Introduced in the year 2000, the Focus is another vehicle from the line up of the Ford Motor Company of the United States. The most recent model of this vehicle is the 2006 Ford Focus and this vehicle continues to show just how good it is and how much of a success it has already achieved. From the spacious storage space to the wide range of trim levels to convenience features to a very reasonable price, customers and Ford patrons have certainly been flocking to buy the Ford Focus.

As for the present Ford Focus model line up, the list includes a choice of four different engines among which three are variations of an I4 engine. Along with that, this vehicle also provides a wide range of choice for its trim levels with seven choices. The options package is still another story to tell. This vehicle has been made available as a sedan with four doors, a wagon with four doors, and as a hatchback with two doors or four doors. Among the features that this vehicle boasts of include an AM/FM stereo, a split-folding rear seat, power windows, power mirrors, power locks, upgraded stereos, a cruise control system, a tilt and telescoping steering wheel, leather seating, an in-dash CD changer, antilock brakes, traction control, stability control, side airbags, an MP3 compatible CD player, 15 inch wheels made of steel, a keyless entry system, air conditioning, fog lamps, low profile Pirelli tires, a spoiler, a bright finish exhaust tip, and a sunroof as well.

People who were able to take the seat behind the wheel of the 2006 Ford Focus has claimed that this car is totally fun to drive and also provides great fuel mileage. It has mileage ratings of 20 plus mpg for city driving and 30 plus for highway traversing. As for the configurations and the instruments found in its interior, one would not find it hard to decipher and interpret. The cabin has the capability to take in a maximum passenger capacity of five people. Its total cargo volume reaches an even 73 cubic feet. Compared to other vehicles in its class and category, the 2006 Ford Focus surpasses all of them when it comes to its storage space. To provide more cargo space, the rear seats can actually be folded down flat to the floor thus giving more space to put in more cargo.

As per the entertainment that this vehicle would provide its owners and passengers, the 2006 Ford Focus is actually the only vehicle in the industry at present that comes with an available Sony sound. This comes with speakers and subwoofers that is designed by Sony itself. Each of these has been specifically tuned so as to fit and be part of the whole interior of the Ford Focus.

This is where http://www.americanbodyparts.com comes in. Having a vast array of well crafted Ford replacement parts, performance parts, aftermarket parts, and accessories to choose from its online store, customers can have a wider range of choices. From Ford Focus parts, Ford Freestar parts to Ford Windstar parts, Ford Parts Online got you covered.

About The Author

Chuck Smith, a 38 year old freelance writer from Charleston, South Carolina, has been specializing on automotive-related articles and news. He has a degree in Automotive Techonology.

Ford Parts Online http://www.americanbodyparts.com/auto-body-parts/ford-focus-parts.html

chuck@americanbodyparts.com

Technorati Tags: automotive, autocare, auto care, car care, auto repair

We’ve seen too much misinformation regarding exhaust (read: that pipe that runs under your car which gives off or “exhausts” certain things) theory.

What kind of misinformation? For starters, there are a lot of people in the “bigger is better” camp. We’re talking about exhaust pipe diameters.

Of course you’ve seen them quasi-race cars with the biggest exhaust systems making the most thundering noises while parking at your lot. For some, this is just way irritating while for others, well, they just have to put up or shut up.

So is bigger really better? To understand and to be able to take a side on this great debate, one must know what really happens and what purpose does the exhaust pipe serve.

Let’s start from the beginning. What is an exhaust system? Silly question? Not hardly. Exhaust systems carry out several important functions. First of which is getting hot, noxious exhaust gasses from your engine.

These are placed away from the engine compartment. Basically it’s the waste place of the car. It also significantly soothes noise output from the engine. And in the case of modern cars, reduce exhaust emissions.

So how the heck does the exhaust system work?

Here’s a point by point, step by step travel of the exhaust in your car. This will give you an idea on what happens inside your car (just the exhaust side, though)

After your air/fuel mixture (or nitrous/fuel mixture) burns, you will obviously have some leftovers consisting of a few unburned hydrocarbons (fuel), carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, phosphorus, and the occasional molecule of a heavy metal, such as lead or molybdenum.

These are all in gaseous form, and will be under a lot of pressure as the piston rushes them out of the cylinder and into the exhaust manifold or header It collects the exhaust gases from multiple cylinders into one pipe.

They will also be hotter. An exhaust manifold is usually made of cast iron, and its’ primary purpose is to funnel several exhaust ports into one, so you don’t need four exhaust pipes sticking out the back of your Civic.

