Which kind of car wax is the best? The purpose of waxing your car is to give it a layer of protection from the sun and rain to keep your paint and clear coat strong. Choosing the right kind of wax sounds easier than it is. With new high performance waxes, liquids, pastes, and everything else on the market, it may make you second guess what you need for your car. So which one is the best?
Well, the first thing you should know is that a higher price does not always mean higher quality or protection. Consumer Reports just tested a batch of waxes and wax agents for cars and they found out that the lower priced waxes perform just as well as the ones that are described as maximum performance. If you are unsure about what kind of wax will best protect your car, you may be looking for a higher price and think that it is a higher quality, but just remember that is not always the case.
With new liquid waxes on the market, the ease of use makes people think that it is not doing as good of a job protecting your car. Well here’s some more good news. In the tests, the liquid waxes had a negligible difference between the pastes that take more work to apply and use. In fact, if you are an owner of a car with a darker paint job, you may do more damage with paste based waxes because it may cause micro scratches in your paint while application. So what it all comes down to is ease of application and a better price. Both of these things well not make much of a difference in the amount of protection they provide.
Waxing your car before the long fall and winter months will really help keep your car looking good all year long. If you are looking for a new car that already looks great, then come into Superior Cars.
Not all of us have the benefit of attending a Winter Driving School. Let’s face it, almost every year is like a winter driving school anyway. Sometimes winter driving tip is actually to not drive at all, but since that isn’t always a viable option, it will be in your best interest to learn how to correctly drive on snow and on ice. After all, as much as we want it to be, not ever day can be a “snow day” in Cincinnati. The video below has some really good points and tips to remember.
Get a grip. It pays to have the right tires on your Cincinnati car, truck or SUV. There is a difference between the tread on summer tires and winter ones. If you want to “get a grip”, having the right set of tires on your vehicle is paramount when it comes to keeping control on the snow and ice.
Make sure you can see. Two things here. If you have bad, or old wiper blades, you are going to have a hard time seeing. Also, you can put some de-icer in your windshield wiper resivoir. If you can’t see, you are just compounding your problems and ability to navigate safely in foul weather.
Run the air-conditioner. Running your A/C may sound backwards, but it will remove condensation and frost from the interior of windows Set the temperature on “hot” and make sure it’s fresh air you are circulating.
Check your lights. This is a no-brainer. Use your head lights so you can see and others can see you.
Give yourself a brake. It’s easy use antilock brakes: Stomp, stay and steer. Stomp on the pedal as if you were trying to break it off. Stay hard on the pedal. Steer around the obstacle. After you “Stomp”, the ABS will begin to cycle and you will feel pulses in the pedal and probably hear the system working. You might have the urge to “pump” you brakes, but resist this urge, the brakes are, in fact, already pumping.
Too much steering is bad. Over-correcting, or over-steering will probably lead to an accident. What happens is as you come off of the ice onto the asphalt your tires will grab and ultimately redirect your car…usually into a barrier, or another car. Keep your wheels straight, you can’t steer on ice.
Remember, ice amplifies bad driving techniques! Learn how to drive safely before it starts snowing and icing over. You’d better hurry, Winter is right around the corner…literally. However, if you do end up in a fender-bender, you know that you can always bring your Honda, Acura, Kia or Hyundai into your Superior Automotive Group location.
Don’t think your Cincinnati car has a fingerprint? Think again! All vehicles contain a very important strand of car DNA and that’s the VIN number.
VIN stands for Vehicle Identification Number. Way back in 1981, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) required VINs for all vehicles. Read on for more from DMV.org:
Vehicles made during or after 1981 have a VIN made up of 17 characters (letters and numerals). Before that, the VIN usually ranged anywhere from 11 to 17 characters.
The VIN provides clues as to a vehicle’s background, including the manufacturer, model year, and where it was built. In other words, it records the vehicle’s identity. To learn what the individual characters in a VIN represent, visit our page on decoding the VIN.
