Apple makes everything from watches to computers and anything in between. But recent rumors, that starting springing up in early 2015, give hint that they are trying to get into the automotive industry and release a car. There are presumably hundreds of Apple employees working on this car and it is called “Project Titan.” It is said to be electric powered and there are ideas being thrown around that it could be self-driving. But, don’t get too excited, if this Project is said to be true, the earliest we would see it on the market is 2020. A concept of what the car even remotely looks like has yet to be released or discovered through a leak. This is whole new field to Apple, so they have been recruiting people to help give a hand on the project. It late 2015, Apple said they were committed to working on this project and were going to focus more of their resources on it. So, if all goes to plan, we are likely to see an Apple car in the future. There was also talk about Apple and BMW partner to produce the car, but it fell through. Because it will be an electric car, most likely, it will be in same market, and probably price range, as a Tesla. A leak that caught wind is that it will cost around $75,00 which would put in a competitive price with Tesla. There is still little to be know about the Apple Car, so we’ll have to wait for the rumors to unfold and either be proven fact or fiction. One thing’s for sure though, your iPhone will definitely be compatible and will likely play a huge part when in the car.

Sources: http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/apple-car/

Buying a car is likely to be one of the biggest investments you’ll make in a lifetime, next to buying a house. Because it’s such a big investment, you should know the proper steps to detailing your car to make it look immaculate. If you spend all that money on a car, you won’t want to drive around in a car looking like it’s never seen water before. I will guide you and tell you the step by step process in detailing your car without ruining the paint and make it look brand new. (It’s a more detailed process than you think.)

Step 1: The Wash

This would seem like a simple to most, but those people don’t realize they might be doing it wrong in a way that is hurting their paint more than helping it. The best wash method is the two bucket method-which is exactly what it sounds like. You use 1 bucket with soap (car wash soap, not dish detergent because it will strip any wax that is on the car, unless that is your intention) and water and the second bucket has just clean water and a grit guard, which is important. Using a microfiber wash mitt is the best option to clean the exterior because it works well and won’t scratch the paint. Dunk the wash mitt in the bucket with soapy water and clean one panel of the car at a time. Once clean, you put it into the bucket with just water and rub it up against the grit guard to clean the mitt. Repeat for the remaining parts of the car. Another thing to keep in mind- do not wash your car in direct sunlight because the sun will dry the water on your car and leave annoying water spots. To dry the car, use a dedicated waffle-weave like towel that is soft and won’t cause scratches.

Step 2: Wheels and Tires

There are many different products to use that give different effects that it really is up to the detailer. Some tire shines give a deep black shine while there are other that give it a natural flat black look. As for the wheels, the are many cleaners that claim they clean wheels the best, but I’ve always had the best luck with degreasers such as Simple Green or Greased Lightning. You can dilute it to the strength you need and cuts away at any road grime and brake dust built up on the wheels. A good tool to use a soft bristle wheel brush so you don’t scratch the rims. For the tires, it’s a good idea to get a stiff bristle brush that is dedicated just for tired and use soapy water to clean the tires before applying shine.

Step 3: The Clay Bar

This is exactly what it sounds like- a bar of clay. This is a very useful technique. Basically, you take a bottle of quick detailer and spray a generous amount onto one panel at a time. Then, you rub the clay bar back and forth until the surface feels buttery smooth. Take a clean microfiber towel and wipe away the excess detail spray and move to the next panel. If the clay bar is dropped on the ground, throw it away because it has picked up particles on the ground that you would now be rubbing into your paint and scratching it. The clay bar is useful because it picks up mircocontaminants from the paint that weren’t picked up by the wash. Definitely a key step.

Step 4: Polishing

Polishing is an important step if you clay barred your car. The one negative of using a clay bar is that is sometimes causes paint marring. This can be cleaned up easily if you plan to polish your car. There are many brands of polish that all work about the same, so you can’t go wrong with any that you choose. The big part here is if you plan to polish your car by hand- goodluck. It is an arm workout and will leave you sore. A dual action polisher will help out tremendously and make the job much easier. Put a a few small amounts of polish on a pad and work it back and forth on a panel of the car, then wipe the excess off with a clean microfiber. What this does it further cleans the paint and can get rid of small swirl marks.

