Gas mileage is defined as the ratio of distance travelled by a vehicle and the amount of fuel it consumed. This is a growing concern in the transportation industry, affecting automobile makers, fuel companies, various businesses, and even the average consumer. One of the main reason for this focus on gas mileage is the fact that automobiles of every shape and size have become such an integral part of everyday life, and the oil prices are always fluctuating, and if not, remains at an exorbitant level. Everyone is always looking for ways to get more value for every dollar they spend on fuel.

If you are like Penny of the hit sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” and has the tendency of putting off checking your car’s condition again and again—don’t. Car safety and “Check Engine” light jokes might be funny on television, but it’s a serious matter in real life. It is extremely advisable to see to problems, no matter how small they seem to be, as soon as you’ve become aware of them.

If what’s stopping you is the fear of taking it to the mechanic and ending up getting billed for amounts larger than what you’d deem fair, worry no more. The following are some tips to help you figure out if the trouble your car’s experiencing is a case for the mechanics, or if the solution is small enough that it would simply require some of the easiest ways to tune up your car yourself.

Congratulations! You’re finally buying your own car! Not to burst your bubble but there are some things you should bear in mind when buying a car. One of the most important things to consider is repair and maintenance. Did you know that maintenance and repair costs make up about 4 percent of the total car ownership costs over a span of 5 years? That is why buying a car that has easy maintenance parts versus one that doesn’t will help you save a lot. Here are some ideas to guide you through that.

Vehicles are required to have protection against the rain on the windshield, so they have wipers. A car windshield wiper removes or wipes away solid and liquid debris from the windshield. It was invented by Mary Anderson in 1903 and she called it “window cleaning device” meant to clean the windscreen of early electric cars.

A car windshield wiper has an arm rotating at one end and an extended rubberized blade on the other side. The bladed part moves back and forth from right to left of the windscreen wiping away liquid from the glass. It has different settings that would control the speed of the movement of the blades. Some cars operate on two aligned radial kind of arms while some vehicles use more pantograph arms.    

Car brakes are one of the most important parts of any vehicle whether it is a motorcycle, airplane, automobile or train. They are used used to slow down or stop a moving vehicle. The first braking system was first used in horse transport, carriages carried by horses could travel in high speed but horses cannot stop the vehicle from moving.

What is the history of car brakes?
The first cars made by earlier people used the same type of brakes carriages driven by horses used. At the start of the 20th century, cars with high speed were invented which demands for a more effective braking system. Since then, different type of car brakes were invented.

Almost every car manufactured nowadays has a car air conditioning system. Their function is to give comfort to the driver and passengers of the vehicle, especially on hot weather conditions. Air conditioners use significant power, and the drag of the car is affected whenever the air conditioner is activated. Besides the drag, effects on fuel efficiency is also being debated as well as other factors that make the difference between driving with and without air conditioners turned on.

Car paint not only gives the vehicle color and shine; it also provides protection from possible damage from a variety of factors like weather, scratches, dirt, and other possible matter it may encounter throughout a car’s life.

 Types of paints
At present, there are four types of car paint: acrylic lacquer, acrylic
enamel, acrylic urethane, and water-based paint. Lacquer paint is the oldest kind of paint and is now difficult to find and illegal to spray in pollution-controlled areas of the country. Enamel paints dry to a hard shell and are baked onto the cars with heat. This kind of paint is tougher than lacquer, but harder to apply. Urethane paints, on the other hand, are newer and more expensive, but combine the toughness of enamel and the ease of application of lacquer. The newest kind of car paint is water-based paint. This paint is non-toxic and very versatile. It can be applied to metal, primer, and even existing paint jobs, but it requires an application of a clear coat of urethane on top.

By Mick Bailey
 
Manual transmission, also referred to as a “standard transmission” (and less commonly, a manual gearbox), is a type of transmission that utilizes a clutch that is manually operated by the driver, hence the name. The clutch is engaged and disengaged by a foot pedal for automobiles or by a hand lever for motorcycles and similar vehicles, and by a hand (automobile) or foot (motorcycle) operated gearstick. A conventional 5-speed model is most often the standard equipment for a base-model car. Manual transmission is characterized by certain gear ratios that can be selected by locking the selected pair of gears to the output shaft inside the system.

By Mick Bailey
A carburetor is a device used by older models of cars to combine air with fuel to make cars run. The primary principle behind the technology of carburetors for cars is Bernoulli’s principle. This means that when air moves faster, its static pressure becomes lower and its dynamic pressure becomes higher. Contrary to what some people believe, it is not the
accelerator that controls the flow of liquid fuel.  What it controls is the carburetor mechanisms that are responsible for the measurement of the air flow into the engine.  The speed of this air flow and its pressure then determine the measurement of fuel brought to the airstream. 

 Fuel injection in cars started in 1955 when Bosch developed the fuel injection system in Germany. It was not a reliable system in the beginning. It only suited around thirty cars. However, since the fuel injection in cars
has been continuously developed and improved through the years, it is now acknowledged by a lot of people to be the better system than carburetor. Although there are still some ongoing debates about such matter, many have already subscribed to the belief that it stands on a higher footing than that of a carburetor since fuel injection system has lower emissions and better efficacy.