Little Pieces & Parts of Your Car that are Saving Your life & Money!

What can your car learn from an aluminum can?  Quite a bit, it seems.  While it doesn’t sound like that can provide much safety, the people that make soda cans and aluminum foil are getting into the car business.

Here’s why:  Extra weight in your car means extra time to stop.  Extra time to stop means extra work for your brakes.  Extra work for your brakes means they wear out, and that’s where your safety comes in.

The trick is to create a car that is both lightweight, and also safe.  Aluminum manufacturers are teaming up with car manufacturers and they are finding out that people are willing to pay a little more money for a car that will get better gas mileage.  The heavy steel is being replaced by lightweight aluminum, while still offering great safety. It also has an impact on your stopping distance.  A lighter car, less effort to stop. 

Always be aware of your stopping distance, and if it seems like it’s taking you longer to bring your car to a complete stop, that’s the time to talk to a mechanic.  It takes about 175 feet to bring a car to a stop when it’s going 50 miles an hour.  That’s about 13 car lengths.  If it’s taking your longer than that, it’s time to get them checked… because even the strongest car (or aluminum can) can withstand only so much.

Can You Save Gas by Turning Off an Engine?

You probably heard your Dad tell you that it “uses more gas to start a car than it does to keep it running.”  He probably heard it from his Dad, and someplace along the way, it was really a thing.

 

When cars engines used to have carburetors, you did expend a little extra gas getting the car started.  Hence, it wasn’t the worst idea to leave your car running when you ran in the old service station to get a pack of Lucky Strikes.  And, besides… that nice rumble of idling is a great way to get Peggy Sue’s attention and see if she might want to grab a malt.  Two straws, please.

Let’s fast forward to present day.  Engines now have more advanced fuel injection technology.  It’s a much more realistic way to use gas, and turning it from on to off to on again isn’t going to waste gas.

Now, it would be a bit silly to be killing the motor every time you come to a red light… and the savings would be pretty small.  But, if you think you’re going to be sitting for a couple minutes, like while a lengthy train passes by, or that fast food order isn’t coming quite fast enough… you may save some gas by shutting the engine off.

Many hybrid cars have been perfecting this technology over the past decade.  As you come to a stop, the engine just quietly shuts down and the internal battery takes over.  A bit hard to get used to at first, but the fuel savings are real.

Now, all that otherstuff your Dad told you still applies.  Don’t rev the engine, don’t go over the speed limit, and always hold the door for Peggy Sue. 

Happy Father’s Day, and safe driving!