Friday, July 10th, 2009
by Michael Kaufman
Many people don’t recognize that each oil is unique and that there truly is a difference in quality and performance between each different oil. They do NOT all offer the same benefits and drawbacks to the vehicle owner. Once an individual finally realizes that there IS a difference, they often begin a quest of epic proportions to find “the one” that will best protect their vehicles and/or equipment. I hope, within this article and some subsequent follow-ups, to help guide an individual through that process of finding the right oil for their application.
Magical Motor Oil Utopia
The most common mistake that many people make when beginning the search for their “ultimate oil” is that they assume the “best oil” is best for everyone. They are desiring some magical motor oil utopia. But, the unfortunate reality is, the utopia they seek does not exist.
Despite the desire of of oil companies or distributors to indicate otherwise, it is not at all possible for ANY single brand of oil to perfectly fit the bill for every application, no matter how wide the product range of a particular brand may be. There will ALWAYS be certain applications and situations which require a switch to a different brand. As an example, even though AMSOIL, NEO and Redline are of much higher quality than many other motor oil brands, NONE of them can meet the needs of all applications.
Thus, you’re going to want to consider your situation and application and what motor oil characteristics will prove to be most useful to your particular needs (such as low temperature or high temperature operation, long oil drains, low internal friction for improved fuel economy, better wear protection, low volatility, etc.). Once these characteristics have been established, then begin looking for the oils that best offer those lubrication qualities.
Only by following this pattern can you really make an educated decision regarding what oil will be able serve the needs of your application(s) and keep your vehicles and equipment running well in the long term.
The oil selections made (synthetic, blend or petroleum, 5w40 or 15w40, CJ-4 or CI-4) are likely of little consequence, no matter what any oil distributor tells you, except in the sense that the choices made should be those that will best serve your engine’s needs. As long as they meet these needs, it really will not much matter what oil or brand you decide to use.
About the Author:
You’ve just read the intro to a series of articles focused on helping you find
the best motor oil to lubricate and protect YOUR engine. If you’re interested in knowing what you should be looking for in an oil and how to find it, drop over and read the remainder of this “Find Your Best Oil” article series on my
Motor Oil Bible Blog.
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Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
by Ferdinand Emy
Overall, 1/8 carbon fiber RC cars provide a wide range of benefits to RC car owners that other types of upgrades simply are not able to deliver.
One of the reasons that many RC owners choose 1/8 carbon fiber RC cars and parts as opposed to other materials is because carbon fiber is so light. When choosing parts for any upgrade it is always crucial to ensure that you choose the correct parts not only for your particular model RC car but also for your scale car as well. In addition, they are able to obtain improved acceleration, handle corners better and ultimately will be able to deliver better top-end speeds. Many RC owners choose to use carbon fiber, such as carbon fiber pins. Once you have made an upgrade to your vehicle you certainly do not want to have to replace it anytime soon.
One of the great things about RC cars is that you can upgrade them as much as you want. If you plan to race your car off road then this can certainly be an important consideration. 1/8 carbon fiber RC cars are a great example of this. If you choose the wrong type of part to upgrade your vehicle, there is a good chance that it will not fit and will not operate correctly.
A RC car that is lightweight will naturally be able to attain faster speeds. Furthermore, 1/8 carbon fiber RC cars are known to be able to take more of a beating than other types of upgrades. When you are ready to make upgrades to your RC car one of the decisions that will need to be made is the type of materials that you will use for the upgrades. Therefore, if you have a 1/8 scale RC car and you are looking for carbon fiber parts for upgrading then you need to make sure that you specifically look for parts for 1/8 carbon fiber RC cars. Whether you built your RC car from scratch or you originally bought a ready to run in the box and now you are ready to change it up a bit, the upgrades that can be made to RC cars are practically without limit.
While not everyone builds a RC car for racing, racing is a popular pastime and if you intend to race then weight is crucial.
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Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
by Ferdinand Emy
The 1/10 scale refers to the proportion by which the RC car is built to the full-size vehicle which it is modeled after.
1/10 scale Acme RC cars are ten times smaller than their full-size counterparts. First, 1/10 scale Acme RC cars are popular because of their scale or proportion. 1/10 scale Acme RC cars are among some of the most popular RC vehicles. The Cyclone is another example of an entry level 1/10 scale Acme RC car that is known for delivering good speed and reliability.
There are also larger size RC cars as well. Whether this is your first RC car or you have been a lifelong fan, the purchase of a new car can still involve making numerous decisions. There are two primary 1/10 scale Acme RC cars that are quite popular with many hobbyists. Which type of RC car will best suit your needs? There are so many decisions that must be made when choosing a RC car. Acme brand RC cars are widely considered to be among the highest quality RC cars produced and marketed.
