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Archive for May, 2012

Bull Bars – A Load Of Bull?

They would have to be one of the most common and the most visible car accessories. Here in Australia, we tend to call them roo bars rather than bull bars simply because we’re more likely to encounter Old Man Kangaroo in the middle of the road. But are bull bars, roo bars, nudge bars or whatever you want to call them really worth it? Should you install them on your vehicle?
Opinion is, of course, divided, and whether you put them on your car or not is really up to you, the sort of car you have and what you plan on doing with it.

There’s no denying that a set of big bull bars/roo bars have tough-guy good looks on a big 4×4 like a Mitsubishi Pajero – and that they look a bit silly on a little hatchback (although nudge bars might have a sort of ironic humour installed on a Mini) or on a sports car. But don’t just blindly get them put on your set of wheels. Think first.

The idea behind bull bars is simple. If you’re driving down a country road at night and some stupid cattlebeast or kangaroo (or some other big animal) wanders out into the road as you bucket around a corner at the full legal limit, there’s going to be one heck of a big mess. You won’t be able to stop the mess that will be made of the poor dumb animal but the mess it makes of your front bonnet can be minimised if you have bull bars attached, as the bull bars take the impact better than the headlights. You can also get smaller versions that protect the front of your vehicle from the scrapes and bumps of shrubbery; these are usually called nudge bars, bush bars or brush bars.

Bull bars also fit in very well with other off-road accessories, as they make a handy place to mount a winch or extra spotlights.

However, bull bars have their downside. In fact, there’s noises going around about them being banned in the European Union, especially the metal ones. This is because if a car fitted with bull bars hits a pedestrian or a cyclist, all the force of the car is concentrated into the bull bar as it strikes the person, and the result is much worse than if the pedestrian or cyclist hit the bumper and the headlights – a person might be able to survive being hit by a car without bull bars but the chance of serious injury or death is much higher when the metal bull bars are there. Have a look at the ANCAP or other crash test sites and have a look at the tests for pedestrian safety and you’ll see why. These problems get worse if people pop accessories onto bull bars, such as winches, lights, fishing rod holders and the like, as the brackets can be sharp and act like a spear in a collision.

Bull bars can also interfere with airbags, as it’s a hard blow on the bonnet that triggers the airbags to deploy. If the bull bars are put on in such a way that they deflect most of the force from the bonnet, the airbags might not go off during a head-on collision, which means the drivers and passengers are more likely to be injured.

The verdict? If you do a lot of rural driving or off-roading, then roo bars will certainly save you a few panel beater’s bills. However, if you’re a mostly urban driver and just like the looks of them, it’s probably better if you leave them off for safety reasons.

Those who want to fit bull bars to their new 4×4 can find out more about the Australian legal requirements at this link.

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Emergency Kit

Ever come across a car accident?  Ever been in one?  What about a serious one?  I had an experience where a car following behind me shot across the middle of the road, hitting another car head on that was travelling in the opposite direction.  Thankfully, the accident occurred in a 50 km/h zone, and no one was killed.  I stopped, along with one or two others, to see what we could do.  Both cars were write offs, and both drivers suffered severe shock.  The driver that veered across the road had hit his head during the accident and had a head wound.  At the time, there appeared no danger of fire, so we tried to calm both drivers down while waiting for the emergency services to arrive on the scene.  Switching back and forth from groaning in pain and wanting to jump out of the car and split the scene, the driver in the wrong had possibly been driving under the influence of some drug.  The lady in the other car was very shocked but unhurt.

In the last couple of weeks, a friend of ours was driving down a main road, again in a 50 km/h zone, and a young boy ran straight out in front of the car.  Even the driver travelling behind our friend, who witnessed the accident, said there was very little our friend could do.  Sadly the boy died soon after the impact.

Has anyone had an experience where your car just stopped and wouldn’t start?  It’s bad enough having this happen in the middle of the daytime in busy city streets, but it really stinks when this happens on a cold wet night along ways from anywhere!

So what things can we carry in our cars that will help us in an emergency situation?  It is, definitely a good idea to carry some water and food with you if you are heading out of town.  It isn’t too difficult to keep a couple of litres of water in the boot of the car that you can drink or use for topping up a leaking radiator.

