Car loans is known as by way of a great deal of folks as a very good ways to enhance credit rating. Here's just how. Automobile loans really are a form of attached mortgage loan, since the vehicle can be a equity with the loan provider up until the cash is certainly not returned Professional diagnositic tools. If your customer ceases to pay back just how much, the auto is obtained by the loan provider and may become resold to extract the amount of money. This may cause the actual signing process just a little relaxed, and thus pushing belly up or perhaps poor credit record website visitors to do it now. Additionally because personal retains paying for your borrowed sum, his or her credit rating starts enhancing as well as begins his trip toward financial recovery.
Receiving Capital Following Bankruptcy
The best choice playing these is a a bad credit score auto loan. The peculiarity with this type of home loan is that the interest rate incurred will be above what's normally common out there. Nevertheless, the primary reason this sort of loan were only available in lifestyle is usually to supply belly up individuals with financing as required. Funds creditors offering financing below this particular classification furthermore focus on people who have a mortgage home foreclosure, possess a low credit score ratings or possibly a a bad credit score historical past.
The two kinds of lenders to the enterprise of delivering bad credit car loans are:
Sub-prime Creditors
The sub-prime lender problems loans at a larger interest rate compared to the latest interest common out there. This is because the actual borrower has a a bad credit score history and probability of him defaulting will also be relatively increased. The interest charges are certainly not exceedingly substantial and normally inexpensive by simply many people.
Hard-money Lender
Any hard-money lender works differently through normal money loan companies. There aren't any identification or perhaps criminal background checks continued people just before lending all of them cash. This is simply not the case with sub-prime loan providers. Because of this, rates include the top, since are likewise likelihood of defaulting settlement. Since there are zero background record checks, any hard-money financial institution can ask for a security before financial income.
Because easygoing because they funds loan companies are, it should be observed that folks developing a credit history under Five hundred will have much less odds of acquiring financial products from all of these locations. It might be eminent for that person to complete any credit score improvement 1st and after that check for auto financing together with a bad credit score. Getting a guaranteed plastic card is considered to be one of the better means of increasing credit history.
Organizing
Arranging is very important as it helps the individual to discover simply how much sum he'll be able to pay each month, for paying the actual coppied sum together with interest. Before you apply to the bank loan, execute a formula depending on monthly earnings along with expenditure after which choose the nearly all achievable financial alternative from accessible alternatives.
Visit a car loan Loan company
You'll discover to become a few number of car loans loan companies inside the area, that specialize in financing money to the people who have eliminated insolvent as well as have a a bad credit score historical past. Learn these kind of specialists and tactic them to take credit. This is a better option rather than visiting any nearby vehicle car lot.
Undergo Credit history
Anybody searching for vehicle capital while having poor credit or being broke must ideally go through their credit report and be sure most balances and money is in position. Introducing another site outlining factors to cause of bankruptcy to the credit history is not such a undesirable notion. This offers the financial institution the opportunity to lower his or her rates of interest in case he or she discovers the main reason genuine sufficient.
Mortgage refinancing
Once you have the money, the individual must consistently check for refinancing options which will keep to arrive the longer term. This can be useful as it can lessen interest rates furnished car diagnosis tool the person has been bill paying promptly and his awesome credit standing provides improved over a period of time.
Vehicle financing right after proclaiming individual bankruptcy is an easy matter an activity and many belly up men and women get these refinancing options usually. There are many packages and corporations specialized in assist bankrupt individuals to come out of their own economic bad times thus there isnrrrt considerably to concern yourself with.
2012年8月13日星期一
2012年8月6日星期一
Engineer in Pakistan Claims to Have Invented Water-Fuelled Car
Pakistani officials who have failed for years to fix the country’s rampant energy shortages have latched on to a local engineer’s dubious claim to have invented a water-fuelled car, sparking criticism from experts who bemoan what the episode says about the sorry state of the government.
