Before I get to today's topic, allow me to beg your forgiveness for the lack of new reviews this week -- I've been busy as all get out, driving cars for the upcoming Best New Cars list and Internet Car of the Year and preparing our BMW 633CSi for its second 24 Hours of Lemons race (we're turning it into a replica of Richard Petty's Superbird; pictures coming soon). I have a bunch of new 2010 reviews in the works, so please bear with me.
Okay, on to business. Yesterday, I was reminded of a British chap I met some years ago who used to rev the engine of his Volvo 245 before shutting it off. When I asked him why, he said that revving the engine "leaves a spark in the distributor". I tried to explain that electrical sparks are not something you can store, and that turning off the car's ignition turned off all the electricity, but he wasn't buying it -- he continued to rev his engine so he'd have a spark ready and waiting the next time he wanted to drive his car. I've never heard a myth that good -- although the friend who insisted that it was better for the car to shift from Park to Neutral and then to Reverse, rather than going direct, came pretty close. (And for all I know, the P-N-R thing could have been right.)
I'm sure you've heard some pretty good car myths -- truisms that people swore by, even though they couldn't possibly be true. So let's hear 'em -- click the "comments" link and tell your tale.
And by the way, if you need your new review fix, Jason Fogelson, our Guide to SUVs, has just reviewed our first 2011 production vehicle (assuming you don't count my 2011 Ford Fiesta preview drive, that is) -- check out his write-up on the 2011 Kia Sorento. -- Aaron Gold
I was told by a friend once that they swore by using kerosene and a sponge to wash their car. It was good at getting bugs and everything else off and because it is a petroleum product, it left a protective coat that prevented one from ever having to wax their vehicle.
http://www.snopes.com/autos/autos.asp is full of them.
Not a very exciting one, but the one I’ve heard and never confirmed is to turn off the A/C and turn the ventiliation system to vents. That way the compressor doesn’t try to come on as soon as you start the car.
Years ago, I’d read the JC Whitney catalog to catch up on the latest myths related to increased fuel economy and vehicle performance.
the biggest car myth is that only europeans and asians can build good cars
John, that was is not a myth.
There used to be an infomercial advertising orange plastic plugs that you could put inside your gas tank and they would help increase your fuel mileage.
The funniest one I’ve ever heard though came from Louie Anderson and how his dad would take the legs of the Weber grill and stick it under the engine to help warm it up during the sub-zero Minnesota winters.
With any turbo, you need to let it idle for at least 30 seconds before turning off the engine.
Well, the most obvious I can think of are all the people that told me (I managed an auto parts store for several years) about their cars.
The best I can think of: “My 1988 Toyota Celica runs nines with the stock engine on pump gas.”
People really have no idea what it takes to actually make a ten second car. Especially with movies like the Fast and the Furious making it seem easy.
PS. @Jay, I live in Montana, I don’t know about a grill, but It’s fairly common on really cold days to stick a space heater blowing up into your engine bay if you don’t have a block heater. I’ve seen it work.
Cash for Clunkers was a complete success! The best (or worst) car myth…you decide
I guess I know of 2 myths. One was that when you go down a hill to touch the gas peddle for just a tap once in a while to keep the cylinder lubricated.
The second was that you don’t use the brakes over a bump because it can damage the suspension. To this day if I go over a railroad track or a bad pothole (bad in Rochester, NY) I take my foot of the brakes.
Similar to yours, rev the engine before shutoff so it pumps more oil into the cylinders so there will be less friction on next startup.
Brian, you’re a trouble maker ;op
I never had a dad to tell me about some of these mechanical myths, so I can only contribute that I don’t think blondes look better in black cars, my choice would be redheads ☺
premium gas has more energy. it does’nt work that way
I had an old timeer tell me you shouldn’t park your vehicle where you had to back it up very far before going forwrd because your tranny wouldn’t circulate transmission fluid & it was hard on it.
How about a dirty (or clean, heard both) car gets batter gas mileage than the other. Dirty myth has to do with a “golf ball” effect, clean is the smooth surface creates less drag. according to Mythbusters, clean is better than dirty (but they went WAY overboard on the dirt. The best was actually putting divots like a golf ball!
I have heard the idling a turbo, I think that used to be recommended by the manufacturers. I also take my foot off the brake or gas going over RR tracks and such, but more so that sudden movement of the car (or my foot) doesn’t slam on the brakes full.
@agent bell – The only two cars that have ever left me on the side of the road (due to mechanical problems) have been a Toyota and a Volvo, never one of my American cars, no matter how old or high mileage.
My son claims that if you add one ounce of acetone to every 4 gallons of gas, it will give you an additional 10-15% gas mileage. He swears by this. Anyone think he has something here???
