Road vehicle with four wheels and an engine intended to be a means of transport.
0
votes
1answer
227 views
Why are car seat belts mandatory in some countries? [closed]
Seat belts reduce serious crash-related injuries and deaths by about 50%.
It is compulsory in some countries (several US states, Canada, Australia, most all of European countries, ...) and others are ...
5
votes
1answer
324 views
Are manual transmission cars stolen less?
There is a decent amount of anecdotal evidence about manual transmissions being a good anti-theft device - but are there any statistics?
Here's a statistic-less article from MSN.com
It's folk ...
7
votes
2answers
322 views
Is a repaired car tire as good as a new one?
I recently had one of my car tires punctured by a screw. It lost pressure only very slowly, it probably took a couple of days before I noticed the tire was below pressure. The guys from the tire ...
2
votes
1answer
223 views
Radiation dangers with GPS/navigation cellphone apps [closed]
From Wikipedia:
Some national radiation advisory authorities... have recommended measures to minimize exposure to their citizens... Do not use telephone in a car without an external antenna
I'd ...
2
votes
0answers
177 views
No kids under 13 in the front seat?
On various pages throughout its Web site, the (United States) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warns against seating anyone in the front seat of an automobile [manufactured for sale in ...
3
votes
1answer
465 views
Do modern turbo-diesel car engines fail significantly more often than gasoline ones?
I've seen quite a few articles written on subject, mainly based on anecdotal evidence and with generally alarmistic tone. Allegedly modern turbo-diesel engines used in popular cars are much less ...
10
votes
2answers
413 views
Shouldn't an electric car be thermodynamically at a disadvantage towards one with a combustion engine?
I have the greatest respect for the work of the Rocky Mountain Institute, but this recent blog post triggered my general scepticism towards electric cars, or more specifically, their fuel efficiency. ...
18
votes
1answer
7k views
Were there only two cars in Ohio in 1895, and they managed to crash into each other?
Currently on Today I Learned, Reddit.
TIL [Today I Learned] In the entire state of Ohio in 1895, there were only two cars on the road, and the drivers of these two cars crashed into each other.
...
5
votes
1answer
365 views
Does putting a reflective screen inside your car against the windshield have a meaningful impact on internal temperature?
In southern climes one can see many such reflective screens on cars in parking lots. Not all drivers use them, but many do.
Is there a meaningful impact on the internal temperature of your car? Does ...
5
votes
0answers
126 views
Does cryogenic treatment of automobile rotors increase performance?
In the performance brakes world, there is a small amount of debate about the benefits of cryogenically treating rotors, with most people believing that cryo treating rotors greatly improves their ...
-4
votes
1answer
334 views
Should you speed up driving over a pothole? [closed]
Whenever I'm driving and I see a pothole that I can't avoid, I slow down. A friend of mine though apparently speeds up and told me I should as well. His claim was that running over the pothole at a ...
9
votes
0answers
270 views
Is it illegal in any U.S. jurisdiction to be in neutral at a red light?
In this related question, I asserted that it was illegal to be in neutral gear while stopped at a red light. The first comment to that question challenged me to quote chapter and verse.
...
8
votes
0answers
836 views
Does shifting an AT into neutral at red lights save gas?
In some U.S. jurisdictions, it is technically illegal to put a car in neutral gear while waiting at a red light (of course a stick-shift can have the clutch in, but while on the road the gear shift ...
4
votes
1answer
462 views
Are Auto Manufacturers required under US Federal Law to provide parts for a set period of time?
Via snopes.com Message Board and here, and a similar question on mechanics.stackexchange.com:
Auto manufacturers are required by US Federal Law to have parts available for any models they sold for ...
4
votes
1answer
240 views
Are “black-box” data recorders to be installed in all new US cars?
Occupy Corporatism reports:
With complete disregard for driver privacy, the Obama administration gave their consent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to mandate black ...
8
votes
3answers
2k views
Does a turbo-charged engine require a “cooling down” period?
Some people are saying that after having driven a car with a turbo-charged engine, you need to let the engine run for several seconds (or even minutes) before switching off the engine. But nobody is ...
2
votes
1answer
824 views
Can a Renault Megane drive 1700 km with 1 tank?
source
See the above advert which claims that Renault Megane can cover 1700km with one tank.