Excitement over the supposed discovery has been fueled by sensationalist TV talk show hosts, who have hailed the middle-aged engineer, Agha Waqar Ahmed, as a national hero and gushed about the billions of dollars Pakistan could save on oil imports.
Several prominent Pakistani scientists have also jumped on the bandwagon, including the head of the government’s top scientific council and another state-run science foundation.
The only catch seems to be that developing a vehicle that efficiently runs on water defies the basic laws of physics, detractors say. Critical Pakistani scientists say it is the car’s battery, not the water, that’s key to powering the vehicle. That has done little to dent the hype surrounding Ahmed’s invention.
“Demonstration of water-fuelled car astonishes experts,” read the headline in Dawn newspaper at the end of July after the engineer drove his vehicle in front of a crowd of over 100 Pakistani officials, engineers, scientists and journalists at a sprawling sports complex in Islamabad.
Ahmed began the demonstration by disconnecting the rubber hose that fed gasoline into the car’s engine and replacing it with a tube connected to his “water kit.” The engineer says the kit powers the car through the process of electrolysis, whereby a current from the battery passes through distilled water filled with electrolytes, separating out the hydrogen from the oxygen. The hydrogen, which is combustible, is fed into the engine to power it, he added.
“You will see a revolution in Pakistan if we use this technology,” said Ahmed. “Most of our problems are due to shortage of electricity and the increasing energy crisis.”
Pakistan suffers from severe electricity shortages, with some parts of the country experiencing blackouts for up to 20 hours per day. There are various reasons for the crisis, but a core problem has been a shortage of fuel oil and natural gas to run power plants. Natural gas is also used to power many cars in Pakistan.
The power shortages regularly spark protests by citizens angry at the country’s politicians, many of whom are seen as corrupt, and more concerned with keeping power than solving the country’s problems.
One of Ahmed’s biggest supporters has been the religious affairs minister, Khurshid Shah, who like him is from southern Sindh province. Shah drove the engineer’s car during his demonstration and said he was amazed by the performance of the water kit.
“Personally, I am happy and satisfied, and I hope this technology can help in overcoming the energy problems,” said Shah.
He said Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, who used to be the minister for water and power, praised the project and directed a subcommittee of the Cabinet to study its feasibility. The prime minister’s spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Shaukat Pervez, chairman of the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, praised Ahmed and said “this is a feasible project.” His counterpart at the Pakistan Science Foundation, also a government body, hailed the engineer’s work as “an extraordinary breakthrough” and said it would be examined carefully.
Other scientists were distinctly less impressed with Ahmed’s invention.
“In a few short days, he has exposed just how far Pakistan has fallen into the pit of ignorance and self-delusion,” prominent Pakistani physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy wrote in an op-ed in The Express Tribune newspaper on Friday. “No practical joker could have demonstrated more dramatically the true nature of our country’s political leaders, popular TV anchors and famed scientists.”
Khurshid Hasanain, chairman of the physics department at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, called Ahmed’s claim of inventing a water-fuelled car “nonsensical” because there was no net energy gain from the electrolysis process. He said the amount of energy it takes to split the hydrogen in water from the oxygen is the same or more than you get from burning the hydrogen that is produced – according to the basic laws of thermodynamics – so the battery is effectively running the car and will eventually run out.
Many car companies around the world have been experimenting with fuel cells powered by tanks of pure hydrogen to produce vehicles with greater gas mileage and lower emissions than those that use gasoline. But they have struggled with the lack of hydrogen fueling stations and with the fact that hydrogen is expensive to produce.
Hoodbhoy said the water-fuelled car farce had picked up momentum in Pakistan because “our leaders are lost in the dark, fumbling desperately for a miracle; our media is chasing spectacle, not truth; and our great scientists care more about being important than about evidence.”
At least one person chose to approach the episode with a sense of humor.
“Why are people whining that `laws of thermodynamics cannot be violated?’” tweeted a satirist who goes by the name majorlyprofound. “Tell me one law in Pakistan that has not been violated?”