Step 5: Compound

This step mirrors the polishing step. Application is the same and will be much easier and work better with a dual action polisher. But, compound is gritty paste that takes small small microscopic layers off a paints clear coat to remove scratches and swirl marks in the car’s paint. This step isn’t necessary to do every time you detail. It usually only needs to be done every 6 month or so. But, it is important to do to keep that shine looking right.

Step 6: Wax

This step is what will give your car a deep wet shine and make it really pop. Again, many different types of wax. There is carnauba wax which gives a deep shine and is an inexpensive product. But, it is usually applied by hand so it is very time consuming and requires a lot of elbow grease. The protecting level is also somewhat low, as well as the longevity of it compared to something like a synthetic wax. It is very useful to give your car that wet shine the night before a car show so it is really glossy. It can be applied my using 3-4 dime size amounts on a foam applicator pad and applied in a back and forth rhythm. Let it dry to a haze and wipe clean with a microfiber. The next type of wax is synthetic. This wax is much easier to apply. A dual action can be used to apply with the same amount and same technique to wipe clean. Benefits of synthetic is it offs better protection and lasts a lot longer with out reapplication. Cons are it may not give you the high gloss shine like carnauba and it is a bit expensive. Then theres’s spray wax that will give a basic shine, but not as good as the carnauba or synthetic.

Step 7: Windows

Having clean windows is important for the best visibility. Also, streak marks from poor glass cleaning are super annoying. The old myth of using newspaper doesn’t clean the window it just pushes the dirt around. The best way is to use a glass cleaner that is ammonia free, 1. because it decreases the chance of streaks and 2. it is safe on tinted windows. The way to do is to have 2 microfiber towels. Don’t use a lot of cleaner because then it will streak. Put 2-3 sprays on the window and wipe with a microfiber. Take the second microfiber and wipe away excess cleaner. This will have your windows looking clear as day.

Detailing can be a long, tedious process, but the payoff is well worth it. Obviously, you could go much more in depth with cleaning with things like renewing trim pieces, polishing headlights and much more. This step by step just brushes the surface of detailing. If you follow these basic steps, the exterior of your car will be looking brand new and shining like never before.

In the videos tab, I added two videos which I think hep further explain and give some tips on automotive detailing.

Back in September of 2015, Christal McGee was driving home from work and pulled out her phone to take a Snapchat. Snapchat has a filter that can be put over the picture that shows the speed the person is going. With a pregnant passenger in the car, Christal accelerated to 113mph when she took the picture. When she looked up from her phone, it was too late. She struck another vehicle, carrying Maynard Wentworth, at 107mph. Wentworth was put into critical condition suffering from traumatic damage to himself. Wentworth has permanent brain damage, too. Now 7 months later, Wentworth is suing Snapchat and McGee for causing the wreck. Wentworth and his Lawyer felt that Snapchat was equally responsible for the accident because they didn’t delete the filter after it was said to be causes of several other accidents earlier in 2015. McGee’s argument was she was trying to go 100mph to post the picture on Snapchat. And after all this, McGee put a picture on Snapchat showing her badly cut up face and neck brace on, “Lucky to be alive.” Wentworth is suing both Snapchat and McGee for negligence. Wentworth feels that this could have been prevented if Snapchat took better precaution after other incidents like this and just got rid of the filter.

Now, there is another side to this story. Christal’s father, Chris McGee, tells his side of the story. He has been a tow truck driver for 25+ years and knows a thing or 2 about accidents. He said that if the car truly was going 107mph, all passengers would be dead and the car would be in worse condition. Also, the two passengers in the back had there phones out and they were destroyed during wreck. The phones flew around the car and when the firemen put the flames out, the water destroyed the phones. However, Christal’s phone was perfectly okay and was recovered after the accident. Chris claims this is because  her phone was in her purse. One passenger also claimed she was not on her phone at the time of the accident. The other passenger, is the only one claiming she was going 100+ and at the time of the police report, she never mentioned Snapchat. Christal claims that she was speeding, but not 100+ and the other car she hit pulled out in front of her at a slow speed.