While this surely may seem as though it is quite small, 1/10 scale Acme RC cars are not nearly as small as 1/18 scale RC cars. Unlike the nitro buggy; notwithstanding, keep in mind that the Cyclone was originally designed for on road racing rather than off-road racing. These cars are known for delivering excellent power and value as well as for lasting a long time. Both types of 1/10 scale Acme RC cars are excellent for beginners. The buggy is considered to be a good car to get started with if you are just beginning your RC car collection.
There are even some RC cars that are built to an even smaller scale. Another reason that 1/10 scale Acme RC cars are so popular is because of the Acme brand. If you are looking for a RC car that will be well worth the investment then Acme is definitely a good brand to consider purchasing. The price for 1/10 scale Acme RC cars may be a bit steeper than other brands or even other scales of cars, but they are definitely a good investment to consider making. One is the nitro buggy.
This is the case for a wide variety of different reasons. 1/10 scale Acme RC cars fall into a mid-line category in terms of scale and proportion.
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Monday, July 6th, 2009
by Adrian Fletcher
As gas prices continue to rise with seemingly no end in sight, energy experts, energy commissions and the people on the street are all looking at every potential alternatives to reliance on gas. One particularly promising option is hydrogen fuel cells. Hydrogen car fuel is not just a subject for exploring new energy horizons it opens up new possibilities in our mode of travel.
Hydrogen gas is an important contender to replace fossil fuels as an energy source for combustion engines. It can be found in most things including water to the compost heap in your backyard. The high degree of availability makes hydrogen gas a valuable and attractive resource to consider.
The methods for the production of hydrogen for cars vary greatly, but all are more efficient and cleaner than fossil fuel production. For example a refinery for gasoline production that would require three hundred billion gallons of water to produce gasoline, would be require one million gallons of water if it were producing the same amount of hydrogen.
The gallon of gasoline equivalent to hydrogen costs about half as much as gasoline but improves fuel economy by over two-thirds more. Hydrogen fuel also decreases engine operating temperatures, all but eliminating emissions as well as the unwanted carbon footprint.
A big problem hindering the production of hydrogen-fueled vehicles is the lack of available hydrogen fuel. In the future, home hydrogen refueling stations may become a realistic possibility, but they are not currently affordable for most people.
An explosion of new vehicle designs will emerge when hydrogen fuel powered cars become the standard in the automobile industry. The electricity to power these vehicles would be generated within a much smaller engine from the hydrogen fuel, thereby eliminating many of the limitations imposed not only by the size of gasoline engines, but also those restrictions based on the heat produced by a gasoline engine. Limitations from designing around current driveline equipment would also be eliminated by the new hydrogen-fueled vehicles.
Hydrogen for cars will become more cost effective as hydrogen production increases, creating a new era of energy consumption. Using hydrogen will decrease society’s dependence on fossil fuels, an added benefit for the environment. The reality is that gas prices will not retreat much from this current high mark, which will only increase the pace at which hydrogen fueled cars and the equipment needed to make them a reality develops.
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Monday, July 6th, 2009
by Adrian Fletcher
As gas prices continue to rise with seemingly no end in sight, energy experts, energy commissions and the people on the street are all looking at every potential alternatives to reliance on gas. One particularly promising option is hydrogen fuel cells. Hydrogen car fuel is not just a subject for exploring new energy horizons it opens up new possibilities in our mode of travel.
Among the many candidates to replace fossil fuels, hydrogen is showing great promise. It ocurs naturally in many everyday items, including water, coal and the compost heap in the back garden. Its natural abundance makes it all the more attractive in terms of developing this resource for widespread consumption.
Hydrogen fuel for cars is far more efficient and cleaner to produce than fossil fuel. To give you an example: for gasoline production a refinery would process three hundred billion gallons of water, which is itself becoming a more and more valuable and depleted resource; the same amount of hydrogen would require only one million gallons of water, a savings too large to ignore.
The gallon of gasoline equivalent to hydrogen costs about half as much as gasoline but improves fuel economy by over two-thirds more. Hydrogen fuel also decreases engine operating temperatures, all but eliminating emissions as well as the unwanted carbon footprint.
Due to the limited availability of hydrogen fuel to power our cars, it is not practical to increase production of hydrogen-fueled vehicles. And, while some fueling stations are a possibility, the reality of the situation is that the limited availability of hydrogen fuel does not make it a viable, affordable alternative at this time.
