The new Chevy Corvette Grand Sport

Chevy is bringing back the Corvette Grand Sport in 2010, sporting a long list of performance upgrades compared to its predecessor of the mid-Nineties. The original Grand Sport was built to compete with Ford’s Shelby Cobra. Only a few were built and these still remain in private collections. The original car was made of thin fiberglass to reduce weight and light steel tubes were used to construct the frame. Except for the 430-hp V8 engine which has remained unchanged, the car has gone through a major facelift. The car has been given larger brakes and a special suspension tuning. It has also been given wider wheels for that extra grip you need. The Chevy also features changes in its looks by incorporating the front splitter, rear spoiler and functional brake ducts behind the doors. It is available with either a manual transmission or a six-speed automatic with paddle shifters. The manual transmission model comes with a dry-sump oil system, differential cooler and a battery mounted at the rear. The new car will definitely live upto the name which its predeccesor has made. This car is really going to boost up the sales for Chevy when it hits the roads next year.

Electric Cars

Electric cars seem to be the future of transportation. Many car manufacturers have been showing a lot of interest in electric cars. An electric car has many advantages over the conventional gasoline powered car. It can be charged using electricity from any household socket. It is environment friendly and produces no tailpipe emissions. The damage caused to the environment by gasoline cars is increasing at a rapid rate and any change like electric cars is very much welcomed by all. It also has a few disadvantages. It takes hours to charge and gives only about 100 miles per charge. On the other hand, it takes only a few minutes to refuel a conventional car and it gives more than 300 miles per tank of fuel. But, with improvements in car battery technology and with more people driving electric cars in the future, charging stations can be set up to charge cars when they are parked to improve the range of the electric car. An electric car is far more economical and has a running cost of only 2 cents per mile which is many times cheaper when compared to a normal car. So electric cars are not only environment friendly, they are also pocket friendly.

Tips To Save Gas

The global price of gasoline going up and there is an increasing shortage of fuel. Here are a few things what you can do to save gas.

1. Maintain optimum tyre pressure – Keeping your tyre pressure at the recommended level can add 3% to your fuel economy. Under-inflated tires reduce your mileage by 0.4 percent for every psi drop in tire pressure of all the tires. When the tires are properly inflated they are safer and they last longer.
2. Remove excess weight from your car – If your car has a thing or two which you don’t require for the trip in the boot apart from your spare tyre, throw them out. Extra weight means it takes more fuel to get up to speed.
3. Keep windows closed – Keeping the windows closed reduces drag while riding.
4. Change oil and air filters regularly – Changing your filters regularly will help save your engine apart from improving your gas mileage by up to 10%. Air filters remove and keep out impurities from your engine.
5. Avoid leaving your car idle – Turn off your engine at signals where you have to stop for more than 30 seconds. When you idle your car, you are simply wasting gas.

Hummer

Hummer is a one of the most well known off roaders. They are known for their massive and masculine vehicles. The Hummer manufactures midsized crew-cab pickup trucks and is a subsidiary of General Motors. The first Hummer, Hummer H1 was based on military heavy multipurpose vehicles. It is also known as the Hum-Vee. This was not available for civilians. This was introduced in the late 1980’s. The H1 was very much welcomed by the civilians too and Hummer released the next models. The later models Hummer H2 and H3 were designed for the streets. In 1992, a civilian version of the popular Hum-Vee was produced. The Hummer has a heavy duty steel body and broad designed to carry heavy loads and run in all terrains. It has participated in many off road racing events and rallies. It has a low fuel efficiency of only 14 mpg. Hummers are much bigger than SUVs and cause parking problems. To solve this, the newer models come with a rear camera to assist the driver. Apart from fuel effeciency and size, critics blamed the safety and design focus of the Hummers. In February 2009, GM announced the end of Hummer. GM sold the brand to an undisclosed Chinese company.

Choosing the right tire

The tires are one of the most important components present in a car. Making a right choice of tires can give the driver a better grip and better handling of the car. The right tire should be chosen depending on the climate of the region where you intend to drive your car. There are basically three types of tires – summer tires, winter tires and all season tires. Summer tires have a block shaped tread pattern ensuring maximum grip at all times. They provide excellent driving and braking performance in all temperatures above zero degrees on both dry and wet roads. In winter tires, the tread pattern is heavily striped and have a fine-block design with grooves that are deep and wide, providing excellent driving grip on roads covered with ice and snow. All-season tyre have tread patterns which are more complicated than those of the summer tires and have an additional longer block-edge for winter usage. They are designed to provide good all-around traction for varying road conditions. Then we have racing tires which are made from a soft compound of rubber. These tires provide excellent grip but they do not last long and they are pretty expensive too. You have to take proper care of your tires and change them when they go out of condition.

Ferrari and Michael Schumacher

Ferrari has announced that it would quit formula one next season unless the FIA revokes its new budget cap of sixty million dollars. It was introduced to reduce the cost incurred in the sport. Those teams which do not adhere to the budget cap will not receive the same amount of technical freedom as other teams which adhere to it. Ferrari has claimed that this is quite unfair and would split the F1 teams into two tiers which is not good for the sport. Ferrari is one of the very few teams which has been involved in all the 60 seasons of formula one since 1949 and to see such a team quit the sport would be a great loss for all its fans and for formula one itself. Ferrari has been around since the beginning of the sport and the team’s drivers have shined in all seasons. A recent notable Ferrari driver is Michael Schumacher. Michael Schumacher is the greatest driver the sport of formula one has ever seen. He is a seven time world champion and holds the most number of records in formula one including the most number of poles and podium finishes. Michael Schumacher started his formula one career with Benetton and won two championships with them. He then moved on to race with Ferrari and won five consecutive drivers’ titles with them. Schumacher is the only driver in formula one history to have an entire season of podium finishes. Michael Schumacher retired from racing after the 2006 formula one season in which he finished second. He is presently an advisor for the Ferrari team.