Category: Car

If you are one of the many millions of Brits expected to fly out on holiday to the Costa del Sol this year, there is a good chance youll be jetting into Malaga Airport. As Spains 4th busiest airport, Malaga Pablo Picasso Airport sees approximately 13 million passengers through its gates each year, which results in the 2 terminals (soon to be 3) getting a little chaotic especially around peak season. With this in mind, it pays dividends to know in advance exactly where everything is. So once the luggage has been collected, the main priority for most people is getting out of the airport and to accommodation as quickly as possible so the fun can start. This more often means finding the right car hire at Malaga Airport.

Whether due to impatient kids, size-able baggage or the unfamiliar temperatures, trying to grapple with confusing airport signage and wade through golfers, foreign students, hen parties, as well as regular holiday-makers, can prove a trying way to start a holiday, unless forearmed with the right knowledge. Our Idiots Guide can ensure you move like a heat seeking missile through the swathes of people, reach your target desk and be out of there before youve even had a chance to break a sweat.

There are currently 23 Malaga Airport car hire firms in total but only 10 of these are based directly inside the Terminal 2 building itself. These are Auriga Crown, Autos Lido, Avis, Europcar, Goldcar, Hertz, National Atesa, Record, Sixt and Solmar. Access to these offices is just through the doors after baggage reclaim but before going through the final doors to the Malaga Airport Arrivals hall. On the right hand side is a ramp that takes you downstairs to where all the offices are.

When you collect your keys, the staff member behind the desk will inform you which level of the car park your vehicle is situated on and the number of the bay. This will either be on your key fob or will be written down for you. From there you go to the opposite end of the hall to the entrance ramp, which takes you through to Level -1 of the car park. At the moment, the cars are spaced out over three levels: Ground Floor, Level -1 and Level -2. Most pick-up cars are parked between two floors with Auriga Crown, Europcar, National Atesa, Record, Solmar and Sixt on the Ground Floor and Autos Lido, Avis, Goldcar, Hertz, and both National Atesa and Record represented again on Level -1.

To return a vehicle, there is a special entrance for rental cars which is just past the regular P1 and P2 parking entrance bays. There is no ticket to collect when entering and passengers do not have to return the keys to the original terminal-based office as there is a corresponding office for each company on one of the three floors. Sixt is the only one that has 2 offices and these are on the ground floor and Level -2. Autos Lido, Avis, Goldcar, Hertz and Record all have their offices on Level -1, while Auriga Crown, Europcar, National Atesa, Sixt and Solmars are situated on Level -2. These offices are also for use by people renting a car but not flying from the airport.

The much smaller Terminal 1 also has 5 car hire check-in desks which are on the left as you coming through into arrivals. They are Auriga Crown Malaga Airport, Autos Lido Malaga Airport, Europcar Malaga Airport, National Malaga Airport and Sixt Malaga Airport.

Most of the off-airport rental firms are located on a slip road running adjacent to the approach road into the airport called Avenida Garcia Morato. These Malaga car hire companies are Cargest, First Car Group, Global, Helle Hollis, Holiday, Malagacar, National, Niza and Top rent-a-car. Getting to these is incredibly simple as each puts on a specially-dedicated courtesy bus that either schedules runs to and from the airport every 15 minutes or uses the flight details of the customers to turn up at the right time. These buses collect from just outside the arrivals terminal by the regular bus stop which is around 50 metres down on the right after exiting the building. When returning the vehicle, drivers are advised to go round the roundabout and come back on themselves to turn right into the slip road called Avenida Garcia Morato.

The final four Malaga Airport car rental firms are located just over the roundabout, after the BP garage on the right hand side and are Autolink, Marbesol, Tonys and Yellow Car. They are also reachable via a footbridge that runs over the road. To find the footbridge turn right out of the Malaga Airport departures hall and follow the signs for the train station, which will lead you a little further down before making you cross the road and go through the car park.

All over the world, there are more and more automobile accidents caused by mobile phones. People talk on the phone, text, browse, or check on their emails while driving. Due to this, they do not keep both eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel. They are more prone to vehicular accidents when they do this. Thankfully, Samsung has created a phone that will prevent these accidents from happening. They did this with the Samsung Galaxy S.

