car performance

Top tips for fuel efficient driving

June 22, 2013 by Alastair Sloane

1. Engine efficiency: get your car serviced regularly by a recognised garage to avoid a poorly tuned engine, which can use up to 50 per cent more fuel than a car that is well looked after 2. Tyre tread: at least every month, check that your tyres are inflated to the correct pressure. If not, even with just one tyre deflated by 20 per cent, fuel consumption could rise by five … [Read more...] about Top tips for fuel efficient driving

Women’s guide to essential car checks

May 23, 2013 by Alastair Sloane

For many women, looking under the car bonnet is something we prefer to leave to the local mechanic. But knowing a few basic safety checks is important, both to keep you safe and to prevent costly repairs. Winter is an especially important time to ensure your car is roadworthy. Here are five simple checks you can easily learn to do yourself! 1. Brakes Listen out for … [Read more...] about Women’s guide to essential car checks

Keep your car performing properly and running cleanly

May 23, 2013 by Alastair Sloane

There are a number of things that you can do to maximise your driving time and to help keep your car performing properly and running cleanly. Look after your car Avoid cold starts Cold starts are where the journey that we drive is too short for the car engine to warm up to its optimum temperature, such as a short trip down to the shops and back. Short trips … [Read more...] about Keep your car performing properly and running cleanly

If you are in a position to shell out upwards of NZ$600,000 for the 60^thanniversary Porsche 911 S/T or optional Porsche 911 S/T Heritage, you’ll no doubt want the signature titanium watch that goes with it. That’s how Porsche figures it anyway. Or, if you want the watch you’ll need to get the car. Both the car and the watch are limited to 1963 units, the year the original 911 model broke cover. The watch – Chronograph 1 911 S/T and Chronograph 1 911 S/T Heritage – and the car carry matching edition numbers. The watch is priced at $US13,500, or around $NZ22,200. The car, says Porsche NZ, starts at $NZ608,000. A “strictly limited number” will go into production for NZ early next year.

Eight European Union countries are pushing to weaken new EU emissions limits for cars, saying they are overly ambitious and unrealistic for carmakers to hit. The eight countries – France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – said in a joint paper that parts of the proposed Euro 7 regulation, including curbs on exhaust pipe emissions, should be scrapped entirely. They said the limits would force carmakers to invest in improving exhaust emissions performance, money which would be better spent on developing zero-emission vehicles. Taken together, the countries would have enough votes to block the proposal.

A go-anywhere EV concept for the US military uses an onboard 12kW diesel generator to top up the batteries on the move. The all-wheel-drive has 800-volt technology and a 200kWh battery pack to power three electric motors, two in the rear and one up front. Claimed output is 745kW/15,590Nm, or 1000hp and 11,500 ft-lb of torque. The four-seater was developed by the defence division of General Motors and is based on the platform of the Hummer SUV. It rides on Fox performance shock absorbers and 37-inch tyres and comes with “exceptional” approach and departure angles for off-road mobility. Maximum range using the generator to keep things ticking over is said to be around 500km.

The outside temperature in Midland, Texas, was 40.5C when staff at the local office of the US National Weather Service set out to show the cabin of a closed car can literally get baking hot in summer. They mixed up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and laid them on the car’s dashboard – the surface of which showed a temperature of 87.7C. A little over four hours later the cookies were ready to eat. “Even though ours weren’t golden brown, we can confirm that they are done and delicious,” the staff wrote on Facebook.