So, is Chris and one of the passengers trying to protect Christal, or is the 2nd passenger telling the truth? This whole lawsuit seems odd enough and none of the facts add up. And one last thing, Snapchat shouldn’t be pulled into this. In their terms in conditions, it says don’t snap while operating a vehicle. Until the true facts are unveiled, it’s hard to tell who is telling the truth and who is lying and who should be suing who. One thing is for sure, Snapchat should not be dragged into this.

Source: http://www.cbs46.com/story/31852779/exclusive-father-of-teen-driver-exposes-holes-in-snapchat-lawsuit

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/28/lawsuit-blames-snapchat-for-107-mph-crash-in-mercedes-caused-by-teen-girl-using-speed-filter/

Most racing events that are held are composed of street cars that you were once bought a dealership and converted and enhanced into track ready machines. The EPA is trying to put a stop to this. Once converted, these cars will be strictly put to use on the track and will not see the streets, legally anyway. This new ban that is trying to be passed would put restrictions on every type of car, whether it’s a sports car, 4 door family car, or super car. You name it, and it falls under the “ban” category. It has nothing to do with safety, because believe it or not,  purpose built race cars that once started as a street car are safer than the actual production car. It is because of emissions. The EPA doesn’t want people tampering with the factory exhausts that must meet their emission regulations. The proposed bill states that all cars must keep their original emission control devices in place and are not swapped or changed in any way. This all falls back to The Clean Air act. So, even though the car would not be driven on the streets after the “race car” conversion, it must meet the requirements that a normal street car would. Not only could they ban race car conversions, but they could also go one step further and prohibit the sale of products that can reconfigure the emission control devices within the car.

“the Clean Air Act does not allow any person to disable, remove, or render inoperative (i.e., tamper with) emission controls on a certified motor vehicle for purposes of competition.”

Above is a statement from the EPA’s Clean Air Act.

This has not gone into affect and is still unclear whether it will or not. An updated statement from the EPA pertaining to this is to be expected in July 2016.

Things that would affect this new ban and would be made illegal:

• removing catalytic converters
• remapping a cars tune
• performance exhaust

Along with many more things.

Racing series that would be affected:

• Formula Drift- This is the pro level of drifting in the U.S. The cars that these drivers use all start out as production cars and go under a major overhaul to turn them into the track ready cars they are with many performance modifications that would be made illegal with this ban.
• Rally Cross/ Rally- Like Formula Drift, these cars start out as production cars as well and go under major modifications in order to make them more suitable and competitive for the conditions that Rally drivers drive in.
• Any Weekend Track Day Driver- This ban on emission affecting parts would really put a damper on the weekend enthusiast who goes out to the track and races their car. If the owner wanted to squeeze a little more power out of their car to make it more fun and faster to drive, the ban would prohibit them from doing that.

Without performance enhancing parts, racing would become very stale very fast. There would be nothing to differentiate one production car from another that is the same make and model. It would very much limit the kinds of things people would and could do to their car to separate it from the next person who walked into a dealer and bought the same car. All we can do is wait for the EPA to release another state in the coming months and hope they don’t go through with it.

Sources:

http://jalopnik.com/is-the-epa-trying-to-ban-the-conversion-of-street-cars-1758013542

http://www.autoblog.com/2016/02/09/epa-illegal-modify-car-racing-sema-official/

Oddly enough, this car was named World Car of the Year for it’s high full efficiency and low emission, but it was one of the cars with the device installed.

Volkswagen, a well-known automotive manufacturer, is in big trouble with the EPA here in America. Close to 500,000 diesel models (known as the TDI line) that were sold in the US had “defeat devices” installed within the cars computer. This device was installed into the computer to recognize when the car was being tested for emissions to pass state inspections. The device would alter amount of fuel used during that test in order to improve results during an emission test. The car was fitted with two “modes”. One of which the car would set to during the emission test to meet the requirements set by the EPA. Once the emission test was done, the car would sense that and revert back to its normal driving mode where the amount of NOx (nitrogen-oxide emissions, which is linked to causing lung cancer) released into the air was increased by 40% over the EPA legal limit, but improved the fuel efficiency greatly. VW did this to boast about their cars and how they were able to have excellent fuel efficiency and low emission output. But the real emission output was masked because it was never able to be properly tested because of the “defeat device”. Models such as VW Jetta, Golf and Passat TDI as well as a small number of Audi’s were affected by this.

