The engine is an integral part of a car and impacts the working of the vehicle to a very great extent. Secured under the hood of the car, the engine is a gigantic jumble of components include tubes, metals, and wires. The working together of these parts efficiently renders as an energy booster of the car. There are several features that make one engine different from another. Likewise, several factors affect the working of the car engine, and this can leave you disappointed with the performance of your vehicle.  Thus, it is necessary to undertake certain functions that would contribute towards the long and healthy life of your car’s engine.

Use synthetic lubricants – Synthetic lubricants are credited for reducing the friction in the engine and thereby, increasing its lifespan. While conventional motor oils help, synthetic lubricants are found to have a better effect on the different moving parts of the car engine. Also, most synthetic lubricants are excellent weather protectors and do not let the rise or drop in temperature affect the engine’s performance.

Increased compression – The horsepower can be productively increased with an increased compression. This is one of the most widely used ways to increase the power of the engine. However, increasing the compression must be done carefully. It is pivotal to consult an engine builder who can deliver the right advice based on the selection of compression and cam.

Drive with care – The way one drives a car can significantly affect the lifespan of the car engine. For one who drives as though the vehicle is a race car, the engine’s health can prematurely deteriorate. The car can be driven to full acceleration; however, this must be done only when required. The key is to put your foot down only when needed.

Fix a broken engine part – It is uncommon for us to avoid the “cry for help” of our car. A small damage in the car engine can cost one in folds. Thus, it is essential to take note of the car engine’s health and have the damaged part repaired or replaced as soon as possible. The engine will, in turn, reward and give you the best driving experience.

There is a lot that car owners can do to increase the longevity of their vehicle. The most important factor that will aid in increasing the longevity of the car engine’s life is the maintenance. Preventive measures must be taken as it is critical for increasing the lifespan of the car and its parts.

Keeping your tires in good condition is an essential aspect of car maintenance, and it is dangerous to drive with non-roadworthy tires. There are a number of factors you need to consider with respect to tire maintenance, especially with strangely behaving weather across the country. Depending on where you live, if you want to get through the winter months disaster-free, you’ll need to be prepared for anything. Do take our advice seriously and you will be prepared to face the wrath of mother nature!

First things first!
Before we even begin, The Rubber Manufacturer’s Association (RMA) recommends taking five minutes every month to check your tires. Ensure you follow it relentlessly. Tires should be stored away from solvents, grease, oil, or any ozone-producing electrical equipment, which have deteriorating effects on tires. Be mindful of abnormal tire wear or damage to your tires. Watch for signs of punctures, embedded objects, cracks, and bulges.

Cold weather and tires
When temperatures go down, the air pressure in your tires will be lower. Tire pressure typically changes by 1-2 pounds per square inch (PSI) for every 10 degrees of temperature change. It is simple physics indeed – cooler air means slower molecular motion, and that causes the air pressure to drop. Invest in a tire gauge and learn how to read it. Tire pressure can affect your gas mileage, tread wear, and most importantly ” safety. Take care to keep your tires properly inflated when temperatures are cooler.

Rainy weather and tires
Water is corrosive, and encourages oxidation in the form of rust, which may weaken not only your car’s body but the frame as well, if left unchecked. Not only that, but those little drops of water act like a magnifying glass and can focus the sun’s rays against your finish, potentially causing damage. While you may wonder why, but it is highly imperative to keep your car clean during rainy season. Use a wax or liquid sealant for better results. Properly guarding against water can help preserve your vehicle’s structural integrity and keep it looking shiny, too.

Wind and tires
The focus during windy days are totally on safety! You may have felt heavy winds threaten to push your car sideways while driving before. When the winds pick up, keep both hands on the wheel and slow down. Do not follow any vehicle too close, especially when trailing trucks, van and trailers. Windy days does call for pressure check for your tire. Take a pit stop and check them right away!

Summer and tires
When the time comes to store your tires for next season, consider a dark place away from direct sunlight with low humidity. This will ensure that they stay longer.