Excitement over the supposed discovery has been fueled by sensationalist TV talk show hosts, who have hailed the middle-aged engineer, Agha Waqar Ahmed, as a national hero and gushed about the billions of dollars Pakistan could save on oil imports.
Several prominent Pakistani scientists have also jumped on the bandwagon, including the head of the government’s top scientific council and another state-run science foundation.
The only catch seems to be that developing a vehicle that efficiently runs on water defies the basic laws of physics, detractors say. Critical Pakistani scientists say it is the car’s battery, not the water, that’s key to powering the vehicle. That has done little to dent the hype surrounding Ahmed’s invention.
“Demonstration of water-fuelled car astonishes experts,” read the headline in Dawn newspaper at the end of July after the engineer drove his vehicle in front of a crowd of over 100 Pakistani officials, engineers, scientists and journalists at a sprawling sports complex in Islamabad.
Ahmed began the demonstration by disconnecting the rubber hose that fed gasoline into the car’s engine and replacing it with a tube connected to his “water kit.” The engineer says the kit powers the car through the process of electrolysis, whereby a current from the battery passes through distilled water filled with electrolytes, separating out the hydrogen from the oxygen. The hydrogen, which is combustible, is fed into the engine to power it, he added.
“You will see a revolution in Pakistan if we use this technology,” said Ahmed. “Most of our problems are due to shortage of electricity and the increasing energy crisis.”
Pakistan suffers from severe electricity shortages, with some parts of the country experiencing blackouts for up to 20 hours per day. There are various reasons for the crisis, but a core problem has been a shortage of fuel oil and natural gas to run power plants. Natural gas is also used to power many cars in Pakistan.
The power shortages regularly spark protests by citizens angry at the country’s politicians, many of whom are seen as corrupt, and more concerned with keeping power than solving the country’s problems.
One of Ahmed’s biggest supporters has been the religious affairs minister, Khurshid Shah, who like him is from southern Sindh province. Shah drove the engineer’s car during his demonstration and said he was amazed by the performance of the water kit.
“Personally, I am happy and satisfied, and I hope this technology can help in overcoming the energy problems,” said Shah.
He said Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, who used to be the minister for water and power, praised the project and directed a subcommittee of the Cabinet to study its feasibility. The prime minister’s spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Shaukat Pervez, chairman of the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, praised Ahmed and said “this is a feasible project.” His counterpart at the Pakistan Science Foundation, also a government body, hailed the engineer’s work as “an extraordinary breakthrough” and said it would be examined carefully.
Other scientists were distinctly less impressed with Ahmed’s invention.
“In a few short days, he has exposed just how far Pakistan has fallen into the pit of ignorance and self-delusion,” prominent Pakistani physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy wrote in an op-ed in The Express Tribune newspaper on Friday. “No practical joker could have demonstrated more dramatically the true nature of our country’s political leaders, popular TV anchors and famed scientists.”
Khurshid Hasanain, chairman of the physics department at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, called Ahmed’s claim of inventing a water-fuelled car “nonsensical” because there was no net energy gain from the electrolysis process. He said the amount of energy it takes to split the hydrogen in water from the oxygen is the same or more than you get from burning the hydrogen that is produced – according to the basic laws of thermodynamics – so the battery is effectively running the car and will eventually run out.
Many car companies around the world have been experimenting with fuel cells powered by tanks of pure hydrogen to produce vehicles with greater gas mileage and lower emissions than those that use gasoline. But they have struggled with the lack of hydrogen fueling stations and with the fact that hydrogen is expensive to produce.
Hoodbhoy said the water-fuelled car farce had picked up momentum in Pakistan because “our leaders are lost in the dark, fumbling desperately for a miracle; our media is chasing spectacle, not truth; and our great scientists care more about being important than about evidence.”
At least one person chose to approach the episode with a sense of humor.
“Why are people whining that `laws of thermodynamics cannot be violated?’” tweeted a satirist who goes by the name majorlyprofound. “Tell me one law in Pakistan that has not been violated?”