VW has since admitted to their cheating of the system and the CEO in America has stepped down. The EPA has also ordered the halt of sales of the cars that were affected by this device until further notice. VW is likely is do a recall of all vehicles affected by this and fix their wrong doing. In states where smog tests are required for registration, such as California, owners may not be able to renew their registration until the problem is fixed, because after all, they would be cheating the system if not fixed.

This has affected VW numbers greatly. 1/3 of the market cap has depleted and the stock price has also been driven down. Since this all started in November 2015, VW has reported losses every single month. It is estimated that VW will spend close to $7 billion fixing their cheating. The US Department of Justice has the ability to sue VW for almost $38,000 per car that was fitted with this device. This would equate to an $18 billion law suit. Now, it’s unlikely that this will happen, but it is being thrown around.

After all this, VW is compensating its customers for the inconvenience and straight up lying to them. Every person who purchased an affected car is receiving a $500 prepaid gift car, along with $500 that can be used at any VW dealership to put towards another car, service, or parts. Along with this, the owners are being give free 24 roadside assistance for the next 3 years.

Sources:http://blog.caranddriver.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-vw-diesel-emissions-scandal/

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772

Automatic vs Manual transmission: which one really is better? Both have their respective pros and cons. Each person will have their preference on which one they were rather have in car. Some cars only come in automatic, while the opposite is true for some cars that only come in manual. Most cars though, the buyer will have the choice between an automatic and manual. The amount of manual cars sold in the US with a manual transmission was only 6.5% according to USA Today. Let’s take a look at both the pros and cons of each.

Manual Pros

• They are more fun to drive. There’s something about going through the gears and shifting yourself that’s exciting. It makes you feel more connected to the road and engaging in driving. Driving a car with a stick gives you a better sense of control over the car.
• The price tag is cheaper than an automatic. Cars with manual transmissions, on average, are anywhere from $900 to $2500 cheaper than an automatic car.
• Along with a cheaper price tag, repair costs are generally less expensive on a manual transmission. They are less complex when trying to fix compared to an automatic which makes them easier to repair and drives the cost down. Depending on your driving style, the most common repair done to a manual transmission is the clutch, and even that is done every 100,000+ miles.
• You need both of your hands to drive it. One on the wheel and the other on the gear shifter. It keeps you more focused on the road and shifting into what gear you need to be in. There is no time to be distracted by your phone or other things in the car.

Manual Cons

• There is a learning curve. You can’t just get into a manual car and drive it. Well, some people can and pick it up the first time, but most people need to learn how to drive it. It’s not as simple as an automatic where you just put it into Drive and go. There’s a whole technique that must be learned when trying to drive a standard and learn how to change gears and get going from a stop. Once you have that down, it’ll be like muscle memory and you won’t even think about it when driving.
• The next con of a manual is driving in stop and go traffic. This is by far one of the worst parts of having a stick and the most annoying. You must constantly keep your foot on and off the clutch and starting and stopping again…over and over and over.

Manual Myth

• Manual cars are more efficient. In some cases, this is true, but in most cases, this is false. In the past, manual cars did have better fuel efficient by quite a bit, but as auto transmissions became more advanced, this margin of fuel efficiency between the 2 decreased to almost nothing.

Automatic Pros

• They are easier to use. The transmission does all the work for you. All you need to do is put the car in the gear of choice and drive. There is no worries of having to shit through the gears yourself.
• It’s more comfortable to use. There are only 2 pedals to worry about and you can just put the car into drive and do just that. It keeps you concentrated on the road.
• Easier to find. Most cars being produced today are coming out of the factory with an automatic transmission.

Automatic Cons

• Typically more expensive. Between the cost of the actual car, which is more than the manual, and the repairs, automatic transmission cars are more expensive. For repairing the cars, there is more within the transmission that can break and when it does, the repairs are not cheap.

