Why you don’t actually want ethanol in your gas tank

Chris Hadfields 1955 Ford ThunderbirdElliot Alder For those of you looking for safeguards against the ravages of ethanol-blended gasoline, there are a number of precautions you can take. The first is that you can simply avoid it in the first place. According to Dan McTeague, a noted petroleum analyst, Shell and Esso 91 are both ethanol free. All other grades from the companies have some ethanol content, but the mid-grade blend is pure gas, which means it not only corrodes less than ethanol blends, but is less likely to deteriorate when stored. Dont be misled into thinking higher octane gas contains less ethanol. In fact, it has more! The octane rating of pure ethanol is 100, but when its blended with gasoline, it performs as if its 112. In other words, higher-octane blends Petro Canadas 94 and Essos 93 use more ethanol, not less.For those storing their vehicles for the winter, specialty gasoline makers yes, there are boutique gasoline manufacturers! offer ethanol-free formulations specifically tailored for a long shelf life (as much as two years). For those on a budget, a trip down to Canadian Tire for some fuel stabilizer is usually good enough to preserve your pump gas use that Shell and Esso 91 stuff over the winter.A little creativity and common sense can help here. For instance, when I ride my classic 1982 Honda CB1100R frequently, Ill often fill up with Petro Canada 94, which does contain ethanol, for its higher octane, the gas never in carburetor long enough to cause damage. However, whenever I know shes going to be laid up for a while especially over the winter I make sure the last tank I run through her is ethanol-free. That same common sense applies to other vehicles. For instance, the point to the plug-in aspect of the modern PHEV is to actuate the gasoline portion of its drivetrain as infrequently as possible. For particularly careful owners of longer range PHEVs Chevrolets Volt comes to mind that can mean refuelling as infrequently as every three months. It behoves the careful Volt owners, then, to ensure that ethanol isnt gumming-up the cars drivetrain and shop for an ethanol-free pump. Yes, most PHEVs will have corrosion-resistant pipelines, but it never hurts to err on the side of caution.More troublesome for older, carbureted vehicles is that ethanol is 35 per cent oxygen. Burning it can cause an older carbureted engine to run lean combining too much air with too little fuel. In mild cases, said overenthusiastic blending of oxygen can cause older engines to stumble, spit and cough. In a worse case scenario, it can even lead to catastrophic as in big, gaping holes piston failure. For the true gear head, yes, that does mean that the very thing youre trying to prevent the pinging caused but lower octane fuel is exacerbated when you fill up with premium 94 because your hot-rod is now running hotter thanks to a leaner mixture.Yes, its a paradox, but forewarned is
Origin: Why you don’t actually want ethanol in your gas tank

Watch: video suggests you’re paying for car wheel spokes you don’t need

When trying to explain the physics behind driving a car, you can go the charts-diagrams-and-calculations route or you can go the tinkering-until-something-breaks route.When it comes to answering the questions Can you drive a car on a wheel with all but three spokes cut out? Two spokes? One? Russian YouTuber Garage 54 chose the latter, pulling off an interesting and, uh, scientific experiment by completely destroying some old rims.His YouTube channel works basically like a Russian car-themed Mythbusters — we really dig the clip where he tries driving a Lada with four engines strapped end-to-end.But more than that one, we dig his most recent video. It starts with a bunch of junk, some mismatched wheels and a question: how many spokes can you cut out and still drive?After being fitted to the car, each of the three wheels receives some added lightness by way of removing the spokes, one by one. First, a six-spoke wheel is cut down to three; a 16-spoke is cut down to eight; and an eight-spoke cut down to four.None of the wheels seem to notice the lack of structure, and perform their job dutifully. Its when the wheels start to become more asymmetrical that problems start to occur, and Garage54 keeps cutting at the rims until there is only one spoke left on each.The conclusion? Its amazing what kind of forces the single spoke of an alloy car wheel can take when put under some pretty extreme stresses. Eventually, all the wheels are destroyed, but, surprisingly, they lasted a pretty long time. Obviously, absent the aforementioned charts and diagrams, we cant really go into the details of the forces acting upon any part of the wheels at a given point.But its safe to say the video is entertaining and that maybe you can afford to get away with a couple fewer spokes on your
Origin: Watch: video suggests you’re paying for car wheel spokes you don’t need

