Discussion
Hey, first time posting on this fine site, hope I fit in quickly enough, hehe.
Anyhow, as an amature automotive enthusiast, I've yet to find myself a good car magazine. I'm looking for a sort of Popular Mechanics of cars. Explaining how parts work, what they do, what's new, what's good what's bad, etc.
Are there any reccomendations?
Thanks.
Anyhow, as an amature automotive enthusiast, I've yet to find myself a good car magazine. I'm looking for a sort of Popular Mechanics of cars. Explaining how parts work, what they do, what's new, what's good what's bad, etc.
Are there any reccomendations?
Thanks.
A couple of good sites I found for explaining car-related stuff:
www.howstuffworks.com
http://autozine.kyul.net/technical_school/tech_index.htm
These both taught me quite a bit. But there is no substitute for talking with someone who knows cars, and working on them yourself, you'll figure it out quick enough. It actually is hard to really screw something up badly, just give it a try!
Gary
www.howstuffworks.com
http://autozine.kyul.net/technical_school/tech_index.htm
These both taught me quite a bit. But there is no substitute for talking with someone who knows cars, and working on them yourself, you'll figure it out quick enough. It actually is hard to really screw something up badly, just give it a try!
Gary
I'd give "Car Mechanics" and "Car and Car Conversions" a try. I think both are still being published but sadly last time I checked, both had become a bit Max Power-ish, ie spoilers and foglights aplenty. But they did still detail the technical bits and pieces as well. Best of luck.....
cheers
Robin
cheers
Robin
I'll second, that Cars and car conversions is excellent and just for the record the last few editions have not been max power-ish. They only cover modifications that make a car go, stop and corner better.
Car mechanics is a good on a technical bassis but not nesercarily a performance one.
Car mechanics is a good on a technical bassis but not nesercarily a performance one.
Welcome to the nuthouse. Be very careful today there seems to be on outbreak of iPAQitis on this site today...
Car magazines eh... If you are only interested on one specific type then read the dedicated mags (ie Mini World, Fast Ford etc) as they have "in-depth" techie bits.
General mags, as has been suggested above would be one of the "hands-on" classic magazines, but they still assume some knowledge. I will have a ferret around in my loft, as I learnt from a cracking book that explains how cars work in words of one syllabub and with really clear drawings (kind of like the drawings on Scrapheap Challenge - if you watch this).
My addled mind cannot remember the title of this bible, if I can find it I will post it for all.
The best way to "play with engines" is to start small ie a lawnmower engine, take it to bits and have a look. It's not THAT complicated really....
Hope this helps, if you want to mail any questions directly, feel free, I will try to answer (no warranty given nor implied!!!)
Chris
Car magazines eh... If you are only interested on one specific type then read the dedicated mags (ie Mini World, Fast Ford etc) as they have "in-depth" techie bits.
General mags, as has been suggested above would be one of the "hands-on" classic magazines, but they still assume some knowledge. I will have a ferret around in my loft, as I learnt from a cracking book that explains how cars work in words of one syllabub and with really clear drawings (kind of like the drawings on Scrapheap Challenge - if you watch this).
My addled mind cannot remember the title of this bible, if I can find it I will post it for all.
The best way to "play with engines" is to start small ie a lawnmower engine, take it to bits and have a look. It's not THAT complicated really....
Hope this helps, if you want to mail any questions directly, feel free, I will try to answer (no warranty given nor implied!!!)
Chris
As far as magazines go 'Cars & Car Conversions' is the only one I've found that satisfies my thirst for the technical side of things, and www.autospeed.com is also a very good online magazine that covers a wide range of interesting topics.
I think books really are the best place to start though, the first technical engine book I read was called 'Fundamental motor mechanics' or something along those lines, its a big red book and I've seen it in WH Smiths recently. It explains pretty much most of the 'fundamental' aspects of cars, lorries, motorbikes etc in easy to understand terms, and from time to time I still use it to refresh my memory of certain mechanisms or processes.
A. Graham Bell has a series of books on engine tuning, I've read two of these and I can say they were both excellent although they deal with a lot of detail they are written in such a way that they are easy to read and understand.
Another book I can strongly recommend once you move on to more advanced things is the Bosch Automotive Handbook, its not the kind of book you'd want to read from cover to cover, but it holds a wealth of reference information that I constantly find myself dipping into.
I think books really are the best place to start though, the first technical engine book I read was called 'Fundamental motor mechanics' or something along those lines, its a big red book and I've seen it in WH Smiths recently. It explains pretty much most of the 'fundamental' aspects of cars, lorries, motorbikes etc in easy to understand terms, and from time to time I still use it to refresh my memory of certain mechanisms or processes.
A. Graham Bell has a series of books on engine tuning, I've read two of these and I can say they were both excellent although they deal with a lot of detail they are written in such a way that they are easy to read and understand.
Another book I can strongly recommend once you move on to more advanced things is the Bosch Automotive Handbook, its not the kind of book you'd want to read from cover to cover, but it holds a wealth of reference information that I constantly find myself dipping into.
There is a magazine called Racecar Engineer or Racing Engineer or something like that. Its quite specialist and I have only seen it in WHS Smith but is pretty advanced stuff mainly related to race spec cars.
Motorsport is a good one for technical articles, usually a few in each months magazine, but they generally look at older cars.
As mentioned above EVO occasionaly have good technical articles.
Motorsport is a good one for technical articles, usually a few in each months magazine, but they generally look at older cars.
As mentioned above EVO occasionaly have good technical articles.
Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff