Control and comfort are two basic factors, which should be taken care of while driving a car. It will not only give you a wonderful driving experience but will significantly eliminate the chances of an accident. The positions of the seat and correct hand placement are the key aspect corresponding to better comfort and control while driving. In this article, we will inform and educate you about the most suitable seating positions and hand placements to improve the overall safety and comfort.

In the context of seating positions, the very first thing is to get yourself in the correct seating position. You must learn to sit straight in such a way that your back and buttocks are square. Squeeze yourself completely into the seat so that angle made by your back and thighs should be the same angle as that of the seat itself. This will keep you attentive and prevent possible back injuries and backache.

Adjusting the seat distance should also be done according to individual drivers. You should adjust it in such a way that your knees remain slightly bent (around 120 degrees), even with fully depressed pedals. If the knee angle is less than 100 degrees, then the seat is too close, and it may block the blood circulation. On the other hand, completely stretched legs may cause the situation of knee-lockup. Just remember, if your wrists are meeting the steering wheel without shoulders getting off the seat, then your seat distance is fine and comfortable enough.

Keeping the rake the rake of the seat parallel to the seat will give a comfortable movement for hands while steering. In many cars, like Toyota Camry and Nissan Sunny, the steering wheel in nearly horizontal, hence it’s not possible to have a parallel seat rack. Therefore, it can be adjusted for approximately 110 degree angle.

The height of the seat should be adjusted in such a way that it allows a clear view of the dashboard and the road ahead of you through the windshield. A good seating position also includes the comfort of reaching the gear, so make sure you are not getting your back off the seat for changing the gear.

Placement of hands is another factor that contributes significantly in the comfort of driving and control of the car. You must have both the hands on the wheel that too at 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock positions. This gives you maximum leverage on the wheel. The placement of the palm should be against the outer portion of the wheel. Do not make the mistake of grabbing the steering wheel with the thumbs inside, because if your thumbs are inside and a collision occurs, then steering wheel may turn, and it may break your thumbs.

While making a turn you must use a hand-over-hand method or a push-pull method. Hand over hand method, the hands cross each other while turning the wheel whereas in push-pull method, it is poised for half revolution by one hand then pulled for the remaining half of the second one. Making the mistake of using only one hand or turning the wheel from inside or underneath can be fatal as you may lose the wheel. Moreover, the steering wheel should also not be let to spin freely after completing a turn. Putting the hands inside the wheel can also be equally dangerous, and you may end up losing your hand if an accident occurs. Many people are seen making the mistake of steering with one hand and keeping the other hand on the gear. Keeping the hands on the gear is itself very dangerous step leave alone one hand steering.

Isuzu one of the largest Japanese automobile manufacturers introduced the Isuzu Trooper in the 1980’s.  This Isuzu trooper was introduced into the international market under various name variations such as Isuzu Bighorn, Isuzu Trooper I and II, Acura, Subaru Bighorn, Holden Jackaroo and some more names.  The concept of Isuzu Bighorn was a midsized SUV and did capture market from the 1981 to the latest in 2005.  During this tenure about three generations were marketed.  After 2005, the export market has ceased but domestic market still goes on.

The first generation Isuzu Bighorn was a SUV which had 3 and 5 door options.  It had a gas engine and diesel powered engines. It was given the four wheel drive option along with the manual locking three-position shifter.   In the year 1986, some important changes took part in the carburetor and improvised on the coolant flow thus improving the machine capacity. In 1988, the engine was introduced with higher power and I-Tec engines in the US market. This had a four cylinder and auto transmission powered engine. Later on some more changes happened and then came the turbo charged engines.  The second generation Isuzu Trooper became much smarter and powerful in the engine capacity.  The engines were redesigned and the SUV became the name in the market.  This Isuzu Bighorn was larger and powerful along with all the luxury amenities.  Most of the SUVs had a part time four wheel drive only when this system was needed.  Then in the year 2000 again the design changed and a robust grill took the lead in the design and a five speed manual transmission was introduced.  Isuzu worked with Honda and thus was introduced the Acura SLX, with Chevrolet, it had Chevrolet Trooper, the other names were Subaru Bighorn, Holden Monterey etc.  This Isuzu Bighorn has been a popular name in most of the motor sport activities.  It has won awards in the Australian Safari, Paris Dakar Rally and even Pharaoh’s Rally.

