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Miss Mota Mouth
Questions, answers and expert opinions about buying and selling cars online from the mouth of the babe at Mota.net.

• High Performance Carbon Fiber & How Tuners Might Help the Environment
  The other day, after returning from a trip out of town, I went to pick up my dogs from the kennel (they like to call it summer camp). As I parked on the street in this semi-industrial, older area of Long Beach, I happened to glance across the street and did the complete cartoon double take. Wha?
  
  Sitting in front of this strip of anonymous looking workshops was a Datsun 2000, a gorgeous new Mazda RX-8 and a kitted out custom RX-7. I was drawn across the road like a magnet and was walking around all 3 cars like a complete idiot. How many girls dressed like a cross between Olive Oyl and Frida Khalo show up at a tuner shop wanting to see more? Not many, I would imagine. A young employee came to the bay door and asked me if I wanted to come inside and see more. Of course, I did! Inside was a small army of mostly RX-7's stripped down and just waiting to be gussied up into the high performance sexy beasts that they can become. Ah- the smell of Bondo on a warm afternoon! The shop is called Asuka Designs. Here is a great video of the owner of Asuka explaining the benefit of carbon fiber bodies:
  
  Now the interesting aspect of carbon fiber bodies is that they aren't just for the tuner crowd anymore. The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, along with Ford, GM and Daimler Chrysler are working to bring carbon fiber bodies to all cars at a lower cost. In an article by Physorg.com, spokesman Bob Norris for Oak Ridge Labs said:
  
  "Whereas today the cost to purchase commercial-grade carbon fiber is between $8 and $10 per pound, the goal is to reduce that figure to between $3 and $5 per pound," said Norris, leader of ORNL's Polymer Matrix Composites Group. At that price, it would become feasible for automakers to use more than a million tons of composites – approximately 300 pounds of composites per vehicle – annually in the manufacturing of cars.
  
  Carbon fiber is 1/5th the weight of ferrous counterparts used in automobile manufacturing while it has the same strength properties which if used in even half of the structural and semi-structural elements in a car can reduce the weight by 60% and reduce fuel consumption by 30%. Greenhouse gases and emissions could be reduced by as much as 10-20%.
  
  Not only would these cheaper and strong fibers be made of recycled plastics, lignin from wood pulp and cellulose so therefor better for the environment, safety tests with the new fibers are showing that they are just as strong, if not stronger than ferrous materials. Cars made with plastic elements are neither as strong, good for the environment (PVCs keep us relying on the oil industry) and to a real car enthusiast- plastics, in my opinion, do not allow for good design integrity. Additionally, the better that they learn to make low-impact carbon fiber, the cheaper it will become which will inevitably lead to less expensive car that utilize any fuel source- especially alternative fuels.
  
  Interestingly, although carbon fiber will eventually go down in cost to the manufacturer, don't expect to be getting a Tesla Roadster for any less than current retail price. Part of the development and sales of that vehicle are counting on lower manufacturing cost of both the carbon fiber body and the batteries so that eventually, they will be actually able to make a profit on the high performance Roadster.
  
  So while you may chuckle at the kids and older kids driving around in a tricked out tuner with a tail end that makes their car look like a grocery cart with a really big handle, many of the components that they are experimenting with to make their cars more high performance can change the way that all of our cars are made eventually to be lighter, meaner and greener.
• Motachanic: Don't Put Sugar in Your Gas Tank, Sugar!
  Question: If you put sugar in the petrol tank does if give you a boost?
  Would you put gasoline in your coffee? Same difference. Sugar is for people, gasoline is for cars. So no, don't put sugar in your gas tank (or gasoline in your coffee).
  
  Ok, I'll explain this a bit. Putting sugar in your gas tank will, not might, will cause problems. The least damage it will do is plug the fuel filter and cause the engine not to work. The most it will do is destroy the engine. How much damage happens depends on the age of the car and the winds of fate. Todays cars are designed to run on very refined, low particulate gasoline and as such have filters in them that strain tiny amounts (Usually 2 microns). Older cars have a mesh screen, or no filter at all in them because they were designed to run on higher particulate gasoline (remember leaded gasoline?). So a new car with sugar in the fuel would get a clogged fuel filter. Older cars that would let the sugar continue into the engine are a different story.
  
  Back story #1- In any gasoline engine a mist or spray of gasoline is atomized and combined with air to produce an extremely volatile and explosive mix which is what the engine uses to produce power. In a standard 4-stroke engine the fuel is compressed by the pistons and ignited by spark plugs producing a controlled explosion which produces power. If the air/fuel mix ignites too early the result is knocking, pinging and in some cases detonation. If it ignites too late the result is lots of smoke, excessive engine deposits and in some cases, hydro-locking the engine. So it is a delicate balance that the engine has to use to get the most power out of each explosion of each cylinder. Carburetors and distributors controlled this balance on older cars, engine control modules control it on new cars and these controls can adjust the engine a little bit to make up for irregularities in gasoline quality and octane rating, ambient temperature, etc.
  
  Adding sugar to the fuel mix causes gasoline, a light evaporative fuel, to become sticky, thick and, worst of all, raises the ignition point massively. So you have an engine that produces anywhere between 118psi (8:1 compression ratio, 350cid) and 185psi (12:1 compression ratio, 350 cid) trying to compress a fluid (instead of a gas) and ignite it.
  
  Back story #2- Hydraulics uses a liquid to move a load through pressure generated by a pump and a prime mover. The only reason why hydraulics works (and is capable of some amazing force. Like a hydraulic, hand operated jack being able to lift 4 tons. Or the 100 ton press I have in my shop that I use to squish pennies) is because force required to move the load is less than the force required to compress the hydraulic fluid, destabilize the frame of the piston or stop the pump. Basically, it is generally agreed than you cannot compress a liquid. (You can but only under great force and only a tiny bit)
  
  So the sugar/gas mix that is in your engine has transformed a pneumatic (compressed air) system into a hydraulic (compressed liquids) system. Engine blocks are exceptional at many things but containing the 1/2 ton or so of pressure created when trying to compress a liquid isn't one of them. One of four things will happen: The side of the engine will blow out, the crank will snap, the cylinder head will blow off, or the valves will bend and seize. Basically turning the engine into a really heavy paper weight.
  
  So don't put sugar in your gas.
  
  
  The Motachanic
• Transponder Keys: My Car Key Costs How Much?
  If you have bought a car recently you may have asked that very question when you try to get a copy made. Most cars now have some sort of a key transponder system. Early models had a visible resistor chip in the blade of the key. Then manufacturers went to a chip hidden in the head of the key that carries a code. When you turn the key the car goes to a computer module and checks to see if the code is in the memory. Some new cars now have a key that you can keep in your pocket. The car requests a code, then the key sends a signal out that unlocks the doors and tells the car it can start.
  
  Now I will give you some tips that could save some time and money.
  
  • If you're looking at buying a car ask if it has a transponder. This way y