The VIN also provides a means to trace a vehicle from its “cradle” (the factory) to its “grave” (the scrap heap). In that way, it is similar to a Social Security number for Americans. So it is important to know where the VIN is in order to order a vehicle history report from AutoCheck.
A VIN appears on many forms: registrations, titles, insurance identification cards, accident reports, recall reports, and body shop records, to name a few.
For those of you that don’t know where your VIN number is…trust me, I know you are out there…your vehicle’s VIN can be located at the lower left corner of your dashboard. If you still can’t find it, just give your Cincinnati Car Dealers at the Superior Automotive Group a call.
Getting a flat tire can really put a huge wrinkle in your day. IT always seems to happen at the most inopportune tine too. Throw in the fact that you haven’t been maintaining your spare tire and you’ve just set yourself up for the the most frustrating day ever.
If I had to guess, I would say that only a few people take the time to actually make sure that their spare tire is kept in good working condition. By working I mean primarily filled to the right PSI. You should check the tire pressure on your spare tire once a month, or at least every other month. Tires lose air over time so it is best to add checking your spare tire pressure to your regular maintenance routine.
If you do need to use your spare tire, remember that it is just a short term fix and that you should get to your new car dealership Cincinnati, like the Superior Automotive Group, to get your flat tire fixed, or your old tire replaced.
I also recommend familiarizing yourself with where your spare tire is located as well as where all of the tools are located to get your spare tire up and running. Also, learn how to install the spare tire too and practice changing a tire every so often. This will make it much easier for you if the time ever comes.
If you drive a vehicle where the spare tire is kept underneath your vehicle you should learn how to lower or release it. Sometimes in bigger SUVs, you will have to use a special tool that goes through the hitch receiver which can be very tricky if you don’t know how to do it. I would highly recommend practicing getting access to your spare tire if it is indeed located underneath your vehicle.
Check out this video on how to change out a flat tire with a spare tire:
At every Superior Automotive Group location we service all makes and models and can help you with all of your car needs! Stop by today!
There is no doubt that as we search for a solution to solving some of our dependence on oil by increasing research and development of alternatively fueled that our modern gas engines also need some re-vamping as well. The modern gasoline engine has gone through some serious redesign in the fuel-efficiency department. Modern gasoline engines have been put under the microscope recently in efforts to get more miles per gallon. Major manufacturers like Kia have been at the forefront of the gasoline engine revolution.
So, what type of improvements are we talking about here? Check out 5 new technologies for improving the fuel efficiency of the gas-powered engine.
Variable valve timing and lift. Gasoline engines have valves on them that open and close to let the air/fuel mixture that powers your car in and out. Generally, the valves will open for the same amount of time regardless of how fast the vehicle is going. However, some fuel ends up being wasted because the vehicle is using the same amount whether it’s towing a large load or coasting. If the valve time is varied, the engine will get only as much fuel, as it needs for the amount of work it is doing. And according to the U.S. Department of Energy, this can make a vehicle about 5 times more efficient.
Cylinder deactivation. Cylinder deactivation works on the same principle as variable valve timing in that only the amount of needed cylinders will work depending on the amount of work the vehicle is doing. If a vehicle is maintaining a steady speed and not accelerating, some of the engines cylinders that are not needed will shut down. And if they are not in use, they are not using fuel. This can improve engine efficiency by 7.5 percent.
Direct fuel injection. Researchers have found a way to inject fuel into the gasoline engine without using a spark to ignite the fuel. This process reduces the amount of gasoline your vehicle’s engine needs and allows it to burn cleaner and more efficiently. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, this can improve efficiency by up to 12 percent.
Turbochargers. A turbocharger is a fan powered by gasses from the vehicle’s exhaust system. By adding a turbocharger to a smaller engine, this will help it to the same amount of work as a larger engine, thus saving fuel.
