Automotive Academy

There is no doubt there has been some huge upheavals in the car industry over the last year of 2008. And there is also no doubt there is likely plenty more to come too, but for now we should put that aside and look at and celebrate some of the best cars of 2008.

Obvious highlights include a brave new start from Jaguar and Nissan’s GT-R – by any stretch one of the most exciting cars of recent years. It wasn’t all about fancy sports cars and supercars though, more everyday family hatches and superminis from the likes of Vauxhall and Ford have also shown that class isn’t confined to the upper names in the car market.

Ford Fiesta

As household budgets shrink this causes many drivers to reconsider their options, it’s nice to know the Fiesta – for many the benchmark of accessible, everyday transport – proves budget motoring needn’t feel cheap. Excitingly styled and brilliant to drive, the all-new Fiesta deserves every one of its glowing reviews. Ford are masters of building cheap to run, efficient, good-looking and fun to drive mass-market cars like the Fiesta. 

Audi Q5

It appears that Audi can do no wrong when it comes to designing cars. The firm continues to dominate the premium sector with hit after hit. And though both its key rivals have faltered in the mid-sized SUV field Audi has inevitablycome up trumps with the sleek Q5. The Q5 is a more sensible, usable size and its A4-derived running gear means it’s decent to drive too. 

BMW X6

The polar opposite of the discreetly luxurious Q5, the X6 takes in your face SUV style and ramps it up to a whole new level. The result is a segment-busting luxury four-seat ‘coupé’, with looks best described as unapologetic and running gear derived from the superb X5, suitably upgraded to suit the X6’s sporty aspirations. The X6 is available in both the hard-hitting 286 BHP Diesel and 408 BHP Turbocharged Petrol V8. 

Jaguar XF

2008 has been a tough year for Jaguar and, 2009 doesn’t look like it’s going to get any easier. The reinvention of the product range, symbolised by the XF could be a positive for the company in 2009 though. Jaguar desperately needed to get with the times and this sleek, sporty saloon commands the best of the firm’s traditional strengths with a new, forward-looking attitude. 

Volkswagen Scirocco

Some people have claimed the Scirocco, is just a Golf in fancy, far less useful clothes. The Scirocco has proved how performance and practicality don’t have to be mutually exclusive and debuting a discreetly sporty, aggressive new look carried over into the new Golf, also unveiled this year. The Scirocco is available in Turbocharged petrol and diesel and has smooth shifting gearboxes and adjustable damping systems.

Oil is the lifeblood of your vehicle, so you need to know how to change your car’s oil. Changing oil is very simple and it should not take any longer than 15 minutes.

1.) First step is to run the engine for 5-10 minutes to warm the oil. After you do this you need to be careful as the engine parts will be hot! You need to locate the oil drain plug, and position the drain pan underneath.

2.) Next you need to remove the dipstick to allow air to enter the oil pan

3.) Use the adjustable or box end wrench to loosen the drain plug. Finish removing the drain plug by hand, and allow the oil to drain.

4.) As the oil is draining, use the filter wrench to remove the oil filter. Adjust the chain on the wrench to fit the size of your filter. Turn the filter counter-clockwise until it loosens, then finish removing by hand. The filter will be full of oil so place it in the drain pan open-side down to allow it to drain.

5.) After the oil has drained from the oil plug port, clean and replace the oil plug. Next, dip your finger into the old oil and spread a thin film on the rubber gasket located around the opening on the new oil filter.

6.) Next thread the new filter onto the engine mount, where you removed the old one. Don’t use the filter wrench to tighten.

7.) After you have replaced the oil filter and drain plug, begin to add the new oil through the oil port, located in the valve cover. And then check the level by cleaning, and inserting the dipstick to check the level. Continue to add oil until you reach the proper level.

8.) Replace the dipstick, and the oil port cover. Look underneath for leaks. Now start the car, and let it idle for 10 minutes. Check again for leaks. Once you have driven 20 miles you must check again for leaks and also check the oil level, if it appears low you need to top the oil up. 

Green Flag offers one of the most competitively priced vehicle breakdown and recovery services in the UK today. Since its formation in 1971 as ‘National Breakdown’, the company has grown to serve some 5 million motorists in the UK with 24-hour breakdown assistance, 365 days of the year.
 
Green Flag’s cheap breakdown cover is a result of the organisation’s reliance on a network of independent vehicle breakdown and recovery agents across the UK and Europe. When a call for roadside assistance or other breakdown service comes into Green Flag’s incident management centre, the closest Green Flag agent in the network is contacted and dispatched to the breakdown scene.

In the UK Green Flag has more than 6,000 independent technicians on call; across Europe Green Flag has some 15,000 bilingual agents ready to assist. Customers can expect a rescue patrol vehicle to arrive at their location within 40 minutes, or within an hour at most of making the call.

Breakdown teams and patrol vehicles are trained to deal with a comprehensive range of breakdown problems at the roadside, but the majority of the calls that they receive are for preventable causes, issues that with planned maintenance can be avoided. Here are the five most common preventable problems:

Flat Battery / Faulty Battery – If you’ve not got a set of jump leads and a willing ‘donor’ car, or a car battery recharger to hand, the next best thing you can do is call for breakdown assistance. Loss of voltage caused by short journeys is a frequent cause of flat batteries. To prevent your car battery running flat take the car on a longer journey every week. If this is not possible, a fortnightly overnight charge of the battery will do the trick. Loose and corroded terminal or clamp connections cause problems too.

Flat tyres – A vast number of vehicle breakdown call outs are for assistance in changing tyres and replacing damaged wheels.?Under inflated tyres for the car’s load are a prime cause of tyre failure. To prevent this from becoming an issue tyre pressure should be checked regularly. Use a tyre inflation pump and monitor to achieve the correct pressure. If a tyre is constantly losing pressure over time it may be that you have a slow puncture and need the tyre replacing.

