December 22nd, 2008 admin
What Does Supercharging A Car Mean?
Supercharging your vehicle means that you’re increasing its horsepower. Once you do it, it can launch from a dead stop and accelerate quickly. A lot of people think that supercharging is a relatively recent option. In fact, it’s been around since the 1930′s. Back then, the problem was that giving your car a healthy boost in horsepower was extremely expensive. Plus, the technology that was used was beyond the abilities of most mechanics. In short, if you wanted to supercharge your car, you had to have a lot of money and an advanced auto technician available.
Over the last several decades, the process has evolved dramatically. The technology is far more accessible to mechanics and the cost of doing the job has decreased substantially. You don’t have to be rich in order to have it done. Below, I’ll describe how supercharged car enjoys more horsepower. I’ll also explain how that translates into better performance.
How Supercharging Works
As you know, your engine goes through a combustion process while you’re driving. That process begins when the intake valve opens. In a conventional system (that is, a system that hasn’t been supercharged), the piston lowers and creates a vacuum into the chamber in which combustion takes place. That vacuum sucks in the air and gas.
In an engine that has been supercharged, the vacuum is still created. But, rather than waiting for the air and gas to be sucked into the chamber, both are pushed into it. Car enthusiasts will know that the pressure that’s directly responsible for the “push” is called the boost. For the average motorist, it’s enough to know that the boost is what provides the extra horsepower.
How It Improves Performance
When the air and gas is pushed into the combustion chamber, the mixture is compressed due to the pressure. That means there’s more air and gas present for combustion than what be available in a conventional engine. The mixture’s compressed density creates a more potent eruption. That explosive quality of the compressed mixture creates the jump in energy which propels your vehicle.
You may have seen drag races or similar events in which the vehicles seem to practically jump off the starting line. That’s caused by the supercharged explosion within the cars’ combustion chambers.
So, how much extra power can you squeeze out of your engine from supercharging it? On a traditional engine, you can expect to enjoy over 50% more horsepower. And if you have your mechanic make other modifications (for example, changing the camshafts), the difference in power will be even more dramatic. If you need the speed, think about supercharging the engine.
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October 12th, 2008 admin
The 1970 Plymouth Cuda Muscle Car
The 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda with a 340 V8 pumping out about 300 horsepower.
The Plymouth Cuda is a 38-year-old car muscle car, that accelerates on a dime. The fun part of muscle cars is the speed. The Plymouth Cuda still holds up today 38 years later as a pure acceleration and adrenliane rush.
“These cars were made to go super-fast in a straight line. It will outrun all but the fastest modern-day sports cars,” says Girardin, who is at the wheel of one his family’s collection of Chrysler muscle cars. “But they are not great in the corners and the brakes aren’t what you’re used to in a modern car.”
The engine has an incredible sound, more like that of a powerboat with an inboard V8 than a car. Plus, the Cuda has some macho touches from the ’60s era — the 340 we are taking for a spin has a pistol grip shifter for the four-speed transmission.
Hemi V8 engines were a $900 option in the 1970 Cuda, almost 25% of the car’s original price. Few people bought them. That year, there were only 44 Hemi Cudas sold in Canada. Not many survive.
Muscle cars from the late 1960s and early 1970s are just about the most collectible and valuable American cars of the post-war era.
“They’ve gone up tremendously in the last five years as Baby Boomers buy the cars that remind them of their youth,”
A 1970 Hemi Cuda is worth at least $200,000, a mint one maybe double that, although the ongoing near-recession in the United States has meant a fall in prices for muscle cars.
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October 10th, 2008 admin
The 2009 Dodge Challenger
The 2009 Dodge Challenger is a Muscle Car, testosterone filled and retro-styled car.
From its bold, 1970s muscle car styling to its throaty, loud Hemi V-8, the Challenger in top SRT8 dress is an awesome display of brawn and power.
Push the accelerator pedal, and passengers’ heads instantly get sucked back into the head restraints as the hefty Challenger lurches forward. Rear tires can squeal and smoke at aggressive startup, and the big steering wheel requires some dialing to direct the car, just like the Challenger of old.
Never mind that the four-passenger, 2009 version of Challenger is a gasoline hog in these days of fuel savings and environmentalism.
It’s so politically incorrect in today’s world, it’s nearly cool.
And men — young and old — materialize around it like magic. Young guys took pictures of the test car with their cell phones, while baby boomers recounted stories of what they drove in the 1960s and ’70s when muscle cars were the rage.
Too bad the new Challenger doesn’t come with the price tag of the original 1970-74 Challenger.
Starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price, including destination charge, is $21,995 for a base, 2009 Challenger SE with 250-horsepower V-6. The most powerful and iconic Challenger is the top-of-the-line SRT8 with 425-horsepower Hemi V-8 and a starting retail price of $39,995.
This compares with the 2009 Ford Mustang that starts at $20,790 with V-6 and rockets to $44,780 in top-of-the-line, V-8-powered Shelby GT500 Cobra form.
Next year, Chevrolet officials plan to revive their Camaro muscle car for what is shaping up as a celebratory comeback of ’60s and ’70s power machines from Detroit automakers.
But this year’s oil price hikes, jittery stock market and consumers worried about the economy have taken some air out of the sales prospects for the devil-may-care retro cars.
Still, shoppers with the money and a certain “so-what” attitude about greenhouse gases and oil revenues or a bursting need to relive the boomer heydays can enjoy the Challenger as a remarkably well-designed muscle car with the best attributes of yesterday and today.
Based generally on the underpinnings of the Dodge Charger sedan, the Challenger is a bit shorter in length and lower in height.
Continue the story here:
Source:http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/101008/liv_478852.shtml
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