Light-footed drivers. The biggest determinate of how much gasoline your vehicle uses is the driver. The faster and more powerfully you accelerate, the more fuel your vehicle will have to use, as opposed to gradually accelerating. Automakers are helping drivers know when they are driving efficiently. The Kia Forte is one of the vehicles that have a green light on the dashboard to let the driver know when they are driving efficiently.
For more information on fuel-efficient technology visit www.energy.gov. And stop by your your Cincinnati Car Dealers, the Superior Automotive Group to check out the latest gas engine technology for yourself.
Getting to sell the best Hondas, Kias, Hyundais & Acuras in Cincinnati at Superior Automotive Group, sometimes we forget that not all cars are created equal. In fact, throughout automotive history, there have been the good, the bad and the ugly. I guess that’s what you get when you push the boundaries of design and engineering. So, do you know what the worst cars ever made were? Of course, the list isn’t the definitive list because everyone has their own ideas about what they like, or don’t like. This, of course, is just for fun and I’m sure you have a few on your list that are deserving to be on this list. Let’s take a look at a the 10 worst cars ever made:
So, what do you think? Tell your Cincinnati Car Dealers, The Superior Automotive Group what you think are the worst cars ever made.
Have you ever put any thought into understanding what it’s like to drive an 18 wheeler on a crowded and hectic roadway? Your Cincinnati Car Dealers, The Superior Automotive Group wants to remind you that, even though you share the road with truck drivers and their cargo, you have more maneuverability and a clearer line of sight which makes you the game changer if there is a sudden reduction in speed or lane change. Chances are YOU will be the one that is either rapidly approaching a rig in your lane, or changing lanes to get around one.
I can say that most big rig drivers follow the rules of the road fairly well, if they don’t they could incur sever penalties, or fines which can affect their ability to be hired by the companies they truck for. So, you see, most of the time when you are frustrated with a slower moving rig, it’s not his fault, he’s going the speed limit; it’s you who needs to drive less aggressively.
To really appreciate the difficulty in driving an 18 wheeler, you have to understand their physics. They have wide turning radius. They have large blind spots. That also take 800 feet to stop going 55 mph, whereas you would take only 400 feet. In other words, pass them quickly, don’t follow close behind, don’t cut them off when you make lane changes, etc. Common sense may not be so common for many drivers.
The bottom line is give these guys a break. Slow down. You will make their driving task much easier and less stressful, and at the same time you will be less aggressive and less of a nuisance. It’s just a matter of respect. Even if you’ve been behind the wheel since you were 16, there are still those of you out there that could stand to learn to share the road with others.The Superior Automotive Group just want you understand that courtesy is contagious, avoid problems, don’t be a part of them.
At some point in our driving careers, we will be stuck with a dead battery. Maybe we left our lights on, maybe there is corrosion around the poles, maybe we just have bad luck, either way the Superior Automotive Group knows how miserable it is. But don’t worry, help is on the way…and no, it’s not the tow truck. It’s a battery charger! The best way to avoid any unforeseen problems is to avoid them altogether right? So, keeping your battery in good condition is one way to “avoid” one such “unforeseen problem”. Got it?
Let’s say you accidentally left your interior lights on all night and you wake up to find that you have a dead battery, what do you do? Without a battery charger, you call into work and burn a personal day in hopes of getting a jump from a neighbor or a new battery. With a battery charger, well you get to save that personal day for a time when you really want to play hooky. Let me tell you, for around $50, it’s worth it and you’ll get a pretty decent charger to boot!
How does a charger work? Check out the video.
How easy is it to use? This easy.
Of course, there could also be other reasons why your battery is discharging faster than usual, or not having enough juice to turn the starter, and that is a bigger issue. If your Cincinnati car is loosing its charge rapidly, it could be your alternator. I’d advise you take your car to any Superior Automotive location if your battery issues become problematic.
Have you ever purchased a new (or new to you) Cincinnati car, drive it for a bit and begin to recognize that you may have just bought a lemon! We’re not fond of lemons here at Superior Cars and honestly have seen very few. However, they are out there, do you know how to spot them?
