Add Some Water and Run Your Car

Add some water and run your car? Sounds like very impossible to do, especially for the combustion engine. Well, it's the fact that we can't deny anymore that the oil reserve at down earth is getting poorer because of our usage of this kind of fossil is just like a starving to death alien. United States of America and some of European countries have been accused as the monster that ate the whole oil in this planet. Now the effect of very high consumption of the mother earth's product can be felt now. Hole on the ozone system and the melting ice because of the rising temperature every year are just some of the thing caused by human race. The simplest examples also can be seen everywhere, especially in the big cities. You can see that traffic jam or rush hour happens everyday, it doesn't care whether it's in the morning, afternoon, or even at night!

There will be certainly some people start thinking that if the gasoline runs out, not just from the fuel tank but also from the earth, can make life more complicated (for all vehicles use combustion engine that needs and depends on fuel very much). The racers can't race, and the muscle car collectors can't enjoy their high performance big block Mustang or Chevy, and maybe there will be more problems because of the end of the oil stock.

However, there is always a way for those who want to survive and still do what they want to do. After hybrid and electric technology, now there is more invention done by human being to reduce the usage of gas extremely, but it still gives high power to perform. You only need to add some water to obtain the benefit.

Wait a minute! How can water make my car run well and even give more power to perform? It's simple answer. The water which is used to run the car is not a whole tank. It means that you don't need to change your fuel in your tank into water. Logically, any combustion engine won't run if there is a little tiny drop of water. So, how can it work?

The water you need is just for making some gas called hydrogen. Of course you will need some devices to process the water into hydrogen. The way it works is like a battery, especially wet battery. By using this device, you will get much longer, maybe up to 50% of your mileage of gasoline consumption, and you still get your muscle car power to run fast. However, to use water to produce this kind of hydrogen, you surely need some direction from the expert. So, for more information about how to add some water and run your car with it, just click here

Simple Check For Your Car's Health

What will happen if someday when you are driving your car and it 'boycott' you from arriving on time at an important meeting? Angry? Mad? Well, it's supposed not to happen to you if you have a will to do some simple things to ensure your car's health. Here are some tips for you.

1. Before starting up, you'd better check for everything such as oil quality and quantity by checking the dipstick. It's shown like this (pict from wikimedia.org)

If the color of the oil is getting dark, and the quantity become a little bit less than the recommended measurement, then it's time to change your oil. Hope you don't wait too long to do it, for it brings much influence to your car, starting from the performance, fuel economy, and the time usage for the engine parts. Usually the oil manufacturer gives you 5000 km to use their product safely. After that, you need to change it. There are some factors why the measurement is only limited by 5000 km. They are the stop and go condition, especially in traffic jam or peak hours, the way you drive, and how long you let your engine runs while stopping.

2. Make sure your radiator is still fullfilled with water or coolant, and the color doesn't change because of the corrotion (pict by trustmymechanic.com)

If your radiation condition is like the picture shown above, then it's time to change your radiator water or coolant. Just open the valve located under the radiator, usually the cap is butterfly like. Just let the dirty water or coolant flow till the radiator tank is empty, then replace the cap and pour water or coolant until the radiator tank is fullfilled. Don't forget to also check the reservoir tank. If the height of water or coolant level is lower than the Upper level, add it. For some cars especially manufactured by European manufacturers like BMW or Mercedez Benz, pay attention of the water quality because it can affect your radiator performance. Use distillated water or coolant made from the safe ingredients for your European car radiator.

3. Next step is, check the level of battery fluid if you use wet battery. If the level goes on Lower Level, then add distillated water until reaching the Upper Level. Don't add too much because it just can make your battery lifetime going shorter. However, if you use dry battery or maintenance free battery, just check the terminal poles whether it's dirty or not. Clean them up and put the cover to prevent from dust or corrotion caused by condensation during the charging process of the battery. This checking is also must be done for the wet battery beside the fluid check.

(picture by autotrends.org)

4. You can check the other fluids like brake fluid, power steering fluid, and transmission fluid. The way you check is just as same as the engine oil checking, but you don't have to pay attention for the quality. Just check the quantity whether it needs to add more fluid or not.

