Archive for January, 2012

Mazda Looks to Audi for Rotary Sports Car Technology

The final chapter of the Mazda RX-8, the only model which utilizes a rotary engine, is coming to a close. But there is still hope for the rotary engine. However, Mazda is not ready to let go of the rotary engine just yet. Rumor has it that Mazda is in the early stages of a rotary sports car, perhaps the newest RX-7 model.

Mazda’s engineers are currently working on the Wankel rotary engine, striving to make it more efficient while also cutting CO2 emissions to continue with Mazda’s environmentally friendly efforts. A senior insider at Mazda says that if the new rotary sports car obtains the proper funding, the goal is to cut CO2 emissions from the current RX-8 level of 299g/km to just 130g/km.

One way Mazda is trying to achieve this cut in emissions is through the use of laser ignition. Eliminating the need for spark plugs, laser ignition allows for easier combustion chamber sealing. Supposedly, the new rotary sports car will be modeled after the MX-5′s platform and would eliminate the reverse door featured on the RX-8, making the vehicle weigh much less than its predecessors. These changes along with the use of lighter materials and installing an auto stop/start capability will result in an increased efficiency.

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What Determines Whether A Car Is A Sports Car

Ask anyone what a sports car is and they will probably invent an answer. Ask a dozen different people the same question and they will probably provide a dozen different answers. There are a variety of ways to define what constitutes an actual sports car. With no standardized definition available within the industry, the term “sports car” is without certain meaning.

Originally, it was easy to differentiate between a sports car and a regular production automobile. If a regular person could buy it, it wasn’t a sports car. Sports cars were toys for the extremely rich and automobile-obsessed. They are also used primarily in situations that represented a radical departure from conventional driving. Road races, rallies and other competitions were the home of the sports car as manufacturers and designers went head to head, testing their newest technological advances and inventive ideas.

These sports cars were almost always designed for a single driver and no additional passengers. Occasionally a “co-pilots” seat might have been added. The notion of a backseat made little sense considering the purposes for which the cars were being used. They tended to be extremely small and exceptionally faster than most regularly produced cars.

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Comparing Cheap Car Insurance Quotes at Renewal Time

Many people may be surprised at how much money they could be saving by taking a little time to compare cheap car insurance quotes before purchasing a policy. Rather than simply renewing your car insurance every term, you should compare the quote from your insurance renewal offer with cheap car insurance quotes from other insurers. It’s not uncommon for some companies to be remarkably less expensive than others, and therefore, saving you hundreds of dollars per year.

There are two specific reasons that some insurers may offer better rates. The first is that car insurance companies use many different methods for determining how much they should charge according to risk factors; this is information about a person that makes them more of a risk to insure than others. For example, a 21-year-old driver who owns a high performance sports car presents a higher risk than an experienced, 40-year-old driving a family sedan. The higher the perceived risk a driver presents to a car insurance company, the higher the premium will be. Different insurers place different emphasis on certain risk factors, which means, given the same information, one company may provide cheaper premiums than another.

Another reason cheap car insurance quotes from one company may be cheaper than a person’s current insurance provider is due to pricing techniques used by many car insurers. Companies are aware, from research, that most people automatically renew their car insurance policies with the same company each year rather than shop around for something less expensive. Based on this research, some companies may not change the premium much from what it was the previous term, even if the customer hasn’t had any tickets or accidents, and could receive a better premium elsewhere. Basically, the insurance provider is counting on people not comparing their car insurance quotes.

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