Having a blanket or two in the back of the car isn’t a silly idea, either.  Carry some warm clothing with you – like a jacket and hat.

Some of the late model cars come with an emergency kit already provided, inside the boot or cabin.  This might consist of a night reflective sign indicating to oncoming drivers to slow down, a high-viz vest and a heat preserving blanket.

Nowadays having a cellphone with you is a great addition to any travel plans.  If you travel through areas that are somewhat unpopulated, having a cellphone with you is even more essential.  Consider picking up a car cellphone charger, too.  Cell phone signals travel on a line of sight from towers, so if you’re in hilly areas or valleys you’re likely to strike terrible reception.  If bad reception occurs, try getting yourself to higher ground, as this often helps.

Go to any major shopping centre, and you’re sure to find a place selling a first aid kit.  These have things like bandages, ointment, scissors, tape, plasters, and surgical gloves.  You really should have one of these in your car.  Many of the first aid kits can slide under the front seats so that little room is taken up.

Don’t forget to take any medication that you or your passengers may need for a long journey. A torch is a must.  And, have you thought of doing a first aid course or updating your old one?

Here’s to your safe travels. http://credit-n.ru/offers-zaim/denga-zaimy-nalichnimi.html

The Loss of My Virginity

She was sleek and curvaceous and there was almost a glow about her. She crouched under the spotlight looking as if ready to pounce on an unsuspecting admirer like me. Her skin was smooth and flawless. I walked around her admiring the curve of her flanks and the rounded rear. It was love at first sight for me and I could hardly wait to know her intimately. My first Ferrari experience was about to begin. Most of us will go a lifetime without ever driving a truly high-performance car, let alone a supercar like a Ferrari, Maserati or Lamborghini. I was one of those fortunate ones who, without making the huge investment, got to enjoy a number of drives in a truly great car.

I was the new sales manager for an old Ford dealership. The owner was a high-performance car enthusiast and we were one of the few dealerships that inventoried and sold the limited production vehicles produced by Ford Racing Division. One of our high-performance salesmen was a former racing driver, Paul O’Shea, who had been with both the Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz teams in the nineteen-fifties. Paul had located and bought with the boss’ money, a retired Ferrari Gran Prix car that had once won the Carrera Pan-America, the Gran Prix of Argentina.

 The Ferrari red body was crafted of aluminum, light and easily dented. It was right-hand drive with a headrest that sloped back into the rear deck. Next to the base of the headrest buttress was the huge, spring-loaded cover for the sixty gallon gas tank. Originally equipped with a Ferrari V-12 of about four litres, the car had been bought for a pittance with a rod through the aluminum block. Not being a purist, though he did own two other Ferraris, the Ford dealer had the shop install a Ford seven litre racing engine with a highrise manifold and two, huge four-barrel carburetors. Blueprinted, the Ford engine produced 575 horsepower in a vehicle that weighted about 1,900 pounds with sixty gallons of gas aboard. It was awesome!

The clutch was very heavily sprung and hard to depress at first, but once underway it was fast and had a very positive grip. The shop had rigged an Austin-Healey windshield in place of the tiny windscreen that had sufficed for racing. The red beast looked street legal, but lacked windshield wipers a horn and a few other unmentionables that would have passed a motor vehicle inspection. It was important not to attract the attention of the traffic policemen while operating on the public roadways.

 I drove the red beauty every chance I got, the excuse being that I was promoting our High-Performance Division. I drove it to the gym, picked up my girlfriend for lunch and cruised the local drag-racing strip parking lots.

 My romance ended when my promotional drives produced results; the sale of twelve racing Fords and one former Ferrari race car.

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How Reliable Will My New Car Be?

We have written about car reliability surveys on our web site here.

We, and many others, are really annoyed that no such survey happens in Australia. So we are all still in the dark as far as Australian-made cars are concerned! No local insurance company or auto magazine seems to want to produce their own survey, and the local car companies refuse to make industry quality surveys public.  Yet these very same companies benefit from millions of dollars  showered upon them by the Australian Government – that’s our tax dollars – so don’t you think they have an obligation to divulge how well they make their cars with our money, and that we have a right to know before we buy? We’d like to know how you feel, so click below to write your views http://credit-n.ru/offers-zaim/glavfinance-online-zaymi.html