In years gone by, boys would learn to fix cars with their fathers, so naturally, as a man, you are expected to know certain things about cars. In today’s world though, times are changing and you may or may not have been privy to dad’s elemental teaching and under-the-mango-tree tricks.
Cars have always had performance potential and concept cars have long been an item on the car maker’s playlist. Manufacturers were in fact the original customizers. Today, engineering is going in leaps and bounds with cars like the Porsche Concept 918 Spyder, which can deliver roughly 78mpg and supercar performance. Halo cars like these often provide enough awe to make consumers feel happier about their purchases, although they do not live up to the concept. But certain car companies have narrowed that gap and brought us cars like the Lancer and Lancer Evolution, the Impreza and Impreza STi, the 3-series and the M3, the C-Class and the AMG C63. These special cars are closer to their base models and offer reliable increases in performance in every area– power, braking, cornering, amenities, usually at a higher price.
Lots of people get into accidents. While some are serious, most people have experienced the ubiquitous fender bender. Although circumstances are varied and at times even extraordinary there are ways that you can improve your chances of avoiding an accident, and the ensuing hassle of reporting, repairing and processing your insurance claim.
Firstly keeping your car in good working order is a great idea for a number of reasons. Good working lights means that people know when you’re indicating to turn, stopping, parked or coming their way. Reliable brakes are an absolute must. Proper tires mean that your car can accelerate away from danger, brake in time for a traffic light, pedestrian or obstacle or execute an emergency maneuver. Proper tire tread depth gives you significantly better wet handling which includes all of the scenarios outlined above. People often neglect suspension components because jobs can be expensive or time consuming but working shock absorbers keep tires planted on the road especially when hitting minor bumps and road imperfections. Bad shock absorbers also allow a car to bounce and wallow making it harder to drive at all but the slowest pace. Steering components like rack ends and ball joints should also be kept in good condition. A broken ball joint will allow the wheel to move completely out of place and render the car un-drivable and a wrecker will be required since the solution of calling your brother or friend and telling them “bring rope” won’t help if you can’t steer. Generally all of these problems can be nipped in the bud before they become too serious, allowing you enough time to source parts and service and funds to keep your car safe and performing at its best.
Formula 1 is the most advanced and expensive forms of motorsport on the planet. In every aspect of this type of racing the very best research, building methods, materials and expertise are employed to give each car and driver the greatest possible advantage from qualifying all the way to the finish line. We in the Caribbean have never had direct contact and until now, our degree of involvement was largely limited to seeing it on television and other forms of media.
Then around 2006 the changes started coming. Red Bull hosted an all expenses paid Q&A session at the popular 51 degrees nightclub in Trinidad & Tobago with Team mechanic Steve Nevey on May 24th. The response from the local racing community was tremendous. Internationally, they had just purchased the Jaguar Racing Team and Team Minardi and renamed them as Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Torro Rosso respectively. Attendees were given loads of facts and figures about running an F1 team, driving the car and the effects on the driver. They even brought an actual Formula1 Red Bull Racing steering wheel, which carried the price tag of a brand new Lexus. Steve also treated the session with full-volume soundtracks of the V12 and V10 engines used by both teams at the time– a proper test of the 51 degrees sound system.
