Used Car Prices Dropping

Brand new cars with turbos and superchargers cost a lot of money, this makes sense.  What’s confusing is how used car prices sky rocketed in the last few years.  It was getting to the point where someone could actually sell a car for more than they paid for it a year down the road.

A few factors led to the price increase of used cars. No one wanted to take out new debt, or they couldn’t qualify for credit to buy a new car.  So, owners held onto their own used cars. Car manufacturers also limited the amount of production during the recession.  Since no one bought cars and car companies didn’t make any cars, a shortage of used cars existed.  Since I was able to stay awake in most of my Econ classes at school, I know that when supply goes down price goes up.

Now that there is some light at the end of the tunnel of the recession and gas prices have leveled off, people are buying new cars again.  Used car demand is going down a bit, and thus so are the prices. The National Auto Dealers Association of America predicts that prices on used cars will continue to fall.  Midsized and compact cars could see a decrease up to 5% in June.

BMW the Most Powerful Auto Brand

BMW constantly tries to make their cars more powerful with turbochargers and diesel injector pumps, but the company just became more powerful in a different way. A recent study conducted by Millward Brown shows that BMW has passed Toyota to become the most powerful automobile brand.  They estimate the BMW brand is worth $24.63 billion. BMW is now the number one luxury car maker in the world, and it also has the most valuable brand.  That’s a pretty good one-two punch.  

Out of the Way Toyota

Toyota falls second to BMW by roughly $3 billion.  Toyota and most other Japanese car companies were hurt by the earthquake and the Fukishima Nuclear accident.  These disasters caused shipment delays, and crippled supply chains.

Figuring out the worth of a brand is a tough job.  Some people say it is even to subjective to gage. However, Millward Brown claims they can do it. To figure out brand worth, Millward Brown conducted over two million surveys in greater than 30 countries.  They also added in the earnings from branded products, and the power the brand has on the company’s bottom line.

Other notable outcomes of the survey are Hyundai being the first Korean car company to make the top ten ranking at number 9, and Ford is the only American company that made the cut at number 7.

       Rankings in Billions

1.       BMW 24.63

2.       Toyota 21.79

3.        Mercedes 16.11

4.       Honda 12.64

5.       Nissan 9.85

6.       VW 8.51

7.       Ford 7.02

8.       Audi 4.70

9.       Hyundai 3.59

10.   Lexus 3.39

Synthetic vs Conventional Motor Oil

Maintaining clean motor oil is essential in the proper care of your vehicle, but whether you take it to a shop or do it yourself, a debate is inevitable: conventional or synthetic? Synthetic is obviously more expensive, but is it worth the extra dollars spent? You might want to to tune in, especially if you have a vehicle with a supercharger or turbocharger.

Synthetic oil does perform better than conventional oil when it comes to longevity and the ability to handle high temperatures. It provides better lubrication in very low temperature starts, and it also has a greater resistance to oxidization and sludge build up. But synthetics usually cost double of what conventional oil costs. Whether it is worth the cost is largely dependent on the type of car you drive and your own preference.

Both conventional oil and synthetic oil are derived from petroleum, so there is really no environmental benefit either way as far as sustainability goes. However, synthetic oil does last longer than conventional oil so you don’t need to do oil changes as frequently, so you use less oil over time. In that sense synthetic oils might be the lesser of two evils.

Recently however, Valvoline released a brand new product called NextGen that is conventional motor oil comprised of 50% recycled oil. You can typically return your used oil back to the shop you purchased it at to recycle it, thus greatly reducing its environmental impact. So if you were to use recycled oil, it might be comparable in environmental-friendliness to synthetics at a reduced cost.

As far as emissions go, synthetic oil has been shown to have lower volatility and thus not vaporize out the exhaust as quickly, reducing emissions. 

It should also be noted that any performance vehicle, especially if it is driven hard, should have synthetic motor oil because of the enhanced capabilities of synthetics. Because synthetics have a higher tolerance for extreme temperatures, engines with turbochargers or superchargers would benefit from using synthetics to prevent burnt oil build-up in their engine. But the rest of us who have normal passenger vehicles, and just shuffle from our residence to work every day, don’t typically need to worry about getting every horsepower available out of our engines or burning motor oil in our performance parts.

Ultimately it’s important to identify if the cost vs benefit for your specific vehicle and situation. Either option will do the job, which is probably why this issue is hotly debated. What do you think is better for your car, and wallet?

The 2013 SRT Viper

The New York Auto Show is this week, and although there are thousands of cars on display, you might not notice because everyone’s talking about the same thing: the new SRT Viper. Sure, it doesn't have a supercharger or a turbocharger but it's still an absolutely breathtaking sight to behold. After a few years hiatus the Viper is back with a vengeance under the SRT name. Let’s dig in to some of the great details that make this car so magnificent.

