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Auto Q & A
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Posted by editor Mon Oct 16, 2006 15:15:39 PDT
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0 responses 0 comments Dear Q & A: I want a sports car. This may not be the season to start driving one, with winter just around the corner, but it may also mean prices will come down a little about now. I’m thinking of a used Corvette, about five to seven years old. (Can’t afford a new one.) What should I look for?     – Sal

Dear Sal: Used sports cars, especially those that have been through several hands, are among the chanciest of used car buys. But you want what you want. First, don’t look for a “bargain,” one that’s been handed down through a succession of less responsible, more abusive owners, to wind up sitting on Joe’s Economy Car Lot, next door to Ajax Auto Wrecking, waiting for an unwary fifth owner to start paying for overdue repairs.

Most sports car buyers buy them to drive them hard, for fun — isn’t that their purpose?— rather than carefully, for transportation. They generally take a lot more punishment from their original owners than your average family sedan. Look for a one-owner Vette, if you can find one, with maintenance records showing care and pride of ownership. One detail hint: matching tires are a clue to good past care. If the tires are of various brands, or all cheapo no-names in various stages of wear, it’s a clue that money has been saved on upkeep. All the standard criteria for used- car purchases apply here too, of course. Smooth, quiet engine, good acceleration, no smoke from or greasy black inside the tailpipe, smooth shifts in the A/T or no slippage or chatter in the clutch, clean engine oil and clean, pink tranny fluid that doesn’t smell burnt, etc., etc. And be sure to get your regular mechanic’s okay on its condition. Good luck.

Dear Q & A: Just when I thought I understood what ABS is all about, I see references to something called ESC. Besides being a key on my computer keyboard (which, by the way, I’ve never used), what is this new feature on cars? Is it something that makes ABS obsolete, like DVDs made videotapes obsolete, or what? I’d appreciate some clarification.      — J.C.

Dear JC: ESC (Electronic Stability Control) isn’t a successor to electronic ABS (Anti-lock Braking Systems) but an additional safety feature available as an option on many new cars and trucks. ABS, as you know, is an anti-skid mechanism that keeps your wheels from “locking up” during hard, emergency braking and prevents losing control of the direction and attitude of the vehicle. It takes the place of manually “pumping” the brake pedal to avoid such “lock-up.”

ESC is more sophisticated, for it actually applies braking to one or more wheels, as needed, to keep the vehicle in its intended path when you apply hard braking in an emergency. The effects of ABS and ESC are similar, in that both serve to maintain steering control. The former does this more passively by reducing brake pressure at the wheels most inclined to lock up, the latter more actively by increasing brake pressure at any wheel as well as reducing engine speed to keep the vehicle from straying out of steering control. ESC helps avoid both oversteer (loss of rear wheel traction) and understeer (loss of front wheel traction). An example of oversteer: If during a turn your rear tires lose their grip on the pavement and start sliding, ESC applies outside front brake pressure to keep your car on the path you intended, rather than spinning sideways.

(Send your automotive questions to Auto Q & A, Box 2222, Tehachapi, CA 93581.)

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