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Five Easy Steps to Buying a Car

August 29, 2017 by Andrew Mrozinski

Buying a car is a big commitment. If you’re looking to get your first car, it could be very daunting, but the process it is actually very simple. You can be in your own car, driving to work, to a friend’s, or to wherever your heart desires in no time at all. You could go to a dealership and come out with a car on the very same day, but that isn’t the best way. If you want to save money, and still get the car of your dreams, you should buy used.

Know Your Budget

Knowing what you can afford is the first step when choosing a car. If you can’t afford it, then there is no way you’ll be able to purchase it and be able to pay the upkeep. The last thing you want to do is buy a car you can’t afford. If anything happens to your financial situation, you will owe thousands in debt and will have to sell your car (at a fraction of the cost from what you bought it for). That is why buying used is so great – you can get a working car with low mileage and a much lower price, that is only a few years old.

Choose Your Car

The car for you depends on what you want the car for, your budget, and your sense of style. A great choice is a used, award-winning Hyundai i20. This car is ideal for those with a budget, or simply those that don’t want to splurge on a car, as it has great safety specifications and plenty of space for your comfort.

Research Beforehand

When you buy from a dealership, you pay extra for the peace of mind that comes with it. Dealerships have a set of standards that they place on all their cars – this comes in handy when it comes to used cars. When you go through a dealership, however, you will want to know the value of the car. Knowing the value (and the financing rates you can get through your bank) is a great leverage point when it comes to negotiating.

Negotiate

Always negotiate the price of the car. A great tip is to buy your car at the end of the month, or, even better, at the end of each quarter. This means buying the car in March, June, September, or December. This is because dealerships have goals, and they will be willing to make deals that are more favorable to you to reach them. The only time this advice won’t be applicable is if the dealership has already reached its goal for the month.

Take Home Your New Car

The last step is the best one – get everything finalized and finally drive home in your new, used, car! There is a whole slew of things you can see and do with the freedom of owning your own vehicle. Enjoy it, and get out there!

Buying a car doesn’t have to be scary. Everyone wants to help you make your purchase. Do your research beforehand so you know what you want, the value of what you want, and get the best deal for you. Then drive!

5 Ways To Protect The Interior Of Your Car

August 24, 2017 by Andrew Mrozinski

Whether your car is brand new off the lot or you just like to keep things in good condition, it’s important that you take care of the interior. If you want to preserve the new car smell and protect the inside, then follow these five tips. From custom neosupreme seat covers to parking in the shade, these will ensure a longer life for your vehicle upholstery.

#1 No Food or Drinks

If you spend long hours in the car, then you will invariably try to eat something on the go. However, no matter how careful you are, there will always be something that spills or falls onto the floor. The best thing to do is avoid such messes and designate your car a food-free zone.

#2 Custom Seat Covers

If you know that the “no food” rule will eventually be broken (perhaps you have kids), then you should protect your seats with thick, water-resistant covers. Neosupreme material is the best at repelling stains, but even something like Duraplus seat covers will do an excellent job of maintaining a certain level of cleanliness.

#3 Avoid the Sun

Even if you live in a particularly bright area (such as Southern California), you can still try to minimize the amount of sunlight that comes into your car. Solar reflectors may not do much for the heat, but they will help prevent sun damage and color fading.

#4 Clean Regularly

The best thing to do is to keep a portable handheld vacuum and some cleaning wipes in your car so that you can manage any spills or messes immediately. Dirt and dust will make their way in, so you have to maintain constant upkeep.

#5 Be Wary of Transporting Goods

Whether it’s a bunch of boxes or some other items, you want to make sure that they aren’t going to scrape or gouge your upholstery or anything else in the interior. Take care when loading and unloading, and use plastic or towels to prevent accidents from happening.

In the end, you must get into the mindset of treating your car with the utmost care and respect. If you can do this, then you will keep it in pristine condition for much longer than you expect.

Here’s Why Automakers Build Concept Cars

July 5, 2017 by Heather Redding

Have you ever been to an auto show or seen one covered on television? Some of the cars are simply remakes or improvements of models already on the market. While these transformations can be innovative and interesting, they are also realistic when it comes to vehicle use.

However, at auto shows, you might also see concept cars, which are vehicles that will probably never be built or used. For example, the Chevrolet FNR-X, an all-purpose sports concept car, was recently unveiled at the 2017 Shanghai Auto Show. With rear-hinged doors that are controlled remotely, side skirts that can move up and down depending on the driving mode and the ability to switch between the car’s engine and electric motor, this car is still far from being ready for mass-production. If such vehicles are just a dream of what a car could be in the future, why do concept cars exist?

A Vision for the Future

When it comes to what will be on the roads in the future, automakers have a lot of designs, ideas and potential technologies that they can consider. Some of these are based on new science and new opportunities that have not yet been fully explored, so the makers are unsure what will and will not work.

Concept cars are not required to meet crash test requirements or any other qualifications. Without these confines, engineers and designers are able to let their minds wander to some of the most creative ideas. Although these concept cars may never actually be made into road-ready vehicles, the concepts behind them could lead to innovations in everyday car models.