By taking proper care of your tires, you can remain safe during all types of travel, experience the benefits of better fuel economy, and extend tire life.

When your car suddenly faces a mechanical breakdown, it can be stressful and inconvenient. Having a breakdown cover can not only get you out of this pickle quickly, but it will also leave you feeling much peaceful whenever you take your car out for a drive, knowing you won’t be just stranded somewhere. However, before zeroing in on a breakdown cover policy, you need to make sure that you know the what, why, how and how much of breakdown cover.

Common reasons for a breakdown
Some of the most common reasons for a breakdown are faulty batteries, flat tires, lost keys, engine and fuel problems, unreliable clutches, etc.

What is breakdown cover?
Most of the standard breakdown insurance policies offer roadside rescue and roadside recovery in their entry-level package of service itself. For instance, AARP’s Standard plan includes

nationwide towing (up to 5 miles), flat tires changes, battery boost and even fuel delivery in the basic plan. Essentially, breakdown cover could have the following three broad features to it:

Roadside recovery This is the most basic form of breakdown cover and typically provides help in getting one’s stalled vehicle started and transporting the user and his/her car to the nearest garage, if necessary.
Vehicle recovery Vehicle recovery goes one step ahead of roadside recovery and includes the option of ensuring that the owner and his/her car are returned to their intended destination or even their home.
Interruption cover This is a popular option in roadside assistance in the US, where if one is travelling more than a specific number of miles from home (usually 100) and the trip gets interrupted due to accidents or due to the vehicle being stolen.

Who is breakdown cover suitable for?
Breakdown cover is a great investment for any person who travels by any motorized vehicle regularly. It could also prove to be particularly useful to commuters and business travellers, to those who regularly rive to remote areas or at night, and to anyone who owns and drives older vehicles.

Exclusions to look out for
It is also important to know what aspects aren’t included in your breakdown cover. For instance, fuel delivery is free, but the fuel needs to be paid for. One needs to particularly look out for the limiting numbers in your breakdown cover, such as number of miles, number of calls, breaking down for the same reason, etc., beyond a certain limit which it will cost you.

Maintaining your motorcycle should be a task that you start from day one. The engine and other movable parts are glazed with lubes to reduce friction and to safeguard the parts form heating. This lube attracts more dust, which keeps affects the mechanism of the vehicle leading to heavy problems. Giving your motorcycle for service does not solve the problem because repairs are expensive, and the service station may not deliver the vehicle on time and you may have to drop all your plans. So, try not to give your vehicle for unnecessary repairs and waste your money and start maintaining it regularly.

• Tires:
  To start with, keep your tires in check. The lifespan of the tires depends on how regularly you check its pressure, do it every week. It should not go beyond or below the standard pressure rate as it would lead to early wear and tear and expansion of the tire.
• Chain tension:
  Chain tension causes rough gear shifts, rough transitions, premature sprocket, gearbox wear and reduces the life of chain. Make sure to keep them lubricated and clean them by checking the owner’s manual.
• Battery:
  Battery is located beneath the petrol tank or bike’s seat. You can identify a discharged battery if the bike refuses to start. In this condition, you will have to remove the battery and fill it up with de-ionized water and then put it on charge using a car or motorcycle charger. modern chargers come up with a sealed lids which means you will have to replace them with new.
• Coolant:
  Refer to the user’s manual to locate the coolant. When the engine is cold, remove the drain plug and drain out the coolant. Once the system is empty, fill it up with the new coolant mix of anti-freeze and de-ionized water. Fill it to the recommended level marked outside the translucent tank.
• Oil and filter change:
  Oil and filter change is very important for keeping your bike in smooth condition. Leaving out oil change will make the oil more contaminated. Warm up the bike before oil change and open the filter cap, remove the sump plug drain out the dark oil completely and fill in with brand new oil.
• Spark plug:
  This can be done by checking the bike’s mileage. Changing plugs takes matter of few minutes or even hours depending on the type of bike you use. Make sure to use the correct plug as the code number will differ from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Finding the right service center to get repairs or services done on your car can be a lengthy process. Once you’ve done that, you need to start thinking of getting your car regularly serviced. When you think about regularly servicing your car, the thought of spending a good amount of valuable money every time is enough to put one off of buying a car altogether, since regularly servicing your vehicle shouldn’t burn a hole in your pocket. Don’t’ worry there are ways to find great service coupons.