The new Viper has a brand new exterior design that still pays homage to previous Viper models. An all carbon-fiber hood, roof, decklid, and aluminum door panels not only look great but keep the car as light as possible. The entire body is beautiful and extremely aerodynamic, with a .364 drag coefficient. The hood has been re-designed with a “double-bubble” shape that gives improved headroom to both the driver and passenger while maintaining a low profile. The Viper is equipped of course with dual-function bi-xenon projector headlamps and LED daytime running lamps and turn signals in the classic sinister snake eye configuration. The wheels will be offered in a five-spoke, forged-aluminum “Rattler” design.

The interior is fully leather with accent colors applied to the seats, doors, center console, and stitching. Both seats are high-performance racing seats with lightweight Kevlar/fiberglass shells. For the first time ever, seat height can be adjusted by up to 40mm and seat travel has been expanded by 90mm overall. A new 7-inch, full-color customizable instrument cluster is available for the discerning driver, with Uconnect to access more information, entertainment, and emergency services in-vehicle.

 Under the hood lies a new 8.4L all aluminum V-10 overhead valve engine that delivers 640HP and 600lbs of torque – the most of any naturally aspirated engine in the world. The engine also features a new, ultra-high flow and lightweight composite manifold, high strength forged pistons, sodium-filled exhaust valves, new catalysts to reduce back pressure, and an aluminum flywheel that reduces reciprocating losses. This is paired with an updated Tremec TR6060 6-speed manual trans that has a shorter throw shifter and closer gear ratios.

This amazing piece of work will go into production at the end of 2012 to go on sale as the 2013 model. No word yet on exactly how much it is going to cost, but something tells me that if this is on your 2013 wishlist it’s going to set you back quite a bit. For the rest of us, the drool-worthy extensive photography will have to suffice.

Awesome Charity Gives Rides and Hope to Cancer Patients

As much as we all like to drool over supercars, the individuals that own them often have a bad reputation. Hearing that turbocharger or supercharger roar as they blow past us on the freeway doesn't make us like them a whole lot. It also takes a tremendous amount of wealth to buy a Ferrari, and the reality is most of us will never have access to the kind of funds required to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a car. One charity in Texas however is using that wealth (and time, which many people who can afford these machines also have in abundance) for a truly good cause: picking up cancer patients in supercars and taking them to the hospital for treatment.

 People undergoing treatment for cancer cannot simply drive themselves to appointments. Chemo leaves patients dizzy and feeling generally awful. It requires frequent trips to and from the hospital, and arranging transportation can be difficult. One cancer survivor in Austin noticed how many cancer patients were on the bus trying to get to treatment appointments, and dreamed up the idea to offer a service to get patients to those appointments – in style, if they so desired.

So Your Ride Is Here was born. It is a service that recruits supercar owners who want to help cancer patients get to the hospital. They ride in all kinds of specialty, classic, and luxury vehicles like the Ferrari Enzo, Aston Martin Rapide, and Chevrolet Camaro. It gives cancer patients the chance to enjoy something fun and forget about being sick for a short while. Even for those who are not car enthusiasts, the charity raises money to pay for any kind of private transportation service to help patients get to their appointments.

If you own a supercar and live in or around the Austin, Texas area visit their website to learn more about how you can help this awesome charity. If you don’t own a supercar, you can also donate money to help cancer patients get transportation anyway.

This is a great way to give back and, as an added bonus, might help the public forgive supercar owners a little for being so wealthy. So if you see a Ferrari driving down the road with a beaming patient in the passenger’s seat, try to reserve just a little judgment and thank Your Ride Is Here for granting smiles to someone who needs it.

NJ Law Gets Tough on Fastlane Slowpokes

We have all been there – coasting on the freeway, a long distance to go and cruising to get there in a reasonable amount of time, when you hit someone going 55MPH in the left-most lane. We didn’t buy a car with a turbocharger or supercharger just to sit behind this inconsiderate person driving 10 miles under the speed limit. Most of us know the left-most lane as the “fast lane” – a lane for drivers to coast at the maximum speed in order to cover longer distances. New Jersey has recently implemented laws that impose heavier fines for these traffic-causing individuals in an effort to keep them to the right.

These are usually referred to as “keep right laws,” and New Jersey isn’t alone in implementing them.  They are notable however in pursuing a crackdown and greater penalties for offenders. Speeding is much easier to enforce and more profitable in ticketing so police officers around the nation usually focus their efforts on ticketing speeders. The people of New Jersey however have made this issue a priority to keep the traffic and road rage caused by slowpokes in check. 

State Senator Donald Norcross (D) has sponsored the bill, telling the Philadelphia Inquirer "Being trapped behind a slower vehicle is one of the biggest triggers for road rage. Some people have told me the fines we're proposing are not high enough. They said, 'It should be execution.’”