An explosion of new vehicle designs will emerge when hydrogen fuel powered cars become the standard in the automobile industry. The electricity to power these vehicles would be generated within a much smaller engine from the hydrogen fuel, thereby eliminating many of the limitations imposed not only by the size of gasoline engines, but also those restrictions based on the heat produced by a gasoline engine. Limitations from designing around current driveline equipment would also be eliminated by the new hydrogen-fueled vehicles.
As hydrogen production increases and hydrogen becomes more readily available and hydrogen-fueling stations begin to open, new horizons will begin to open. Clean, cost effective fuel for our cars that is not only great for the environment but great for our wallets too. As the increase in gas prices sees no end in sight, the advancement in developing hydrogen fueling cars and the infrastructure to support them will continue at an increasingly faster pace.
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Monday, July 6th, 2009
by Randy Lieber
CNG has a Distribution System Already in Place that is 1000 times more extensive than that used for petroleum products. Mega tanker ships transport oil from the Middle East. Tanker trucks transport 99% of the gasoline and diesel fuel that we consume at the pump. That itself contributes over 22% of price we pay at the pump, not to mention the danger. The transportation costs associated with CNG are almost fixed. Natural gas is distributed nationwide through an extensive network of pipelines, which feed electrical generation plants and domestic and industrial heating uses. Thus, the use of natural gas in vehicles is “piggybacking” on many years of infrastructure development.
PERFORMANCE in regards to CNG is not a problem. CNG is approximately 130 octane. Racing fuels are about approximately 110 octane. The octane in regular gasoline that most of our vehicles run on is 85. In fact, the world land speed record was set by “Blue Flame”, a natural gas vehicle on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on October 28, 1970. The Blue Flame’s record of 630.478 mph, lasted for 13 years.
Gasoline is liquid that is sprayed or injected into a vehicle’s cylinders in a semi-gaseous state. CNG is already gas, thus providing a more complete and cleaner burn. This has to do with the molecular structure of methane, CH4. It has the highest ratio of carbon to hydrogen atoms of any other compound on earth, thus more complete efficient combustion as compared to petroleum,(C8H18). E(85) Ethanol, on the other hand, has very poor performance and requires MORE energy to produce it than it provides. If that isn’t bad enough, they use natural gas to heat the corn to produce ethanol. Add that to the fact that by using our corn reserves (a third of the U.S. annual corn crop) to produce fuel we lose our bargaining chip with other countries to feed their population.
It explains the tendency to select the first option that satisfys some of the priority needs, or select the option that addresses most of the needs, rather than wait for the “optimal” solution that does everything.
Production, transportation, taxes and profit make up the main elements of petroleum’s price to the consumer. Unlike petroleum, CNG requires relatively little development, production, refinement or transportation. In fact, natural gas is often discovered with petroleum and burned off (flared) as a nuisance. It’s estimated that the world’s NG that is flared off in one year is equivalent to the energy used in the USA in 4 months. Now, consider your ECON 101 class. Remember supply and demand effects? If we have a product with an over abundance (high), with a demand that at this point is almost nil (low), what would you expect the price to be?
CLEAN AIR: Natural gas vehicles show an average reduction in ozone-forming emissions of 80% compared to gasoline or diesel vehicles. The use of CNG vehicles results in less petroleum consumption, and less air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas is not made from petroleum, as gasoline and diesel are. It has a simple, one carbon, molecular structure (CH4) that makes possible its nearly complete combustion. In general, carbon dioxide is exhaled by animals and utilized by plants during photosynthesis.
LOWER MAINTENANCE Not only is CNG cheaper but also when used in vehicles, the engines last 2 to 3 times longer and the oil only needs to be changed every 10,000 miles, unlike gasoline engines that require oil be changed every 3,000 miles. Mechanics with Questar (Utah’s natural gas distributor) say that vehicles that use CNG still look new, at 200,000 miles. There are CNG taxis and limos that have logged over 1 million miles. They don’t experience the build up of hydrocarbons that petroleum vehicles do. That’s because carbon is like sand in an engine increasing wear and shortening its life. Dedicated CNG vehicles are designed to run only on natural gas but there are also bi-fuel vehicles. They make the best of both worlds and have two separate fueling systems.
Natural gas is made up of 5 gases; mainly methane, with small quantities of propane, butane, ethane and pentane.s It is found in oil fields or isolated in natural gas fields, and in coal beds.s It is composed of over 92% methane that is created from the anaerobic decomposition of organic material and also occurs naturally deep in the earth and throughout the solar system.q The Salt Lake County landfill on 6400 West powers its buildings, heating, cooling and electricity from the methane that is piped off the landfill. Thus while petroleum is being produced at a snails pace at optimal conditions of pressure and temperature within the earth, methane is produced comparatively quickly and easily.
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