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Nerdy Definition Day!

Okay, we all know that I’ve done ‘Geeky Definition Day’, or, simply, ‘Definition day’.  But today is different.  These are auto-related terms that you may have never heard of before!  You need a wide and varied auto vocabulary for this blog.  Are you ready?  I thought so…

Roller Cam:  The roller cam is also called the rolly.  It is a camshaft (a shaft of a cam) which operates against a small roller (hence the name “rolly”), at the base of each lifter; instead of the lifter itself.  The rollers are designed to reduce friction and wear, especially at high rpms.  A cam is located above or below the crankshaft.  A cam spins around, and pushes the bottom of the engine valves, which help produce the spark, which drives the car forward.

Cream hardener:  A type of cream used for hardening bondo.  You put the bondo on, but it doesn’t dry by itself (unless you’re planning on not driving your car for a year!).  Slather the cream all over the bondo, and the bondo dries.  Then (hopefully), your car will look as good as new!

Meats:  Refers to big tires, such as drag racing slicks, or 40″  off-road tires.  I wonder if they have any steaks…  There are also “meaty” tires.  They are very knobby tires, that are used for going off-road.  Now I wonder if they have any bacon…

Tune in regularly to get some more great ‘n geeky definitions!  Heard of these?  I dare you to find some random auto-related terms that I might not know!  Just post it as a comment, and you’ll be featured on my next definition post!

Tune in soon to get specs on my baby!  You’ll be surprised!

zoomvroom Tech Talk, The auto dictionary. Look it up here!

I Have You in My Clutch(es)!

What has a clutch?  Just about anything with a motor.  Chainsaws, cars, planes, even the electronic razors men use to shave with!

What is a clutch?  Well, let’s dive in and see!

A clutch is a mechanical device that is attached to a manual transmission gear box, which is outside the engine.  Also, the clutch pedal is attached to the clutch.

Clutches are very important when a machine has  two rotating shafts, or two moving parts.  Clutches are instrumental in a car because it smoothly transfers horsepower and torque from the spinning engine crankshaft to the transmission, without slippage (clutch slippage is where the friction materials inside of the clutch’s flywheel [which is attached to the engine’s crankshaft] wear out, and the clutch is slipping as a result of varying speeds)

Friction is necessary to the operation of  every clutch.  Friction is the rubbing of two or more objects.  The clutch’s job is to eliminate as much friction as possible.  Thus, the friction between the clutch plate and flywheel is  sent through the clutch, where it is dissipated.

When a driver presses the clutch pedal, it releases the pressure plate, which pushes the pressure plate against the clutch plate against the flywheel, and causes the non-spinning transmission to spin.  When the clutch pedal is depressed, the transmission is still spinning, but there is no need to press the clutch pedal:  You will just need a clutch sooner.

If you drive a manual transmission car, and are driving up a hill with a loaded car, and are going up a steep hill in a gear that is too high, you will burn out the clutch; bringing a tow truck and quite a few large bills.  And a happy mechanic… Besides, who REALLY wants that?

zoomvroom Car Culture, Tech Talk, The auto dictionary. Look it up here!

Survival of the adaptive

The car world according to Darwin.  Since the Ford Taurus made a comeback in 2010, Ford engineers have been working harder than an air traffic controller at La Guardia.  They have been experimenting with radar to avoid the immenent threat of a head-on collision. 

Here is what George Mone of the magazine, Wired, has to say.  “Heading south on the New Jersey Turnpike, Ford Motor Company engineer Jerry Engelmen swings his 2010 Ford Taurus into the left lane to pass a semi.  The Taurus hesitates, slowing down, and then Engelman adjusts his heading.  The car takes off. 

“Larry,” he calls to his colleague in the back seat, “write that down!” 

Engelman is driving, but just barely.  The Taurus has a radar-based adaptive cruise-control system that lets him set a top speed and then simply steer while the car adjusts its velocity according to traffic.  He’s been weaving and changing lanes, doing between 45 and 70 mph- and hasn’t touched a pedal in an hour.” 