5. Check the wiper water tank. Usually it is usefull to clear up the view when rain comes or when you pass the dusty area. If the tank needs to fill, just pour some water mixed with wiper concentrate, with the ratio one capfull of concentrate for one litre of water. You can add a bottle of a packed mixture of this instantly, for there are some brands of this kinda mixture produced, so you don't need to add more water like this one. (picture by cheapnclean.com)

Ok then. You have already check the vehicle to bring you go around the places you want. Don't forget also check the lamps, turns light, and also horns. Enjoy your trip, and drive safely.

SUV, MPV, or...

When we decide to buy a car, especially the first one, we oftenly consider a lot of things whereas it can fit all or maybe most of our consideration. According to some automotive media, the culture of a country sometimes take part of the consideration in buying a car. In Indonesia, the culture of togetherness, family gathering, and something like that makes the consideration of buying a car put the ability to load a lot of family members in the first priority. The comfort, handling, power and so on are just the second or far behind.

There are many types of car presented by the manufacturers, and they can be separated into some categories:

1. Sedan - this type is known with low clearance from the road, for 4 passengers only, and identical with performance. Because the clearance is lower than the other types, the drag coefficience is also low so it can pass the wind smoothly and it also affects the fuel consumption. However, don't even bring this type of car to go through half a meter flood, high bumpy road or the off road, except you change all the undercariage with the specific ones.

2. SUV - it's from the acronym of Sport Utility Vehicle. This type of car is named like that because the bodyshape is sporty and can be driven on a light offroad. The ability to accomodate the passenger is the same as Sedan. However in recent days, car manufacturers also launched SUV that can load 7 passengers or 7 seater SUV. This is to fullfill the needs of modern family which like to go together in an amount of people, but they want a sporty bigger car than a Sedan.

3. MPV - acronymized from Multi Purpose Vehicle. For those who have a big family, this type of car is the most suitable for daily activities involving many people. The clearance to the road is as low as Sedan but it has more measure in width so it can accomodate 7 or 8 people relievely. The power department is not as powerfull as SUV, but as a family car, you don't really need to be full throttle do you?

So, when you decide to buy your car, or maybe it's your first car, just consider what kind of car you want to buy, adjusted with you and your family need. Happy hunting...

How to Drive Economically

What is your consideration when you buy your car for the first time? The power? Handling? Or features? Well it all depends on your taste and personality. If the power is the most consideration, then forget about fuel efficiency, because you will get nothing if you still think of efficient fuel usage for each litre.

With the oil stock getting decreased in this planet, people now start thinking how to make efficency without losing what they want. The technology is developed by manufacturers and tuners very well now, but there is still a basic way you can get if you don't want your car become a fuel thirsty monster. That's it! You can change the way you drive daily into the economic one. When we feel that our car is powerfull, usually all we do is pushing the throttle into its limit and enjoy the gravity sensation. Any kind of technology without supported by your driving way will become useless.

So, how to drive economically so we can make our car even the generous one in fuel consumption become more efficient? Here are some ways to help you.

1. Know how high the engine revolution or RPM to reach the peak power and torque of your car. You can find the information in your manual book, or you can ask the dealer where you buy the car. Generally, the peak torque usually can be reached by 2500-3000 RPM.

2. For the manual transmission, when your tachometer reaches 2500-3000 RPM, shift up the gear immediately, so you won't lose the acceleration.

3. No need to push the throttle deeply everytime you accelerate your car. Pushing the throttle deeply only make the fuel consumption more generous. If you want to start running the car, just push it smoothly followed by the release of your left foot from the clutch pedal smoothly too.

4. The average speed for economic drive is between 40-60 km/h

5. For the automatic transmission, move the shift stick onto 'D' or Drive, push the throttle pedal smoothly until your car run. No need to kick down or push the throttle pedal deeply and immediately except if you want to overtake the car in front of you. But do it as smooth as possible. If you want the good acceleration, just move the shift stick to manual then you can run the car just like the manual transmission one.

6. Be patient. Remember, this kind of driving technique is not for speed contest or racing on the street, but for reaching fuel efficiency with your changing the way of driving. Your car will not accelerate like sportscar, but if you are patient and keep your emotion cool, you will take the advantage of economic driving immediately.

