Nissan not shuttering Leaf EV battery plants, at least not yet By

The big news on the electric vehicle front today is that Nissan is considering slowing down EV battery production in the US and UK and source all of Nissan's big packs come from Japan.

This incredible Mercedes V12 sculpture is built from bone, wood and fossils

We've seen some impressive automotive replicas, but this one definitely takes the prize as the most unique yet.

1967 Toyota 2000GT Solar Electric Vehicle

You may have packed James Bond's cars with plenty of killer tech (get it?), but the 1967 Toyota 2000GT you see above has got it's own bad boy secrets.

Ford Mondeo Titanium X Sport

The Ford Mondeo range of cars offers the best in style, appearance and performance on the roads without compromising on quality or safety.

Corvette Z06 tops Motor Trend list of shortest-stopping vehicles

Any modern performance car worth buying puts just as much emphasis on stopping as it does on going

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Bias Truck Tires versus Radial Off-Road Tires

Any driver will tell you that radial truck tires have innumerable advantages over bias ply truck tires. In fact, the tire industry has almost completely abandoned manufacturing bias truck tires, save for a few exceptions. Yet despite that bias truck tires come attached with a number of disadvantages, they still have their advantages when it comes to offroad conditions.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Are You Ready for Taller Off-road Truck Tires?

Buying a set of taller off-road tires for your 4x4 is like making a marriage work; it involves sometimes drastic changes, sacrifices, and commitment, along with constant care and maintenance. On the other hand, at least you won't have to remember anniversaries.

The first thing to keep in mind is that upgrading to taller truck tires means upgrading a number of other truck parts in your vehicle as well. Additional inches of vehicle clearance are needed for the truck tires to fit without rubbing against the vehicle fenders. Truck parts like a suspension lift, body lift, or a combination of both can provide those additional inches. For off-road purposes, a suspension lift is preferable for the increase in wheel travel ability, whereas a body lift simply allows for the fitment of larger offroad tires without any offroad performance enhancements.

Larger truck tires also mean that your vehicle will be working harder to tote additional weight, which can result in significant strain to your axles and shocks, and also alters the gear ratio set by the manufacturer.

To compensate for these changes, new ring and pinion gears and performance shocks (many complete lift kits typically include shocks) are strongly recommended. To counteract the additional weight and loss in performance, custom intakes, exhausts, computer chips, or any other performance-enhancing truck parts are also advised.