Cars and

As your vehicle reaches higher speeds, it needs less torque to keep the car going. Transmissions can increase or decrease the amount of torque sent to the car’s wheels thanks to gear ratios. The lower a gear ratio is, the more torque is delivered. The higher a gear ratio is, the less torque is delivered. On a manual transmission, you have to move your gear shift to change the gear ratios. On an automatic transmission, gear ratios increase and decrease automatically. And this is able to happen thanks to the ingenious design of a planetary gear. A planetary gear consists of three components: A sun gear.  Sits at the center of the planetary gear set. The planet gears/pinions and their carrier.  Three or four smaller gears that surround the sun gear and are in constant mesh with the sun gear. The planet gears (or pinions) are mounted and supported by the carrier. Each one of the planet gears spins on their own separate shafts that are connected to the carrier. Planet g...

Purpose of a Transmission Before we get into the ins and outs of how an automatic transmission works, let’s do a quick review of why vehicles need a transmission  of any kind  in the first place. As discussed in our primer on how a car engine works, the engine of your vehicle creates rotational power. To move the car, we need to transfer that rotational power to the wheels. That’s what the car’s drive train which the transmission is a part of  does. But here’s the problem: an engine can only spin within a certain speed in order to operate efficiently. If it spins too low, you wouldn’t be able to get the car moving from a standstill; if it spins too fast, the engine can self-destruct. What we need is some way to multiply the power produced by the engine when it’s needed (starting from a standstill, going up a hill, etc.), but also decrease the amount of power sent from the engine when it isn’t needed (going downhill, going really fast, slamming on the brakes). ...

In 1961, celebrated American racer Dan Gurney shipped his own Chevrolet Impala SS to the UK to beat the Jaguars in the British Saloon Car Championship ( CBS ). His dominance in the Silver stone  race led to ruffled feathers and a rumored  ban. The car returns to the UK for the first time since 1961 at this year’s  Good wood Revival . “I will, in time,” the late Gurney wrote in  Auto sport , “get over the fact that I spent a lot of time and money in bringing the Impala to Great Britain, but I will not readily forget the suspicion that there may have been some behind-the-scenes sabotage to prevent the Chevrolet from running at Silver stone.” The great American racer Gurney didn’t pull any punches, aimed at the British Jaguar teams, after he mysteriously couldn’t enter his Chevrolet Impala SS for a second time in the 1961 British Saloon Car Championship. Asked many years later why he didn’t protest more, he replied simply, “Why fight City Hall?” At the star...

How to Survive a Tsunami Tsunamis are capable of causing devastating damage. In 2004, when a massive earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra, the resulting tsunamis killed an estimated 230,000 people spread across 14 countries, including Kenya, over 4,000 miles away. Despite what you may have seen in cartoons or the latest doomsday blockbuster, tsunamis don’t look like giant versions of the type of curling waves that surfers crave. Instead, tsunamis more closely resemble flash floods. When tsunami waters hit the beach, they may only be as high as 10 feet. But as that water continues to surge inland, it can grow to a height of up to 100 feet and travel for miles. This fast-moving wall of water wreaks havoc on everything in its path, breaking windows, uprooting trees, and snapping power poles. The resulting soup of debris is likely to kill anyone who is pulled in. Surviving them requires a combination of good preparation, quick thinking, and decisive action. Be Pr...

Many men have the classic car bug hit them at some point in life. Maybe they want that car they dreamed about in high school (or actually drove, and still miss). For others, it’s the idea of taking a rundown classic and restoring it to mint condition. Some guys just like buying investment-grade cars with hopes of profiting off them in the future. No matter what your reasoning for wanting a vintage automobile, before you buy one on a whim, let’s dig into the reasons you might buy a vintage car, along with developing a plan for getting the best car for your budget and lifestyle. Why Are You Buying a Vintage Auto? As noted above, people buy vintage vehicles for all kinds of reasons, and being realistic about why you are buying a classic car is essential if you want it to be an enjoyable experience rather than one filled with rancor and regret. The key is to buy for all the right reasons  for you . For example, you might want to get a 1965 Mustang convertible to go get milks...

Why is an engine called a “V6” or “V8”?  It has to do with the shape and number of cylinders an engine has. In four-cylinder engines, the cylinders are typically mounted in a straight line above the crankshaft. This engine layout is called an  inline engine . Another four-cylinder layout is called the “flat four.” Here the cylinders are laid horizontally in two banks, with the crankshaft going down the middle. When an engine has more than four cylinders, they are divided into two cylinder banks  three cylinders (or more) per side. The division of cylinders into two banks makes the engine look like a “V.” A V-shaped engine with six cylinders = V6 engine. A V-shaped engine with eight cylinders = V8 — four in each cylinder bank.  V6 Engine  V8 Engine