Ford study suggests most Americans don’t know nothin’ about EVs

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFord As Ford amps up its electric-vehicle campaign in advance of the launch of the electric F-150, it has been trying to get an idea of where people are in terms of acceptance and understanding of the EV market. As part of the brand’s research into the emerging market, it funded a study that polled drivers across international car markets to see just how much or little they understood about EVs. You can see for yourself in the published results on Medium, but it doesn’t exactly tally up to a vote of confidence for the electric future. In fact, it exposes a pretty crucial gap in our societies’ EV education. Perhaps the most startling figure is the percentage of people who believe electric vehicles require gas to run. Forty-two percent of Americans polled believed that to be true. It isn’t, except in a hybrid. It’s also not true that EVs suck at towing, but 67 per cent of people still believe that. Ford recently attempted to correct some of the misconceptions on this front when it used an electric F-150 prototype to tow a 1-million-pound train. Some 90 per cent think EVs can’t keep up off the starting line, believing them to be inferior at accelerating. (They obviously haven’t seen this.) Sixty-five per cent of people who identified as being on the hunt for an AWD said they wouldn’t go with an EV, which might be explained by the gap in understanding of how the batteries function in different weather conditions. The study found that 80 per cent of Americans figure winter cold or summer heat would defeat EVs, which is also not true — well, not entirely, anyway. The point is, collectively speaking, we don’t know squat about electric vehicles. Or at least Americans don’t. Do you think a poll of Canadians would have us fare any
Origin: Ford study suggests most Americans don’t know nothin’ about EVs

Lawsuit claims GM trucks don’t run properly on American diesel

2015 Chevrolet Silverado HD General Motors line of diesel-powered heavy duty trucks are billed as workhorses, able to haul tens of thousands of pounds with impunity. Endless wells of hairy-chested torque from a 6.6-litre Duramax gets things rolling in a hurry.However, a class action lawsuit filed this week in Detroit seeks to put the brakes on certain models of GMs heavy-hauler, reports the Detroit News.Plaintiffs allege problems with the powertrains high-pressure fuel pumps, units manufactured by Bosch and installed in Duramax-equipped trucks from the 2011 to 2016 model years. According to the suit, the pump introduced metal shavings into the fuel injection system, leading to catastrophic and expensive damage.GM and Bosch declined to offer the Detroit News comment.At the root of this issue, say the complainants, is the composition of American diesel fuel. They claim it to be thinner than European diesel, a trait that allows for less lubrication and eventual degradation of the Bosch pumps. Plaintiffs in the suit say once this happens, debris finds its way into the engine.Lets examine this claim. As we all learned in Gearhead 101, modern diesel fuel is ignited under compression without a spark. A key indicator of diesel fuel quality is its cetane number, a measure of the fuels ignition speed that is, how long it takes to go bang! under compression. A higher cetane number indicates the fuel ignites more readily when sprayed into hot compressed air, such as the environs of an engine cylinder.Generally, diesel in Europe has a cetane rating of approximately 51, while the stuff on this side of the pond is generally rated around 45, except for a few areas in which a minimum of 48 is mandated (not to mention California, whose diesel fuel has a cetane rating of 53).For about the last ten years, all the American highway diesel fuel has been classified as Ultra-Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD), a blend which lowered the measured sulphur content to less than 15ppm. This, the suit claims, is the root of the problem. The fuel pump used in the trucks in question, a Bosch CP4, was introduced in 2011. Plaintiffs claim it was designed for the European market and didnt play well when swilling American ULSD. This may be so, but it would behoove the smart lawyer to also note that the Duramax engines in question are not fitted with a lift pump. This is a bit of tech that takes some of the workload off the main pump the Bosch CP4, in this case.Without a lift pump, a low-pressure unit which pulls the fuel first, the CP4 is under constant suction and tasked with two jobs, drawing fuel and pressurizing it. This situation may introduce air bubbles into the mix since the pump is located waaaay up in the engine bay, a long distance from the fuel tank. The presence of air means the absence of liquid, and could help explain the production of metal shavings, which are claimed to be causing the expensive damage mentioned in this lawsuit.Regardless of the reason for the fuel pumps alleged degradation diesel quality or being overworked well be keeping an eye on this case as it works its way through the
Origin: Lawsuit claims GM trucks don’t run properly on American diesel

