Back to the Manual Transmission!

Driving cars is almost a learning commodity in today’s world. You have to reach from point a to point b, whether it is for a party, school, game or hang out. The question though for this article is not whether or not you need a car, cause that’d be silly, why would I question my existence on this blog? This article is about the dwindling amount of manual transmissions in the world, or more specifically in America. To first explain this unfortunate series of events I have to say what exactly a manual transmission is. This is where the driver has full control of the gears of the car, Reverse all the way to 5^th or 6^th. These gears are controlled by a lever and a clutch pedal, in unison all of these things work together to disengage a gear and allow you to select the next gear to be put into action. 

While “manual” transmission give you control the more widely used and seen is the automatic transmission. This is where a computer in the car selects which gear to use and when to use it, thus leaving one more hand free as compared to a manual transmission. This then sounds like a dandy idea, why not just put the car in drive and be content with it? Well I can think of a couple ranging from simple safety to, quite seriously, saving the world! When a driver is learning how to drive manual they are infatuated with the event, I can use my experiences as an example. I always wanted to learn how to drive a manual, its sort of a staple to me and in my mind is the only way to really drive a car. You are able to feel the vibrations of the car through the gear lever, you can feel just where the gears disengage and re-engage through the clutch and knowing you have full control over the car is also a very comforting feeling. What manual allowed me to do was concentrate on the task at hand and do everything right. As we all know texting and driving is a big problem on the streets, you will usually see at least one person the way home using their phone while they drive, its hard not to, considering we are in a technology driven world. What I am trying to say is not that people will stop doing that if they drive a manual, but it definitely will make it more difficult. Driving a manual car also allows for better gas mileage as you are able to control the exact points when a gear shifts. 

On the more devious sides of things though manuals can also allow somebody to accelerate quicker than compared to an automatic because of loss of powers though a automatic transmission, but that’s another scientific article. All in all when manual transmissions are looked at what could the harm be? Well besides the lack of people wanted to do I cant seem to find any. It is not until we move into the realm of racing do problems of a manual transmission come out. 

More and more performance cars are starting to loose their option for manual transmissions. Ferrari and Lamborghini have sworn never to offer another one again, but why? Why deprive people of the integrated feeling of a car? Well put simply, because of speed. What all the performance cars you read about use is not a traditional automatic system but instead something called DSG, SMG, Dual-Clutch, or Manual-Automatic. These systems are not like automatics in the sense there is a computer doing all the work, no computer calculating whether you can go to that gear or not, and whether it is safe or not. This “Manual Auto” systems are in essence a manual transmission except with the ability to manually switch gears with the use of two little paddles, these mechanisms are lightning quick , so quick in fact they can switch from one gear to the other in less time than you can blink, we are talking milliseconds here. This means people on the track can shift faster and get better power in and out of the turns quicker than even the best manual drivers. So there are benefits and negatives to a manual transmission, but none the less it still something, I think, everybody should learn. It teaches you how your car really behaves and shows the driver just how much control they are able to have over their car. Not to mention driving a manual is so rare now days that if you can drive one…. You’re a car guy. Thanks for reading

Magnetic Suspension and the ZL1

It has always been thought that American Car makers are always behind the ball when it comes to technology as compared to our European and Japanese counterparts. These counterparts have exceeded the U.S. in sales, quality, and sustainability in the everyday cars we drive. Truth be told though the U.S. has been pushing the bar in technology, and one of their inventions that has recently gained a lot of interest is Magnetic Suspension.

            Suspension to a car is like the knees to the human body. It’s the ability to dampen pressure put on the legs,  it allows your joints to last longer, and most importantly walk and run without waddling like a penguin. In a car suspension this translates to the ride being soft and luxurious or stiff and sporty. These categories are usually done with a set of springs or struts that can be either aftermarket or straight from the factory. As you can imagine then the stiffer the spring the harder the ride and the softer the spring the smoother the ride, but there is always a perfect balance that some companies are able to achieve, but with a compromise, a compromise that the settings must be adjusted yourself. This is where Magnetic Ride Control is implemented. General Motors(GM) has had this technology since the early 2000’s it was created by a sister group that is now implemented in many of the GM cars that you see on the road today, as well as exotics like the Corvette ZR1, Ferrari 599 GTB, and the Audi R8. It is not until now though that GM has really perfected the idea of a Magnetic Suspension system.

           

  The way a Magnetic suspension system works is through the use of oil based magnetic particles and magnets. This suspension works on the idea that when a magnetic is brought close enough to these particles they will stiffen up and allow for less movement and when this magnet is moved away it will turn back into a regular liquid. So in the end when this system is working, when it is adapting on the road you can get a perfect balance of Comfort and Sportiness based on the way you drive. These particles and magnets react millions of times a second which allows them to “adapt” to any handling situation at hand. This means when you are a taking a turn at high speed the suspension will stiffen allowing a longer window of full contact between the road and the tire, or if driving on a bumpy road the perfect amount of liquidity in the magnetic oil to keep the car as stable as possible.

