Duncan Ville

Archive for the ‘Cars’ Category

A car exhaust system directs the flow of the products of combustion to the environment. As such, its primary function is reduce that noise that emits from the car as the engine runs. An engine that has no exhaust system is very noisy indeed as all the piston noises are transmitted directly to the outside air. Since this is already a sound control system, most manufacturer build exhausts that allow some controlled noise to pass through that is often a low, throaty roar that is pleasing to hear and produces a feeling of power to those who hear it. This make these exhaust systems desirable.

The second function of an exhaust system is the conditioning of the exhaust air to reduce emission of harmful gases like carbon monoxide through the action of catalytic converters. Almost all countries these days require all cars to use these converters for environmental purposes. The catalysts in the converters causes most of the harmful gases to react with other gases, reducing them into generally harmless gases like water or carbon dioxide. For more information on the functions of an exhaust system, there are exhaust tips featured in some websites. These sites can be invaluable for the average person.

Joe and I had parked the 4×4 at a small pullout next to the public access area and were uncasing our shotguns. The road in was ravaged; it was full of nasty ruts and gravel mounds, and the last 100 yards were especially treacherous because it dropped so steeply. As I slipped on my game vest, I heard the sound of another engine, and when I looked up I could see the driver was having trouble coming down the trail.
“Joe,” I yelled. “Get out of the way!”
Joe leaped behind our truck as the vehicle careened by and bounced off a huge tree. Fortunately, the driver wasn’t hurt, but his new truck had a nasty dent in the front quarter panel. He climbed out and said,”Sorry boys. Didn’t mean to make you jump like that. I don’t understand it. I just put new offroad tires on this thing.”
New tires or not, if you don’t pay attention to the trail, trouble will always find you. Later, when I stopped by to talk with Steve White, light-truck tire marketing manager at Uniroyal, and tell him the story, he said, “That guy made a classic mistake. He relied on technology rather than common sense to get him out of trouble “Yeah,”I said,”I see that a lot.”
“What people forget,” White said, “is that good tires are only part of the package.You also need to hone your offroad driving skills. And you begin with equipment every driver already hast “And that would be?” “Your eyes. You need to know what to do with your eyes. Too many people simply stare straight ahead, focusing only on what is immediately in front of the vehicle. Wrong! You should be using your eyes to gather much more information. For instance, what’s on each side of the truck? Are there sharp rocks or overhanging tree limbs? What about cactus? You need to know this. Take a look down the trail. What’s coming up? Deep ruts, a blind turn? Do you have an obstacle that you need to steer around? Or can you drive over it? You need to know this too, so trail challenges don’t come as a surprise.
“Always try to keep in mind what I call ‘the picture; which I define as where I want the truck to go, not where it currently is. That’s a big difference, but if you can do it, you’ll avoid a lot of trouble.
“In order to see ‘the picture,’ you need to be seated comfortably in the vehicle. You shouldn’t have to strain to reach the pedals or steering wheel, and you should be able to clearly see the gauges as well as the mirrors. Drivers who aren’t comfortable will get atigued, and this affects your ability to control the vehicle.”
The next step, according to White, is to drive the vehicle with the correct speed and rhythm. When you get it right, you should be able to hold a full cup of water without spilling it as you drive.
“You need to learn how to accelerate properly,” he continued. “Too many offroaders employ a herky-jerky on- and off-throttle type of driving.This only upsets the balance of the vehicle. Instead, gently accelerate to a level where you can keep relatively steady pressure on the accelerator. Make only subtle adjustments to slow down or speed
“Do all of your braking before you get to a turn, hole, or whatever it is that is forcing you to slow the vehicle. Remember, your brakes are going to be a lot more sensitive to locking up in dirt or sand because the tires have less traction. Make the braking action as subtle and as smooth as possible. if you do encounter a crisis, brake hard— just to the point of lockup. At that point, gently ease off the brakes in small increments to allow the tires to maintain traction, but keep enough pressure on the pedal to continue to slow down the vehicle. Once the vehicle starts to skid, you may have a tough time trying to recover because offroad situations can have minimal traction to begin with.
“Obviously the slower you’re going when you get in a panic situation, the easier it will be to deal with. In bct, one of the major difficulties in trying to execute turns in offroad situations is excess speed. In many cases, the driver is not aware of vehicle speed—and most diivers are going much faster than they think.When that happens, you’ll find that the truck wants to keep going straight ahead rather than turn in the direction you are steering.
“That’s what I call a skid,” I said. “Right. And it’s trouble, so slow down.”