The other important name in the off road SUV manufactured by another Japanese well known auto manufacturer is the Toyota.  This vehicle Toyota Hilux Surf was mostly a domestic vehicle made and sold in Japan.  Later on the business expanded and Toyota Hilux reached the countries such as Australia, New Zealand, UK, Pakistan, Afghanistan and some other countries.   This midsized SUV became more popular as a pickup truck. But the first two generations were more like the pickup vans. The third and fourth generations has transformed designs and were made with the international standard of market in mind.  These were sold in the US and Australia with the nomenclature as Toyota 4Runner.  Most of the US calls this as a truck.  The Toyota Hilux is a very strong body and chassis make.  It comes with a 4 cylinder and turbo diesel with five speed manual transmission engine.  This is also a very well accepted SUV and is very popular because of its built and its capacity to run on the off road conditions in easy manner.

We could conclude that both the giant automobile manufacturers have given us the best of the SUV’s of the time.  Each one has got some unique features to boast about and this was the reason of the huge success in the markets whether domestic or the international.  The specific engine makes up and the ability to recognize the latest trends and demands of the people and putting all those into practicality was the most important aspect of the popularity of both Isuzu Bighorn and Toyota Hilux Surf. Both of them have their own style and personality according to the choice of hundreds of people around the globe.

What a memorable drive it would be if you were driving on a freeway listening to your favorite music along the way? Yes we all like to listen to music on the move and hence car audio plays an important role in making our ride enjoyable. When we talk about the basic audio accessory the first important unit is the head. Head unit is nothing but the tuner or cassette deck or the disc player. It sends signal to the rest of the audio system of your car. There are some head units that have the inbuilt amplifiers in them. In such case you need to make sure that the speaker are sufficient to support the loud play of the small amount of power. However, having said that the speakers play a very important role in the overall audio system of your car! Good quality speakers will help the head unit to sound even better. There is always an option to upgrade the speakers however you will have to spend lots to change the head unit hence it is extremely important to have the pre amp output when you go to purchase it. You can avail the coaxial or the component speakers in your cars audio system.

The second important component of your cars audio system is the sub woofers. They are the speakers that deliver the lower frequency of audio spectrum. The sub woofers are required to be housed in separate boxes of their own and need to be specially installed. They usually demand more power to play.

The amplifiers on the other hand are another accessory of cars audio system. They boost the power signal and result in providing cleaner sound with higher volume. And since more power is one of the most important choices of music lover, an amplifier is the next thing that should be in the list of accessories you buy after your car’s head unit. Some precautions to be taken while installing the amplifier are that you need to ensure that it is never mounted on the metal directly. They are extremely sensitive to electrical and motor noise. They should be minimum 3 feet away from main head unit of system. It can easily be mounted under the seat; however it is always better to mount the amplifier in the boot space of your car. Also ensure that they are kept vertical and fins always direct upwards.

Another important accessory is the Bluetooth. It provides one of the most flexible and modern additions to the car audio wireless communication technology. Nowadays most of the mobile and smart phones are Bluetooth enabled and can transmit data easily.  Through the use of this you can easily transmit songs with the help of pairing the devices.

Other accessory includes MP3 Player connectors, these days the car CD players haven’t really got extinct yet however they are slowly preferred less due to the preferred way of music of current times through MP3 players and Smartphones. These mediums hold more amount of music than the audio CD’s. Also the current days 3G and 4G allow to stream live music through various service providers. Luckily these days cars have inbuilt connectors for these modern day devices.

Apart from these the car audio receivers, on board GPS navigation system, crossover subwoofers which crosses tweeters, woofers and subwoofers, surround car sound system which ensures your car is sound proof and last but not the least DVD players and screens are some of the important and innovative accessories which can ensure that your car ride is an enjoyable and memorable experience for you.

Cars that have the facility to stack luggage on the roof of the car with the help of some kind of girdle is known as the roof rail.  Not many manufacturers give the cars with prefixed roof rails.  This is an additional exterior accessory, which will be manufactured by the manufacturer who designs all kinds of accessories for different types of cars and vans.

The roof rail is a very handy accessory and come to timely help when the family is out for a long trip or picnic. The luggage can be easily loaded on the roof rails and get ample space inside the van. This saves a lot of cramping within the vehicle.

