Most car engines are up to 6 cylinder in length – most larger engines are in a V formation – V8 and V12, which are 4 and 6 in length. These big Vs are sadly being phased out due to stricter emissions controls and at the other end of the scale, there have been two and three cylinder engines in smaller post war cars however in the last 40 years, most engines have been 4, 6 or 8 … [Read more...]
Rezvani Beast
In days of old when a car company wanted to give their cars a feel of performance or agility, they would name it after an animal, think Jaguar or Panther. Sometimes they woud use an animal as a branding design (Ferrari or Lamborghini) or name their cars after fast animals: Cobra, Mustang, Gazelle or Lynx. Then came the competition, a Mangusta (Mongoose) was the enemy of the … [Read more...]
Australians buy clutchless cars!
Wow, I thought, a world first and then I realised what I was reading was another example of the art of journalism dying a slow death. Yesterday the Australian Financial Review (AFR) published an article in print entitled "Manual cars to become a rarity as frayed commuters drop the clutch" and online it was called "Manual cars face extinction as congestion triggers a clutch … [Read more...]
Honda Changes The Top Man
Honda is to replace its President mid year. Back in February, Takanobu Ito announced that he would stand down after 5 years in the role. His decision came after a difficult year of recalls - some related to the Takata airbag failures and several profit warnings. To make it worse, sales have been dropping, possibly as a consequence of the recalls and quality issues that have … [Read more...]
Honda VTEC Engine
VTEC stands for Variable Valve Timing and Electronic Lift Control and was Honda’s answer to increasing power from small capacity engines. Due to tax implications, the Japanese manufacturers needed to producer smaller engines than their European or American competitors but needed to have similar power and performance. Other manufacturers used turbos or rotary engines, Honda … [Read more...]
