Five Driving Tips to extend the days of Your Engine

The current economic climate has been tough for many of us. People are looking for good ways to stretch their dollar and cut back on spending. This extends to the cars we drive, too. It makes a lot more sense for us to keep our current vehicles running in good condition than to be forced to go out and buy a new one.

Most of us know that performing routine maintenance like oil changes and transmission services prevent mechanical failures in the long run and promote the car's overall health. But did you know that your driving habits also have a direct effect on the lifespan of your vehicle? The way you drive in different conditions can affect your engine's fuel economy as well as its lifespan.

Since a new engine can easily cost several thousand dollars, taking care of the one you've got will certainly pay off in the long run.

In this article, we'll take a look at five easy ways to modify your driving habits in order to make sure your engine will last a long time. Many of the tips we'll discuss are low-impact in terms of how they affect your daily commute, but go a long way to save you money.

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Holden VX Commodore

The Holden VX Commodore, Berlina and Calais range of full-size cars were the eleventh instalment of Holden Commodore manufactured by Holden, the Australian subsidiary of General Motors (GM). Produced between October 2000 and September 2002, the VX served as minor update to the VT series from 1997 premiering revised styling and greater model differentiation along with gains in crash safety. An intermediate Series II was launched in August 2001, featuring a thoroughly revised suspension system among other changes.

Compact executive car

Compact executive car is a mainly British car classification term applied to premium cars smaller than executive cars. In European classification, compact executive cars are part of the D-segment. In American English, the specific equivalent term to compact executive car would be compact premium car or compact luxury car, however these are more frequently referred to as Entry-level luxury car or near-luxury car, though entry-level luxury or near-luxury also includes upscale vehicles not sold or categorized in Europe. Compact executive cars are usually available in saloon, estate, coupé and cabriolet body styles.

Dimensionally, compact executive cars are smaller than mid-size/large family cars, and sometimes even smaller than compact cars. Mass market compact cars typically use the economical front wheel drive transverse engine layout, well suited to the inline-4 engine, which also maximizes interior room. Several compact executive cars are rear-wheel drive with longitudinal engines, for improved stability and handling, and in order to accommodate the larger size of higher-performance engines (straight-6, V6, rarely V8), with four-wheel drive often being available. Compact executive cars also tend have more complicated independent suspensions, sportier transmissions, and high revolution engines that may require premium gasoline. The more complex powertrain and mechanical layouts of compact executive cars comes at increased cost and reduced interior passenger and trunk space.

BMW Z1

 
The BMW Z1 was a two-seat roadster developed by BMW and produced from March 1989 to June 1991. The Z1 featured doors which dropped down into the door sills. A total of 8,000 cars were produced.

History

The first example of the Z1 was released by BMW to the press in 1986 and later officially presented at the 1987 Frankfurt Motor Show. Initial demand was so fierce that BMW had 5,000 orders before production began. However, demand dropped significantly around 1988 and BMW ended production in 1991. There is speculation that the drop in demand was due to the early inflated demand from speculative investors. In 1988, however, BMW was quoted as saying that they had 35,000 orders for the Z1.

The BMW Z1 was designed over a three-year period by an in-house division of BMW Forschung und Technik GmbH. The development of the Z1 is attributed to Dr. Ulrich Bez, not to forget the core of his team at BMW Technik GmbH (Alexander Pregl, Rudolf Müller, Lutz Janssen, Wolf-Henryk Menke, Dieter Schaffner, Klaus Faust, Sabine Zemelka and Stephan Stark). Control of the project was turned over to Dr. Klaus Faust when Bez left for Porsche in October, 1988.

The BMW Z1 was used to develop and debut several technologies. Z1 designer Harm Lagaay mentioned that Z1 production helped generate patents for BMW's high-intensity discharge lamp, integrated roll-bar, door mechanism, and underbody tray.