Family Car Driving and Maintenance

Author: Li Juncheng / et al.
Editor-in-Chief: Liu Yumei / et al.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-11-01
Features:
Fragment: Cars are closely related to people's lifestyles, so it is necessary to purchase them based on actual needs and living standards. For example, if you use your car frequently, you should buy a four-door sedan; if you often go camping in the suburbs, it is best to choose an SUV. To buy a car that meets your needs, you must choose the right model, and to choose the right model, you must be clear about your purpose of buying. Is the car primarily an investment for your family, or is it mainly for transportation? If it is the former, you can choose small cars like Aoto and Xiali; if it is the latter, you should select the car based on its usage and preferences. If the purpose of buying a car is for business needs, it can not only improve work efficiency but also be used to demonstrate your identity and status, then it is best to choose a mid-to-high-end sedan. If it is only used for family life, such as commuting, shopping for daily necessities, and outdoor outings on holidays, you should choose a regular or microcar. People who enjoy mountain sports, seaside leisure, and adventure should choose an SUV. When choosing a model, you should also fully consider your financial strength, as the purchase cost, additional fees, insurance fees, fuel costs, and maintenance costs of cars of different grades and manufacturers may vary. Therefore, before buying a car, you should thoroughly understand the technical indicators of relevant models to purchase a vehicle with the best performance-price ratio.
(III) Understanding the Grade and Technical Conditions of Cars
Cars are generally divided into five categories based on engine displacement: microcars (displacement < 1 liter), regular cars (displacement 1–1.8 liters), mid-range cars (displacement 1.8–2.5 liters), mid-to-high-end cars (displacement 2.5–4.0 liters), and luxury cars (displacement > 4.0 liters). The larger the displacement, the higher the grade, but the fuel consumption of the car also increases with the increase of displacement and grade. Before buying a car, you can determine the displacement of the car based on your business needs and financial strength, and then you need to understand the technical conditions of the vehicle. The technical conditions of the vehicle include: size, weight, engine performance, braking performance, etc.
1. Size. The most important ones are the overall length and wheelbase of the car. Generally speaking, the longer the car body, the more difficult it is to park and drive, but it has a larger passenger and luggage space. The longer the wheelbase, the more comfortable the ride, especially when the road is uneven, the vibration of the front wheels will not easily transfer to the rear wheels, but it will be difficult to make sharp turns. The wider the track, the smaller the ground clearance of the vehicle, the stronger the vehicle's anti-tip-over ability, but the steering is heavier.
2. Weight. The heavier the car, the higher the fuel consumption and the worse the flexibility, but it is more durable and comfortable. The more accessories and higher the configuration of the car, the heavier it is. Generally, the larger the engine displacement and the more luxurious the car, the heavier it is. Cars equipped with automatic transmission are generally heavier than those with manual transmission, four-door cars are heavier than two-door cars, and SUVs are heavier than sedans.
3. Engine Performance. The engine is the heart of the car. In a sense, the performance of the engine is the performance of the car. A small, lightweight, excellent in power, fuel efficiency, and low (exhaust) emissions is an important guarantee of the car's excellent performance. Therefore, consumers should pay special attention to the performance of the engine when buying a car. The engine of a family car is mainly a gasoline engine, which is divided into electronic fuel injection and carburetor fuel supply based on its fuel supply method. Electronic fuel injection engines are far superior to carburetor engines in terms of power, fuel efficiency, emissions, vibration, and noise. Electronic fuel injection engines represent the highest level of contemporary design, manufacturing, technology, testing, and the use of new materials and new technologies, such as variable valve timing, variable intake systems, five-valve, multi-point electronic fuel injection, and distributorless non-contact electronic ignition. Modern mid-to-high-end sedans all use electronic fuel injection gasoline engines, while regular and microcars mostly use carburetor engines. The average price of the same model equipped with an electronic fuel injection engine is 20,000–30,000 yuan more than that equipped with a carburetor engine.