off-roading capabilities but also conquering city traffic. Even though you are aware, each body types have its own merits and demerits, let’s compare both.

Car Body:

Difference between CUV and SUVs is simple SUVs are based on trucks platform while CUVs are based on car’s platform. SUVs are based on rear or four-wheel drive trucks where body is assembled to frame or body on frame SUVs still be driven like trucks.

Auto car manufacturers began manufacturing four-wheel drive or front wheel drive on monocoque chassis hence car became lighter and more rugged look with user friendly spawning new classification of vehicle is called CROSSOVER or Crossover SUV. Crossovers have low ground clearance compared to SUV hence offer better handling and long bodied, the classier silhouette than SUV. Though many sales person, automobile experts frequently refer unibody vehicles as SUVs even though they are crossover by definition. The terms SUV is often used for both CUV as well as SUV.

Ride and Handling

SUVs handling is tricky because of its high central of gravity which affects its stability on road. SUVs bigger body generates big amount of drag and mechanical complexity. Crossover is a driver’s car, they are more agile, more fun to drive, crossover offers better ride quality and handling compared to SUV. SUVs are more often rear wheel or four-wheel drive while crossover comes in front wheel, rear wheel and all-wheel drive options. SUVs have more powerful engines than crossover.

Cabin

SUV have an elevated seating position which helps see over road, bonnet and traffic which is the primary reason for SUV Buyer. No car body type can beat SUVs’ road presence that drives SUV sales. SUVs have slightly longer wheelbase which brings slightly more legroom and boot space. Biggest advantage for SUV buyers is cabin height. More space for headroom and roofline; SUVs certainly feels more spacious. SUVs are wider which provide little more wriggle room for children in second row of seat. Crossover are more comfortable than SUVs. Crossover offer easy lifting and loading heavy luggage in boot than SUV because of its lower lip.

Fuel Economy

SUVs generally weigh more than crossover hence gives poor fuel economy. Crossover drives nimble enough with better fuel efficiency than SUV. Crossover due to light weight offer better fuel economy which is more relevant advantage against SUV. That’s the reason why city buyer prefers crossover overs SUV.

Aesthetic

SUVs have aggressive look. Road presence of SUV is notable. SUVs look more rugged compared to crossover.

Verdict

SUVs make sense for family buyers in villages especially for those with small children. City buyers will certainly be served by a crossover SUVs. SUVs have high seating position, go anywhere ability and aggressive look but neglected by poor mileage and ride characteristics. For driving enthusiasts SUV is not appealing for daily driving needs.

Still decision making is not always going to be black and white. Let us know which one you prefer to ride an SUV or Crossover. Please comment.

Unique Features Offered By Automobile Manufacturers

April 10, 2021April 11, 2021 VD

Year 2015 revolutionize automobile industry in India with launch of Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Hyundai Elite i20, Ford Aspire, Mahindra TUV, Hyundai Creta etc. During this period from 2015 to 2020 cars are becoming more and more personalized. New features were quickly becoming standard features. Somehow Automobile manufacturers have managed to offer some cool features that are not offered by mass. Some car features are absolutely important for day to day life. Let’s have a look.

Volkwagen Polo Auto Window Glass Roll Up – Volkwagen Polo offers very unique and important feature auto window glass roll up when doors are locked. If you left window glass open unintentionally car will automatically shuts all window glasses when central lock button is pressed. Also if you hold driver’s window button up car will automatically roll up all window glasses and shut sunroof. Cool, isn’t?

Clever Features by Skoda – A very important thing which we need during rain is Umbrella and Skoda offers two umbrella holders one on driver and another on co-driver side mounted just above hand rest. When umbrella is wet and you put them in car water will automatically get out of the car. In some cars umbrella holder is provided underneath co-driver seat. Skoda also offers door protector hidden on edge which come out and go automatically when opening and closing the door. If you kick rear bumper electronic tail gate opens automatically. Boot illumination is removable which can be used as a torch. Small dustbin is installed inside front door pockets.

Tata Altroz Customized Packages – Single thing that makes Tata Altroz first of its kind is customized factory fitted packages right from base variant. Consumer can pre-order package, new car will come with factory fitted features so even in base variant you can get drivers hand rest which is only available in top variant. Altroz also offers dedicated space to keep umbrella. Tata Altroz offers 90° door opening so ingress and egress in the cabin is very convenient.

