DeTomaso Mailing List: May 2001, Message #171

My mom sent me the following article after we had a discussion whether it was really necessary to change the oil every 3,000 miles. The article came from "Modern Maturity" magazine, and I only have the first page, so I don't know what the second 6 modern car myths are...

"Ever since the motorcar was invented it has been the subject of tall tales that varied from fanciful to foolish. Here are 12 modern day myths that many car owners still believe. What's your "gotcha" score? 

1) Change oil every 3000 miles. This belief is due to brilliant advertising from the quick-lube industry. In fact, no vehicle sold since the mid 1960's has required such frequent oil changes. Manufacturers typically specify oil changes between 6,000 and 10,000 miles, with that interval increasing all the time. Most 2001 models have oil-change intervals of 10,000 miles. The reason? Electronic ignition, fuel injection, engine design, and clean fuels allow engines to run much longer without oil changes. Every owner's manual specifies oil type and change intervals, and no damage or excessive wear will occur if you follow those schedules.

2) VW Beetles could float. The immensely popular VW Beetle enjoyed a reputation during the 1960's as an automobile that would float if driven into standing water. Unfortunately, it wouldn't. Beetles had substantial weatherstripping around the doors, allowing them to float for a few moments, but water could flow in through the floor pan openings. The car would sink in about one minute. 

3) Sugar in the gas tank ruins you motor. Long considered a destructive practical joke, pouring sugar in the gas tank is supposed to gum up the entire fuel system of the car and destroy its engine. It's simply not true. Sugar poured into a gas tank cannot get past the gas filter because sugar doesn't dissolve in hydrocarbons, such as gasoline. Sugar merely sits harmlessly at the bottom of the tank. At the worst, enough sugar will simply clog up the gasoline filter. You can experiment by pouring sugar into gasoline (outside the car, of course) to see if it dissolves.

4) Downshift to slow down. A common practice when driving cars with manual transmissions is to slow down the car by downshifting to a lower gear instead of using the brakes. This bad habit wears out the clutch and gear-synchronizer rings, and puts extreme load on the engine's crankshaft. Any automotive engineer will tell you that brake pads/shoes are much, much cheaper than clutch replacements, transmission overhauls, and engine rebuilding. Downshifting to slow down is best left to emergency situations. 

5) Henry Ford invented the automobile. No, the gasoline-powered automobile was developed independently by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz in the last decade of the 1800's. Several years later, Henry Ford invented the moving assembly line. That flash of brilliance was the means of producing cars cheaply - and in great numbers.

6) High-test gas is the best for you car. Many people believe  that putting high-test (also called high-octane, premium, or ethyl) gasoline into their cars makes them run better, smoother, and more powerfully. In fact, high-test gas can be BAD for your car. Although the term high-octane gas implies that more energy is available, it actually produces no more energy than regular. Higher octane in fuel raises its burning temperature and requires higher compression pressures to burn efficiently. Only about 5 percent of vehicles sold have high compression engines that require premium gas. Using it in a normal engine results in incomplete combustion, less power, carbon fouling of the cylinder ,and, most  importantly, 

And most importantly - I don't know! That's where the page ends. 

Things are pretty quiet here this Sunday so I thought I'd share this with everyone.  

Charlie McCall
1972 DeTomaso Pantera #3847 (for sale)
1985 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S #9375
"Raising Pantera Awareness across Europe"
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/gt5s_1985