Naked roads - the arguement for and against.

Naked roads are hailed as the answer to all of our traffic and driving woes. The basic premise of a naked road is that all road markings, signs, traffic lights etc are removed. All traffic calming measures, barriers, cycle lanes and even pedestrian area markings are removed.

This sounds like chaos and anarchy but the reality of the situation is that motorists wake up. They are no longer cukooned in a safe unthinking stream of traffic they are forced to pay very careful attention. In a number of trials the frequency of accidents and incidents was reduced by upto a third has increased and the speed of traffic is reduced by around 4 mph - a big plus all round.

No-one knows for sure the long term implications and the trials continue. It is possible that when the novelty wears off drivers will again start going with the flow in an unthinking manner and the incident of accidents will increase as unfamiliar drivers thread their way through the local traffic. So in short as far as I'm concerned the jury is still out but it is an intriguing notion that could well catch on.

One of the things that really get members of the Torquecars tuning club wound up are the state of the roads - particularly the surface of them.

Pot holes and ruts are really annoying, they distract the driver creating the impression that the car is about to fall to pieces or considerably affect the handling of the car. Ruts are often caused by lorries and heavy vehicles running over soft tarmac. The undulating road causes a wave like bounce with each vehicle repeating the process and thereby deepening the rut. Pot holes are a sign of extreme wear on a road surface and can also indicate poor construction.

The damage caused by running over a deep pothole is certainly not negligible and ranges from the cost of a suspension realignment to a replacement hub or drive shaft in the worst cases. For tips on suspension setting and setup read this suspension tuning article.

The addition of speed bumps are another obstacle the modern driver has to cope with and the general poor maintenance of our roadways adds an unnecessary amount to the maintenance of a car. We strongly recommend that you avoid driving over pot holes and take time to report them to your local authority. If the motorist sticks together on this issue we will surely see an improvement in the state of our roads and we will all save money in unnecessary maintenance costs.

What are the things that passengers do that really wind you up when you are driving? We all have our little pet hates and in most cases drivers make terrible passengers. If you ever get into my car please note the following:-

Don't touch my radio that includes turning it up or down.
Stop screaming at everything that comes towards us... hang on, no, it's me who does that. Erm... Sharp intakes of breath, or going "Oh my Goodness" and when I say "WHAT?!!??!!!!!" the answer comes "I've forgot to wash something" or something else that's completely unrelated to my driving and frightens the life out of me because I think maybe she's seen an out of control petrol tanker on a collision course with us that I've somehow missed.
Don't you just love it when someone draws on the on the condensation on your windows - the little smiley face comes back week after week.
Dont give driving advice either - I'm the one with the steering wheel. Back seat drivers are pests.
I especially hate it if I have my parents in the passenger seat. They leaps for the grab handle if you take even the merest change in course at more than 5mph. Bends that you could negotiate in the wet at 100mph are treated like downhill hairpins. And if you come off the pavement you really get some stick!....

Please note I always follow the direction on my driving licence. "tear along the dotted line...."

We all know that blokes hate asking for directions. Sat nav was hailed as the answer to this age old problem and hopefully men will never get lost again! Unfortunately the SAT nav has a darker side as people start depending on it too much.

Aside from the obvious problem of a driver fiddling with his sat nav and crashing the car it seems that many of us will blindly follow the instructions given. It's interesting that a search for sat nav accidents in Goole returns over 300,000 results (admittedly not all individual accident reports but still alarming none the less.

In Germany a 53 year old followed a turn right instruction without even looking where he was going. He entered a building site, drove up a staircase and wrote off a portaloo!
Another driver saw signs on the motorway saying that the motorway was closed due to road works. The sat Nav insisted - continue onto the motorway and he came to an embarrasing halt on a pile of sand!

A £96,000 merc was writted off after a woman followed its instruction up a country lane clearly marked unsuitable for motor vehicles and attempted to cross a Ford which had overflowed and ended up being swept down stream. The electrics cut out causing the windows to open and the terrified driver was struggling to get out when a local swam across and rendered assistance. A local garage confirmed that there was water in the engine and the car was deemed a total loss!

Another driver turned right at a railroad crossing onto the tracks and was hit by a train! Yet another motorist managed to turn right into a supermarket and crashed through the doors into the tinned fruit isle! The stories are endless!

Then I was in Cornwall, it had been a long arduous hour drive and we were pretty desparate to find our accommodation.... eventually we arrived at St Ives in Cornwall and it sent us up a steep cobbled high street full of people on a Saturday afternoon - only about a car wide labelled 'access only' for motor vehicles.

So people were giving us black looks and prams were being pushed out of our way. It was one of the most embarrasing experiences of my life. Clutch was burning badly and the thing was getting harder to control then it said turn right up a little road that was about 1.4m wide!!!! So we had to continue up the high street to the end!!!!

I wouldn't mind but it was a wrong turn completely - the map didn't line up with the street. I guess Cornwall lies on a moving techtonic plate!! In my defense the SAT nav was completely wrong and had miss named the streets! Still I do feel pretty daft - don't tell anyone!

Many people take tuning a little too far. Torquecars decided to make it easy for people to know if they have gone too far with this little article.

You know when you've overtuned your car ...

... When you put your foot to the floor and watch your engine and front wheels zoom off up the road taking half the car with it!
... When you set car alarms off as soon as your 24" sub kicks in.
... When the pistons rip themselves away from the con rod and fly through the head!
... When valves skip at idle!
...When you make babies cry when you drive past.
... When you could blow away all competition at the lights, if only your engine would idle
...When you know you could overtake that bicycle if only the road was flat! Doh!
... When you can pass everything except for a petrol station.
... When you get torque steer in fourth in a diesel car in the dry.
... When it still moves with the engine switched off because there is 7 inches travel on the sub woofers!
... When birds and small children get sucked through the radiator

These suggestions were supplied by Torquecars members who are a die hard bunch of car tuners and car modders. There are lots more posts like this one in the Torquecars tuning club

I can't get over the silly lawsuits that people have got away with.

A 19 year old from LA was awarded over $70,000 and medical costs when his neighbour ran over his hand. The 19 year old was stealing the hubcars and didn't see his neighbour get into the car!

Then Mrs Grazinski from Oklahoma was pleased with her new 32 foot winnebago. She put the cruise control on and went into the back to make a cup of tea. Unsuprisingly the vehicle careered off the road. She successfully sued Winnebago because they didn't explain in the manual that the cruise control was not a replacement for the driver! She was awarded over one and a half million dollars plus got a new motorhome.

It's people like this that put up the cost of insurance for the rest of us.

Perhaps I should sue Audi for leaving the parking brake off on a hill and getting run over by the car. Or maybe I should throw a burning rag into the fuel tank to see what happens (they didn't say anything in the manual about not doing that!!

I see so many cars which have been ruined by tacky or tasteless modifications. This blog will concentrate on useful tuning (for power) and tasteful styling modifications to cars and act as a guide to ensure that tacky cars are not going to fill up our streets and highways. (I hope!)

When adding styling to a car you really need to plan things out carefully in advance. When you just start bolting things on at random you are asking for a visit from the style police. The most sucessful show cars are ones which are themed. So perhaps you might go with a racing theme and cover the car with carbon fibre vents and scoops. You might go with a girly pink look and cover the interior dash in Pink furry fabric! The key is to get the theme right then buy the parts and accessories to go with it rather than just try and make a part fit in because you happen to have seeen it in the bargain bin of the shop.

When modding a cars engine or suspension, many people forget that they have to live with the car and create a fuel burning, harsh riding car which is very impractical. The car styling guide gives a wide range of practical advice and help.