Crash Test Dummies – The Hybrid and Side Impact Dummy

May 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Crash tests are conducted by car and insurance companies, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to assess a safety level for a given vehicle. During a crash test a vehicle is put through various crash situations and the impact to the people riding in the car is assessed by looking at what happened to a crash test dummy.

 

There are several types of crash test dummies that are used for crash tests. The type of crash test dummy that is used it based off of which type of crash test is being performed. Here’s a look at the different types of crash test dummies.

 

The Hybrid Dummy 

THOR offers sophisticated instrumentation for ... 

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The hybrid dummy is the traditional type of crash test dummy. It’s created to simulate a given type of passenger such as a male, female, child or teen. It is placed in the car and the impact of the crash is assessed based off of how the dummy reacts to the situation. Hybrid dummies are typically used for front-end collision crashes but can be used for any crash test.

 

Side Impact Dummy

 

The side impact dummy is one that is used for assessing side impact crash results. The dummy is modeled after a middle-aged female and has various sensors placed on the side which allows the scientists to assess the impact of a side collision. The information that is obtained from a side impact dummy allows automotive experts to see what could happen to the rib cage and internal organs should a car be hit from the side.

 

The hybrid and side impact dummy are just two of a dozen crash test dummies used by crash test experts.

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Finding Fuel-Efficient Cars

April 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Finding a new or used car is never an easy task. In fact, new car buyers are often confused and aren’t exactly sure where to begin. If you’re fully prepared before stepping foot onto a dealership, you won’t have any problems.

When you shop around for furniture, you like to do a little research and see who has the best deal. So why not do the same for your car, which is going to cost significantly more than furniture? Using Canada 411 is truly the best way to go car shopping. It doesn’t matter if you’re on the hunt for a Chevy, Lexus, or Volkswagen, you should shop around. With Canada, 411 you’re able to find out the name, address, and location of dealerships. If you’re unfamiliar with the area, that’s OK. Internet map services can help get you there.

If you’re looking for something that’s fuel efficient, here are the top five cars to look into buying. So far in 2011, the Chevy Volt is currently the most fuel-efficient car on the market. It can go 40 miles on just the power of the battery. So, if your work commute is less than 40 miles, you won’t need any gas to get to work. With gas prices skyrocketing, this is a great thing.

There are four other great fuel-efficient cars to be on the lookout for. These include the Honda Civic Hybrid, The Smart Fortwo, The Toyota Prius, and the Volkswagen Jetta TDI. Not only will a fuel-efficient car be great for the environment, but also for your wallet.

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How to find fuel efficient cars?

April 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

An increasing number of people have started looking for fuel-efficient cars in recent times. Fuel efficiency was always an important feature which attributed to the car making decision, but its importance has increased manifold. Car buyers have three choices in this respect: diesels, hybrids and subcompacts.

The three have their own sets of advantages and disadvantages. Subcompacts are usually affordable but they do have the comfort, space and versatility of the diesel and hybrid cars. The buyers of hybrids and diesels have to shell out more money than their conventional counterpart models. The hybrids and diesels cars are diverse ones and can attain high overall fuel economy. The new Honda CR-Z hybrid two-seater is one such car. The large, turbo diesel Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI is a highly recommended one as it has high road-test score and average predicted reliability.

There are two versions of the European designed Ford Fiesta: one with manual transmission having SES hatchback at the top and the other is the automatic version SE sedan with trim in the medium level. The basic infrastructure of Mazda2 is similar to that of Fiesta. However the transmission technology, amenities and refinement of the Fiesta are absent in the Mazda2, but its backseat is more spacious. There are the Mazda2 Touring having an automatic transmission and a Sport version having a manual transmission.

The Honda CR-Z is a stylish, two-seater hybrid car and has four doors. The manual version of the Jetta SportWagen is big, contains enough space, is versatile and features a lot of top of the line amenities making it a choicest fuel-efficient car. The only negative point of the car is the price tag which can be said to be considerably more than the others.

With so many choices of hybrid and diesel fuel-efficient cars around, a buyer just need to chalk out his requirements and buy the one that suits him the best.

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Getting hold of the car with desired features

March 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

How would you feel if you can personalize your dream “carriage on wheels” or if not that then at least can grab the maximum features you dreamt of in your vroom wagon! The variety of choices of features ranging from safety, comfort, convenience, luxury and the interior & exterior looks are available in the cars now a days. The luxury and mileage usually do not go hand in hand. The general concept is that the “luxurious carriage” would not give a high mileage. The decision here would be to select for the extravagance or to be secure with your pocket. Here the selection also shuttles within the car segments then.

Many of the features are offered with several models keeping the price tags buyer friendly. The range of cars are designed with the basic body and basic features intact and offering the set of features varying with the different models falling in for the same car. In fact in today’s competitive market, the brands are even offering an assemblage of features according to the buyer’s wish list preparing a car to be their dream roadster!

An important fact to keep in mind is the non availability of all the desired features in a single package at the offered costing. There could be an extra feature which you wish to eliminate or an extra one you desire to add! Put on the thinking cap to ponder whether the looks matter for you more or the security is your target. The cars out for long run are designed keeping their usage in mind to offer utmost comfort ability levels with the best fuel efficiency they can put up.

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Keeping in Gear

March 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you are like most people, you all but need your car to live your life. For some people, everything is far away, making it difficult not to have a car of their own. Since your car is an outright necessity, you sometimes have got to do things that you might not want to do in order to keep it in gear.

For instance, despite the fact that payday loans are supposed to be used only for emergency situations in which you are facing down dire financial need, making sure that your car works (and getting it repaired when it does not) is a reasonable use for a payday loan.

Of course, finances can be a slippery slope. If some other unexpected, seriously important bill should happen to come up, it may overwhelm your budget. You may need to use your payday loan to make a car payment. After all, part of keeping your vehicle in gear is making sure that the repo folks do not come to seize it. And, falling behind on your car payments is a pretty good way of bringing that scenario to life.

Heading to paydayone.com is not the only way that you can keep your car if something really bad comes up.If your car’s terms are a little on the oppressive side of things, you could always try working with your original lender and possibly renegotiate the interest rate on it. While it may not always work, it does often enough that it is definitely worth a try. You could also try refinancing your car’s loan so that you can get a new payment schedule and possibly a lower rate. If your credit has gotten better over time, that might be the best solution available to you.

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Arranging monetary for the wheelie venture!!

March 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

After the laborious task of finalizing your new asset, the next step is to go for the mode of acquiring it i.e. the finances! Majority of us do not go for the full down payment for the purchase and opt for the monthly installments for which we need finances. Before commencing the finance process, you need to work out the amount which you can pay without troubles in the fixed span of times and the capacity of affordance. This step needs sincere contemplation and before deciding the finance provider do look out in the market and ask out the people (preferably those who bought a new car lately) for the best providers. The things to take care of include the interest rates imposed by the financial sources along with the facile options and easy processing.  The auto car loans and finance service providers are in abundance from banks, credit corporations, auto finance companies and loan brokers. The ground research here will benefit you on saving taxes, interest rates and time pressure for future. You need to be highly speculative in saving yourself from the mediators claiming to provide the finance rather toil directly to the main finance providers to save the mediator ship amount.  The only disadvantage is a slightly longer time in getting the approval from the banks and credit corporations but is worth in saving the extra pay out amount.

Be sure to have enough time for the processing as it is time consuming to be decisive about the buy and then picking on the right financial source and further to comply with the requirements and complete the documentations to finally bring home your proud venture!

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Best Selling Cars, & Their Niche Markets

March 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

With the North American International Auto Show going strong in Detroit again this year, it’s not too hard for new car shoppers to spot their favorites. As automakers continue to tighten their target markets, it’s even easier to identify the various niches. Let’s take a look at some of the anticipated best sellers in each category:


Everyone’s Going Green

The fastest-growing segment of the auto market has been green, and this year is no exception. Ford’s popular compact car, the Focus, has been transformed into this company’s first completely-electric passenger car. As an affordable, zero-emission vehicle, this model will be competing with the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf. Based on past sales, the Ford Focus is expected to be the better seller.

The Respectable Family Vehicle

The experts are saying Ford has another winner with the new C-Max. Already popular in Europe, car shoppers can expect to see American versions on the lots later this year. For under $30,000, the buyer will get two sliding doors, tons of space, and a hatch-door that opens with the wave of a foot—a great option for the overloaded shopper. The C-Max comes in both a five- and seven-seat configuration as well as two different hybrid models.

The Luxury Sedan

The luxury category at this year’s auto show was dominated by imports. Think Porsche, Bentley, Mercedes, and Ferrari for 2011. Yes, that’s right—Porsche even has a 4-door car. The Bentley has to get the vote as best seller; their new model has completely sold-out, to the point where they didn’t have a model to bring to the show!

Hot Little Sports Cars

Can you believe sports cars have gone hybrid? Porsche has done the unthinkable with the 918 RSR hybrid race cars! Anyone who thinks a hybrid isn’t capable of speed hasn’t seen the 767 horsepower monster under this hood! How did Porsche accomplish this feat of green engineering? With two special electric motors and an even more special flywheel speed booster.