• Groupon:
  Groupon is a hugely popular internet coupon service company which usually has coupons for everything, right from dining out and spas to online shopping and even automobile and car services. When you are close to the date of giving your car for servicing or for oil change, look for different coupons on Groupon. There might be certain offers on certain oil or tire brands. At times, the service centers and the garages too have coupons that you can club with these brand service coupons and end up saving a lot of money.

• The Sunday Paper:
  The Sunday paper usually has a lot of coupons on a lot of things including shopping for automobile accessories to car service coupons. A lot of them can be just cut out and taken to your local service center or saved for later days, when you might actually need a service done or an oil change. These, again, are combination of services and brands like alignment coupons, those for oil change or one specifically for tire alignment, synthetic oil, brake oil, etc.

• Websites and Online Subscriptions:
  You can always follow coupon sites like RedPlum, Smart Source, Coupon Chief, Flamingo world etc. besides this, keep an eye out for coupons in your grocery stores or in any (car) magazines you might subscribe to.

• Other Coupon and Brand Websites and Outlets:
  Retailmenot, Goodyear and Brakesplus are other places to look out for. They offer coupons including jiffy lube coupons, full service oil changes or tire/battery replacement. There are also coupons that give you discounts on re-manufactured transmissions.

Service coupons are of great help and can really be used to save a lot if used right. Sometimes, seasonal coupons like those during Easter or Christmas are great to be used for an overall service of your car. The individual parts/ brand service coupons can always be saved for a day you might actually need them.

Sam’s Club is a leading tire service provider who believes in rendering quality tire management services to both its members and customers alike. Although members may have added perks like discounts, free checkup coupons etc., the professions at Sam’s Club treat all their customers the same in terms of service. This tire service provider is a one stop shop for all automotive needs of cars, SUVs, and trucks. While providing all services from branded tires, specialty tires, mounting, wheel checkup, car services, etc., the pricing at Sam’s Club is rated the best in the market due to the wide range of services provided as a package with each purchase. Typically, a club member would have to spend only about $15 per tire in order to get a tire installation package. This deal would include services such as mounting/balancing, new valve stems, lifetime balancing and tire rotation, flat repair, waste tire disposal and road hazard protection. In the case of vehicles that are furnished with a tire pressure monitoring system (TMPS), free resets would be done at the time of service. Believing in the perpetual needs of its customers, Sam’s Club also has a dedicated 24/7 roadside tire change service available for three years from the date of purchase. Sam’s Club provides great pricing deals on high-quality auto accessories, and tires as well as services.

As far as tires go, Sam’s Club is well rated for the various options it provides. Most importantly, the online service website has a dedicated page titled – Sam’s Club Tire Buying Guide- that helps customers understand the nuances of picking an appropriate tire. On the online page, the customer is required to enter in the manufacturing year, make, and model of the car as well as the tire size in order to view the choices available, compare them to see the differences and then pick a tire of their choice. Most importantly, Sam’s Club has dedicated professionals who help to pick up specialty tires for those customers who need snow or ice tires or modifications for adventure driving.

Sam’s Club’s relationship with its customer goes beyond the mere fitting of a tire; the professionals keep a constant check and provide any walk-in services when customers turn up with any wheel or automotive related issues. Apart from using state of the art equipment to mount and maintain tire service, the tires picked are assured good deals for proper maintenance. In addition to the exclusive tire services, Sam’s Club also caters auto accessories, electronics, and home garage center services associated with automotive care.

Have you ever wondered why the windshield glass does not break into sharp shards of glass when a car meets with an accident?