Lebaran Holiday and Mass Transportation

In recent days, people in Indonesia are heavily crowding the main access roads to their hometown or village where they were originally born. In Indonesia the term of that activity is called Mudik. In this activity, people around big cities like Jakarta, Surabaya or Bandung in Java Island, or Medan and Lampung in Sumatra Island are moving toward the small villages or countries where they started their life.

To support this activity, they use some kind of vehicles like buses, cars, and motorbikes. For those who don't have enough wealth to buy cars, usually ride the motorbikes their own to go, bringing the whole family member, usually three people in a motorbike, and also some stuffs they want to share after arriving home at the village. The kind of people like this usually say as a reason that they don't want to bother the other families by having a ride while going around the village to visit other big family members. One more thing is that they want to show off for what they have had while they work at the big city. That's why when Lebaran comes, we can see many modified motorbikes are like buzzing bees on the street. Sometimes they also have a little bit of a "contest" with the other riders when going for home village, just to show that their bikes are the best among the others.

Actually the government of Indonesia has already told and warned the people who want to go back to the village by motorbike, not to do that because the risks are even higher than going on by bus or the other kind of mass transportation. However, the more people are warned, the bigger courage the have. So, even the government doesn't agree with the people go home village by motorbike, they can do nothing except providing a system of guarding them from start to finish of the trip. Usually it is done at H-7 until H+7 of Lebaran Day.

The government wants someday the people who go back to their homevillage for Lebaran Day, will use mass transportation like buses or trains, because it's cheap and much safer for the family. That's why there is a limitation for those who want to go homevillage by motorbike, only one person can ride the motorbike. The wife and the kids go by the bus following the group of the villagers going with the guardian from police department.

Some people said that they actually want to go homevillage by mass transportation. However, the continuous crime such as pickpocket until robbery make them withdraw from the idea of using mass transportation, and tempt to use their own vehicles even it will be more harmfull coz usually they put too many stuffs to go with, and put the family members until the bike can't run well.

This is only a tradition of Indonesian people, to celebrate Lebaran in their homevillage, even some of them are not muslim. But this tradition last for years, so we hope that someday there will be an improvement of mass transportation, especially in safety from crimes, so the people will love to put their motorbikes or even cars home, and use mass transportation provided by the government with enjoy.

The Development of Car Electricity

Nowadays the automotive world is developing more environmental friendly vehicles, because the demand of environmental friendly cars is getting higher, for the mother earth temperature is also increasing year by year, or we know it as global warming. Because of that, the car manufacturers keep doing developments to produce the vehicle that is so friendly to the earth but still has powerfull engine to run. The ecological friendliness is obtained, the business goes on.

Starting from hybrid cars like Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and so on, the car manufacturers move toward with many innovations such as hydrogen fueled cars like used for some types of BMW. However, to make this car runs well, it needs hydrogen gas station everywhere so we don't have to worry of running out the gas.

The other development from the car manufacturer nowadays is the electric car. Yup, by charging like you recharge your cellphone battery, you can use your car for daily activities like going to the market, taking children to school and many more. Since Moris Mini electric version was launched a couple months ago, this phenomenon is getting bigger, because this innovation makes you go anywhere without leaving anykind of air pollution.

The development of the vehicles recently is not touching the mechanical anymore, because there is no innovation so far in it. So, the engineers start seeing that the development of the vehicles can be done from the electricity. Since Electronic Controlling Unit and fuel injection invented, the development of car electrical parts is getting wider. Now, the role of ECU is not only controlling the mixture of fuel and oxygen, but also setting your headlamp positioning, controlling tire pressure, and even immobilizer for preventing your car of being stolen.

Beside the advantage of electrical development, there is a weakness of this development. Yup, you must regularly check the car battery, especially when there is a dirt or corrotion, you must clean it up so it won't affect the electric supply for your car. There are maintenance free batteries nowadays, but you still must check it regularly, just to make sure that there's no corrotion nor dirt that can resist the electric supply for the lasting of your ECU. If the battery is getting weak, you can change it by yourself or contact the manufacturer service station to do it, because there are some ECUs protected with password and only the manufacturer can open. But don't worry. The technology is made to make life easier. Isn't it?