Does the Yaris Render the Prius Obsolete?

Writen by Matthew Keegan

Toyota’s latest model is the subcompact Yaris, a replacement for the Echo and the newest entry level car for the division. Retailing for just under $11,000 the Yaris may impact the sales of another, slightly larger Toyota model. Is it the Corolla? No. How about the Matrix? No. The model I am thinking about is the Prius, Toyota’s compact hybrid hauler.

The whole idea of buying a hybrid car is to conserve fuel and save money, right? In part, that is a true statement. However, the price of a vehicle must also be factored in and the Yaris will be retailing for $10,000 less than the Prius. In addition, the Yaris is a real gas sipping car. EPA figures are showing that the Yaris will deliver 34 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway. This compares to the 60 mpg city and 51 mpg highway for the Priusand we all know that hybrid fuel economy figures are being widely attacked from all quarters for being vastly overstated.

The difference in published fuel economy is only 11 mpg on the highway. Given the Prius’ premium price I predict that the Yaris will steal sales away from the Prius as buyers take note of the $10,000 price premium. Sure, governments incentives [soon to go away, perhaps?] reduce that amount by at least $2,000 but the Prius’s price premium is a hefty chunk that no amount of driving can make up that difference.

Of course, there is also the matter of replacing an expensive and aged hybrid battery…

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Ford Super Chips: Are They Worth It?

Writen by Matthew Keegan

Your Ford Mustang is a true pony car. A coupe with class and no other car on the road is like it. Heck, GM abandoned the Camaro and Firebird while Mustang sales continue to surge. Could it be that Mustang owners know a good thing when they drive it? You bet! Still, maybe you have considered ways to ratchet up the performance. Even with a V8 installed, perhaps you could squeeze out more power from an already potent engine? If that is the case for you a superchip may be right. However, are they worth it? Let’s take a look at these little technological wonders and see if a super chip is what you really want.

So, exactly how does a superchip work? That’s easy! Every car comes with a computer chip - much like the one the central processing chip that powers your computer. Your stock chip helps to regulate a bunch of things including fuel flow to your engine, horsepower, torque, etc. Unfortunately, stock chips aren’t maximized for performance so the chip you get isn’t necessarily conducive to enhancing power.

Enter the Super Chip!

A Superchip or “Super Chip” puts the muscle into your chip. Either through completely replacing your current chip with a performance chip or sending out your chip to be modified, the end result is a tiny little device packed with more power. In actuality, the power isn’t in your Ford Super Chip, instead it is in the instructions that the chip contains.

The Super Chip is modified to help boost horsepower, increase torque, and raise fuel mileage. So how can fuel mileage improveshouldn’t it actually drop with more power? Well, the short answer is no. Because a superchip works to fine tune your engine, a better tuned engine requires less fuel. Because a super chip manages to work so precisely it can deliver on all three areas - better horsepower, more torque, and improved fuel economy - without compromise. This means you get a more potent car that is also more fuel efficient.

So, back to the original question: are they worth it? Well, that is for you to decide. However, if keeping your current car is your goal then for a few hundred bucks a super chip is a smart idea. No need to trade your car in for a new, pricey model. Simply take your existing car and supercharge it.

When shopping for a super chip you must be aware that the chips are developed with your specific make/model of car in mindall the way down to the type of engine underneath the hood. Some manufacturers of Ford super chips or other famous maker chips require you to take out your current chip and overnight it to the chip manufacturer, get it modified, and have it overnighted back to you. In this case your car would be out of commission for 2 or 3 days.

On the other hand, some manufacturers simply swap out your stock chip with a new one. That all depends on which chip model you select and the price you are willing to pay for your superchip.

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Automotive Machine Shop Repairs

Writen by Kevin Stith

Machine shops undertake general mechanical work that includes fabricating new parts or repairing old ones. The automotive machine shops undertake the repair of cars or vehicles, which may include motorcycles also. Some automotive machine shops are brand-specific. This means that they repair vehicles of one particular brand, which may be Ford, Nissan, Toyota, and so forth. These are usually company-authorized automotive repair shops. The repair work may include engine cleaning and dust removal, the checking of cranks, rods, blocks and heads, as well as suspension parts of race cars, crack repair of blocks and heads, crank shaft grinding, polishing and hardening, block boring, complete engine balancing, and connecting-rod stress relieving.

There are automotive machine shops that take up all types of vehicular repair work irrespective of brand. They also undertake the repair of older vehicles, the so-called ‘yesterday’ machines, whose parts and accessories are not easily available. It goes without saying that the engineers and mechanics in these shops are highly skilled, as they sometimes have to improvise or almost reinvent the rare spare parts. The job of these generalists is also more labor-intensive and time-consuming. It naturally follows that their charges are usually higher than ordinary work of similar nature.

Both brand-specific and general repair shops also supply or fabricate new parts to replace the damaged ones if they are beyond repair.

A point of concern is that these machine shops use hazardous materials for their repair work and release environmentally harmful waste materials. For example, they use methylene chloride to clean the aluminum parts. This solvent is toxic in nature. If it is not properly disposed of it may prove dangerous to the environment. So, apart from repairing and fabricating machine parts, the machine shop owners also need to be responsible for protecting public health and the environment. If they release the pollutants down the sewer, they are likely to be punished heavily with fines and other penalties.

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