Archive for August, 2011
How To Get The Most Out Of Your Polaris Power Plant With A Polaris Exhaust Upgrade
Upgrading your exhaust can give you far superior performance
Whats missing? Youve taken your Ranger RZR and youve basically torn it apart and added as much horsepower that you can afford. Maybe youve ported polished or even taken the engine .30 over. Youve added an improved electronics package while going high tech with every added component that you could find. You topped it off with fuel injection capable of feeding your new beats appetite Your machine looks good and you have a build sheet that would impress a Baja pro racer but when you fire that monster up you get less than desirable horsepower output on the dyno or on the track and in worse case you get miss firing and unstable performance.
Whats missing? Polaris exhaust Well when the fuel injection was installed was the monster given a bigger throat to breathe with? More horsepower means youll need more fuel and finally; one of the most commonly overlooked necessities of properly working horsepower is the ability to breathe. No one forgets the slap on the Kamp;N filter kit but in most cases the beast is not given adequate exhaust. Not only are exhaust gases poisonous to us they are poisonous to your Ranger too. If the higher levels of spent fuel are not removed from the engine it will rob your motor of horsepower that youve spent a lot of money building.
A lot of people look at an exhaust as cosmetic or to enhance the throaty sound that is desirable in larger displacement engines. These attributes have their merit but the fundamental necessity for an exhaust is to clear out the unnecessary gas from your engine and to create backpressure. Just going to the local store to build an exhaust is costly time consuming and generally unproductive time spent. Every application is different and unless you are going to a specialty store for your parts the chances of you getting an exhaust set up for your Ranger is unlikely.
Having an exhaust custom built is better but it is the most expensive method since they are generally custom fabricated to fit your application. It also means longer downtime as it takes longer to get these exhausts manufactured. Youre also stuck with local shops unless you are good at tracing your needs or you can afford to ship your Ranger to your fabricator.
When it comes to cost ease and having a correct fitting exhaust going to the experts at Polaris for their custom fit exhausts will prove to be the best solution for a person trying to get the most horsepower out of their upgrades. The Polaris Ranger exhaust boasts a 15 horsepower gain at the engine and has been race tested in Baja to ensure maximum performance. You owe it to your beast to give it a louder voice and a better throat to breathe!
About the writer: Kimberly Green bringing you the best deals for the Polaris RZR with a special focus on Polaris exhaust.
Suzuki Burgman 650 Executive Scooter
Filtering through peakhour traffic on a Suzuki Burgman is akin to using a 20kg sledgehammer on a drawing pin neither is suitable for the job although theyll both complete the task.
But unlike the 20kg sledgehammer the 2008 Burgman 650 Executive has folding mirrors to make its design brief a little easier not the normal swivelling motorcycle items but ones that swing in electronically with the touch of a button. A gimmick? Initially I thought so but they actually do work.
There are plenty of other buttons to press on the Burgmans switchblocks too with the big Burger possessing an electronic sixspeed manual shift in addition to automatic operation activated by pushing buttons on the left switchblock. Its similar in operation to the electronic sequential shift found on expensive sports cars.
But the buttons dont stop there. Theres also a power mode button plus another button for raising and lowering the electrically adjustable screen. Yes buttons aplenty. But the Burgman isnt your normal everyday scooter.
Suzukis maxiscoot is really a touring motorcycle in disguise and in its latest Executive guise it has more features than ever before. For 2008 it gets ABS as standard a pillion backrest and an immobiliser system all for the same 12990 price as the 2007 model oh and those folding mirrors.
The Burgman is undeniably the king of the maxiscoots a point driven home at last years Dumb Dumber winter soire when a number of maxiscoots were unleashed in Australias high country.
The Suzi loves the open road and pampers the rider with unrivalled weather protection a luxurious saddle and a humungous 56 litres of underseat storage. There are also three goodsized compartments in the fairing plus it has excellent highspeed stability and the onboard computer keeps the rider abreast of fuel consumption 5.7L/100km around the suburbs and 5L/100km on the open road. With a 15litre tank this gives a range of 280km.
The Burgmans got the biggest engine in the maxiscooter category at 638cc the bulkiest bodywork the most kilos the most legroom the greatest number of tech features and the most buttons.
Speaking of buttons I cant really see any advantage in manual shifting as the Suzuki Electronically Controlled Continuously Variable Transmission SECCVT allows the Burgman to win most trafficlight drags. Set and forget is fine by me.
Theres a surprising amount of automatic engine braking on offer at slower speeds via the SECCVT such as when approaching traffic lights. Its a bit too strong for my liking but I soon learned to adapt.
Suzuki accessories for the Burgman include a Zumo 550 GPS for 1399 soft cylindrical tailbag for 139 an optional screen for 229 and a chrome front panel for 237.11 worth of extra bling.
The added bonus with the 2008 incarnation is that those gimmicky mirrors can be folded in for improved aerodynamics in any trafficlight drag then folded out 400 metres later to see the shocked look on the face of the HSV driver as you leave him/her eating Executive dust. Priceless.
About the writer: Having decided to take an indefinite career break Hugh is touring Australia in his ute and paying his way by writing freelance.
The History Of Peugeot
Peugeot began its reign in motorsports since the very beginning with the entering five cars for the ParisRouen Trials in 1894. These motorsport trials are largely recognized as the first motor sports competition. It was not until 1912 that Peugeot made its most notable contribution to the world of motor sports when one of the entered cars won the French Grand Prix. This winning Peugeot car was advanced and influential for later designs as the Peugeot featured a dual overhead cam configuration with four valves per cylinder. The Peugeot innovation made it such that the engines could be smaller and kick out maximum horsepower versus relying on larger heavier engines to get the desired horsepower.
1913 marked an excellent year for Peugeot in racing as they won the Indianapolis 500 and the French Grand Prix. Interestingly enough when one of the Peugeot racers remained in the US during WWI parts could not be acquired from France for the 1914 season. The owner of the car Bob Burma had the Peugeot serviced under the mechanic Fred Offenhauser. The familiarity with the Peugeot engine was the basis of the Miller racing engine which led to the Offy racing engine.
The racing team had a great deal of success wit hthe Peugeot 504 and the four wheel drive turbo charged 205 model. The 205 model is by far the best selling Peugeot model of all time with the discontinuation of the model happening in the near future. The Peugeot 206 rally car enjoyed successes in championships beating the well known Subaru Impreza. The 206 was retired from rally racing after being nearly unbeatable during its reign as a racing force. The 206 was replaced in rally racing with the 307 which is nowhere near what the 206 established. In the races transmission troubles gave the car poor results which made it a far cry from the 206.
In the 1990s the Peugeot 406 saloon was largely referred to as a sedan in many countries. The Peugeot 406 competed in the touring car championships worldwide with success in France Germany and Australia. The mid1990s were characteristic of the 406 losing popularity because of lackluster performance in racing. The lack of success was largely based on suspension problems and the Peugeot 406 earned a poor reputation. After the fact the Peugeot 406 was declared to be underpowered and the team was underfunded. Had the Peugeot team been better funded the Peugeot 406 could have a better standing reputation today. In 2001 Peugeot entered three 406 models in to the British touring car championship to compete with Vauxhall Astra coupes. The Peugeot 406 was at the end of its production life cycle and was not competitive with the newer more technologically advanced vehicles in the race. The Peugeot 307 replaced the 406 with the 307 having lackluster success as well. In all reality had Peugeot stuck with the 206 they might still have a dominant rally racing prowess.
About the writer: The Author writes articles on Robins and Day. More articles written by the author related to Peugeot Dealer Peugeot 206 and Peugeot 207 which can be found on the web.