You will notice that most automakers focus on new technologies when they create concept cars. For example, Toyota has developed a concept car it calls Concept-i. This vehicle utilizes an artificial intelligence assistant named Yui that will notice your fatigue and will engage you in conversation or ask you to turn on the radio to keep you alert.

These new innovations are impressive and perhaps not ready for everyday vehicles, but the technology is introduced, explored and developed through the use of concept cars.

The Road to Mass Production

Engineers and automakers often do not see these technological ideas as unrealistic at first. With the freedom to dive deep into the automotive possibilities, many designers start with a few ideas and a sketch that will eventually become the basis of a vehicle.

With the sketch in hand, a technical team takes these innovative ideas and builds them in a computer-generated design which will later be used for creating a prototype. Most cars are explored in a 3-D format, often including a fully animated example. This helps automakers learn which features are good and which need improvement.

Test models of these concept cars are extremely helpful to automakers because they demonstrate design flaws and technical problems that need to be addressed. It is often the prototype that shows automakers which aspects of the car are unrealistic. However, the best ideas are typically used in a new prototype for a more road-ready vehicle that will eventually be put into full production for the public. In order to stay ahead of the competition, automakers keep these early prototypes a secret prior to an official release.

Auto shows, like the 2017 Shanghai one, are a great opportunity for automakers to launch a new vehicle. Unusual concept cars gain media attention for the company, and the hype and enthusiasm for the new car may open doors to greater opportunities.

Intriguing concept cars often lead to useful feedback from the media, auto experts, and even the general public. This information can help an automaker decide which concepts to continue to develop and which to toss. If an idea seems to be working and is popular among potential buyers, it will help automakers decide in which areas to invest more money.

Final Word

Although concept cars may seem like they are a waste of time because they will never be built for public use, these experiments in creativity and innovation are often the building blocks of new designs and upcoming models. By working with new technologies and unusual designs, concept cars are the future for many automakers. Look for new concept cars at many of the high-profile auto shows, and you will get a better idea about what the top automakers are currently cooking up in their design studios.

Luftgekühlt 4: A Porsche gathering like none other

May 9, 2017 by Andrew Mrozinski

Canepa Motorsport’s ‘Generation-III’ Porsche 959

Even though the sun light was threatened by intermittent clouds and an early morning rain, it did its best to contribute to the mystique of some of the rarest and most unique Porsches in existence.

What is Luftgekühlt? Picture every historically significant air-cooled car from the German manufacturer, even the ones you don’t know about, in and around a harbor warehouse in southern California. Luftgekühlt is, quite simply, a gathering of the Porsche faithful.

Porsche 914 Surfer — Beautiful Porsche 914, complete with a surfboard.

This past weekend was the fourth event in as many years and Porsche enthusiasts turned out in droves. And, we the devoted, have Patrick Long and Howie Idelson to thank. Their dedication to classic Porsches is obvious and contagious. So much so that Luftgekühlt, in a few short years, has attracted the attention of every Porsche fan on the planet. Even if they weren’t among the many that showed up Sunday morning, they watched their Instagram and Twitter feeds for the latest before, during and after the event. With Luftgekühlt we can be confident in knowing air-cooled Porsches aren’t going anywhere.

Anyone traveling to Southern California the day before like I did was not encouraged by the weather. High winds and rain would have anyone worried. But my Sunday morning, the winds subsided, with a light rain dusting the cars. And as the morning went on, the weather continued to improve with the sun peaking out occasionally to help dry the cars outside and support the reverie going on inside.

And the inside was spectacular. Truly mythical race cars from Porsche’s past were scattered throughout the warehouse, mixed in with a historically significant evolutionary line of 911 RS models. A flat-12 powered 1969 917K in Gulf blue dominated, credited as the first 917 to go a full race distance. Not to be outdone was the green Canepa Motorsports ‘Generation-III’ 959, the model any Porschephile might argue was the cornerstone to launch the brand as a technological leader.

Outside, bright green, blue, orange and red 911’s were dotted among some truly pristine silver and gray 356’s. An added treat was the neighboring air-cooled lot, so named for the exclusive use of Porsche owners to park their prize possessions for visitors to walk among and talk about.

To the Porsche faithful, Luftgekühlt simply represents all the cars powered by air-cooled engines. From a historical perspective, it covers everything from the pre-A series 356 to the 993, where production ended in 1998 and represents the last air-cooled car.

But Luftgekühlt represents far more than the cars. Long and Idelson look for it to be as much about the experience as it is the cars. The car culture, the Porsche culture, is very strong and the Luftgekühlt events feed on it, providing fans a venue to walk among some of the greatest Porsches to ever exist. For those that attended, Luftgekühlt 4 will not be soon forgotten.

Modern day exotics that are true supercars

March 31, 2017 by Andrew Mrozinski

McLaren P1 — McLaren’s hyper exotic, the P1.

Today’s exotics are so much more, especially when you consider the hypercars being built today by the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and McLaren.