The Versatile SUV

While it was a tough decision between the Dodge Durango, the Ford Explorer, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ford did it again! The 2011 Explorer was awarded the 2011 North American Truck of the Year. While sales have been slack with this American original, it appears that 2011 may be a record-breaking year for the Ford Motor Company.

Rugged Pickup Trucks

Of course, as any pickup truck fan knows, an SUV doesn’t really qualify as a true truck. For them, only a real pickup will do. Ford—who would have guessed it—stole the show in this category at the auto show, too! The F-150 is already the world’s most popular pickup truck, but Ford had to go another step. Although you’ll have to read the details for yourself, the torture test demo the new EcoBoost V-6 engine should be enough to convince any shopper to buy a new F-150 this year.

With these choices, the new car shopper will really have to work at narrowing down his choices- sites like Edmunds can help you find a car that suites your needs. Regardless of your choice, 2011 appears to be off to a good start for the automakers.

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Pre & Post purchase diligence

March 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A purchase is always cherished for long when the pre- purchasing exercises were conducted carefully with the awareness about the detailed procedure for any discrepancies faced once the purchase if procured after payment. The warranty being offered is a usual task but a mandate thingy for the buyer is to carefully go through the terms and conditions for the warranties, financial documentations, insurance policies and the dealer agreement wherein you are buying your new car for the after buy services and benefits you will be entitled to. Always keep a copy of the agreements and policies at a safe place to future reference and if not available do ask for one. There are laws governing the sale of new products including the automotives like cars which should be known for asking of the rightful.

The best practice is to do the homework beforehand so as to be informative in front of the services deliverance executives. The cares to be taken while buying the vehicle includes availing the test drives for the vehicle under consideration. The test drive plays an essential role in knowing your will be future asset apart from the details inscribed on papers, worksheets and catalogues. The test drive is the best time to get an in depth understanding about the vehicle being driven as the vehicle has neither run too much nor less and is the perfect prototype of the new car when it would have run a few hundred kilometers.

If you are not catered well once you experience a tiff after the purchase and not being served in accordance with the signed terms, then the consumer laws give you the opportunity to fight for your rights.

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Accessorizing the roadster

March 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Accessories are the added features which provide that distinct touch to the regular look and type of your vehicle. The long runs have stipulated a notion of the car being a home away from home. To make the experience of driving and being driven enjoyable and exceptional, accessorizing your little space with desirable features is no harm. Draping the steering, gear, seats, and some body parts of the car with variety imparts an entirely new look to the vehicle. The wheelie is many a times considered a style statement amongst the juveniles and a social canonical amongst the more grown – ups. A customized license plate is greatly opted tool for the adding an exterior transformation in looks. A sporty look is conferred by adding on the straps and belts, also the vent shades and sun visors protect and style the vehicle. Putting up the chrome/ alloy wheels gusts the appearance with variegation in the mufflers, pads, typres, rims and spoilers.

The cars can be accessorized in a way to administer a masculine or a feminine appearance as is desired by the rider. The color effects could be the minimum one can do to stimulate the feel of driving an asset. The adding varieties of tinkles’ and jingles could easily accessorize a car in the feminine way. Males focus more on the exteriors making their drive sportier and adrenaline influenced!

The addition of accessories and add-ons offer a new look thus, saving the owner from the boredom of watching and driving the same car all the time. This little effort offers a pleasant driving experience and also shoots up the resale value to an extent.

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Auto Disposal Options

March 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Everyone reaches that point where they’re more interested in the automobiles that they see other people driving than they are in their own vehicle. For some people, this point is reached after less than a year of ownership, but for the average auto owner, it takes a few years to reach a point where they’re tired of their own vehicle. When that point arrives, there are a few disposal options to consider. Each has merits and drawbacks, and each offers conveniences. Depending on the value of your car, it may even be more beneficial to donate it to a charity such as Kars for Kids than to sell it outright.

Trading your vehicle in to a dealership is a popular option. Dealerships are easily able to determine an approximate value for your vehicle, and will subtract that value from the cost of buying another auto at their lot. This is a simple route to travel, as financing questions and mechanical analysis are left in the hands of professionals. However, you might not get the best value, as the dealership’s interest is in maximizing their profit. Selling your car as a private owner may get you more money in hand, but in that case, you risk that the buyer has a problem and comes back to bother you about it. Whether this actually falls into the category of buyer beware or not, hassles could come your way if a buyer is later displeased and doesn’t know how the system works.

Donations have become a viable auto disposal method. Outfits such as Kars for Kids allow you to turn in your car, hassle free, and receive a tax deduction which is often substantial. Particularly if your vehicle’s value is nebulous, this route can be favorable. By subtracting the value of your car from your income, you’ll receive a decent tax refund while helping out a charitable organization such as Kars for Kids.

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