When buying a car, you must weigh the pros and cons of a manual transmission and an automatic transmission. If your budget is tight and don’t want repair costs to be through the roof and don’t mind shifting gears, then a manual is the right choice. If you can spare the extra $1500 and want to just worry about driving and nothing else, than the auto is for you. It all comes down to preference and what you’re looking to get at out of the car.

Fuel efficiency is seen as an important number to a person when buying a car to save as much money on gas as possible. That’s why the number of electric and hybrid cars being sold is increasing. To keep up with this trend, most car manufacturers offer an electric or hybrid car in the their lineup. The most popular all electric car that almost every knows is the Tesla model S, but that is out of most people’s budget being that it is a higher end car. Most supercars that are released each year are starting to switch from all gas to a hybrid, which is a mix between gas and electric. Cars like the McLaren P1 and BMW i8 are both cars that have recently been released that are hybrids. These cars are out of most people’s budget and are very expensive, so it’s likely that you aren’t really concerned about fuel economy when shelling out that kind of cash for a car.

But what about for the average consumer who wants to save some money on driving? The Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt are two all electric cars that are priced so that average person can afford to buy them. Both cars run on nothing but batteries that charged via a regular wall outlet.

The first question to be asked, will the consumer save money when driving an electric car? The short answer is yes you will save money, but in no means will it be right away. You only save a very small amount with each time you charge your car. Assume Car A is electric and Car B is gas powered. Car A has a max range of 30 miles when fully charged (which is about average for an electric car) and the power used to charge it equates to about $2.75(again, about the average is cost to charge a car with that range) Car B has a 300 mile range when fully topped off (10 gallon tank at 30mpg) with an average gas price of $3.oo per gallon, so $30.oo to top it of. So, in order to get the same distance from Car A, it would need to be charged 10 time to get 300 miles out of it. After charging it 10 times at an average cost of $2.75 per charge, it would cost about $27.50 to get 300 miles out it. The driver of Car A saves about $2.50 per 300 miles driven. So yes, you do save money at the pump, or wall in this case, but you also have to factor in the price of an electric car which is substantially more expensive than a regular gas car. Most electric cars are in the $30,000+ price range because of how expensive lithium batteries are, while gas cars are in the low $20,000 range.

Are electric cars practical? Unless you live in short driving distances to everything, them no they aren’t practical in most situations. With an average range of 30 miles and then a recharge time of 6-8 hours, you can’t get very far with them. If your car needs a charge when you get home, you’re house locked for a good amount of time until that thing is charged up. If you want to go anywhere outside of 30 miles you are kind of out of luck unless you have a second car. But needing 2 cars just to travel distances defeats the purpose of the electric one all together. Why even bother with an electric car and just just buy a gas powered one. Electric cars will be a bust until manufactures can get the price down, increase the range, and decrease the charge time. Until then, electric cars just aren’t worth it.

Sources: http://ludens.cl/philo/electric.html

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/06/24/gas-vs-electric-cars-cost-comparison/

The newest story to come out this week is that auto braking must be a standard feature on cars by the year 2022. This new regulation is being put out to help cut down on the amount of traffic accidents in the U.S. This feature will do exactly what it sounds like- when a car approaches an object and the driver doesn’t brake, the car will do it for them to avoid hitting it or at least decrease the force of impact. The cars will have some sort of sensor on the front of car that will be able to detect objects in range of it. This feature is already available on some cars now, but it is an option. 20 major auto companies have already agreed to have this feature standard on their cars including General Motors, Honda, and VW. This technology is relatively new so there is still much to be learned to perfect it. Volvo had 2 absolute fails when showing their new auto braking system in 2 different cars. One of their tests ran right through a pedestrian and the other demolished the rear end of a semi. Both videos can be found in the video tab.

In my opinion this feature is almost useless and a bad idea. Yeah, it may help in situations where the driver doesn’t react fast enough, but why couldn’t they react fast enough in the first place? This new system is going to give drivers too much slack when driving. They’ll be able to get away with being on their cell phones and what not because they’ll rely on their car to stop if they don’t have enough time to. It will save them from getting into accidents, but only because they were distracted by something and couldn’t stop in time themselves.