He has decided on a softer approach, increasing the minimum penalty from $50 to $100 and the maximum penalty from $100 to $300. The increase in fines may help motivate police to pursue offenders, and thus encourage offenders to move to the right.

 Many offenders are from out of state, so the increased revenue from the tickets will help pay for new signs when crossing state lines warning every one of the keep right laws in effect in New Jersey. I can only hope that this trend will sweep across the nation and that California will also enact similar laws – we all have places to go!

The Original Back To The Future DeLorean Is Getting Restored!

Putting a new turbocharger or supercharger won’t turn your ride into a time machine, but Bob Gale, co-writer for the Back To The Future saga, is going to need one to accomplish his next project: a full museum quality restoration of the original "A car" from the Back To The Future trilogy.

There were several vehicles used in the making of the BTTF saga, but the A car was the best, most detailed unit used on all three films. Apparently it has been left outside for a long time and is in need of serious TLC. Some say it sat outside the BTTF ride at Universal Studios, others say it sat in a car lot with other busted movie vehicles, but either way the car is now in a state of serious disrepair. 

The people he has hired to do the restoration are Joe Wasler, J Ryan, and Terry Matalas, all of whom have been involved in creating perfect BTTF DeLorean replicas in the past. Not only will they need a team of specialists to restore the vehicle to working order, they will also have to pay extra special attention to the many elements that make this car a unique piece of film history.

Bob Gale has taken to the internet to appeal for all fans of the movie to return any original parts of the car to them,  or to let them know where they can get new ones (if anyone has such information). The movie’s popularity has seen original parts get sold and passed around over the years, so some pieces of the original are missing.  He has created a Facebook page and Twitter account to connect with fans that may have information on the missing parts, and for anyone interested in following the restoration process.

 It will be fun to see this unique car go through its own time machine – question is, when it’s done, where do you think it will end up?

BMW M Diesels

If you live in the states you’re not going to have to worry about replacing a diesel injector or a diesel turbocharger for your new BMW M550d, because this car not going to be available for sale in the U.S.  Also not available is the other M Diesel cars that BMW just announced; the X5 M50d, and the X6 M50d. You can go ahead and add these vehicles to a long line of sweet rides available to rest of the world, but not available to us.

Ok… I have calmed down. I am no longer upset, and have realized that even if I had the opportunity to buy one of these, I couldn’t afford it anyways.  So, instead of whining about not having one of these great cars, let’s discuss what makes them so great. Each one has all-wheel drive and is powered by what BMW calls Performance Twin Turbo technology.  “Twin Turbo Technology,” Ha! These cars actually have three turbos.  Two smaller turbochargers deliver responsive power down low in the rpm range, and then there is a bigger turbo that adds top-end thrust. The engine is a 3.0-litre inline six, which has 381-hp.  The M-Diesels will all go from 0 to 62-mph in less than 5.4 seconds, and gas mileage will range from 36.7 to 44-mpg.

The cars also get the M treatment on the outside of the vehicles too.  This includes side mirrors and vent bars with a grey metallic finish.  The exhaust is highlighted with trapezoidal tips, there is high-gloss shadow line trim, and alloy wheels ranging from 19 to 20 inches.

No pricing was announced, and the vehicles will be debuted at the Geneva Motor show in March.

"You May Not Run Out of Gas" - Youngstown, OH

In light of news that Massachusetts has been charging $275 to fight a traffic ticket whether you win or lose, I was wondering what other ridiculous regulations were going on out there in the car world. I’m not talking about requirements that ensure your fuel injectors and turbochargers are in good working condition. I’m talking about some ridiculous, yet very real, traffic regulations such as it being illegal for a driver in Alabama to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle. This is obviously so dangerous that it should be illegal, but I wonder what happened down the line that this had to become an actual law.

Some of these laws are so old and just haven’t yet been abolished, while others are due to not-so-smart people doing some not-so-smart things. In California, no vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 mph. Also, women may not drive in a house coat. In Arcadia, CA peacocks have the right of way to cross any street, and in Temecula ducks have the right of way at all times. In San Diego, it is illegal to shoot jackrabbits from the back of a streetcar. Is your car getting dirty? Don’t go to Downey, CA where it is illegal to wash your car in the street.

Head over to the east coast and you’ll find some pretty crazy regulations as well. In Hartford, CT it is illegal to cross the street if you happen to be walking on your hands. In Marietta, GA it is illegal to spit from a car or bus, but you can from a truck! In Tennessee, driving is NOT to be done while asleep. In Virginia Beach, if you are drunk and not driving, but the driver is drunk as well, you can BOTH receive a DUI. What if you happen to hit a pedestrian in Sarasota, FL? Be prepared to pay the $78 fine.