            The Camaro ZL1 is the perfect example of how this is being implemented, it has been praised and rated for its amazingly comfortable ride, like a luxury car while still being able to put up track times that compete with the great Porsche 911, which is an  achievement in the American automotive sector. One New York Times writer described it as "Instead of plowing through corners, the rear end is willing to step out and point the front end into the turn. I've driven an M3 on this track, and the ZL1 really feels like a big BMW M car. Call it the M6's American pen pal." This is the goal that America has never really been able to meet with full confidence, but maybe this new ZL1 will be the beginning of a very fulfilling growth in the coming years, especially considering the extremely competitive pricing of the actual car and maintenance as compared to the Europeans. GM is catching up, but when you are competing with big players like Ferrari, BMW, Audi, Porsche, Nissan and Mclaren the level of play approaches the point where the only thing the consumer can do… is enjoy.

Porsche Cayenne

Hey guys, been busy with my car and finals week but got some updates for y'all! I got my resonator in for my TL today, and will be installing it soon pictures and sound will be up later. This past weekend also a new member of the family was made, the MDX took an honorable step down and made way for the 2012 Porsche Cayenne. Pics will be up later this week and she is definitely a looker. Stay tuned till the end of the week!

Quick Fix: BMW, Ferrari ENZO, and Shelby

The BMW M5 and BMW M3 are already great cars when they come out of the factory and with their special editions that drop some special matte paint on the car, they can even be unique as compared to their glossy paint counterparts. This being said, to improve a car that already revs to 8300 RPM, and another that has a twin turbo V-8 in an executive salon is a very hard ordeal. Yes, i know all of you are thinking wow, BMW must really be working overtime, except they aren't... it is yet again another marketing scheme. The names of tese special edition BMW 3 and 5 ///M cars are the BMW M3, and M5 ///M Performance, what comes with these cars then? You get 19s for the M3 and 20s for the M5 and blacked out interior with some cool matte paint and that is about it. It doesn't really make sense i know, it should just be offered as a limited edition as compared to another car in the line up and considering that ///M performance is better than a regular 3 series but not as good as the M series that would mean these cars of sub-M cars, meaning they suck.... meaning they have no place in this world... meaning.... what the hell is BMW doing!?

The Ferrari Enzo is a great car, scratch that, an amazing car, the FXX is the lunatic version of this great car, and finally the FXX Evolotionze is the Psycho Lunatic version of this car, with 899 HP and basically the same weight of a feather this car could classify for R2 racing on the world circuit, so to appreciate this car, and why you aren't allowed to take it home, enjoy the video below!

The Ford Mustang has never had any place in my heart, its never been particularly good at anything, and was always a poser boy car in my opinion, but there were always Shelby's, producing hundreds more horsepowers per liter as compared to the regular mustangs, and it was always because of a man named Caroll Shelby, and last week on May 10th, he died, it is a sad day in automotive, as his ideas drove the Mustang to its more popular stage, he will be missed, but we'll enjoy his cars.

Picture of the Day: Aston Martin

Aston Martin V12 Vantage. This car in my opinion is one of the best looking cars on the market today, and looking at it right now its sitting on coil-overs and custom wheels and it gives the car a very aggressive stance

Rant! Nissan Juke-R PRICING

The Nissan GTR is a car that seems to defy the laws of physics with its godly grip and for good reason, its loaded with technology and an engine that could go up with any car on the market today, and at a pretty affordable price.

The Nissan Juke is an interesting car as well, it is a crossover type of car, i dont really know how else to describe and it isn't the prettiest thing in the world but its a pretty zippy car with its little turbo in there, i assume. I did drive the RDX turbo so im guessing power delivery of a stock Juke is around the same. So looking at these two car the question becomes what would you pay for a Nissan Juke, that has the same power train and suspension as a Nissan GT-R?


Well Nissan calls this devil baby the Nissan Juke-R, a special edition Juke that as stated above has the same power and handling of a Nissan GT-R. The title f this article though is the pricing of this car, soooo what is it? Well an inside source said it would be around $600K, yeah that is no joke. You could buy multiple GT-Rs for that, and more than a dozen Jukes for that, so why the high price tag. Well Nissan is building this one off for every customer, which means you need to buy a Juke and then a GT-R, these 2 will then be torn apart and then made into a Nissan Juke GT-R. Ridiculous yes, you could buy Lambos, Pagani's, Ferrari's, basically anything you could possible need to fulfill your super car needs. So then what this car is, is a ridiculously fast, cool and crazy car for more or less rich people to show-off, because they will be so rare. Does it make sense to me... no, but to somebody, it obviously has to if Nissan is putting this much work into it.

Picture of the day: Porsche

The Porsche 911 the car that never really made sense. Besides the 911 paradoxical engine set-up i realized that the  salesmen at Porsche Dealerships are just a bunch of snooty douches. Yes it is true, i didn't mention why i was there though....;] well I will soon enough.
Enjoy the Picture!