Since 2007-8, Ford engineers have been working on this particular system.  They have logged over 60,000 miles a year on a few test cars with the adaptive cruise-control system.  This tech has been around for a while.  Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo have all offered this technology since, at least, 2004.  But now its afforable.  Ford now offers the system standard on the Taurus SE model, and hopefully will be putting it in the Super Duty line of trucks by 2013.  The system is similar to the one used in small private planes (such as a Cessna 172).  

The system works by projecting radar beams forward and sideways to look for anything that could cause an accident.  It emits pings, which warn the driver, and tell the cruise-control box that there is a potential hazard ahead.  The radar’s reach is as wide as three Taurus’ put exactly side to side.  On a ten-lane highway, the car will be actively looking at three or four of the lanes on each side.   If there is an immenent collision, the car tightens the seatbelts, warns you, and primes the brakes. 

Engelman says that the production version is pretty much flawless.  Good.  Imagine me driving a Taurus SHO down a quiet country road (of course, I am NOT speeding), and all of a sudden, there’s a dump truck pulling out of a driveway.  I’d probably stop short, thanks to the quick reaction of my radar assisted cruise-control.  But my best guess is that I’d have a seatbelt-shaped bruise across my chest!  I think that I’ll probably be getting the Taurus as my first car, when I’m 16 because my mom thinks that teenage boys plus gas pedals equals disaster!  Whatever.  Call it new math.

Darwin would be proud of the system.

zoomvroom Tech Talk, The auto dictionary. Look it up here!

Can You Trumpet like an Elephant Motor?

You’re probably thinking “I am NOT going to comment on this post!”  Well, you might want to.  This post is on the infamous “Elephant Motor.” 

The so-called ‘Elephant Motor’ is a 426 cubic inch Chrysler Hemi engine.  It is called the elephant motor because of its huge displacement (the volume of air displaced when the engine is turned a cycle by the pistons – in this casr, 426 ci), and huge power output (425 horsepower).  And that’s only in stock form! 

The Elephant Motor was developed for NASCAR in 1963.  Its first race was in a Plymouth Belvedere, in 1964.  For many years, the 426 Hemi won many races in NASCAR. 

In my opinion, the true Chrysler Elephant Motor is the 440 Six-Pack Hemi.  VROOM!

zoomvroom Tech Talk, The auto dictionary. Look it up here!

What’s A Firewall, Dad?

Tech Talk Day!

Well son, a firewall is a wall between the engine and passenger compartments.  With a front-engined vehicle, the firewall is part of the induction cowl, and ahead of the passenger compartment.  With mid or rear- engined cars, it is behind the passenger compartment.

The firewall protects the passenger cabin from an engine fire.  Most firewalls have carbon-fiber in them to protect from the engine flying backward into the passenger compartment.

Way back when, firewalls used to be about an inch thick, and made out of steel.  The only thing that could break them was a bomb or a massive engine fire.  Nowadays, they are about half an inch thick, and extremely strong.

zoomvroom The auto dictionary. Look it up here!, The History of Autos

Are You Taxing MY Chickens?

For those of you who know me, I have chickens (but my sister tends them along with her flock).  According to the title of this post, you COULD be taxing my chickens, but let’s be positive.  Well, this isn’t a chicken blog, but a car blog.  So how does a chicken tax relate to cars?

What in the world do chickens and trucks have to do with each other?  Apparently a lot.  The chicken tax has been in action in the U.S., since 1963.  If foreign automakers sell trucks not built in North America, than the automaker will have to pay a 25% “chicken tax.”  The term originated when, in 1963, Germany imposed a heavy tax on frozen chickens coming from the U.S. to Germany.  The U.S. retorted by imposing the chicken tax on any foreign-built pickup truck, or other small truck coming into the U.S.  This also applies to vans, as they are built on truck platforms.

The chicken tax forced Honda, Toyota and Nissan to build their trucks here.  But, the chicken tax is imposed on the Ford Transit Connect (a small car-based platform, cargo van).  After figuring out a loophole, Ford decided to use it as a solution to the chicken tax problem.  The Transit Connect comes to America with the rear seats in.  This qualifies it as a station wagon.  Ford realizes that most Transit Connects will be sold in the cargo van configuration, so the rear seats are ripped out of most and sent to a company, where the steel from the seats will be recycled, and the remaining part of the seats will be sent to the dump.  How green can Ford be?  Pretty tricky….