That is because the glass used to make the windshield and the side windows of the car is not regular glass. It is called auto glass and is specially designed to meet the needs of an automobile.

Here are some things about the auto glass of your car you did not know about:

The first type of auto glass is called the laminated glass. You can see laminated glass in the windshield of your car. Not just that, laminated glass is also used for other purposes outside the automobile industry. It is used wherever there is a possibility of human impact.

The laminated glass is made by bringing together two glass sheets and sticking them with polyvinyl butyral and then heating it to high temperature.

Laminated glass in the windshield helps to protect the car accident victim from getting a major injury if he or she is thrown off towards the glass in full impact.

Laminated auto glass can be easily repaired if it has a minor crack. This is done by drilling a special adhesive into the glass with the right pressure.

The second type of the auto glass is called the tempered glass. Tempered glass is also used these days to protect your cell phone screens.

In this, a single glass is introduced to heat and then it is rapidly made to cool down.

You will find tempered glass in the glass of the side and back windows of your car.

Just like the laminated glass, tempered glass is harmless when it shatters and breaks down into pieces. These glass pieces won’t have a sharp edge like the regular glass.

One of the major difference between laminated glass and tempered glass is that while laminated glass can be fixed if damaged, tempered glass can only be replaced.

Tips to maintain your car windshield:

As soon as your car spots a cracked windshield, get it checked and fixed by the auto glass experts.

Change your windshield wiper twice a year.

Park your vehicle in the shade to protect it from overexposure to UV rays.

Don’t keep your car out on chilly night, instead park them in garage. Drastic fluctuations in the temperature can cause the windshield to crack and damage.

Avoid slamming your car doors as it puts pressure on the glasses of the windshield.

Be aware of what cleaning products are you using on your vehicles. Stay clear of products which contain ammonia.

It is best to spend on a good auto glass specialist and get your car’s windshield repaired, as you will thank yourself later if you ever are in a car accident.

Your vehicle tires directly contribute to your vehicle’s performance. Checking tire pressure, rotating your tires, balancing your tires, and choosing the right set of replacement tires based on safety and handling will all contribute to consistent performance.

Ensure to follow these tips to help you stay on top of tire maintenance:

Tire Pressure
Having properly inflated tires protect against the tire damage and reduces the possibility that the vehicle will spin out of control. Driving with low pressure tires also increases fuel consumption. You should check your tire pressure at least every month, more often if you are always on the road! To find the correct tire pressure for your car, check the user manual, the label on the door or inside the fuel flap. Properly inflated tires will maximize tread life, improve handling, and increase fuel efficiency and overall driver safety.

Tire Rotation
Follow proper tire rotation schedules. Recommended rotation patterns for your vehicle can be found in your owner’s manual. Routine tire rotations equalize and enhance front-to-rear and side-to-side tire wear. Front tires carry more of the car’s weight and tend to wear out at about twice the rate of rear tires, so rotating the tires can extend their life. Car manufacturers differ in their recommendations, but most manufacturers advise tires should be rotated every 4000 – 6000 miles. The four common kinds of tire rotation are cross rotation, straight rotation, five tire rotation and 4 wheel drive.

Balance and Alignment
Balancing and wheel alignment is the process of properly aligning the wheels and axles. It ensures that your car handles at its optimum level, increasing safety as well as protecting tires against premature wear and saving fuel. Wheel balancing balances the wheel and tires. It protects the bearings and suspension, prevents premature tire wear. Out of balance wheels, and the vibration they cause, is typically most noticeable when driving at high speeds.

Changing Tires
When the time comes to change your tires – install them in sets or pairs. The addition of one new tire to the rotation cycle can cause instability and create vehicle handling issues. When new tires are needed, two new tires should be installed on the rear of a vehicle, and the partially worn tires should be moved to the front of the vehicle.

Above all, ensure to keep a spare tire and make sure its properly inflated and ready to use. You will never know when you’re going to need it. Drive safe and ensure to maintain those tires right!