Honda Jazz and Ranualt Triber Magic Seats – Previous generation Honda Jazz used to offer four seating modes viz Tow mode, long board, utility mode and refresh mode. Renault Triber offers Camp mode, surf mode, Life mode and Tribe mode and along with this 100+ Seating combinations. These two cars offer numerous configurations of seats.

Kia Carnival comes with dual electronic sunroof and 9 seats and 4 rows.

How A Rally Car is Built?

April 10, 2021May 15, 2021 VD

A rally car is compact road vehicle that has thorough makeover. Rally cars are based on standard road cars like Toyota Yaris or Hyundai i20 but lot more different than passenger cars. It’s been stripped to metal shell and completely rebuilt from scratch by engineers. Rally cars need to face all sorts of challenging terrain including dirt, rocks, muds, sand, snow and ice covered terrains hence an efficient hatchback becomes roaring racing machine during competition. Rally cars are built on specification and regulations governed by International Rally Regulation.

Let’s start with Car engine. Engines are tunes up for better performance during competition. Regular 90 BHP Car transformed into 300 BHP mean machine. Full cast engine block light weighting is done. Power is pump up in engine with the help of turbo charger and a normal road car is transformed into a car that roars in rally circuit. Supersized substantial radiator system used; this keep engine cool and car doesn’t get overheat.

Car is stripped down to make car as light as possible. Car paint is taken off instead of car painting; graphics used just because graphics are much lighter than paint. Removing car paint alone helps to reduce 5 kg weight. All surplus brackets and panels are removed. Light weighting helps in strong finish in the rally.

Cage is welded to chassis for additional safety of the driver during an event of crash. Cage can even accommodate larger fuel tank in the back. Body shell is then dipped into acid.

Car is upgraded from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive. Rear wheel transmission is installed to convert front wheel drive car to four wheel drive. Four-wheel transmission helps drive in better traction and car handling in different terrains.

Lightweight fibreglass is used to make car dashboard. Dashboard is covered with velvety fabric to block light reflection. Car’s seats sink driver and navigator better and hold drive to its position perfectly; driver doesn’t slide around. Seats are made from carbon fibre and indestructible material Even side windows and rear window are made from fibreglass.

Rally car requires tougher parts. Rally car bumper is redesigned to accommodate bigger size tyres. Rally car bumpers and bonnet have clip instead of locks for quick and easy handling during service and emergencies. Rally car tyres are made with special material. Rally car tyres have strong side walls that can absorb all sort of impact at high speed during competition.

Rally car have air scoop on bonnet and cabin. It is mandatory for driver to carry two fire extinguisher during race.

Instead of car paiting graphics are being used just because graphics much lighter than paint. Light weight helps in strong finish in the rally.

Car Spoilers……….Just an Aesthetic or Really Useful Feature

April 10, 2021April 11, 2021 VD

The primary purpose of car spoiler is to spoil unfavorable air movement. Its an aerodynamic device, most often fitted to performance cars or sports cars. Car experience two forces lift and drag to reduce these two forces spoiler is installed. Spoiler helps to reduce vehicle lift which results in better traction control as well as better handling.

Air streamlines travel above the car while some air streamlines travels below the car body. Streamline above and beneath car should form a laminar throughout the length of car but in real life this doesn’t happen. In real life front Airflow has laminar but airflow turns into turbulence due to sudden decrease in car shape. There is a sudden decrease in rear end of the car where air pressure drops. Car experience low pressure above the car and higher air pressure below the car and hence car experiences lift force which may lead to loss of traction. Velocity of air travelling above the car is higher than air travelling below the car. A spoiler helps to maintain laminar airflow. Less drag helps in good mileage.

Performance vehicles and sports cars have active spoilers. Active spoilers can be adjusted dynamically when vehicle is in motion and according to condition. Active spoilers can retract, hide and also extend upward when vehicle exceed certain speed. These are additional benefits offered by active spoilers over fixed one. They give cleaner and uncluttered appearance to car.

Passenger vehicles spoilers are fitted to enhance car aesthetic but if spoilers are not installed properly it may lead to increase in drag ultimately poor car mileage. Spoiler fitted for aesthetic purpose could make worst aerodynamic. At low speed spoilers on passenger vehicles actually increase the drag.