The other truck that is in danger of the chicken tax is a Mahindra pickup truck.  The Indian firm, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. is in high hopes of selling their pickup stateside by December 2011.  But, there is the chicken tax.   The plans are to have complete kits of the truck sent to the U.S., and then be assembled in a plant in Ohio; thus avoiding the chicken tax.  That’s pretty smart, and green!

Even though there are very few American frozen chickens in Germany, the chicken tax is still there.  At least no one is taxing my chickens!

zoomvroom Tech Talk, The auto dictionary. Look it up here!

Brake horsepower, what it really means

Brake horsepower (bhp) is different than horsepower.  Bhp is the output at the flywheel (a heavy, round metal plate on the end of the crankshaft that is a vibration damper, and balance member.  It also smoothes out the power pulses as each cylinder fires), as measured on a dyno-test (where the maximum amount of horsepower and torque are measured).  Back in the old days, there was a device called a “prony brake,” which was used to determine the maximum amount of torque.  Horsepower was then calculated from torque and rpm.  Horsepower is the measurement of the maximum amount of the work an engine can perform.  It can be described as a way to move a weight a given distance- to apply leverage in a given period of time. 

Here is an example:  Let’s say a 5.4 liter V8 makes 320 bhp; the hp would be about 305.  That is because the transmission’s gears have to spin all that horsepower and torque, before it gets to the driving wheels.  If there was no transmission, all 320 horsepower would be going straight to the drive wheels. 

But, since there are transmissions, the automakers often dyno-test the engines to see how powerful they are.  The Smart Car makes 80 bhp, but once the horsepower is put down to the wheels; it totals 70 horsepower.  Back in the early days, 70 horsepower would have been reserved for an airplane!  Now look at cars today, the average economy car makes 115 horsepower!        

For an example of bhp; a horse has 1 bhp, because there is no tranny or gears to turn:  Its “transmission” is simply muscles!  Now, just imagine that horse pulling a wagon.  That would bring the maximum amount of horsepower to about 0.89 horsepower.  That really isn’t much… 

Knowing how much your bhp is comes in handy if you like to tow/haul.  If you are towing and don’t know how much bhp you have, it can be kind of scary!  So be careful!  And, no, I’m not trying to be your mom!

zoomvroom The auto dictionary. Look it up here!

Definition Day!

The crankshaft is a shaft that has u-shaped cranks that take the reciprocal motion (opposite motion) of the pistons, and converts it to rotary motion that turns the wheels.  The crankshaft is a part of the engine that takes the energy of the pistons, and sends it to the drive system.

zoomvroom Tech Talk, The auto dictionary. Look it up here!

Cruise Control, the awesome invention

Cruise control has been around for a long time.  The modern cruise control was invented by a blind inventor and engineer, Ralph Teetor.  Teetor invented it after driving with his lawyer, who kept speeding up and slowing down when he was talking.  Ralph must have found that annoying because he then invented cruise control.  Teetor’s assistant helped him draw up the plans.  Testing occurred with a mock dashboard, pedals and steering wheel set up in Teetor’s lab.  Teetor could then “drive.”  The first car with cruise control was the 1958 Chrysler Imperial.

zoomvroom Tech Talk, The auto dictionary. Look it up here!

Definition day!

People often wonder what parts of a car are and what is its purpose.  My job is demystify car words for you.  Today I am covering carburetors.

The carburetor is basically a big blender that mixes fuel and air together before it is pushed into the cylinders.  A carburetor barrel is like a tube or pipe that holds the air inside before the fuel is mixed with it.  The air is in the “barrel”, while the gasoline is in a small container nearby.  A certain amount of fuel is pushed into the “barrel” and the mixture is mixed and pushed out and into the cylinder. The carburetor comes in different sizes: one barrel, two barrel, four barrel and even 10 barrel! The early diesel engines could not have a carburetor, the mixture would “flood” the engine. The early planes had huge 16 barrel carburetors! Some of the best-known carburetor makers are: Holley, Solex-Mikuni, Weber and Edelbrock. Many cars with fuel injection can easily be switched to carbureted power.