Alternator – If the alternator is not working properly your car battery does not charge, this drops the voltage of your battery to a level that is insufficient to run the engine, and so the engine cuts out.?While there is little you can do to maintain the alternator yourself, you can watch out for signs that tell you when your alternator is faulty. Look out for a flickering of your battery warning light on the dashboard for instance, and keep an eye out for dimmed headlamps and dimmed dashboard lights when the engine is idling.

Starter motor – If the starter motor fails your engine won’t start. Regular garage maintenance can help highlight faults with the starter motor so it doesn’t become a breakdown issue.

Fuel – Every year hundreds of thousands of people put the wrong type of fuel into their cars or simply run out of fuel at the side of the road. Keep an eye of your petrol gauge and if the petrol light comes on make sure you put fuel in the car as soon as you can.

Cars are becoming more like computers so it is no surprise that fewer people than ever are willing to dive under the bonnet of the car when a vehicle breakdown occurs. High-tech devices now control most of a modern cars engines performance, and now a laptop is the only device needed being used as a diagnostic tool instead of a bag of tools and a torch.

It seems a lot safer and quicker to call for breakdown assistance instead of trying to tackle the complicated modern engines ourselves. Another reason to take out breakdown cover is as the use of satellite navigation and multi-changing CD players increases – so does the second most common reason for calling out breakdown assistance – flat batteries.

Also on the rise are call outs for cars that won’t start because the immobilizer has been activated, either by accident or through driver error, and call outs to drivers who’ve locked themselves out of their cars. The two fastest growing reasons for breakdown assistance calls are immobilizer issues and being locked out of cars. Whether you’re locked out, stranded by the roadside or stuck at home with a car that just won’t start, if you’ve bought breakdown cover, you’ve no need to worry. Just pick up the phone.

Statistics from the UK’s leading breakdown cover providers have shown that Britain’s vehicle breakdown services are called into action on an average 20,000 times each day. The most common reasons for the calls outs are flat batteries, punctured tyres and general engine troubles.

A high percentage of these breakdown issues are resolved at the roadside by the patrol cars and emergency repair success rates have risen by 85% for many of the UK’s breakdown service providers. This means that a high majority of drivers who break down and then call for roadside assistance are back on the road in their own vehicles without suffering a delay and can back on their journey trouble-free.

If your vehicle cannot be repaired by the roadside a tow to the nearest repair centre will be included as standard. More flexibility can be provided by buying breakdown cover which includes full vehicle recovery to your home address or your local garage, also you can add options which cover the cost of a replacement vehicle and emergency accommodation if it is needed as a result of a breakdown. This is a full service option that provides complete peace of mind every time you go out onto the roads. 

As the stresses of the 21st century get to us, owning a car is lo longer a luxury, but for many a necessity in order to work, get the kids to school, keep in touch with family and maybe the occasional holiday or to enjoy your leisure time. It is very easy to assume that the vehicle you drive will give you years of untroubled motoring and after you hand over the cheque and drive away, that car will never need any further love and attention.

It is true that cars are built to a better standard and are more reliable than ever before, but that does not mean they will have an untroubled life and will occasionally let the side down and suffer a mechanical breakdown.  It is for those times that many chose to buy a breakdown cover policy to have an engineer attend the stricken vehicle and if he can, repair it there and then, so you can be on your way in no time. These breakdown cover patrolmen are well equipped to handle most types of car failure including some other types of mishaps too, such as locking yourself out of your car.

They arrive in fully equipped vans with a small selection of popular car parts, to give you the best chance of driving away from the scene. In real terms breakdown cover policies are cheaper than ever and in most cases an emergency roadside service company will charge you less for a basic  annual policy than it costs for one  fill up at the petrol pumps, such is today’s value. Of course there are more advanced policies that allow you and your car to be transported anywhere within the UK, if the car cannot be fixed there and then. Some policies also, pay for train transport and other extras.

You will need to research each breakdown cover policy separately as they do differ from company to company, to ensure you get one to suit your needs.

1.) Ensure that Tyre pressures are maintained as per manufacturer specifications. Over or under inflated tyres would mean better mileage or better handling respectively but will drastically reduce the Tyre life.

2.) Adjust Tyre pressure when the Tyre is hot, i.e when the vehicle has run for 15 to 20 km. Hot air expands if Tyre pressure is regulated, when cold you will mostly have excess air in the tyres.

3.) Try to fill fuel in the mornings, as specific gravity of fuel is high in the morning.

4.) Try to keep the fuel tank above the half mark in city driving conditions so that a proper pressure is maintained. Also this will ensure that the fuel lines are always clean and are not clogged by the gum like residue of slow flowing fuel. The Fuel tank too will not catch rust.

5.) Get the vehicle serviced at regular intervals from authorized service centers to ensure that the vehicle is in proper tune at all times.

6.) Use recommended fuel additives to keep the fuel system clean. (Please note these additives have recommended instructions and applications.) 

7.) Higher octane fuels as X-tra Premium (91 octane), Speed 93 and Power 93 (both 93 octane) are recommended for cars with engines having higher compression ratios, viz., C segment and above. This results in improved mileage as well as enhanced performance. No additives need be used with these fuels. 

8.) Drive your vehicle smoothly and avoid sudden acceleration or braking. Anticipate stops to avoid harsh braking.

9.) Try shifting to higher gears at lower speeds, especially in citydriving to get the maximum mileage out of your car. Ideally, one should be in 5th gear or the highest possible gear at speeds above 50-60 km/h.

10.) Avoid clutch riding. i.e make sure that your foot is not resting on the clutch pedal while driving. This will reduce both your clutch life and your mileage.