The functions of roof rails are of importance and sometimes are a boon for the owner.  The accessory is fitted by the workshop mechanics in no time.  The fittings are easy to install and benefits the car owners in many ways.   The roof rails come in various different designs and are available for all types of SUVs and cars and vans.  The material that is used in designing should be sturdy and strong so also it should not be very heavy.  This has to be a durable and light material.  This is because; the roof rail will be fitted by nuts and bolts over the rooftop of the car. If the initial weight of the rail is heavy, the roof will bear the entire load and hence there are maximum chances of damaging the roof tin or fiber material.   The size of the roof rail also should be considered.  One cannot buy a bigger sized rail than the size of the top of this car.  He should be careful in selecting the design.

One can choose from the designs that suit the car also.  There are following types of racks available.  The first type would be the side rack, which are installed or fixed along the doors of the car from the front to the back.  This gives a very elegant look to the car.  This could just be a fashion statement for the car.  The functions are not as the other one, which consists of bars running across the breadth of the car.  This helps in stacking the load over it and there are fastening hooks attached to it. The regular models that come are with both vertical and horizontal bars, which are arranged like a mat and are most commonly used by a number of people.  This design is robust and sturdy.  This could hold smaller and larger packages.  The ability to tie up the entire luggage is more convenient when such is the design.

Overall we could conclude that having to install a roof rail could be advisable as per the need of the owner of the car.  The roof rails do have their own benefits and serve a good purpose.  The travel is made easier and comfortable with the entire luggage being packed overhead.  The entire space inside the car is put to good use only for the seating purposes. The roof rails could be fitted with the plastic containers to have a good look but they are expensive and also cause a lot of noise when the containers are not full of some kind of luggage.  It is good to have a roof rail and one, which is fitted correctly and tightly.  See that all the nuts and screws are tightened fully to avoid the unnecessary noise and rattle of the roof rail when the car is in motion. The roof rails are definitely very useful and it depends on the user whether he would like to install one for his car or no.

Recommend for you:  Roof rack for roof rails

If you have always wanted to own a Toyota Rav4 but don’t really have the budget to buy a new one, then you do not have to worry anymore as you can get a used one at a fairly good price. The Toyota Rav4 is one of the best 4WD cars that Toyota has ever made. At first, it used to be a small two door 4WD when it was introduced in 1994. Today, you can find either a two door or four door one. Basically the four door one has more passenger space than the two door one as it has a short wheelbase.

Why the Rav4 is a great deal

The Toyota Rav4 is a good conqueror of the Aussie outback. Although Toyota has plenty of SUVs and 4WDs that can conquer the outback, it has a couple of unique features that make it the best for that. First of all, when it comes to off road driving, this vehicle gives you a perfect ground clearance, ramp angles and massive wheels to tackle any rough areas and rocks alike.

Rav4 used a 2.0 liter engine before being improved to a 2.4 liter and later a 3.5 liter engine in 2007. If you are looking for a 4 speed automatic transmission or 5 speed manual gearbox, there is nothing to worry about because the types are easily available. If you are worried about spare parts, then contact your nearest Toyota dealer. Toyota has dealers across the world where you can get your car serviced as well as get spare parts. Here are some things to check in order to know whether the car is in good condition before buying it.

What to look out for when purchasing a used Toyota Rav4

Apart from checking the above mentioned specs, there are other things that you need to look for such as damaged parts and corrosion. Although the Toyota Rav4 is a well built vehicle, it’s advisable to have a full inspection before buying a used one.

Makes sure you look keenly for any underbody or panel damages. This is recommended although many Rav4s do not get out of the highways.

You will also need to check the body paint, all edges and door sills for any scratches. If there are any scratches, this means that the car has been in contact with rough areas and may cost more for paint jobs.

When checking underneath the Rav4, look out for salty components such as sand. This is helpful even though the Rav4 is rust proof. Salt water is very dangerous and corrodes steel if given a chance. Have a keen look at the trim as there may be some destruction from rain water or salty beach water.

Check the transmission carefully and ensure that there aren’t any loose components that are usually as a result of extreme off road driving. Make sure that the Rav4’s engine starts at its first attempt each time. Also ensure that the engine idles quietly at all times even in extreme weather conditions.

Try and accelerate hard to see if there is any smoke coming from the exhaust. If there is any, the engine may be faulty. Check your manual transmissions for any faults especially when it’s impossible to move from a higher gear to a lower one. In the same case, automatic transmissions may tend to be slow or reluctant to change from parking or neutral to Drive.

Finally, you may check the mileage and most importantly, avoid a Rav4 that has been off road. Nevertheless, this is pretty simple as most of them are used to commute to work on a daily basis in urban centers.