According to this link the Megane model has a fuel tank capacity of 60 Liters.
Can the Megane cover ...
1
vote
1answer
239 views
Ramps on highways [closed]
I was told that in USA there are kind of ramps on highways, which can help drivers in situation when their car's brakes break. Thus if my brakes suddenly break, I turn off the road and drive on this ...
26
votes
3answers
2k views
Are speedometers designed to read high?
Via word-of-mouth, I have twice heard claims that speedometers are deliberately designed to read high, so manufacturers would not be subject to litigation for speeding.
When I first heard this claim, ...
5
votes
2answers
658 views
Does the Lexus LFA need digital gauges because analogue ones are too slow?
I first heard this claim a few years ago on the Top Gear program from the BBC. Since then I keep hearing it whenever I hear the Lexus LFA discussed.
From this February 2012 article:
This ...
9
votes
0answers
1k views
Does locking your car doors reduce theft?
Almost everyone I know locks their car doors when they leave their vehicle for an extended time. However, I come from a country town and most people in that country town don't lock their car doors and ...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
Do you need to break in new engine on a car/bike for first 1,000 km by driving slowly and otherwise following manual's advice?
Normally car manuals say to let the car break in gently, not accelerating or breaking fast for first 1,000 km or driving below 80km/h. Is that really necessary in today's world? Is there any proof ...
2
votes
0answers
65 views
Should we heat up engines before driving a car? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is running the engine for five minutes before driving beneficial for the car?
My wife, her dad, and my dad says so.
They said that before you drive a car, you need to ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views
Will opening a car door at high speed cause a flip? [closed]
Driving in the car with a friend, I was bored and did the "Batcar" game. If you're not familiar, this essentially ends in the passengers of the car opening their doors while the car is moving if the ...
7
votes
2answers
530 views
Can turbines on the front of cars ever pay off? [closed]
This news article is proving to be quite controversial here. Basically it's an electric car with a turbine bolted onto the front. On the face of it sticking a turbine on the front is going to increase ...
3
votes
0answers
361 views
Are rear-end collisions more dangerous in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) than Petrol cars?
Is it more dangerous to be in a passenger car with compressed natural gas than with a petrol fuel tank when it comes to rear-end collisions?
Lawrence Godwin, on eZine claims there is a explosion risk ...
2
votes
1answer
285 views
Does Honda Civic CNG fare well in crash safety tests as claimed by its manufacturer?
Honda touts great safety for their Civic CNG, but I have second thoughts concerning their fuel tank's safety in rear-end collisions.
I looked for some tests and data, but could not find anything ...
9
votes
1answer
2k views
Can you puncture a tire with a Swiss Army knife?
On films and TV you always see characters puncture a regular car tire with something like a folding knife or a swiss army knife. How hard would it be in real life to do this?
13
votes
1answer
797 views
Do gas pods improve fuel efficiency?
I ran into this claim today about detachable car fins, and was wondering if there is any validity to it:
about a five percent reduction in drag and corresponding five percent boost in fuel ...
4
votes
2answers
387 views
Does the time of day affect fuel economy?
One tip that I heard as a young driver was something along the following:
Try to refuel in the early morning or in the evening as the denser gas
will get you better fuel economy.
Since then I ...
14
votes
4answers
2k views
Are there benefits to filling car tyres with Nitrogen?
A friend was informed by his mechanic that his tyres were filled with Nitrogren rather than compressed air. He was skeptical of the claims he heard:
There are major benefits with nitrogen ...
6
votes
1answer
478 views
Is it illegal to stop a car for a pedestrian crossing in China?
Today while preparing for one of my classes, this time on law, I found the snippet on a great many websites saying that in China:
Drivers of power-driven vehicles are forbidden to stop at ...
17
votes
1answer
2k views
Does the US ban high-gas-mileage cars?
A recent YouTube video features a claim that the VW Passat TDI 1.6 and similar cars have been banned by the US government, specifically because their gas mileage is too high. The purported reasoning ...
3
votes
3answers
696 views
Does a prototype car that runs on water exist?