There are so many things you can do on this phone while on the road. You do not even have to touch the phone. You can mount the phone on your dashboard where it will be in plain sight. All you have to do now is talk to the mobile phone. You can access a number of the phone’s features by merely using your own voice.

No one these days drives off without a GPS device. With this mobile phone, you gain access to maps. You do not just get ordinary maps. You get to view them in 3 different ways. The first is the real street view where you get to see everything in real-time. The second is traffic view where you get to see best free-flowing routes. Lastly, there is the satellite view when a satellite’s view of traffic is preferred. All of these will be available on the Samsung Galaxy S.

Are you constantly concerned about the weather? This phone will give you access to the most accurate weather. You will always be prepared with the information you get on the Galaxy. You will know when to bring your umbrella out of the car or when to just leave it inside the car.

Do you want to search for answers while driving? While this may ordinarily be disastrous, this will not be the case with the Samsung Galaxy S. This convenient mobile phone has Google voice search. You never have to type anything in when you need some answers. All you will need is your own voice.

There have been so many cases of automobile accidents and casualties around the world involving mobile phones. They may be important devices that make our lives easier. However, they can also be a distraction. They will divert our attention on the road. This will not be the case with this mobile device by Samsung. This is how you cruise along safely with the car mode of the Samsung Galaxy S.

The need for speed of a lot of people has made them them to turbo charge their cars. So, like in the movie Fast and Furious, theyre turbocharging it up where its not illegal and theyre having a fantastics time unless they have forgotten to look after their revved-up engines. Without this nifty gadget called dump valves their turbochargers are prone to damage. That works well with petrol-infused cars. What about turbo diesel dump valves?

Let us discuss what a dump valve does. A dump valve serves as the absorber and of extremely high pressure, which it releases to the atmosphere or back to the inlet. Its the bypass valve that protects the cars turbo from taking so much pressure than it can handle.

When the car is in full acceleration, it creates pressure called boost. When the driver suddenly slows down, the throttle butterfly closes and air gets compressed but there is no other escape route. The unused boost then goes back up through the intercooler, creating pressure at the back of the turbo. This pressure acts as a hold on the turbo and tries to stop it from spinning.

How does it perform its purpose? The dump valve will be the leeway, the escape hatch if you want to put it that way. It releases the pressure in two ways: into the air outside or back to the air intake system.

Atmospheric valves dump the extra boost to into the air giving out a whoosh sound that the drivers love. Re-circulating valves dumps back the unused boost with no sound at all.

As a result, this add-on provides significant decrease in turbo spool up time and there is noticeable improvement in the cars response between changes. Since there is little lag on the turbo, the next boost is timely. This means increased torque at lower revs.

What about turbo diesel dump valves?

If you are asking if you can use a petrol dump valve in your turbo diesel car, the pointblank answer is NO. Petrol dump valves are useless to your car because diesel cars have different engine set-up from petrol turbo cars.

Turbo diesel cars do not have the same throttle plates as in a petrol turbo car that control the engine speed. In a diesel car, the engine requires all the air that the turbo charger can give it. It thrives on compressed air for its cylinders to function optimally. A diesel dump valve will only provide the sound but no performance gain.

Diesel dump valves therefore, are not really needed because your turbo diesel car thrives on the high pressure build up. Should you want to install a diesel dump valve in your turbo diesel car, you only get the ‘woosh’ sound when you shift gears.

There isn’t much point in arguing about the necessity of the dump valves in a turbo diesel car. You could install if you want the performance sound but ultimately, it’s down to personal choice as not everyone who drives a turbo diesel wants to fit a dump valve. Some may even find the sound to be repulsive!

While CDs are more durable than the records and cassettes they replaced, CD players are still prone to a variety of malfunctions. The following is a list of the most common problems youre likely to encounter.

Problem #1 – Adhesive Labels

Adhesive labels are big with creative types who dont like the Black Sharpie solution to labeling CD-Rs. But usage may impede proper disc balance, spin (especially the half-disc labels) and interfere with the lasers ability to read data. Worse still, the label can come off the disc and jam the internal mechanisms.

