Tech talks

What do a Toyota Highlander, Mercury Mariner or a Chevrolet Tahoe have in common? Normally we would say they have efficient engines and mind blowing features. But, the most important thing is that they are hybrid cars. Let;s first understand what hybrids are. Hybrids are those products you get on combining two different elements. You must have got a basic idea of what a hybrid car is. They have the conventional I.C. engine along with the fuel tank, but they have an electric motor and a battery. They emerged in the late 90's. The first hybrid car to enter the car was Toyota Prius in 1997. It was launched in Japan. Let's talk about some features of hybrid cars Idle Off: This feature turns off your car's conventional engine when the vehicle stops and in turn saving the fuel. The battery provides energy for the air conditioning and other accessories. It is just like the light bulb in the refrigerator which turns off when the door closes. Regenerative Braking...

As technology advances, so do the safety features of the car.Air bags are one of the most important features in a car. They are positioned in front of the driver and passenger seats. Some of the cars also have air bags at the seat belts to reduce the impact on the passenger. But have you ever heard of air bags fitted on the outside of a car? Yes, that's right. Mercedes is working on an airbag that will deploy from underneath the car just seconds before in case of any collision and stop the car from crash. The air bags will have a friction coating thus increasing the stopping power of the car. These air bags will also lift the car by 8 centimeters which will avoid bumper to bumper collision. The technology is still in the making and will take a few years to enter the market. All we can do is hope that the German manufacturers succeed in it.

Brake fluids are responsible for the movement of the various components of the braking system. It is responsible for the transmission of pressure from one part to another. It is very easily neglected by many of us these days. We change the engine oil, radiator fluid, transmission fluid. We even change the air conditioning coolant, but somehow we don't change the brake fluid. It operates at high temperature and high pressure. We call the braking system a closed system as none of the brake fluid will neither enter nor leave the system. Nor does anything get consumed.      They are basically five types of brake fluids.           1. DOT 2           2. DOT 3           3. DOT 4           4. DOT 5           5. DOT 5.1 The most common types of brake fluid are the DOT 3, DOT 4 and DOT 5.1. DOT 5 is used in rare cases. Even D...

It's a fact. Everyone loves driving these days. That feeling of holding the wheel where we are in charge of our own destiny is rare in our lives. Trust me, it is very welcoming and exciting. Many of us are speedsters, especially on a highway when you hit 100 km/hr. It is very fun and thrill inducing. However, during monsoons or ice cold weather the situation gets tricky. Sometimes your wheel might lose traction and start to skid on the slippery road. For that very reason, we have something called the Anti-Brake system in our cars. Without anti lock braking system, there are chances where the wheel might stop rotating and the result would be deadly. ABS prevents your wheels from locking and ensures that you have stability.  It consists of four major parts. 1. Speed Sensor: The major function of this is to monitor the speed of all the wheels and to provide the necessary acceleration and deceleration. It consists of a magnet assembly which generates electric pulses....

There has been a tremendous growth these days in the areas of design, internal and external features, the engine, transmission, safety etc. There have been advancements in the braking systems in recent times. When you go to buy a new car, you have to ask the salesman about a particular feature called the automatic braking system. Let me tell you a few things about this feature. This type uses brakes and sensors together to reduce the speed of the car. In some car models, you will find that the brakes are applied without any input from the driver whereas in others they provide braking assistance to the driver. Let's understand how do they work. They depend on the input from the sensors which may be lasers, radar or even video data. It uses this data to determine if there are any objects on the path of the car. If it detects any object, it determines the speed of the object. Now if the speed of the object is greater by some amount, then there is likely to be a collision and...

If you start cutting taxes on the middle class but start increasing on the rich, it is likely to result in an economic burnout, Similarly, with one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake is likely to get you nowhere, but certainly will burn out vital parts of your car. Its a fact. Today let's understand the braking system in our cars. In short, it is just a system of hydraulics where the force is multiplied and forces the brake fluid through the brake lines to the brakes. The first stage is the vacuum booster where the force applied by the driver on the pedal gets multiplied by reducing the pressure inside the vacuum booster. The second stage is the master cylinder. You will find 2 chambers which consists the primary and secondary pistons. These pistons then compress the fluid and is sent through the brake lines to the brake calipers which are situated at the brakes themselves. The third stage is the brake calipers. They are one of the most important automobile brake p...

Let's talk about  some basics of the braking system in automobiles. There are brakes on all the four wheels of a car. Now the brakes at the rear are the drum brakes and the ones at front are the disc brakes. The front brakes have to be very strong and efficient because when brakes are applied, the whole weight of the car is thrown on the front brakes . All the brakes in the car are connected by a hydraulic system.  Let's go into some details about the hydraulic system. It has a push rod, a master cylinder containing the piston and return spring, a fluid reservoir, slave cylinders which have the piston and spring, brake shoes and the rotating drum.The master cylinder is connected to the slave cylinders by brake lines which contain the working fluid. The working fluid is usually a glycol ether or silicone based  product. When you apply your foot on the brake pedal. it transmits a force to the master cylinder due to which the return spring exert pressure in the forwar...

Imagine you're taking a sharp turn and you have to slow down the vehicle, you step on the brake pedal but nothing happens. What would you do? Brakes are the single most important feature in any automobile. Modern day cars are made up of thousands of parts to ensure us a safe and comfortable ride. Any car chosen at random will have atleast three different types of brakes. First, we have the service brakes which are your normal brakes that control the speed of the car by simply stepping on the brake pedal beneath the steering column of your car. When you step on the pedal the braking force is transmitted hydraulically to the rear and front wheels. On an average 75% of the force is transmitted to the front wheels and 25% to the rear ones. The next type are the parking brakes which holds your car when parked on steep surfaces. Usually people apply this when parked on inclined roads although it must be used every single time you park your car. This is done by applying the  service brak...