Top 10 Family-Friendly Car Features
Today's parents need more than a rear entertainment system in a car to consider it a family-friendly vehicle. Parents need features that will make their lives easier — not just something that entertains the kids on long road trips. Here are some of our favorite family-friendly features.
10. Easy-to-Use Latch System
Parents shouldn't have to launch a search party just to find lower Latch anchors that are buried under seat cushions. Few automakers offer Latch systems Car Diagnostic Tools that are easy to use, but some do get it right. We like the Latch systems in the 2011 Mercedes-Benz E350 wagon, 2010 Chevy Traverse and 2011 Toyota Avalon.9. Flip-Up Trash Bin Ring
The 2011 Honda Odyssey has a lot of family-friendly touches. One of our favorites is the second row's trash bin ring that can hold a plastic grocery store bag. When the little mess-makers — er, kids — aren't in the minivan, the ring can be flipped down out of the way.8. Ford's MyKey
This safety feature from Ford allows parents to keep a modicum of control over their teen drivers — even when they're not in the passenger seat. With this programmable key, parents can limit the car's top speed and radio volume. It also allows Mom or Dad to block explicit satellite radio stations.7. Integrated Sunshades
This seems like such a minor feature, but retractable window shades mean no more fiddling with aftermarket shades that barely cover the rear windows and don't keep the sun out of a napping child's eyes.6. Easy-Folding Third Row
The last thing a parent wants to wrestle with in a car is the third row. With the 2011 Toyota Sienna, the third row can be quickly folded into the floor with minimal effort. If you go for a higher trim level, you can get a power-folding third row in the minivan. What could be easier?5. Power Sliding Doors
Minivans win out when it comes to their power sliding doors, which make it easy for kids to get in and out of the car on their own with just the push of a button. Another bonus is it removes the chance that your overzealous child will fling open a car door into another car in a parking lot.4. Inflatable Seat Belt
This safety feature is found in the backseat of the all-new 2011 Ford Explorer. The optional seat belts look like traditional seat belts, but in a crash they inflate to help distribute crash forces across a greater area on the passenger's chest.3. Seat Belt Icon
Parents need all the help they can get, and some automakers — Cadillac and Jaguar — are helping out by providing a simple icon in a car's instrument panel that indicates who's buckled up in the backseat. This is especially useful if you have an escape artist who likes to quietly unbuckle his seat belt.2. Backup Cameras
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently proposed that by 2014 all cars must have a 180-degree view around the car Vehicle Diagnostic equipment, which means requiring backup cameras on new cars. Backup cameras are a safety feature that can save lives — usually the lives of children ages 5 and younger.1. Expanding Second Row
Leave it to Honda to score our top spot. In all but the base model, the 2011 Odyssey's second-row seats can be moved together to form a bench seat that will easily hold three child-safety seats. If you have adults riding in that position, the seats can be moved apart to create three individual seats and some shoulder room.NASA Lands Car-Size Rover Beside Martian Mountain
NASA's most advanced Mars rover Curiosity has landed on the Red Planet. The one-ton rover, hanging by ropes from a rocket backpack, touched down onto Mars Sunday to end a 36-week flight and begin a two-year investigation.
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft that carried Curiosity succeeded in every step of the most complex landing ever attempted on Mars, including the final severing of the bridle cords and flyaway maneuver of the rocket backpack.
An image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured the Curiosity rover still connected to its 51-foot (almost 16 meter)-wide parachute as it descended toward its landing site at Gale Crater.
"If HiRISE took the image one second before or one second after, we probably would be looking at an empty Martian landscape," said Sarah Milkovich, HiRISE investigation scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "When you consider that we have been working on this sequence since March and had to upload commands to the spacecraft about 72 hours prior to the image being taken, you begin to realize how challenging this picture was to obtain."
"Guess you could consider us the closest thing to paparazzi on Mars," said Milkovich. "We definitely caught NASA's newest celebrity in the act."
