India Cars Review

GM’s global, small family sedan is tall in the centre and the front and rear window joints are stretched to provide a longer and larger cabin without increasing overall length too much. Insides are airy, cheerful; quality of materials and finish is also very good. It also has airbags and two engine options: 1.4 and 1.6 petrol. The 1.4 is more refined and economical. But the gear shifter is notchy and the throws too long. Ride quality, high speed stability, and braking are all good. Four-channel ABS an option in some higher-end versions.

Rs 6.50 to 7.98 lakhs

CHEVROLET SPARK

Price Range : Rs 3.21 to 3.98 lakhs

The Spark, which is an evolution of the Daewoo Matiz, retains all the cheeki-ness of Giugiaro’s original design, although it looks more grownup and modern now. The design has a sense of fun flowing through and the interior is also funky. The most striking feature is the semi-oval instrument panel with speedo, etc, positioned in the centre of the dashboard. It is very visible even to rear seat passengers, very convenient for backseat drivers. Though grey plas¬tics dominate, the trendy print of the upholstery brightens things up. There is enough space for four, and the S-Tec engine is the same as the one on the U-VA, but has been downsized here. It’s a very refined and responsive lit¬tle unit that is also fuel-efficient. The gearbox is also one of the better ones we have seen from CM and the Spark is great fun to drive in the city due to its compact size and agility. But sadly though it offers a lot of equipment and even alloy wheels as an option, airbags are not available.

EQUIPMENT
AC
Alloy Wheels
Cefitrat LockingSystem
Foglamp
Power steering
Power Windows
SPECCHECK:
Petrol
995cc
4 cylinder
63bhp/5400rpm
90Nm/4200rpm
5 Manual
L/W/H: 3495/1495/1518
wb: 2345
weight: 840kg
fuel tank: 35L

Awesome car ad from Maruti swift. Excellent story boarding and execution from the word go. This ad is a continuation of Bunty and Babli launch of Swift in 2005.

Gasoline prices seem to be one of the most looked after index in recent months. People seem to be wary of the rising gas prices and have become more concerned on how this will affect the other aspects of every day life. Of course, with such an essential necessity as gasoline, there would be many things that would in fact be affected in the worse sense.

As the sudden rise in gasoline prices have made people become more concerned, it would also be very important to know about the different factors that give rise to such increases in the first place. There are four main elements that affect the pricing of gasoline in the retail market, primary of which is the price of crude oil in the world market.

Crude oil is the initial raw material from where gasoline is refined and derived from. Crude oil, a majority of it, is sourced and supplied from Middle East countries. It is these countries that have control over the price of crude oil in the world market. Countries that get their crude oil supply from these oil producing countries are the  most affected by the sudden increase in crude oil prices. Overall, crude oil pricing affects about 75 percent of the price tag for gasoline in the retail market.
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There are various factors that affect retail gasoline prices. Rising costs in crude oil in the world market has quite an effect on the eventual price of gasoline. Crude oil price is usually determined by worldwide supply and demand.

Whenever there are supply disruptions of crude oil in the world market, it would greatly affect retail gasoline prices. If there is an event that slows down or a stop in production among crude oil producing countries, the lack of supply would send the crude oil price up. And as the demand greatly increases due to crude oil being an essential ingredient for various industries, the rise in prices will trickle down into gasoline with crude oil being its raw material.

Other things that might affect retail prices of gasoline include its availability and distance from supply. In areas where gasoline supply has to travel very long distances, there is a likelihood that prices for it may be higher than in areas in close proximity to the gasoline supply. From the refineries, gasoline has to go through a series of transport hubs before it finds its way into the retail stations.

There are usually ports to go through as well as miles and miles of inland pipelines where it eventually reaches a main depot. From this depot, the gasoline may then be transported to the different gas stations by means of distribution trucks. With the distribution process this complex, having the gasoline supply far away from a certain gas station may eventually affect how its retail price may be formulated.

Aside from distance from supply, retail prices of gasoline may also be affected by environmental programs and local regulations being followed in a certain area. There are certain areas, countries or states that require gasoline to be specially formulated to meet up with certain local standards. This is usually done in order to protect the environment.

Certain regulations require that refined gasoline be further reformulated in order to help reduce pollutants to be released into the air. This might require adding up certain chemicals in order to help reduce carbon monoxide emissions as well as other pollutants when gasoline is being burned. In order to meet up with certain regulations of certain states and countries, such processes must be additionally performed and therefore may add up into the retail cost of the reformulated gasoline.

Another big factor of retail gasoline prices being different from one area to another is because of competition. Whenever there are quite a number of retail gas stations to choose from in a certain area, the likelihood of gasoline prices being cheaper there is high. The primary reason is, of course competition. With many retail gas stations trying to share the local market with other retail stations, getting customers attracted is important. The most effective way to do this is by trying to offer cheaper gas prices than the competitor.