Solution: For the love of Pete, stop using adhesive labels! End the cycle of abuse; do not accept mix CDs from friends who use these labels and embrace the Sharpie, its your friend.

Problem #2 – Kids

Every parent has experienced the awesome joy of starting the car after their child has been playing in the front seat. Your senses are bombarded by the windshield wipers, climate control fan, and car radio all going full blast. Some tykes go the extra mile and also feed loose change into the CD player slot. The coins can physically damage sensitive components or act as a conductor for electricity and short out circuits on the board.

Solution: Get an EZ Pass system and stop leaving change for the tolls in the cup holder. Because (lets be honest) despite your best efforts, your kids arent going anywhere.

Problem #3 – Wear and Tear

If the problem with your CD player isnt #1 or #2, than the most likely suspects are worn gears or a busted transport mechanism. Any machine with moving parts (especially small moving parts) is going to wear out and break down eventually. On the upside, you dont have to yell at your friends or kids for breaking your car stereo.

Solution: Remove the unit and have it repaired by knowledgeable, car radio repair experts. A rebuild will ensure many more years of use and enjoyment.

There are several different possible causes for a driveline vibration. Your wheels, tires, axles, driveshaft, transmission, clutch or torque converter and engine components are all rotating at a high rate of speed, and any one or more of these components can create a vibration if they are worn or out of spec. Worn or broken engine or transmission mounts can transmit normal vibrations that usually aren’t ever felt, and accidental body contact with the engine, transmission, or exhaust can also be misinterpreted as a driveline vibration. The first step in diagnosing a classic car vibration is to determine exactly when and under what conditions the vibration occurs.

There are three basic types of vibrations:

1. Engine RPM related – If the vibration is related to engine RPM, it will occur in all gears (and possibly even sitting still) at a particular engine RPM or above. This vibration usually can be attributed to the engine itself or anything else that turns at the same speed as the engine, such as the harmonic balancer, flywheel or flexplate, pilot bearing, pressure plate, torque converter, or transmission input shaft. It is also possible for body contact with the engine, transmission, or exhaust to cause an engine RPM related vibration. Worn or broken engine or transmission mounts can contribute to this problem. When driving the vehicle with the vibration present, maintain vehicle speed and try shifting to a lower or higher gear. If the vibration changes or goes away while maintaining the same vehicle speed, then the problem is not related to engine RPM.

2. Vehicle Speed related – If the vibration is related to vehicle speed, it will not be present until you reach a certain speed, and then it will usually start gradually and then become worse as speed increases. In some cases, it will decrease at some point, and then come back again at a higher speed. This type of vibration could be related to your wheels, tires, axles, differential, driveshaft runout, balance, or angles, universal joints, or transmission output shaft. Try the same driving test as above. If the vibration is present in third gear at 50 mph, but shifting to fourth gear at 50 MPH makes the vibration go away, then it is not going to be vehicle speed related and you can usually rule out any rotating component that is further back than the transmission output shaft. At a given MPH, your output shaft, driveshaft, axles, wheels and tires are all turning at a constant speed, no matter what gear the transmission is in.

3. Accel/Decel/Cruise related – A vibration that changes depending on whether you are accelerating, decelerating, or cruising at a steady speed could have quite a few different causes. Generally, this will be related to driveshaft angles or a worn or broken part, instead of something being out of balance. Think about what changes when the engine is under load. The engine and isolator mount loads shift; the load on the pinion bearing changes; your driveshaft angles change, possibly more than they should due to a broken engine or transmission mount; your exhaust, shifter, transmission, etc. could be contacting the body only on accel or decel; if the car has been lowered (or raised), your suspension snubbers could be contacting the body prematurely.

A vehicle works as a system, and you have to understand the relationships between all the different parts when you are trying to diagnose a driveline vibration. Determining if the vibration is related to engine speed, vehicle speed, or engine load will help you narrow down the list of possible culprits, and keep you from wasting your time looking in the wrong places.