Tell me how you feel about this new regulation! Is it going to give drivers too much slack when driving or will it help in other scenarios?

Sources: http://www.motortrend.com/news/manufacturers-agree-make-emergency-braking-standard-2022/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2016/03/17/automatic-emergency-braking-coming-all-cars-2022/81907516/

Sayonara Scion

The biggest news that has come in 2016 so far is that Toyota is saying fair-well to its sub-brand Scion. Scion was first introduced in 2003 by Toyota to market cars for the younger buyers. These cars were fairly inexpensive and because they were marketed for a younger buyer looked flashy. Toyota has stated that the cut to Scion has nothing to do with sales. When Scion was first released they had 3 models, and now in 2015 they offered 7. Although Scion will be no more, 3 of their 7 cars will continue to be produced, but they will be now under the Toyota branding. It would be a lie if I said I’m sad to see Scion  go because all but one their cars was even remotely good looking. The one that is staying (FRS) is staying but rebadged as a Toyota. How do you feel about saying goodbye to Scion? Do you thinks it’s a good or bad move by Toyota? Drop a comment below!

Source: http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1102200_toyota-pulls-the-plug-on-scion-but-why

Z/28 v.s. GT350R

Chevrolet v.s. Ford- An argument that may never have a clear cut, knock-out winner. Both brands are the cream of the crop when producing all american muscle cars. The two newest, and fastest, muscle cars to come out of the factory from Chevy and Ford are the 2016 Z/28 Camaro and the 2016 Mustang GT350R, respectively. Both cars excel with what they were built to do-become track monsters. Let’s take a look at some specs.

Z/28

0-60mph- 4.4sec

Horsepower- 505 (7.0L V8)

1/4 mile-12.3 sec

Price- $74,000

Curb Weight- 3,585lbs

This car is built and made for the track. The tires that come stock on this car off the lot are the stickiest street legal tires made. Things like a spare tire and air conditioning are added options to save weight. The car packs a punch with over 500 horses under the hood, but at a hefty price of $74k

GT350R

0-60mph- 4.3sec

Horsepower- 526 (5.2L V8)

1/4 mile- 12.1

Price- $49,000

Curb Weight- 3,629 lbs

Like the Z/28, the all new GT350R is built to eat up the track. That’s what it was designed to do. Again to save weight, rear seats and air conditioning are both optional extras. The GT350R, like Z/28, is a fast muscle car. On paper, it is faster than the Z/28 and for a much cheaper price, too. But, it also weighs more.

Both cars make for good track cars that you can rip around the track for a few hours, and then drive it home after. Each looks great too with many curves and sleek body lines. Both have V8 power plants that push 500+ hp. Although they have high output numbers, they are very heavy cars, much like all muscle cars are. Camaro v.s. Mustang is a debate that dates back more than 40 years. There will most likely never be a conclusion on which is better. Everyone will have their own opinion and reasoning on which one is better. You really can’t go wrong with either of the two. Both will out perform your needs and leave you smiling with each corner you come out of with your foot to the floor. If I were to choose one or the other…it would be the Z/28. I love the way it looks with its aggressive front end. I’ve also loved Chevy over Ford for as long as I can remember. If you had a disposable income, which would you choose? Is there a clear cut winner? Tell me what you think!

Sources: http://www.caranddriver.com/chevrolet/camaro-z-28

http://www.caranddriver.com/ford/mustang-shelby-gt350-gt350r

Hello and Welcome,

Welcome to my blog that will be all about anything automotive. I have a true love for cars and really anything pertaining to the automotive world. This includes anything from working on cars and learning more to going to car shows and races. I also really enjoy photography which ties in very well when going to races and shows. This is what my blog is all about. I will be talking about things such as the newest cars on the market,the latest news in the car world, my opinions on features on cars, and of course, racing. Anything, everything and all the above that has to do with cars will most likely be found in my blog. I plan to post at least once a week and will also include local shows, meets and any racing events that are being held on that week.

If you have a passion for cars as much as I do, then you will enjoy my blog.

Ben Castellone