Don’t forget about the C8 Corvette convertible

The mid-engined 2020 Corvette has debuted to some serious fanfare (and criticism, but well ignore that for now), but Chevrolet actually discreetly revealed two cars, which you might not have even noticed.Famously, the Corvette has always come in two body styles, Coupe with Targa roof (or T-tops) and a convertible, and the C8 is no exception.During Chevrolets presentation to reveal the revolutionary C8 Corvette, they waited until the very end to share the convertible version with us, and we have to say, it looks great. The flying buttresses make a comeback for the first time since the C3, replacing the glass roof panel that would have let you peek at the engine. Instead of a removable roof panel, the photos show that the top likely folks underneath a panel that doubles as an engine cover.No official details were provided for the convertible variant, but we can expect it will have the same 490-horsepower 6.2-litre V8 coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission as the standard coupe, along with the Z51 package that adds another 5 horsepower. Traditionally, a convertible variant of a sports car has a slower 0-100 time, but since the C8 started life as a Targa, theres a possibility that it may not be affected.As for the price, the Corvette C8 convertible will likely command a small premium over the standard Targa style as it has done in the past, usually about $5,000. Availability has not been announced, but it took a while for Chevrolet to release the convertible version of the C7 as well, so well wait with bated breath
Origin: Don’t forget about the C8 Corvette convertible

Drivers don’t understand the limits of today’s semi-automated vehicles: studies

Graeme Fletcher behind the wheel of Audis A8 with Level 3 autonomy. If the autonomous driver fails, the car has a three-stage intervention process. The Internet is rife with examples of people’s misuse of Tesla’s Autopilot system, and for the most part, it’s pretty clear that it’s the humans who are the problem, and not the machines. But a pair of new studies performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and funded by insurance companies suggest that your average driver’s knowledge about autonomous features is lacking. What’s more, some of the terms and names used by automakers may be adding to the confusion. “Current levels of automation could potentially improve safety,” said IIHS President David Harkey. “However, unless drivers have a certain amount of knowledge and comprehension, these new features also have the potential to create new risks.”One study tested how well people understand the messages communicated by autonomous system displays, while the other measured the impact of the names used by brands on driver comprehension. For the latter survey, over 2,000 drivers were asked a series of questions about a handful of Level 2 system names like Audi and Acura’s Traffic Jam Assist, Cadillac’s Super Cruise, Nissan’s ProPilot Assist, BMW’s Driving Assist Plus and Tesla’s Autopilot. Participants weren’t given the manufacturer, only the system name, and then asked to play a little game of Is It Safe? According to the study, 48 per cent of people polled thought it’d be safe to take their hands off the wheel while using Tesla’s Autopilot. It’s not. Only Cadillac’s Super Cruise, which uses eye-tracking tech to measure driver attentiveness, doesn’t require the driver’s hands to stay on the wheel. (Not that the whole ‘hands on the wheel’ thing has stopped Tesla drivers from doing all sorts of other things with their hands off the wheel—the system can be fooled.) Tesla’s system wasn’t the only that sparked confusion either. Thirty-three per cent of respondents thought it’d be cool to take their hands off the wheel with Nissan’s ProPilot Assist activated. For BMW’s Driving Assist Plus, that number was 27 per cent. Participants were also asked about talking on the phone, texting, watching a movie and taking a nap, all of which are obviously a no-go for any of the systems. Again, Tesla’s Autopilot was the most misunderstood, with 34 per cent claiming they’d take a call, 16 per cent willing to text, 8 per cent ready to watch a movie, and 6 per cent believing falling asleep behind the wheelwouldn’t be an issue so long as Autopilot was on. Naturally, Tesla defends its system and its name. “This survey is not representative of the perceptions of Tesla owners or people who have experience using Autopilot, and it would be inaccurate to suggest as much,” Tesla said in a statement. “If IIHS is opposed to the name ‘Autopilot,’ presumably they are equally opposed to the name
Origin: Drivers don’t understand the limits of today’s semi-automated vehicles: studies

