Its been a long time I have been thinking to write this article about the two most commonly used power steering technologies, viz. Electric Power Steering and Hydraulic Power Steering. Before i tell you the difference, lets talk a few words on the basics.

What is power steering?

Power steering is a system which helps to steer the wheels with some source of power other than the drivers manual force with which he turns the steering. This feature adds to the comfort while driving as less effort is needed to turn the steering by the driver. Power Steering is specially important for the cars which have engine in front and there is a lot of weight on the front wheels.

For rear engine cars like Tata Nano or light weight cars like Maruti 800, its ok to have no power steering and still drive comfortably because of low weight on the front wheels. But for heavy cars and also as a luxury feature power steering provides lots of ease.

Hydraulic Power Steering

Hydraulic power steering uses high pressure fluids for assisting the steering movement. It uses a plunger type arrangement for its working. When the driver turns the steering wheel, it opens up the flow or pressurized fluid in such a way that helps to turns the wheels in the required direction.

Electric Power Steering

Electric power steering works with the help of an Electric Motor and a control unit which has some sensors. The motor runs on battery and will use electric power to assist the movement of steering when the driver turns the wheel.

Hydraulic Power Steering V/S Electric Power Steering

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Its been a long time since Maruti Displayed its car Splash aka RITZ in Auto Expo 2008. The wait has been long, but finally the car is being launched on 15 May 2009. The Maruti Ritz aka splash is the production version of Maruti Splash  prototype displayed at  Auto Expo 2008 in Pragati Maidan, Delhi

Maruti RITZ Specifications:

Martui Ritz will be available in three engine options, 1.0 L Petrol, 1.2 L Petrol and 1.3 L diesel.

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I was listening to the news of release ceremony of New Honda Activa 2009 version, they were telling about the new features. Like most of new releases, New Honda Activa 2009 has some more body styling, some added security features like Anti-theft alarm which is a good feature. The most un-conventional and innovative features I noticed was Combi-Brake System which really caught my attention.

What is Combi-Brake?

Combi-brake means that the brake will act on front and rear wheel together every time you apply the brakes. This means a lot of improved safety.

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I was commuting with my friends back from office one evening when one of them asked me

What is an MPFI Engine?

You must have seen cars with specifications which mention words like MPFI and CRDI or CRDE. To an automotive engineer or enthusiast, it means something, but for a common man, it may not make much sense.

In this article I will talk about MPFI in simple English so that a person who is not an automobile engineer can also make sense of it.

MPFI means – Multi-point Fuel-Injection (also called fuel-injection system)

The term MPFI is used to specify a technology used in Gasoline/petrol Engines. For Diesel Engines, there is a similar technology called CRDI. We will discuss CRDI in a separate article to avoid confusion.

MPFI System is a system which uses a small computer (yes, a small computer without keyboard or mouse, its more like a microchip) to control the Car’s Engine. A Petrol car’s engine usually has three or more cylinders or fuel burning zones. So in case of an MPFI engine, there is one fuel –injector installed near each cylinder, that is why they call it Multi-point (more than one points) Fuel Injection.

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Tata Nano is to hit Indian roads in the month of April 2009. The cars will initially be produced from Uttaranchal plant till the productions starts in Gujrat Plant. In this article I am going to talk about the features, specifications and looks of Tata Nano. I have previously published an article for comparison of  Tata Nano vs Maruti 800. In this post we are talking exclusively and in detail about Tata Nano and what you should expect out of it.

TATA NANO Features:

• Compact and Easily Maneuverable
• Tall Boy Design – More Head-space
• Comfortable Seating Space for 4 Adults
• Euro 5 Compliant Engine
• Cheapest Car On the Planet
• Luggage Compartment At Front
• Crash Safety Norms Compliant
• Built on innovative technology
• Tubeless Tires

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I am no astrologer but an Engineer with a vision and innovative thoughts. When I look at the cars around me I realize how much these car have evolved in last 10 years. The changes are huge and drastic considering technological advances. But bigger changes are yet to come, or should I say the changes are coming faster than ever before.

I keep reading and thinking about the technologies, and I also have several ideas in my mind that i would like to have in cars. In this article I will try to list the technologies which I feel will be really common in cars of future.

Alternative Sources Of Energy :

First and foremost, I don’t see the conventional petrol or gasoline or diesel going a long way into future. The fuel prices are bound to shoot with time and depletion of crude oil from planet would make things worse. I feel the next big thing will be electrically driven cars or maybe hybrid cars which have electrical as well as conventional fuel burning engines. But electrical cars have better future prospects because they are technically simpler than combustion based engines. One of the most beautiful example of this is Michelin – E – Wheel technology. Source and picture credit : Engadget. This technology basically removed the need of an engine by putting the motor that drives the wheels right inside the wheels. These kind of innovations not only make cars cheap, but also light weight, more reliable, and easy to produce. We are seeing an era of Hybrid cars that run on petrol and battery, tomorrow we will have more cars that run primarily on batteries. Also fuel cells are a great opportunity if they can be produced for cheap cost. More than anything, pollution, cost and economy will decide what fuels we settle for, but crude is meant to go in a few decades anyways.