Now, it isn’t your fault, right? I mean, how can anyone protect themselves from buying one of these defective vehicles? The answer is easy, you have to learn how to spot a lemon, which only sounds harder than it really is. In order to spot a lemon, there are a few things that anyone can do, all of which boil down to just doing some simple homework.
Check model history: One of the easiest ways to check to see if the car that you are going to be purchasing is a lemon, is to check into the model’s history. Informational sources such as the Kelly Blue Book, and Car and Driver model history is, you can get a fairly accurate description. If there is a large history of problems for a specific model, then chances are that you can expect to have similar problems with the car that you are researching. magazine, has statistical records as to the reliability of the model. Now, while it is true that you cannot base your decision simply off of what the the model history is, you can get a fairly accurate description. If there is a large history of problems for a specific model, then chances are that you can expect to have similar problems with the car that you are researching.
Get a CarFax history report: By simply getting a CarFax history report (which is going to cost you about $30.00) you can be pretty much guaranteed to have almost all of the vehicles history at your finger tips. At least among the major informational categories, such as if the car was stolen, ever been in a wreck and so on. In order to take advantage of such information, you are going to need the vehicle’s identification number (VIN) and a secure credit card (one that you do not mind using online). This is typically something that you are wanting to use if you are purchasing a used car, since most lemon laws do not cover used cars. If you take a look at the stickers on a used car (if you are purchasing from a dealer) then you are going to notice that chances are it has a little box marked that says “As Is.” If that box is marked, and you purchase the vehicle, then you are agreeing to the current condition of the vehicle.
Mechanic examination: If you are purchasing a used car, then you are entitled to have your potential purchase examined by a mechanic. If you don’t want to take a mechanic along, since it tends to cost money, then you just need to know what to look for. The easiest way is to keep an eye out for unexplainable wear and tear, mismatched paint job, and so on. While it may not be 100% accurate of test, it is something that can give you a fairly good idea of what to expect.
In short, what the buyer needs to keep in mind is that old phrase, “Let the buyer beware.” Or, you can always come see the professionals at Superior who do these things for you!
Your Cincinnati car dealers, the Superior Automotive Group wants to know who you think the better Cincinnati drivers are: Men. or Women? The answer may surprise you. Guys, the next time you feel like commenting on how the ladies are behind the wheel you might want to digest this: “The New York Times reports that a recent study by the Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC) says that men are 50 percent to 100 percent more likely to be behind the wheel in a fatal accident than are our female counterparts.”
WHAT?!?!?!?!
You read that right, “Men are 50% to 100% more likely to be behind the wheel in a fatal accident…”. The SIRC theorizes that the reason for is that men just don’t like rules. I’d be inclined to agree.
Not just any rules, mind you. We’re talking driving rules. The NYT cites several studies that show “men are more likely to drink and drive, run a red light, race other drivers and tailgate.” In fact, one study showed that “men were up to four times more likely to drink and drive as women. We’re more aggressive, we’re three times more likely to honk the horn, and we’re statistically proven to be more likely to take risks.”
Here’s an interesting note. The authors of all these studies feel that the reason for men’s aggression and risk-taking has to do with our DNA. Apparently, the hunter within each of us compels us to value speed, strength and a solid quarter mile run.
Now ladies don’t start your gloating yet; men aren’t always the worst drivers. One study cited by the Times reportedly showed that women were more likely to get into accidents on a per-mile basis. Okay, so it’s our lone victory, but if you give us this one, we promise to stop and ask for directions at the next gas station…
This is a fun video:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAzJOX1RFHE
Who want’s to challenge this? Come on guys…let all of us at the Superior Automotive Group know how you feel.
The Superior Automotive Group and Mike Albert Direct have been serving Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky since 1928. We care about you, your cars, your safety, and our community.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask and any suggestions are always welcome at [email protected]
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