Turbo Zone

This is nothing new, but makes a lot of sense, especially now that the gas prices are skyrocketing and traffic means more fuel lost. Just a reminder that no matter how small the engine size of our vehicle is, if we don’t use it properly and apply bad driving habits including poor vehicle care, we won’t be able to achieve the fuel efficiency claims of our vehicle’s manufacturer. Here are 10 Ways to Improve Your Car’s Gas Mileage:

Eliminate long idling situations. This is a small step that won’t really make a huge difference at first, but over time, it’ll be saving you gas and money. Little steps. Park and go inside of Taco Bell, instead of sitting in line, waiting for the drive-through. Turn your car off, when you’re waiting in the driveway for your friend. If you’re letting your car warm up, make sure you only wait a few minutes and don’t forget that your car is out there using gas. Simple, but effective. Some brands (like Mercedes-Benz, for example) are even starting to incorporate built-in start-stop “ECO” modes on their cars that do exactly this. They stop the engine when you brake and come to a stop at a light or sign, and start back up when you let your foot off the brake.

Below around 80 kph, roll your windows down when it’s hot. This has been a hot topic of debate in the automotive real for decades. What’s better for gas, AC or windows down? In all reality, there is no one specific answer, as all cars (and how those cars are being driven) will have different results. However, as a general rule, you’re better off with your widows down when you’re just tooling around town a low speeds. But if you’re on the highway, the wind resistance with your windows down will greatly hurt your gas mileage. So, when you’re driving at higher speeds, it’s better to use the air conditioning.

Keep a clean air filter. Your engine is constantly sucking in air, and the air filter keeps all the nasty shit that’s clogged up our oxygen from getting into your block. When the filter is dirty and clogged, it’s going to be working harder to suck in air. That means more work for your engine.

Don’t use your car as a storage locker. Imagine putting a 100lb bag of rocks on your back and trying to continue on your day, doing the same routine. It’d be harder, right? You’d be using more energy, and therefore, you’d require more fuel. It’s the same with your car. More weight (yeah, we’re talking about your swirly bowling ball, box of old magazines and tool box) means more fuel required to run it.

Keep your gas capped. We’re not even talking about the idiotic act of forgetting to put the cap back on after you gas up. There are plenty of people who have gas caps improperly put on or gas caps that have been cracked and are allowing gas to evaporate right out of the tank. Your money could literally be disappearing into thin air.

(To be continued)

We’ve seen the facelifted version of the Ford Focus, but this may just be more interesting – new details are starting to emerge about the Focus RS.

According to Sweden’s Auto Motor and Sport, the high-performance model will likely eschew the Geneva and Paris Auto Show and be launched in 2015.

Power will reportedly be provided by a 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine. It produces approximately 305 bhp (227 kW) in the 2015 Mustang but could be tuned to develop roughly 330 bhp (246 kW) in the Focus RS.

Little else is known about the model but previous reports have indicated it could be available exclusively as a five-door hatchback with front-wheel-drive. We can also expect a sport-tuned suspension, high-performance brakes and a limited slip differential.

Let’s cross our fingers and hope Ford PH brings in the RS model, for both Fiesta and Focus.

For a brand that has churned out one successful vehicle after another worldwide, it seems impossible for Toyota to have one car with lagging sales (but then, perhaps “low” for them is some other brand’s “high”).

For all the good press that the Toyota GT 86 is getting, Toyota Europe Vice President of R&D Gerald Killmann claims that it is selling well below target in its major markets.

Since the 86 was introduced, every carshow was filled with them and we’re talking major shows here like Tokyo Auto Salon and SEMA. Even the after-market has taken notice of this model and started producing all sorts of items for the car like body kits, suspension and engine upgrades.

This puts Toyota in a tough spot because the lagging sales are clearly an indicator that European consumers simply are not satisfied with the GT 86 the way it is. Adding in more special editions or even bumping its performance would likely bring the sales numbers up. On the other hand, that would be a huge gamble, as the slow base-level sales makes it economically tough for Toyota to invest more money in building an open-top or turbocharged variant.

So what should Toyota do? Should it leave the GT 86 as is and allow it to fizzle away into nothingness a la the MR2 of the 2000s, or should it give enthusiasts what they want by chopping the top and dropping in some forced induction?

Maybe Toyota is just expecting too much from the 86. Since Subaru is already working on the STi version for their BRZ, Toyota should start considering a “high-performance variant” as well. Use their partnership with BMW and slap on an M3 engine on the 86! After all, the drifting world has gone crazy with the 86 and started using American V8’s.

What do you think, mga Kapuso?

As Filipino Catholics flocked to their various churches yesterday, did priests just take a brief break from giving sermons to talk about traffic regulations?

Father Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of the CBCP-National Secretariat for Social Action, yesterday appealed for priests to be exempted from the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program, in order to serve their flock better.

Father Gariguez emphasized the priests’ need to be mobile, which will be made difficult by the impending “car-mageddon,” which is expected to result to more traffic congestion.

Under the UVRP, also known as number coding and color coding, vehicles with license numbers ending with a certain digit are prohibited from using major roads on specific days of the week. The program allows certain exemptions for “vehicles used by medical practitioners in an emergency” and those carrying people in need of immediate medical assistance.

The priest noted that the exemption should be extended to them, like what is being done for doctors.

What do you think, Kapuso? Should priests be saved from hell otherwise known as urban traffic? — with report from GMA News

They say money can’t buy class. Well, for luxury carmaker Bentley, a little effort goes a long way as they aim to teach their customers how to live the “Bentley Life” — how to use and where to take their luxury cruisers so they won’t be spotted in places which might degrade the image of the “Flying B”.

When you buy into a company like Bentley you’re buying into a little more exclusivity than you get from many marques. Where one manufacturer might offer cheap branded merchandise alongside its vehicles, Bentley is going one better and offering customers and driving enthusiasts alike a series of ‘Grand Touring with Bentley’ holiday packages, traveling bespoke routes around the world on Bentley-themed luxury breaks. These routes take in some of the great drives in countries like the U.S, Great Britain, Italy and France, and others will be added in due course.

‘Secret Britain’ is the first of these tours, beginning with fine dining and hospitality in London before heading into the picturesque Cotswolds and on to Bentley’s facility at Crewe, with a private lunch afterward at Bentley Mews. ‘Guest of Chanel’ takes on a French route, aiming showcase the best of French culture, fashion, cuisine and hospitality inspired by the famous French fashion house. Vineyard tours and a trip into Paris, including a look at Coco Chanel’s private apartment, conclude the tour.

‘Italian Legend’ takes its inspiration from the Mille Miglia road race in Italy, and in particular, Stirling Moss’s famous victory at the race in 1955. The Bentley-devised route carefully follows that of the original road race with stop-overs in fine hotels and guided tours around some of Italy’s most famous monuments, including the Coliseum and the Sistene Chapel. The ‘Luxury of Spontaneity’ driving series is a more freeform take on the luxury break theme, with routes including a 130-mile tour around the Mediterranean island of Mallorca and a 745-mile trip from San Francisco to Las Vegas. Other drives in Oman, Australia, Malaysia, Scotland and Canada will join the roster soon.

The tours aren’t cheap–listed in U.K. prices, the Italian Legend tour will set you back over $7,400 per person based on two people sharing a room and ‘Guest of Chanel’ is over $16,000 for a couple.

And now we wonder — will PGA Cars, the local distributor of Bentley, follow the same route?