Regenerative Braking, Regenerative Suspensions and Solar Power

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The hottest looking bike on road these days by Yamaha is FZ16. After strikingly hot looking racing style R15, Yamaha have come up with muscular and stunning bike FZ16. Yamaha is world leader in Biking and produces real good quality bikes. In this post we are going to have a look on Yamaha FZ16.

Looks:

A picture is worth a thousand words, so lets have a look.

Side view looks good, the tank looks macho and muscular. There is Yamaha logo just below the tank, which looks classy, covers some part of the engine from the side, and is of same color as tank. There is aluminum finish at the joint of tank and seat, which extents down till foot-rest. It gives a pointed and triangular look. Exhaust looks beautiful in twin-color tone, aluminum and metallic black. Its hexagonal in shape which is one of its kind. The brake disk also adds to the overall looks.

Front also looks cool, the headlamp is large and clear, has multi-reflector technology. The turn-indicators are sharp and pointed extending just by the side of head lamp. Engine is all black coated, which looks really good. The rods of front shockers are thicker than other normal bikes, which also makes it look muscular.

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Indian market is now flooded with premium global car companies like BMW Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, Skoda and what not.  Now driving luxurious cars is not a dream anymore,  all you need is good amount of money. Today we will focus on BMW 3 series.

BMW in Indian market has 3 series, 5 series, 6 series, 7 series, X3, X5 and M series.

BMW 3 series sedan comes in following models

• BMW 320i
• BMW 325i
• BMW 320d
• BMW 320d Highline

Lets talk about some very special and high tech features that set the BMW apart:

Features:

Dynamic Stability Control (DSC):

While cornering Dynamic stability control continuously monitoring forces acting on chassis and checks that they are within max limits, if it seems to skidding the system suitably apply brakes on individual wheels as needed. There is Extended DSC which is only in 6-cylinder engines it has five more functions i.e.

• Brake stand-by: for reduced stopping distance in case of emergency.
• Brake drying: to enhance brake response during wet conditions.
• Hill-start: so that we can drive uphill without any worries.
• Fading compensation: to induce consistency even though the brakes have heated up.
• Soft stop: for smooth stops and reduced brake drive.

Run flat tyre:

One more interesting thing is we can drive more 250km even the tyre is puncture. This is due to a special reinforcement side-wall.

Tyre pressure indicator (TPI):

Tyre Pressure Indicator continuously monitor tyre pressure and indicate for air.

6 Airbag Safety:

BMW 3 series is equipped with electronic sensors and 6 air bags which make your drive much safe and secure.

Park Distance Control (PDC):

There are 2 ultrasound sensors, one in front and another on backside, which warns about the proximity of obstacles.

Intelligent Vehicle key:

There us an integrated chip on key which give valuable information’s like vehicle registration number, mileage & vehicle servicing status etc.

Automatic Climate Control:

A highly developed system which automatically controls air circulation, they includes micro-filters, condensation & sun light sensors & fast heating features that create comfortable atmosphere very quickly.

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In the days ever rising fuel prices, the fuel bills are digging deep into the pockets of a common man. I’m going to share some practices which can get you more miles out of your fuel by increasing the fuel average or fuel mileage of your car.

Tip 1: Do not accelerate too fast

Too quick acceleration consumes too much fuel, accelerate slowly and gradually. That will save quite a significant amount of fuel in city driving.

Tip 2: Do not use clutch too much

If you use a manual transmission car, as is mostly used by people in India, do-not drive with clutch pressed, or use clutch only when needed, too much use of clutch will waste a lot of fuel.

Tip 3: Change gears appropriately

This is also applicable for manual transmission cars. Use correct gears at correct speeds, this will help save the fuel. For correct speeds, see your car’s user manual.

Tip 4: No Excuses to delay car service

Get the car serviced as per manufacturer’s recommended schedule. This will ensure good health of engine, less maintenance due to break-down.

Tip 5: Do you drive in dusty environment? Clean the Air-filter

If you drive in dusty environment the air-filter gets filled with dust and makes the engine suffocated. Clean the air-filter more often than the service schedule( say  every 5000 KM or so) , this will help the engine run more easy and consume less fuel. Trust me, its going to really help.

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I did the spray paint touch-up myself on my car using a paint kit that I ordered online. The results are fine, not too good, not bad either. In this post I will share with you how I did it, and the results.

I felt really disturbed when my sister mistakenly scratched the left side front door against a wall. It was so badly scratched that even after getting a rubbing treatment some scratches were visible.

I asked the showroom guys, they gave me an estimate of Rs. 3000 for the job. I asked the local denting-painting guy, he asked for Rs. 1500 for the same. I decided to leave it like that only.

But one fine day I came across a web-site (www.com-paint.com) that sells car spray paints of the perfect colors based on various car brands. Each paint kit costs Rs. 300 for metallic colors and Rs. 260 for non-metallic color. So I ordered one kit for my Hyundai i10 of Champagne Gold color (metallic). In that kit, you get one paint spray can and one can of Finishing Solvent. There is a video on the web-site which tells you how to do the paint job over the scratch.

Now I will tell you how I did it and the pictures of the car after the paint was done. Read on.

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