Me and Automotive World

Hi there, Im still here. Yeah, and I still with my friend who 'talks about cars'. On the weekend, I usually hang out with those guy. We don't really had a good plan but we try to have a great time. We hangout and drink a coffee at night. We gather a small group and calling everyone who want to join us and set a new meeting place. The fun begin when we moving from a point to another. Some people called, 'racing' but we actually having fun with our cars and friend. And my advice is... please, dont try that on the road! We drive at full speed like a mad bee chasing each other but we not really chasing each other. Using the maximum lane on the highway and changing lane like nobody cares... yes, thats what we love to do.

Highway and sharp corner is really different thing. Again I realize my car is not good enough, this time, on the highway. Why I can keep up with them on the small road and sharp corner, but i cant get closer on the highway? changing lane and drive on the straight lane is easier but its something that my car cannot do.

Back to my car setup, its an automatic transmission. a 4 speed transmission with 1.5liter dohc engine producing 115bhp. People will ask me why automatic? The only transmission my parent allow me to use so i wont go racing. Automatic gearbox made for a city life, and nice cruising. But i use them to tackle a sharp corner and chasing cars on the highway. basically, im not using the gearbox the way it should. Forget the gearbox.. the power. why i dont have the power? at least The power of 115bhp can take me to the highway.

Again with advice from a friend, i redo my exhaust setup. Now with a bigger piping size, and n new catalytic converter, I now spent total RM800 for my exhaust system. I'm upgrading my air filter with HKS hybrid drop in air filter hoping the car can breath better.

Trying my luck on the highway alone, I notice I lost a big power on the low end... feeling disappointed i never rev higher. For me, this setup has gone wrong. Until i saw 2 car chasing each other, I feel like i want to join them. So i step on the gas pedal harder, and notice a big power coming when the tachometer reach 4500rpm. Now it goes better on the highway then before. But i lost the low end power and i have to rev higher every time i need that power.

So what just happened to my car? A change of power band perhaps. OK, here is our first lesson. Car has 2 power, called torque and Horsepower. Torque is a power of pulling. and horsepower is something like stamina. Imagine theres a two guy, a big guy tough guy and athletic man. Both riding the same mountain bike. At the first, the big guy speeding and left the athletic man behind, he start with big gears, but he maintain his speed and get slower after a few minutes. The athletic man, he start with small gear, and slowly change the gear with a constant cycle. He didn't use too much of his power but he just ride constantly.

In this case, the big guy has a lot of torque, but the athletic guy has more horsepower. The big guy can carry alot of weight, and pulling the heavy gear easily because he is strong. but the athletic man only can carry a small weight, but he go faster because he constantly cycle the bike and keep on cycle. The big guy exhaust faster than the athletic man, but if the big guy racing while climbing a hill, he will win, because he climb faster. but on the straight surface, he don't need such a power. What he need is a stamina. That is what going on to my car, I sacrifice my torque to gain more horsepower. At the low RPM, the car has very little horsepower but after 4500rpm, the power taking over and pull me hardly.