Dainese reinvents the motorcycle airbag so you don’t sweat in it

Daineses new Smart Jacket airbag motorcycle vesthttps://api.pddataservices.com/images?url=https://postmediadriving.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/253949_volvo_cars_and_poc_develop_world-first_car-bike_helmet_crash_testa.jpgw=960h=480 Those of you who read Drivings motorcycle coverage know how much I love airbag clothing.I love airbags for the protection they offer. I love airbags for the ingenuity of building a supplemental restraint system into something you can wear. Most of all, however,I love airbags for the confidence they give me to go out and play with the sharksthat would be all the car drivers that motorcyclists assume are trying to kill them.I love them enough, in fact, to let former editor-in-chief Neil Vorano beat me upside my back with a baseball bat to prove that nothing, but nothing, a motorcyclist can wear offers anywhere near the protection an inflatable safety device woven into the fabric of a jacket or leather suit can.But, if you know that, you also know how heavy and sweaty said airbags have made the clothing theyre built into.Build anything robust enough to hold high-pressure gas into clothing, it seems, and it destroys anything resembling ventilation. Wearing any of the jackets I have tested and there have been about five so far on a sunny day is akin to wearing your winter thermal gear in the heat of summer.Youll be getting plenty sweaty. So humid, in fact, you probably wont bother donning said airbag, essentially negating all its vaunted safety benefits. Dainese’s new Smart Jacket airbag motorcycle vest Dainese Dainese may just solved the problem.Its called Smart Jacket, and it solves that ventilation problem by folding the airbag over on itself rather than lining the entire garment with wind-blocking fabric so theres less airbag preventing air from circulating around your core. If this is true, we motorcyclists may finally have an airbag garment that wont turn into your own private sweat lodge every time the mercury touches 25 C. The Smart Jacket is also very versatile. Unlike previous Dainese airbag vests that were tailored for one specific jacket, the new Smart Jacket is completely independent and can be worn under any jacket, Dainese or otherwise. All its complex sensors there are seven in all and the computer that controls them are built-in. And the Smart Jacket is effective; Dainese claims its rapid-fire inflation offers the same degree of protection as seven traditional back protectors!Finally, one last bonus. Although Canadian pricing has not been set, in the USA the Smart Jacket is set to retail for $699, a significant cost savings compared with previous Dainese airbag systems. And, of course, you can wear it under your existing outwear.I really cant wait to test this
Origin: Dainese reinvents the motorcycle airbag so you don’t sweat in it