My dad used to fill a gas tank up to the lip because
he felt it would give him better gas milage than just filling until the pump clicked off! He also always said that the two things you never go “cheap”
on are tires and brakes…..everything else it didn’t matter. He only owned 4 cars in his life and all made 200K miles!
mine is the Turbo speech. Evidently, my speed3’s manuals says to idle the car for 30 seconds after a “sprited run” to prevent oil sludge build up in the turbo. Makes sense, especially when my wife’s POS Subaru DID have a turbo die because of build up.
Three worst cars (side of the road cars)
-Chevy Cavalier (87)
- Olds Firenza (88)
- Nissan 200SX Turbo (84)
and
My wife’s POS Subaru. (2005 OBXT)
The first three were old, so that’s understandable. The last one wasnt.
My mom always had crap luck with GM too. Two bad cavaliers, but she also had a bulletproof 74 nova.
I heard the same myth. Only foreign cars. The cars that have let me down the most and were also the most expensive to repair were both Toyotas. Where my trusty 84 Camaro (deemed the least reliable car ever produced) only cost me a carb rebuild every 4 years through 200K miles.
I like the JC Whitney comment—remember the toilet-paper oil filter elements???
All the myths related to idling bug the hell out of me. They include:
- you should let your car warm up to the point that the temp needle starts to move before you drive off
- idling doesn’t waste much fuel
- turning your car off and starting it again within 30 seconds (such as at a light) is hard on the starter
The biggest myth is that the Ford F150 is an American Made car! IT is not. A toyota Sequoia is!
1. About turbos: In actuality, if you run your car at high speeds a lot or race they do sell turbo timers to let oil circulate for 30 seconds or so so it won’t burn up (I hold with this theory).
2. If you run the air conditioner and close the windows you get better mileage because of less wind resistance. FALSE
3. The acetone in the gas theory was quite popular a few years back and I tried it (4 oz. acetone/15 gallons gas). I ran it through about 5 tankfuls: FALSE
4. The best was when the Neon first came out back in 1995 or so, I bought an ACR Neon (racing suspension and slightly higher compression). In the ACR brochure it was stated that it had 150 HP on regular and 173 on premium.
5. I belonged to a Neon mailing list and got all broiwn from the BS that was thrown there. People were saying that their ACRs were smoking Mustangs!
Something I heard is that you should not keep your brakes on when going over bumpy railroad tracks or any real bumpy surface as it can score the rotors and prematurely wear out the pads? Similar to jamming on the breaks hard on cold rotors can cause them to warp… or is that just another myth?
In a late response to the post by Agent Bell is a quote from another automotive blog:
“Adding to the woes piling up on the car company formerly known as “The Juggernaut,” Toyota is recalling 110,000 Toyota Tundra pickups from the 2000-2003 model years because the frames on the vehicles are rusting so badly that the spare tire carrier under the pickup bed can break apart in cold weather, causing the tire to fall down and on to the roadway. This goes hand in hand with the 3.8 million Toyota vehicles being recalled to reconfigure or replace accelerator pedals to reduce the risk that they may become jammed in the floor mat. It will also replace original equipment floor mats with redesigned mats on the vehicles in question. All together now: Not Good.”
I guess you’re right Agent Bell. The Americans CAN’T build a decent vehicle.
Acetone in the gasoline is shocking to me. Acetone is an extreme solvent (fingernail polish remover is acetone) and I would expect it to eat plastic parts in the fuel system. It is also extremely flammable and I would expect detonation and other bad things in the combustion chambers?
Brake use on speed bumps and railroad tracks and similar things I think is not the brake wear but the tires and car bounce up and the load holding them against the ground is reduced. Then the brakes cause the wheels to lock and as the car settles back down there is a severe jolt to passengers and everything in the car because the wheels are not rotating or at least not at proper speed for the forward motion of the vehicle. Yes, that is not really good for suspension and tires but with reasonable speeds in those places, within engineering design limits.
for the import lovers that say they are “made” here… assembling some parts here and calling it american made does not make it so. especially when you send all your profits overseas.
Ignorance Epitomized-complaining about America’s economy while driving an import !!
topgear has anything to do with motoring
I knew a mechanic that serviced delivery vehicles for a company (fortunately not the public) and he wouldn’t change oil filters until every 3rd oil change. He said you had no pressure (true for a few seconds maybe), so it did more damage to replace the filter, than leave it on (with all that crud inside it) so the pressure wouldn’t drop.
On the rotor scoring, the pads and rotor are rotating together and both move up and down with the motion of the wheel, so I don’t think scoring could become an issue, unless the pads are loose.
Wtf are u taking about pat. ur an idiot. have u ever seen a pad nd rotor move together
Pat R,
If as you say= “On the rotor scoring, the pads and rotor are rotating together”
…then you’d have a much bigger problem than rotor scoring. I’ve never seen a brake pad rotate, but if they started to do so, I’d run really fast in the other direction!
for Joe, with newer cars that have fuel evaporative recovery systems (probably 98% of the cars on the road today), overfilling the tank can cause damage to the components of the fuel system.
