Autocar: Snow tires vs AWD in the snow…… what’s better?
Posted: February 4, 2013 Filed under: CARS 101 | Tags: All-Wheel Drive, Autocar, Cars 101, driving in snow, Mind over motor, Safety, Snow tires, Winter driving 2 Comments »Ok, the obvious answer for the best snow setup is to have an all wheel drive car that is equipped with snow tires. That’s what I personally have, and it is flawless in winter driving. This is still quite relevant though, if you can only have either snow tires or all wheel drive, then which is better?
Spoiler alert: the snow tires win. Truth be told, all wheel drive is far superior in snow for getting moving and for controlling your car in a skid. However, when it comes to braking and avoiding a skid by having grip snow tires are what you need. Too many people think all wheel drive does far more than it actually does in bad weather. It only helps you get traction when using the accelerator, other than that your car is just like any other car.
So the moral of the story is this: No matter what type of car you drive, if you drive it in snow, get some snow tires for the winter months. Safety first.
-Nick Walker
Cars 101: Video games and real driving
Posted: January 16, 2012 Filed under: CARS 101 | Tags: 2, 3, 360, a, aids, and, Best, child, Drive, Driver, driving, F1, Forza, Games, gaming, generation, Gran, How, kid, Learning, Mind, motor, Motorsport, new, Nick, Over, permit, person, Playstation, racing, real, reality, Road, Safety, school, simulation, student, teach, to, translate, Truth, Turismo, video, Walker, way, What, Xbox, young Leave a comment »
Forza's Kinect feature allows casual players to simply steer, and the game takes care of the rest. More hardcore players should stick with a controller though.
My generation was the first to grow up with video games that could really simulate reality to a high degree. There are titles out there now that can simulate the likes of ruthless combat, dog fighting a fighter jet, and of course racing a car. Every generation after us will continue to grow up with these simulating games, and will wind up trying to use the experience they have gained in these games when it comes time to get behind the wheel for real. Many people out there do not believe such games hold any real merit in such skills as driving a car, but they would be hugely mistaken. Much can be learned from experience in realistic video games, but it is important to understand what translates into reality and what does not. Read the rest of this entry »
Cars 101: Proper Lane Merging
Posted: July 22, 2011 Filed under: CARS 101 | Tags: Change, defensive, Drive, driving, idiots, lane, laws, merging, Mind over motor, on, proper, Road, Safety, smart, the, to, Traffic, way Leave a comment »
Merge Sign
This is one of those things that should be simple and not worth talking about, but during my daily commute I have realized that it is, in fact, beyond the comprehension of a rather alarming number of people. Read the rest of this entry »
Why should you care about cars? The answer may surprise you.
Posted: June 20, 2011 Filed under: AUTOMOTIVE INSIGHTS | Tags: bad driver, car problems, Cars, driving, good driver, Mind over motor, Road, Safety, Test, Value for money Leave a comment »
The Beautiful Girl in the Ferrari from National Lampoons American Vacation, looks like she's having some fun 
The automobile is an integral part of our existence, so important that all of the “developed world” is based around it. Most people that are able to read this article drive cars on a regular, if not daily, basis. It is estimated that the average American spends over 500 hours per year traveling in a car, the same figure is around half that in Europe. That is a rather large amount of your life if you think about it, so if you are going to devote such a large amount of time to something like driving a car, surely you should take at least some interest in it. In my opinion you would be a fool not too because if you aren’t thoroughly enjoying those 500 or so hours then what are you doing with all that time? It will actually improve your quality of life if you take an interest in cars or driving. Read the rest of this entry »