Don’t fear taking your EV for a summer road trip: B.C. Hydro

Tesla Model 3Tesla Michael Stanyer has driven a battery-powered vehicle from his Vancouver home to Tofino and to the Kootenays and he has no fear of being stranded without a charging station. “It’s something you have to plan for,” he said. “It’s totally doable.” He said there are 1,000 charging stations in British Columbia and “it’s rare that you would be more than 100 kilometres away from a charging station.” His 2017 Volkswagen E Golf can go about 200 km on a single charge in city driving, though that changes if he drives into higher elevations, for instance. Stanyer, a program coordinator for Plug In B.C., may be bolder than most at venturing beyond their commute in an EV. A B.C. Hydro survey found “range anxiety” is keeping almost 70 per cent of drivers from buying an electric vehicle, according to an online survey done for the energy agency by Angus Reid and released June 14. But B.C. Hydro said they needn’t worry, as the majority of road trips taken by people in B.C. are within the range that most newer vehicles can travel on a single charge. “Most trips are 300 km one way, so it’s well within the range of a single charge,” said B.C. Hydro spokeswoman Tanya Fish. The survey found respondents were concerned about the availability of charging stations and also worried that having to stop to recharge the battery would significantly add to the length of a trip. Fish said there are about 170 fast-charging stations, 58 belonging to B.C. Hydro, that can top up a battery to within 80 per cent capacity within 30 minutes. There is access to the fast-charging stations along the most-travelled highways in the province, including between Vancouver and Kelowna, Abbotsford and Whistler, Victoria and Tofino, and Revelstoke and Cranbrook, she said. And 96 per cent of BC Hydro’s fast-charging stations are within 300 metres of a major road or highway and 80 per cent are within 50 metres of other services, such as food, washrooms or other shopping, she said. And there are an additional 1,000 “level 2” public charging stations in the province, which take about four to six hours to restore a battery, said Fish. EV sales doubled in B.C. the first three months of this year, compared to the first quarter in 2018, and they make up 15 per cent of new car sales. That’s double the national average. There are about 20,000 EVs in BC. The average EV has a range of about 250 km and that is expected to increase to 440 km by 2022. The majority of out-of-town trips B.C. drivers take are under 300 km, B.C. Hydro
Origin: Don’t fear taking your EV for a summer road trip: B.C. Hydro

Your Corner Wrench: Don’t be overwhelmed by tire choices and prices

2018 Dodge Challenger HellcatNick Tragianis / Driving When shopping for a new (or new-to-you) ride, we know the last things to grab your attention are those black rubber rounds on which it sits. It’s understandable. Compared to the rest of the package, with all its modern styling, shiny paint, and loads of high-tech gizmos, tires are just dull and boring. But missing a few points on a vehicle’s boots can cost you dearly down the road. No matter how well you take care of a car, and no matter how carefully you drive, you will have to replace tires every 50,000 to 75,000 kilometres, on average. It’s inevitable, but whether or not this becomes a wallet-busting nightmare or an easy routine depends on your shopping skills. Years ago, automakers learned dressing up tires can greatly increase their desirability. Execs demand a lot from tire manufacturers in terms of performance specs on tires, but unfortunately, at the bottom of the list was tread longevity, purchase price, and sometimes even availability. After all, automakers want tires to run quiet, smooth, and provide acceptable grip — not last forever. The move that ends up costing us the most is low-profile tires. But before we go any further, this is a good time for a brief refresher on tire sizing. On every tire’s sidewall is size depicted in letter and numbers — for example, P225/65R17. P stands for passenger vehicle (as opposed to LT, which means light truck). The number 225 is the tire’s tread width in millimeters, and 65 indicates that the tire’s side wall height is 65 per cent of the tread’s width. Finally, 17 refers to the wheel size in inches, just because tire sizing shouldn’t make complete sense. When it comes to pricing, once you go past the 17-inch wheel size and/or below the 65-series sidewall height — also referred to as the aspect ratio — costs go up dramatically. Grab a ride with 50-series fitted on 20-inch wheels, and you can be entering the stratosphere of rubber prices. Take Canada’s most popular car, for example — the Honda Civic. The entrly-level Civic DX comes with P215/55R6 tires, which run about $145 before installation and taxes, for a set of Goodyear Assurance tires. But if you step up the Sport Touring level, those P235/40R18 boots will set you back $215 on average for the same tire. That’s a whopping 48 per cent increase. Some driving enthusiasts will tell you it’s money well spent, as those wider tires have better grip during aggressive cornering, and their shorter stance combined with lightweight alloy wheels provide better steering and suspension response. In reality, you’ve got to be pushing it past legal limits to appreciate the difference. So, how can you protect your wallet? First, consider models with a more affordable tire size from the start. If the particular vehicle on the dealer lot you’re considering is shod with platinum-level shoes, ask if a downsize is possible. If a retailer can simply swap a set of wheels and tires between another lesser-trim model already in stock, they’ll usually be more than happy to be stuck’ with the more expensive set, while you drive off on something you (and your wallet) can live
Origin: Your Corner Wrench: Don’t be overwhelmed by tire choices and prices

