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Honda, Ford, GM, Nissan have all published letters to their mechanics which state "do not perform engine flushes" or transmission flushes or fuel injector cleaners. They say such flushes may kill or damage an engine or transmissions or injectors. (In other words, no "engine cleaning" additives...

About a month ago I went to testdrive a CR-Z (hybrid). The sales manager rode along, but would not let me take the car more than one exit on the interstate. I also testdrove a Prius, and it was the same deal. I said to both these guys, "I spend all my time on the interstate. How am I supposed...

Black oil on a black stick. Hmmm. I have no dam clue how full it is...... on my Dodge the stick was light gray & therefore obvious where the oil "line" was located. (Poor design by Honda IMHO)

"You see vehicles aging faster than they used to..... when you see a vehicle in its 3rd year, 4th year, then it's old news." "A good time to buy a car is end-of-year in November/December. The best time is August..... the time to sell a car is March in the spring."

Includes three diesels, a tiny 3-cyl. turbo and a battery-electric vehicle. To be honest none of these engines really impress me, except the three-cylinder engine (rated 45mpg highway) and the diesel from Chevrolet. I can't figure out why Ford only gets 45 when Honda's 3 cylinder from 2000-06...

wikipedia: "The two spark plugs in each cylinder can fire either sequentially or simultaneously, enabling more efficient burning during lean-burn mode and more often lean-burn operation. The engine can operate at a lean 22:1 air-to-fuel ratio more than 60 percent of the time on a flat road...

My manual provides no answer. How often should timing chains be replaced? 200,000 miles? 300,000?

I spent $8000 in gasoline & diesel since I moved to California (two years). That's about half the cost of a new car (compact, base model). I have reached the conclusion that fuel is the major component of ownership, and cars are now essentially disposable appliances (like refrigerators, stoves...

Some say "yes because there's no oil pressure to form a protective oil wedge." (Belt-driven pumps stop spinning.) Others say "no because there's still an oil film between the metal parts even at 0 rpm.". I have no bleedin' idea which side is correct, but for now I have disabled the idle stop...

Here's the Ford Focus EV with chrome grill. I am expecting the new 2015 gasoline model to look the same. Base pricetag was $16,000..... don't know if that will change with the new look.

Re: this chart and the Prius..... If its okay to run Toyota 0w20 in the G2 why can't it be run in the G1 (2001-2003). It's the same engine!

What is the thinnest xW-20 oil at operating temperatures (hot & going down the interstate). Also affordable..... The Sustina I searched is about $35 per five-quart jug. (For comparison Toyota oil is $26.) I'd also be wiling to run xW-16 if it's available somewhere.

According to the ACEEE's website greenercars.org, even with the damage caused by making & recycling Nickle or Lithium batteries, the complete lifecycle of hybrid cars still rank them as "cleaner" than conventional cars: SCORE (out of 100 where 100== no pollution) 58 Prius C 57 Fit EV 55 Prius &...

That Versa I posted a few days ago is cheap (~12,500 out the door), but I frankly don't like its looks. BELOW is the cheap disposable car I would buy instead. Drive it over 200,000 miles & when it needs a major $1000 repair or service, then dump it: $14,000 list price - manual shift, A/C, power...

This new standard is now official, and supposedly hits the market after Christmas, but I'm not clear on what it's supposed to be. Is it a 0w-16 oil? Or a straight 16 weight oil? I would guess "0w-16". I wonder why the SAE didn't just name it "0w-16" for the sake of consistency with ~100 years of...

Video Link: {removed due to profanity in comments. ALWAYS embed your youtube videos to prevent them from being removed} --- "Your engine is a better heater than a motivator. 60% of the gas you buy goes into creating heat." --- Sounds like good reason to move to a cold climate, so that heater can...

Note: I think every DI owner should be running Top Tier gasoline to keep these high-pressure injectors. (Or adding cetane boost if it's a diesel.) "According to my watch the internal combustion engine should be in its grave by now, replaced by electrics & hybrids..... but something happened on...

Link: http://youtu.be/5Su56abkiWY?t=11m49s 5. Lane Departure warning : "IIHS finds it causes more accidents" 4. Self Parking : "You can't handle a car at 2 miles/hour? Why are you driving?" 3. Sports & Stocks : "Waste" 2. Navigation : "Not as good as what's on your phone. For free." 1...

Just wonderin'. I guess a 6000 mile Used oil analysis is the same but double the wear PPM (parts per million)?

They plan to make the internal combustion engine as efficient as possible (like increasing pressure to 14:1), rather than spend money on researching electrics or hybrids. The other companies can waste money (like Honda's failed insight & failed accord hybrid)...