The wheels of Curiosity have begun to blaze the trail for human footprints on Mars said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "Curiosity, the most sophisticated rover ever built, is now on the surface of the Red Planet, where it will seek to answer age-old questions about whether life ever existed on Mars -- or if the planet can sustain life in the future. This is an amazing achievement, made possible by a team of scientists and engineers from around the world and led by the extraordinary men and women of NASA and our Jet Propulsion Laboratory. President Obama has laid out a bold vision for sending humans to Mars in the mid-2030's, and today's landing marks a significant step toward achieving this goal," said Bolden.
Curiosity landed at 9:32 p.m. Sunday Alaska time Aug. 5, ( and 1:32 a.m. Monday, EDT Aug. 6) near the foot of a mountain three miles tall and 96 miles in diameter inside Gale Crater. During a nearly two-year prime mission, the rover will investigate whether the region ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life.
"The Seven Minutes of Terror has turned into the Seven Minutes of Triumph," said NASA Associate Administrator for Science John Grunsfeld. "My immense joy in the success of this mission is matched only by overwhelming pride I feel for the women and men of the mission's team."
Curiosity returned its first view of Mars, a wide-angle scene of rocky ground near the front of the rover. More images are anticipated in the next several days as the mission blends observations of the landing site with activities to configure the rover for work and check the performance of its instruments and mechanisms.
"Our Curiosity is talking to us from the surface of Mars," said MSL Project Manager Peter Theisinger of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "The landing takes us past the most hazardous moments for this project, and begins a new and exciting mission to pursue its scientific objectives."
Confirmation of Curiosity's successful landing came in communications relayed by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter and received by the Canberra, Australia, antenna station of NASA's Deep Space Network.
Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science payloads on the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the tools are the first of their kind on Mars, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking elemental composition of rocks from a distance. The rover will use a drill and scoop at the end of its robotic arm to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into analytical laboratory instruments inside the rover.
To handle this science toolkit, Curiosity is twice as long and five times as heavy as Spirit or Opportunity. The Gale Crater landing site places the rover within driving distance of layers of the crater's interior mountain. Observations from orbit have identified clay and sulfate minerals in the lower layers, indicating a wet history.
The mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL.
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft that carried Curiosity succeeded in every step of the most complex landing ever attempted on Mars, including the final severing of the bridle cords and flyaway maneuver of the rocket backpack.
An image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured the Curiosity rover still connected to its 51-foot (almost 16 meter)-wide parachute as it descended toward its landing site at Gale Crater.
"If HiRISE took the image one second before or one second after, we probably would be looking at an empty Martian landscape," said Sarah Milkovich, HiRISE investigation scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "When you consider that we have been working on this sequence since March and had to upload commands to the spacecraft about 72 hours prior to the image being taken, you begin to realize how challenging this picture was to obtain."
The Curiosity rover still connected to its 51-foot (almost 16 meter)-wide parachute as it descended toward its landing site at Gale Crater.
The image was taken while MRO was 211 miles (340 kilometers) away from the parachuting rover. Curiosity and its rocket-propelled backpack, contained within the conical-shaped back shell, had not deployed yet. At the time, Curiosity was about two miles (three kilometers) above the Martian surface. "Guess you could consider us the closest thing to paparazzi on Mars," said Milkovich. "We definitely caught NASA's newest celebrity in the act."
The wheels of Curiosity have begun to blaze the trail for human footprints on Mars said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "Curiosity, the most sophisticated rover ever built, is now on the surface of the Red Planet, where it will seek to answer age-old questions about whether life ever existed on Mars -- or if the planet can sustain life in the future. This is an amazing achievement, made possible by a team of scientists and engineers from around the world and led by the extraordinary men and women of NASA and our Jet Propulsion Laboratory. President Obama has laid out a bold vision for sending humans to Mars in the mid-2030's, and today's landing marks a significant step toward achieving this goal," said Bolden.