All three brands are known for their exotic cars, although Porsche less so than Ferrari and McLaren. And even though McLaren’s original creation, the F1, is understood to be one of the greatest exotics of all time, the brand only returned to manufacturing cars for enthusiasts in 2009 when the MP4-12C was unveiled. And as you will see below, manufactured one of the most incredible cars ever to drive on public roads, the P1.

Ferrari is known the world over as the Italian car maker building exotics many of us dream about and a select few add to their collections. Ferrari in recent years has been building cars the well healed drivers among us can afford and the rest of us drool over at our local Cars & Coffee events. But like McLaren, Ferrari realized creating the ultimate exotic was within reach by combining the magnificent gasoline combustion engines they are known for with today’s electric technology. And they have created the LaFerrari, a car they simply named after themselves.

As mentioned above, Porsche is new to the exotic car game. Not only are they highly regarded by enthusiasts for the performance of their sports cars but they are at least regarded by the same crowd as ‘affordable’. Buying a used Porsche is easily within reach of the average aficionado although the classics are increasing in value at a torrid pace. Following the same model as McLaren and Ferrari, Porsche mixed a little electric horsepower with that of a gasoline engine to create a truly super exotic, the 918 Spyder.

Here’s a brief synopsis of each manufacturer’s hyper exotic cars.

McLaren P1
On the traditional gasoline side, the McLaren P1 is powered by a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 with a maximum output of 727 bhp and 531 lb-ft of torque at 7,500 rpm. On the electric side there’s a 177 bhp motor providing an additional 192 lb-ft of torque.

When working in tandem, both motors provide a total of 904 bhp and 723 lb-ft of torque. When left in its automatic setting, the electric motor can fill in the gaps as the V8’s turbos spool up.

The P1 reaches 62 mph (100 kph) in 2.8 seconds and continues on to 124 mph (200 kph) in 6.8 seconds and 186 mph (299kph) in 16.5 seconds. The McLaren’s top speed is limited to 218 mph (351 kph) but with it removed, the P1 can reach 249 mph (401 kph). Amazing yes, but not surprising from a car company involved in auto racing for decades.

Ferrari LaFerrari
Ferrari’s ultimate hyper exotic is the LaFerrari. And yes, we know, that’s a very strange name. But as any Ferrari enthusiast can tell you, the LaFerrari is the Italian brand’s stamp on what makes an incredible car today…the mix of a high performance gasoline engine with the extra boot from an electric motor.

The LaFerrari packs a 6.3 liter V12 producing 789 bhp at 9,000 rpm and 520 lb-ft of torque at 6,750 rpm. Additionally, the car has a 161 bhp electric motor similar to what is seen in today’s Formula 1 cars and is commonly referred to as a KERS or kinetic recovery system.

Both motors together produce 950 bhp and 664 lb-ft of torque delivering a top speed of 217 mph (349 kph). As far as the other speed stats, the LaFerrari will hit 62 mph (100kph) in less than 3 seconds, 124 mph (200 kph) in under seven seconds and 186 mph (300 kph) in about 15 seconds. Ferrari has said the LaFerrari has lapped the Fiorano Test Circuit in 1:19.70, making it the fastest car Ferrari has made for normal street use.

Porsche 918 Spyder
And last but not least is Porsche and their 918 Spyder. It, like the others, starts with a gasoline powered engine mated to electric motors for that extra kick.

The 918 features a 4.6 liter V8 delivering 608 hp but goes a step further by having two electric motors developing an additional 279 hp. All told, the Porsche packs 887 hp and a top speed of 210 mph (340 kph).

One 154 hp electric motor drives the rear wheels in parallel with the V8. The second electric motor has 125 hp and drives the front wheels. It includes an electric clutch to disconnect the motor when it’s not in use.

The other important stats is an acceleration time of 2.5 seconds to 62 mph (100 kph), 7.2 seconds to 120 mph (200 kph) and 19.9 seconds to reach 190 mph (300 kph).

The downside to cars like these is there’s far fewer made when compared to other makes and models. And, of course, the cost. These cars are incredibly expensive. But there is an upside and that’s learning a few exotic car hacks towards buying, owning and selling exotic cars. With a little extra inside info, you never know what may land up in your garage.

Five Easy Steps to Buying a Car

Know Your Budget

Choose Your Car

Research Beforehand

Negotiate

Take Home Your New Car

5 Ways To Protect The Interior Of Your Car

#1 No Food or Drinks

#2 Custom Seat Covers

#3 Avoid the Sun

#4 Clean Regularly

#5 Be Wary of Transporting Goods

Here’s Why Automakers Build Concept Cars

A Vision for the Future

The Road to Mass Production

Final Word

Luftgekühlt 4: A Porsche gathering like none other

Modern day exotics that are true supercars

Copywriting and Social Media Consulting

Site Archives

Know Your Budget

Choose Your Car

Research Beforehand

Negotiate

Take Home Your New Car

#1 No Food or Drinks

#2 Custom Seat Covers

#3 Avoid the Sun

#4 Clean Regularly

#5 Be Wary of Transporting Goods

A Vision for the Future

The Road to Mass Production

Final Word

Copywriting and Social Media Consulting

Site Archives

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