//:: Range Rover on Snow

Here's is a short clip of a Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and a Discovery having some fun ... snow driving ...

Shows how good the all-time 4 wheel drive system of Land Rover is ... enjoy the video

Winter, Land Rover, Range Rover, Jaguar V8, Snow driving //TAGS

//:: Engine warm-up habbits

Eight Facts About Warming Up Your Car in Winter

Old habits die hard, and one of the oldest — still rigorously enforced by many drivers — is that "warming up" the car for a few minutes is necessary to avoid some kind of unspecified damage.

But idling is totally unnecessary, which is why many communities have enacted ordinances against the practice.

Here are some quick facts and tips that should put the idling question to rest:

1. Driving warms the car faster than idling

If your concern is not the health of the car, but simply your own creature comforts, Bob Aldrich of the California Energy Commission points out that "idling is not actually an effective way to warm up a car — it warms up faster if you just drive it."

The coming electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, will incorporate a wonderful feature that allows the owner to use a cellphone to tell the car (which is plugged into the grid) to pre-warm or pre-cool the interior. No idling necessary.

2. Ten seconds is all you need

Environmental Defense Fund, which produced the Idling Gets You Nowhere campaign, advises motorists to turn off their ignition if they're sitting stopped for more than 10 seconds.

"After about 10 seconds, you waste more money running the engine than restarting it, said Andy Darrell, deputy director of the EDF Energy Program. "Switch the car off at the curb, and you'll be leaving money in your wallet and protecting the air in your community."

3. Idling hurts the car

According to the Hinkle Charitable Foundation's Anti-Idling Primer, idling forces an engine "to operate in a very inefficient and gasoline-rich mode that, over time, can degrade the engine's performance and reduce mileage."

The Campaign for an Idle-Free New York City points out that idling causes carbon residues to build up inside the engine, which reduces its efficiency.

4. Idling costs money

Over a year of five minutes of daily idling (which causes incomplete combustion of fuel), the "Anti-Idling Primer" estimates that the operator of a V8-engine car will waste 20 gallons of gasoline, which not only produces 440 pounds of carbon dioxide but costs at least $60.

5. Idling in the garage can kill you

Idling a car in a garage, even with the door open, is dangerous and exposes the driver to carbon monoxide and other noxious gases. If the garage is attached, those fumes can also enter the house.

6. Block heaters beat remote starters

Lori Strothard of the Waterloo Citizens Vehicle Idling Reduction Task Force in Canada says, "Remote starters can too easily cause people to warm up their cars for 5 to 15 minutes, which is generally unnecessary."

A block heater, which is designed to heat the engine and can cost under $30, on a timer set to start one to two hours before driving, does the trick in very cold climates.

7. Quick errands aren't quick enough

Natural Resources Canada points out that leaving your car idling while you're running into a store on an errand or going back into the house to pick up a forgotten item is another way to waste gas and pollute both your town and the planet.

"Leaving your engine running is hard on your pocketbook, produces greenhouse gas emissions, and is an invitation to car thieves," the agency (PDF) says.

8. Idling is bad for your health (and your neighbor's health)

According to Minneapolis' anti-idling ordinance, "Exhaust is hazardous to human health, especially children's; studies have linked air pollution to increased rates of cancer, heart and lung disease, asthma and allergies."

Engine Warm-up, Starting your car during winter, Health //TAGS

//:: RL's Car Collection

Vanity Fair Goes Inside Ralph Lauren's Garage

We don’t know how or why Mr. Ralph Lauren gave access to his private car collection to Vanity Fair, but we are glad he did. Because it’s not really a car collection, but a super museum for rare cars on pedestals.

Lauren recently renovated a former car dealership’s storage facilities near his lavish Westchester, New York, estate to house his amazing jewels on wheels. The picture you see here is from his Ferrari room, dominated by a rare 1958 Testa Rossa. We don’t think we have ever seen something as stunning as this room filled with gleaming red pieces of automotive history.

The eye-popping collection of 60-plus vehicles, arranged like a high-end art gallery, are all kept registered and ready to drive anytime the designer feels like it. It’s hard to put a total price on the collection, that includes a 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic worth an estimated $40 million (EUR30 million) alone, the world’s most expensive car.

Also included are a 1934 Bugatti Type 59 Grand Prix, a 1938 Alfa Romeo Mille Miglia roadster, the world’s only 1930 Mercedes-Benz SSK “Count Trossi” roadster, a 1957 Jaguar XKSS, a McLaren F1, a rare 1929 “Blower” Bentley, a Ferrari 250 GT, and the only Lamborghini Reventon Roadster in the US, which is one of three Lamborghinis Mr. Lauren acquired this year.

All of them are in perfect condition of “sometimes beyond perfection,” according to the magazine, as some models have been done in colors that the designer prefers over the original. One heck of a collection, don’t you think?

Ferrari, Red Cars, Mercedes, Car Collection, Garage, Expensive collection, Old cars, Vintage //TAGS

Note: This is a re-post "http://www.autoevolution.com/news/vanity-fair-goes-inside-ralph-lauren-s-garage-29077.html"