Curiosity landed at 9:32 p.m. Sunday Alaska time Aug. 5, ( and 1:32 a.m. Monday, EDT Aug. 6) near the foot of a mountain three miles tall and 96 miles in diameter inside Gale Crater. During a nearly two-year prime mission, the rover will investigate whether the region ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life.
"The Seven Minutes of Terror has turned into the Seven Minutes of Triumph," said NASA Associate Administrator for Science John Grunsfeld. "My immense joy in the success of this mission is matched only by overwhelming pride I feel for the women and men of the mission's team."
Curiosity returned its first view of Mars, a wide-angle scene of rocky ground near the front of the rover. More images are anticipated in the next several days as the mission blends observations of the landing site with activities to configure the rover for work and check the performance of its instruments and mechanisms.
"Our Curiosity is talking to us from the surface of Mars," said MSL Project Manager Peter Theisinger of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "The landing takes us past the most hazardous moments for this project, and begins a new and exciting mission to pursue its scientific objectives."
Confirmation of Curiosity's successful landing came in communications relayed by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter and received by the Canberra, Australia, antenna station of NASA's Deep Space Network.
Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science payloads on the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the tools are the first of their kind on Mars, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking elemental composition of rocks from a distance. The rover will use a drill and scoop at the end of its robotic arm to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into analytical laboratory instruments inside the rover.
To handle this science toolkit, Curiosity is twice as long and five times as heavy as Spirit or Opportunity. The Gale Crater landing site places the rover within driving distance of layers of the crater's interior mountain. Observations from orbit have identified clay and sulfate minerals in the lower layers, indicating a wet history.
The mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL.
Top 10 Road Trip Tips
The great American road trip has a vaunted place in this country's history, and rightfully so. After all, we've been hitting the open road since the days when the family wagon had "Conestoga" chiseled on the wood panels.
Every road trip is memorable in its own way. Many of those memories Vehicle Diagnostic equipment, though, include overheating engines, circling vultures and expensive stays at bed-lice-ridden motels in two-bit towns — moments most of us would have preferred to avoid.
In that spirit, here are our Top 10 Road Trip Tips.
May the remembrances of your next road trip bring a smile to your face, rather than inducing a bad case of post-traumatic stress.
Tom and Ray Magliozzi
Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers
1. Get Your Car Checked Out
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Or, put another way, do you want to risk passing through the digestive system of wolves because of a loose hose clamp? We didn't think so.
Get your vehicle thoroughly serviced before you go. Wondering what to have checked? We shamelessly suggest the checklists in our Summer Driving Tips, Winter Driving Tips and our Service Advice area. If you need a good mechanic, you can check our humungous database of listener-recommended garages at the Mechanics Files.
2. Build In Rest Days
Are you going on a vacation — or a forced march? Give yourself a break!
When you're planning your itinerary, add in a few extra rest days. You'll enjoy the trip more, and since you'll be taxing your car less, it will be a bit less likely to break down. And you'll have time for that unplanned stop to see the World Famous Ear Wax Collection. (OK, there's not really a World Famous Ear Wax Collection. You weren't really looking forward to that, were you?)
3. Bring a Basic Repair Kit
Have a repair kit on hand for fixes you might be able to take care of yourself. At the very least, bring a few different sizes of regular and Phillips-head screwdrivers, vice grips, bailing wire to secure an errant muffler and a roll of duct tape. You can get a full list of suggestions over at our Roadside Survival Guide.
4. Grab Car Talk's Breakdown Lane App
Shameless Alert! We've got the perfect accessory for road trips, if we do say so ourselves: our Breakdown Lane application for iPhone users. No matter where you are in the country, Breakdown Lane will show you an instant map of the closest mechanics and their customer rankings, complete with reviews and ratings from Car Talk website visitors. It's bad enough to be broken down on the same road that the Joads took out of Oklahoma. Do you really need the extra hassle of Vern and the funny-looking old man he calls "Cousin Sue" charging you for repairs you don't need?