In a conversation with a friend recently, she was telling me about a new car that "some Japanese company" had developed, apparently a working prototype that's about to be put into production. It has ...
7
votes
1answer
253 views
Can an on-the-fly water electrolyzer linked to the air intake improve fuel efficiency of a gasoline engine?
This article initially seems to investigate so-called water powered cars. The final few paragraphs of the article however branches off into discussion about a system where (as I understand it):
A ...
3
votes
0answers
856 views
Does a car tire require 26 Liters / 7 US Gallons of crude oil to manufacture?
I've recently seen the movie Collapse. They make many claims about oil and an hypothetical global collapse when it runs low.
In this movie, Michael Ruppert says that a simple car tire needs 7 US ...
11
votes
1answer
339 views
Is reducing carbon emission from cars futile?
One of the claims in "SuperFreakonomics" is, that reducing CO2 emissions produced by cars have very little practical impact on global warming.
Their arguments are:
human activity is responsible for ...
14
votes
3answers
9k views
Are more people accidentally killed by doctors than accidentally killed by guns and traffic combined?
The actual claim is something like this
The top five causes of death in the United States, in order, are
tobacco, alcohol, medical malpractice, traffic and firearms. According
to JAMA, doctors ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views
Are BMW Owners the worst drivers?
BMW drivers are widely thought to be poor drivers. For example, in a poll for Auto Trader:
Around 21,000 motorists were quizzed, and 45 per cent said BMW drivers were the worst on the road.
Is ...
18
votes
2answers
1k views
Does the 'two-second rule' provide a valid minimum gap for safe driving?
Most of us will have been taught the two-second rule when learning to drive.
The two-second rule is a rule of thumb by which a driver may maintain a safe following distance at any speed. The rule ...
3
votes
0answers
401 views
Do “premium” air filters perform better than standard air filters? [closed]
I went in for an oil change recently and the Jiffy Lube technician tried to up sell me on buying a better oil for my car, and on buying a more expensive air filter.
My car is a fairly normal compact ...
26
votes
1answer
5k views
Is running the engine for five minutes before driving beneficial for the car?
There is a belief among a lot of people that you should start your car and leave it on for 5 minutes before moving it in the morning. Is this practice good for the car in any significant way, or it is ...
8
votes
0answers
288 views
Did a Blackberry service outage reduce traffic accident rates in Dubai and Abu Dhabi?
A report from The National has been widely cited on the Internet recently:
A dramatic fall in traffic accidents this week has been directly linked to the three-day disruption in BlackBerry ...
9
votes
1answer
2k views
Are big cars and SUVs safer than small cars or do they just *feel* safer?
I've long observed that many drivers in the UK choose SUVs (which are often disparigingly called Chelsea Tractors) do so at least partially because they believe such cars to be safer. I doubt this ...
2
votes
2answers
342 views
Can remote starters make a car move unattended?
On an episode of a popular television show, a man is showing off his new truck. While bragging about the interior, he accidentally hits the stick with his arm, and puts it in gear. Then, when he ...
17
votes
0answers
513 views
Can a manufacturer's car alarm be disabled by a professional in a couple of minutes? [closed]
My friend once locked keys inside his last gen BMW, so he called a locksmith company and it took a guy couple minutes doing something with notebook to unlock it. It wasn't BMW dealer or anything like ...
11
votes
1answer
717 views
Do black cars consume more fuel?
Some time in 2009, California passed new regulations, banning black cars (here's one source) on the grounds that black cars have higher emissions than other colors of cars. The theory is that black ...
21
votes
1answer
2k views
Are old car models more reliable than new ones?
I heard that components from older cars (like the ones before '92-93) are more resistant than the ones from new cars. They are made from cheap elements, so if you push them to the limit they will ...
12
votes
2answers
1k views
Do speed bumps cause more deaths than they save?
After a few speeding incidents in a residential neighborhood, some residents will clamor for speed bumps.
In case your municipality does not have one, here is a picture of a speed bump (also AE ...
10
votes
1answer
2k views
Does driving a car in a lorry's slipstream increase fuel economy?
On UK roads, I frequently see cars driving very closely behind larger vehicles, attempting to stay in their slipstream, reduce drag and thus increase fuel efficiency.
Given the dangers of driving so ...