NHTSA investigating 12.3 million vehicles over airbags that don’t deploy

2013 Hyundai SonataHandout / Hyundai DETROIT — U.S. auto safety regulators have expanded an investigation into malfunctioning air bag controls to include 12.3 million vehicles equipped with bags that may not inflate in a crash. The problem could be responsible for as many as eight deaths. Vehicles made by Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, Mitsubishi and FCA from the 2010 through 2019 model years are included in the probe, which was revealed Tuesday in documents posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It involves air bag control units made by ZF-TRW that were installed in the vehicles. The control units can fail in a crash, possibly because of unwanted electrical signals produced by the crash itself that can disable an air bag control circuit housed in the passenger compartment, and the electrical signals can damage the control circuit, according the documents. ZF, a German auto parts maker which acquired TRW Automotive in 2015, said it’s committed to safety and is co-operating with NHTSA and automakers in the investigation. The case is another in a long list of problems with auto industry air bags, including faulty and potentially deadly Takata air bag inflators. At least 24 people have been killed worldwide and more than 200 injured by the Takata inflators, which can explode with too much force and hurl dangerous shrapnel into the passenger cabin. The inflators touched off the largest series of automotive recalls in U.S. history with as many as 70 million inflators to be recalled by the end of next year. About 100 million inflators are to be recalled worldwide. On April 19, NHTSA upgraded the ZF-TRW probe from a preliminary evaluation to an engineering analysis, which is a step closer toward seeking recalls. So far, only Hyundai, Kia, and FCA have issued recalls in the case. Four deaths that may have been caused by the problem were reported in Hyundai and Kia vehicles, and three in FCA vehicles. NHTSA opened an investigation in March of 2017 involving the TRW parts in certain Hyundai and Kia models. The upgrade came after investigators found two recent serious crashes involving 2018 and 2019 Toyota Corollas, in which the airbags didn’t inflate. One person was killed. Toyota said it’s co-operating in the probe, doing its own investigation and will take “any appropriate action.” Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a non-profit consumer group, said the ZF-TRW case shows the auto industry thus far has learned very little from Takata. “A single supplier of an important safety component provided what appears to be a defective part across multiple manufacturers and 12 million cars,” Levine said. “While the first fatality reports emerged three years ago, it has taken a higher body count for more significant action to be taken by NHTSA and most impacted manufacturers remain silent. The industry needs to do better.” NHTSA said it will take “appropriate action” based on the investigation’s findings. In the ZF-TRW investigation documents, NHTSA said that it didn’t find any other cases of electrical interference in Hyundai, Kia or FCA vehicles that used the ZF-TRW system, but were not recalled. Also, the agency has not identified any other cases of electrical interference in other Toyotas including Corollas, since the company started using the ZF-TRW parts in the 2011 model year. In addition, no electrical interference cases have been identified in Honda or Mitsubishi vehicles with the same parts, the agency said. NHTSA will evaluate how susceptible the air bag control units are to electrical signals as well as other factors that could stop air bags from inflating. The agency also “will evaluate whether an unreasonable risk exists that requires further field action.” Last year, Hyundai and Kia recalled nearly 1.1 million vehicles because of the problem, about a year after NHTSA opened its investigation. Kia vehicles covered included 2010 through 2013 Forte, and 2011 through 2013 Optima in the U.S. Also covered are Optima Hybrid and Sedona minivans from 2011 and 2012. Recalled Hyundai vehicles included 2011 through 2013 Sonata, and the 2011 and 2012 Sonata Hybrid. In 2016, Fiat Chrysler recalled about 1.9 million vehicles worldwide including the 2010 Chrysler Sebring, the 2011 through 2014 Chrysler 200, the 2010 through 2012 Dodge Caliber, the 2010 through 2014 Dodge Avenger, the 2010 through 2014 Jeep Patriot and Compass, and the 2012 and 2013 Lancia
Origin: NHTSA investigating 12.3 million vehicles over airbags that don’t deploy