While you're considering apps, check out the full list of listener-recommended apps, right here.
Added bonus: Jump-starting and tire-changing instructions are "burned into" the Car Talk Breakdown Lane app, so even if you're miles from the nearest cell tower, Tom and Ray are still on your phone to help you get back on the road.
5. Join a Travel Club
If you're not already a member of a travel club, join one before you leave on your adventure. It will save you a hassle right at the moment that you least need another migraine. There's always AAA, which has affiliates almost everywhere. But if you don't agree with AAA's self-serving push for highways over public transportation, check out the Better World Club or an auto club offered by your car's manufacturer.
6. Don't Drive 15 Hours a Day
Think your reaction time is just as good at 10 p.m. as it was at 7 a.m.? You crack us up! (And you might crack yourself up.) Professional truckers aren't supposed to drive more than 11 hours in a 14-hour workday — and neither should you.
Even when you keep it under 11 hours, it's still important to stop frequently. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated. It's good for you, and it will force you to pull over frequently and take pit stops!
Our recommendation? A 15- to 30-minute doughnut and caffeine break (or carrot and tofu juice for some of you) along with a stretch every few hours.
7. Don't Drive at a Sustained High Speed All Day Long
When you're getting hypnotized by the sight of cornstalks for hours on end, it's easy to find yourself doing 85 mph. (Not that we've ever done that, mind you.) Wind resistance increases exponentially with speed, so driving fast places a huge demand on your car's engine. The end result? Your car is working a lot harder than it works at 55 or 65 mph. Stick to the speed limit, and you'll prolong the life of your engine's lubricant and, in turn, the life of your engine's components. And it will reduce the chance of a flaming breakdown in, say, Bugtussle, Ky.
8. Check the Air Pressure, Including the Spare
Quiz question: How many tires does a car have? If you guessed five, you can skip to our next tip.
Don't forget about your spare. Before you leave for your trip, check its pressure, and make sure you have everything you need to install it in the event of a flat.
As for the other tires, late-model cars all have tire pressure monitors on the four active tires. But if you're driving something with a few years on the clock, remember to check the tire pressure daily on long trips. Improper air pressure can lead to poor handling or, in extreme cases, overheating tires and a blowout.
9. Pay Attention to Gauges — and Watch the Road
The gauges on your vehicle aren't there just to make the dash look pretty. They're there for a reason: Eventually, something will go wrong — and the gauges might tip you off before it's too late.
For specific tips for five of your car's most important gauges, see the rundown here.
And when your eyes aren't on the gauges, they should be on the road, not on the screen of your smartphone Auto diagnostics. Over the last decade, driver distraction has become one of the leading causes of accidents. Relax, listen to some music, enjoy the scenery, and save the cellphone calls for your next bathroom break!
10. Going Up a Mountain? Back Off on the Throttle
If you're taking a long road trip, at some point you'll have to cross a small mountain range like, say, the Rockies or the Appalachians. Back off on the throttle. Many people assume they are required by natural law to maintain the same speed going up a mountain that they've maintained on Interstate 80 through Iowa. Not true. Your engine is working a lot harder to get your car up a hill, so by slowing down a bit, you'll save wear and tear, reduce the damage done by overheating, and you'll improve your gas mileage. Here's another good reason: There are plenty of places without guardrails. We rest our case.
11. Skip the Junk Food
Roadside convenience stores are notorious for lousy food. If pork rinds and a Slurpee aren't your idea of a great road trip lunch, bring a cooler on your adventure . In the morning, fill it with ice and drop by a decent supermarket. The ice should keep things cool until the next morning, when you can refresh it. Then, when the munchies hit, at least you won't be insulting your body with food products whose ingredients were developed in a secret lab in New Jersey.
12. Bring Along Your Mother-in-Law
It will guarantee that your trip will be memorable.
13. Whatever Happens, Relax. Remember: You're on Vacation
Whatever you do, don't forget to have fun. Send us some photos, too, OK? Bon voyage!
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