Your dad probably performed good maintenance, such as regular oil changes without stretching the mileage, to get consistently good life from his cars.
For Jay, in cold climates (I’m from Canada – the tundra part, north of the Dakotas) cars have block heaters, which heat the oil, making the engine easier to crank when cold. In the old days, cars without such heaters were often warmed up with trouble lights under the oil pan (worked like a charm on the old Beetles!) and I knew of people who would put a charcoal or wood fire under the engine. I don’t recall any car fires because of this practice, but they may just have been lucky.
One myth I hear is the one where the guy NEVER changes the oil because putting new oil in the crankcase would only break all the deposits loose inside and cause total engine failure.
The best reason what I can think of, rev the engine before shutoff so all the water droplets settled, (condensed from the exhaust gas out) inside the exhaust system will be thrown out and rusting of the pipes can be avoided.
Braking over railroad tracks and large bumps is bad for your suspension because it puts a high leteral load on the control arms. This puts a high load on your bushings and will wear them out faster. It is much easier on these components if you slow to the proper speed before you get to the bump. The rational for the Neon’s HP ratings for premium vs. regular gas is also relavent to other high performance vehicles. The higher Octane rating allows the self-adjusting cam timing to advance more than if you were using regular gas. Advanced timing = more HP.
Switching the igninition off after revving hard would charge the battery a little leading to easier starts the next time especially in winter. Also automobile batteries in England were in short supply during the war and in the immediate post war years, therefore the Brits and the colonies had to make do with awful batteries. The charging system was also pathetic, most cars were fitted with Dynamos and not alternators at that point of time. It was quite common to push start cars.
I have a supercharged engine so I get people as gas stations telling me to use octane boost. I am an ASE certified mechanic and parts specialist there is no octane boost on the market that will make regular gas into premium, they don’t raise the octane even 1 point. I also laugh at the guys who tell me you must add an oil stabilizer to todays oils, all of todays oils have stabilizers in them, and if you follow standard guidelines for changing do not need any additive (I have had American cars with well over 500,000 miles that still checked out within specifications for blow-by and cylinder leak down)
I’ve used Marvel Mystery Oil,all my life.It conditions or enhances,the oil or gas,as added.Old army tanks,were highly using it,in WW II.It serves well.Provides additional support to oils & gas.Planes used it to prevent oil from freezing & it leaves a film,for added,lubrication & wear.It also serves as An breakin oil for new or rebuilt engines. It keeps the entire fuctioning drive train,clean &working for any vehicle it is put in.Not a paid statement,just honest,time tested facts, Thanks DRA
The grill under the engine is not myth, it’s been used where minus 20 makes motor oil like epoxy glue. this warms the engine oil and lets you start it much easier. and the battery has more juice being warmer Then came the engine heaters that perculates the anti freeze .and battery heating blanket, to do the same thing. No Myth were it gets really cold
dad always said to go down the hill in the same gear u went up it in. Also He said dont brake and let up when going down hill its much better to keep a steady preasure keeping the engine rpm s below the governor setting for the gear u are in.The reason for the steady preasure was that all wheels friction are not perfectly matched therefore the best braking wheels have to do more work therefore can overheat. With all disk brakes now a days this might not be true. He always got 1 sometimes 2 million miles out of his some if his ford trucks. his mechanics were craftsman something i rarely see now a days.I think he converted to diesels sometime in the late 40s or early 50s for better millage something we could learn from today in cars.
That a hot spark plug will burn a hole in a piston. The plug is hotter because it gets less cooling from the water jacket in the head so runs hotter and burns the oil off of the plug.
Lawrence: Huh?
Cavaliers are superb! I and my various family members had a total of 6 at one time and each one was excellent. 3 went over 200 no problem and if one hadn’t been destroyed in an accident, it would have also been way over 200. I choose GM products. My 05 Malibu is great.
I kinda agree with the regular gas versus premium gas theory, that is: Premium does not increase HP. Besides, I tend to think that 4 cylinder motors develop a “miss” when premium gas is used… I have a question. It seems to me that when I fill-up the tank, the gasoline seems to last quite a bit until it reaches a bit under the “F” meter… and then the gas seems to “evaporate” (or decreases) faster. Is it my imagination (it probably is).
For the acetone question – I tried it after watching a few vids on youtube.
It does slightly improve MPG, ive got an SUV and keep accurate calculations of MPG on every tank. I get 15 MPG usually, with acetone I then get 17 MPG. I tried it on a long distance trip and got 19MPG.
I’ll prob not do it again cause iv heard about the corrosion and stuff,
A car that recomends premium gas will develop more HP with regular gas is not a myth. It dosint develop more HP because the gas is more energetic, (it is acualy less energetic) but because with permium the engine dosint retard the engine. wich it would have to do to prevent knocking with regular. but if your car isint ment to run premium there is no benifit to using it.