While many of these regulations were made many, many years ago and just haven’t been abolished, they are all still active laws in their respective states. While I don’t think that a woman would be ticketed for driving a car without a man waving a flag in front of it (yes, this is still “illegal” in Louisiana), it is interesting to read some of these outdated traffic laws. And back to Massachusetts charging $275 to fight a ticket. They say these fees are necessary as thousands of people appeal tickets which are causing rising administrative costs. Sounds to me like pressure to just pay your ticket whether it was deserved or not, and I don’t think you should be charged to defend yourself in court.

What's Your Number?

Even if you have no idea what turbochargers, an alternator, or any other mechanical part of your car does, odds are you know that your oil must be changed regularly. But the question is, how regularly? Most people, including myself, would say once every 3,000 miles or roughly three to four months. I don’t know why that number is ingrained in my mind, but it seems to have become the general rule of thumb for most automobiles for quite some time.

The state of California, however, has decided to fight against this assumption with their new “Check Your Number” ad campaign. The purpose of this campaign is to encourage drivers to check with their car's manufacturer before heading over to Jiffy Lube for their next oil change. With today’s advancements in technology, an oil change every 3,000 mile can be excessive and they want every driver to check for the recommendation specific to their vehicle. Some BMW vehicles, for instance, don’t need an oil change until they’ve driven another 15,000 miles! These drivers could be changing their oil up to four times more than necessary, wasting both money and oil. Other cars pushing the 3,000 mile benchmark are the Toyota Tacoma only needing an oil change every 5,000 miles and the Chevy Malibu at 7,500 miles.

The campaign is actually a clever one because not only will it save drivers money and time, it helps protect the environment and conserve resources. If Californian drivers alone started changing their oil according to manufacturers’ specifications, oil demand would decrease by about 10 million gallons a year. Now I know you’re all curious about what your number is, so head over to checkyournumber.org to find out. I just found out “my number” is 10,000 miles, making me feel MUCH better about how lazy I’ve been when it comes to changing my oil.

A Lamborghini Aventador VS a Ferrari 458 Turbo...Dream Cars Head to Head

We all love a good race and we all love supercars, the only thing we love more is a modified supercar. Unlike a normal car with a turbo or super charger strapped to it supercars are purpose built machines that are for one thing only.....Speed! The trend of modifying a car is not just limited to Honda's with a fart can on the back of it....the need to make things fast spans all ages. Carroll Shelby is 90 and he is still supercharging mustangs and making cars that rival the Bugatti Veyron in top speed.

There are not many of us who can afford to even look at a Ferrari 458 much less think about adding a turbo system to it once we get it. Usually the people who can afford that kind of thing are not really in the mind set to do it. After all 1% of the population hold 99% of the wealth and that that does not leave the rest of us with much. Recently Underground Racing released a video of their twit turbo Ferrari 458 Vs a Lamborghini Aventador where both cars are sporting 700HP as a bit of promotional material.

The idea was to show the amazing speed of the 458 after adding the kit seeing as the Aventador can do 0 - 60 in less than 3 seconds. The final result of the race is pretty stunning since the Ferrari blows the doors off the Lambo. This may not be a fair comparison in so eye since this is a stock car vs a modified but in this case it is ok. The Lamborghini is designed to be as fast as possible so if you can out run it you are doing something right. Check out the video on youtube to see the results for yourself and not to mention get to drool over 2 beautiful supercars.

The Small Customer Car Craze Started a Long Time Ago

Throughout the ages man has strived to define himself as an individual. Cave drawings, elaborate hair styles, huge watches there are all a way to say “look at me” in new and unique ways.  Car trends through the years have changed but the feel is the same it’s all about making something truly unique and truly yours. This is not just about putting some fancy parts or changing out the steering racks and power steering pump when there is a recall. Customer cars are all about what the owners want and how the car makes them feel. The same idea of making your loin cloth out of some dangerous animal can be applied to the car scene. Something that took a long time to build or is unique will always stand out in a crowd.

It is a little known truth that the Japanese and euro tuning market has been alive and well long before the Honda crazy hit the US. In the US the car market was dominated by large American cars for a long period of time and anyone running a small engine was considered to be a bit limp wristed in what they drove. There was no way that a car with a 4 cylinder could be a performance car in any way. In Europe on the other hand the trend was already in full swing with tuning houses and private individuals dropping some serious coin to make their rides unique and much faster.

The trend of going wider and making the cars “footprint” larger has been a tried and true practice for years. These pics are just a few of the examples of the crazy ideas that people had in the 80s and 90s before the small car crazy hit here. There are so many examples of what the gear heads of the past had in mind and what lead to the looks of modern cars. As a car guy it is obvious to me and probably to you that styles created by custom cars is always a big influence in the car of the future.