In an area having just a few gas retail stations available, the gasoline prices would tend to be higher. The reason for this is that the demand would still be a bit greater with only a few retail stations able to provide the supply. In some cases, the consumer may be made to choose- whether to buy cheaper gasoline to a retail station location many miles away or buy gas from a nearer station offering more expensive gasoline prices.

Rising gasoline prices has become a fact of life. The problem is that there is nothing that most people can really do about it except expect it. The reason for this is because of the total dependence of countries in fossil fuel to keep and maintain their industries.

For so long now, most countries have been dependent on fossil fuel such as gasoline and crude oil to provide the power for industries as well a majority of the transportation needs of the people. It is a fact that most cars running in today’s streets have either gasoline or diesel as fuel. It has been the same situation for several decades now. This dependence on fossil fuel to move the gears of industry and the society makes crude oil exert quite an influence on the economy, lifestyle as well as the future of many countries.

The influence is far reaching. Fossil fuel accounts for a majority of the energy and power needs of countries all over the world. Without it, countries may suddenly fall into chaos. And such events may likely happen in the near future as crude oil supply gets scarce while the demand for it still grows. Fossil fuel such as crude oil is not a renewable resource. At some point in the future, it may run out.
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The appeal and popularity of various hybrid cars have grown especially with the concerns about high gasoline prices as well as a worsening air pollution. Here are some bits of useful information that would help you learn more about hybrid cars and how they may help you save on gas and be somehow protected from worries about rising gasoline prices.

A hybrid vehicle is a type of car that makes use of at least two different fuel sources to make it work. Both fuel sources usually are being used together in some instances to help propel the vehicle more efficiently. There are several different combinations possible for hybrid cars, but the most common hybrid car so far is the gas-electric hybrid.

The gas-electric hybrid car, also known as the hybrid electric vehicle or HEV, is known to make use of a gasoline internal combustion engine or ICE and a separate electric motor to help power it. While the ICE makes use of gasoline to make it run, an electric battery is used to store the electrical energy that powers the hybrid car’s electric motor. The HEV usually has a gasoline engine that is smaller than a conventional one used in standard gasoline powered cars. Use of more advanced technology makes this possible and allows the HEV have better running efficiency as well as substantially reduced pollutant emissions.
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The recent rise in gasoline prices have given people more reason to look for alternative means of transportation. The rising cost of using gas may have motivated a lot of people to clamor for an alternative form of transportation that would help usher in an age where humans no longer have to depend a lot on a so-called Oil Economy.

And with the move to look for alternative sources of transportation, many researchers have begun looking into other forms of alternative fuels in order to run future vehicles. One of the most attractive and in fact the most appealing concept provided is the use of hydrogen to run cars. It would only be time before hydrogen cars would be used as the primary transport in the streets. Btu what exactly is it?

A hydrogen car is a relatively new type of transport vehicle that uses hydrogen as its primary on-board fuel. The hydrogen car is different from conventional vehicles in that it uses a different type of engine to make the vehicle move. There are two ways that this can be made possible.
There is one type of hydrogen car can be powered by the burning of hydrogen fuel, much like what happens with a gasoline engine. The hydrogen engine is actually a modified version of the traditional gasoline internal combustion engine. The process used in running both may generally be the same- the force of burning hydrogen provides the explosive power that makes the engine produce mechanical power to make the car move.

A noticeable benefit that a hydrogen powered vehicle provides is that it makes use of a cleaner fuel source for power. This means that using hydrogen as fuel allows lesser polluting substances and chemicals being emitted into the atmosphere. In fact, the hydrogen car concept has been realized because researchers have been looking for a cleaner alternative fuel to be used in the future to replace crude oil. And apparently, hydrogen fits the bill quite nicely.

Another type of hydrogen car being develop today makes use of the hydrogen fuel cell for power instead of a specialized internal combustion engine. In this set-up, the hydrogen is used to provide and generate electrical power that can be used to run the car’s electric motor. This way emissions are totally avoided unlike a car using an internal combustion engine (ICE) running on hydrogen.

Although the use of hydrogen fuel cells is being eyed to have the best potential to power hydrogen cars of the future, the plan may still face certain obstacles. One, hydrogen fuel cells are too expensive to produce using current technology. Not only that, hydrogen fuel cells also tend to be very fragile and sensitive to vibrations and sudden movements. Engineers today are still trying to come up with a design and develop a type of hydrogen fuel cell that can be strong enough to withstand the vibrations frequent bumps that normally comes with traveling by car. And at the same time, there would be a need for a better and more affordable technology to build the hydrogen fuel cells to make them more affordable to consumers.
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