Recent content by PLeon

I add isopropyl alcohol to my gas tank once a year to get rid of the water condensation. Lately I read on the ads of some products that it is not a good idea to emulsify the water in the gas tank - instead these products do some magic (that I do not understand) and disperse the water. Will the...

I shift to N when I see a red light. It saves wear on the transmission and gears because I skip the downshifts to 3rd, 2nd and 1st gear.

Sorry, wrong thread.

OK, I know CLOSED LOOP. But how about MAP vs TPS map? especially at low loads.

This is a dead thread but I remembered the Mercedes' fish-inspired car with an impressive Cd of just 0.19. http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/03/08/cars.fish.popsci/index.html

Perhaps the headers are huge (idle, cruise) and cylinders cannot exhaust easily (low gas speed, high pressure).

A vacuum gauge can tell you a lot of things about your engine - also, check for a clogged converter (with the gauge). If it's not clogged don't bother, some engines run low vacuum (like there is small load on them all the time).

If you're sure that cylinder is not running lean, you are experiencing local overheating. The water doesn't flow fast enough at some narrow point and it's boiling creating steam pockets. This makes local overheating worse and causes detonation. It's hard to troubleshoot. You may run straight...

Running lean will overheat your piston and rod - it does bent rods. It's not easy to tell even looking at the piston.

Thanks for the interesting link Knap. @Greg Sorry I was a bit vague, first, I am not talking about race cars. By handling I mean cornering on dry or wet pavement and ice/snow traction. OK, I understand bad design but lets assume an average car with acceptable handling. If one reduces the...

How does weight affect handling? Is the lighter car always better, even in wet or icy roads? Thanks, Leon

(I think what EPA wants is useful life to be the same as warranty period.) If manufacturers are reducing u.l. because of warranty risks then synube (a thick oil advocate) is twisting the meaning and attributes the lower u.l. to thin oils.

I have come across this web page that reports engine life expectancy according to manufacturers and I was wondering if it's true. http://www.synlube.com/viscosit.htm Quote from page FORD which has previously designed cars to have 10 year or 150,000 miles life has reduced the mileage life...

"Ethanol is an alcohol that will mix with water and pick it up and carry it with the gasoline." That's why there will be no visible water in your gas. I think there should be no water in the fuel filter (or tank). Isopropyl alcohol is best to get rid of the water in the fuel system.

I wanted to know if engines today have for example different bearings that raise the same oil pressure (same rpm) with 5W30 as old engines did with 20W50. I know that a 5W30 may outperform a 20W50 in a 4 ball wear test, the reason I am asking is cold weather performance. If new engines are...