Exhaust manifolds are usually pretty restrictive to the flow of exhaust gas. So therefore, they waste a lot of power because your pistons have to push on the exhaust gasses pretty hard to get them out.

So why does virtually every new automobile sold have exhaust manifolds? Because they are cheap to produce, and easy to install. Real cheap. Real easy.

The performance alternative to the exhaust manifold is a header. What’s the difference?

Where a manifold usually has several holes converging into a common chamber to route all your gases, a header has precisely formed tubes that curve gently to join your exhaust ports to your exhaust pipe.

How does this help? First of all, as with any fluid, exhaust gases must be treated gently for maximum horsepower production (that’s your engine’s power) You don’t want to just slam-bang exhaust gas from your engine into the exhaust system.

Nextly, exhaust gases exit from your manifold or header, travel through a bit of pipe, then end up in the catalytic converter, or “cat”. The cat’s main job is to help clean up some of the harmful chemicals from your exhaust gas so they don’t end up in your lungs.

In most cars, they also do a great job of quieting things down and giving any exhaust system a deeper, mellow tone.

From the catalytic converter, the exhaust gasses go through a bit more pipe and then into a muffler, or system consisting of several mufflers and/or resonators.

Exhaust gases leave the engine under extremely high pressure. If we allowed exhaust gasses escape to the atmosphere directly from the exhaust port, you can well imagine how loud and cop-attracting the noise would be.

For the same reason gunshots are loud, engine exhaust is loud. Sure, it might be cool to drive around on the street with that testosterone producing, chest-thumping, 150 decibel roar coming from your car… for about 5.3 seconds. Even the gentleman’s gentleman has got to use a muffler, or system of mufflers, on their exhaust.

About the author:

James Monahan is the owner and Senior Editor of ExhaustSite.com and writes expert articles about exhausts.

Technorati Tags: automotive, autocare, auto care, car care, auto repair

There’s a good chance that at some point you’re going to have to apply for an automotive loan, also known as a car loan auto financing has grown into one of the largest loan industries in the world today.

With the cost of new cars and trucks on the market today, it’s perfectly understandable why a person would likely need to finance their new vehicle. Of course, depending upon your credit score and the car or truck that you want to buy you might find it a bit difficult to find the auto financing loan that you want with an interest rate that you can afford.

Of course, with a little bit of careful shopping and comparing of interest rates and loan terms it should be very easy to determine which loan is right for you. Below you’ll find some basic tips to assist you in your search for a car loan.

Determine how much you can afford

The first thing that you should do when looking for a new car or truck is to determine exactly how much you can afford to spend, and how much you’ll need to borrow. The initial down payment that you make will affect both your interest rate and monthly payment, so you should put forth as much of an initial payment as you can.

After you’ve decided exactly how much you can afford to spend on your initial down payment, you should also figure out how much you can afford to spend on your monthly payments.

If you might be cutting it close to not having enough money for a certain monthly payment, it would be best to cut back on the amount you think you can afford so as not to cause any financial problems down the line.

Choosing the right car or truck

Once you’ve started looking for your car or truck, there are a few things that you should be on the lookout for so as to avoid problems with your financing later.

If you’re going to apply for automotive financing, you should look at the new and used cars and trucks that are for sale from automotive dealers lenders are much more likely to grant you a loan for a car or truck that’s purchased from a dealer than from an individual because of the assurances that a dealer can provide that the transaction is legal and legitimate.

In addition, automotive dealers carry a much larger selection than most individuals would have access to.

Shopping for the best car loans

When you’ve found a car or truck that’s in good shape and is priced so that you can afford the payments, it’s time to start shopping for your loan. So as to find the best interest rate for your loan, it’s important to consider all of your options when looking for a lender visit your local banks, finance companies, and even some online lenders so as to compare the interest rates that each offers.

Get quotes for both interest rates and loan terms, since some lenders may offer better repayment terms than others, and compare them individually in order to find your best deal.

Once you’ve found your best loan offer with the best interest rate, go ahead and submit your application for financing make sure that you keep your next best offer on hand, though, just in case there is some problem with the lender or the dealership and you aren’t able to get the first loan that you apply for.

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You may freely reprint this article provided the following author’s biography (including the live URL link) remains intact:

About The Author

John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help homeowners find the best available loans via the www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.

Technorati Tags: automotive, autocare, auto care, car care, auto repair