Brake pads are one of your car's most important but misunderstood parts. They have the undeniably important task of safely slowing down your vehicle, but brake pads are far from uniform. Browsing...
In theory, the latest and greatest should be the best, right? If any product has eight generations, you’d be right to expect whatever it is to be good at what it’s made for, at least by now. The Volkswagen Golf, now 52 years old, hasn’t turned into a winner so much as it began as one and hasn’t...
ZF Friedrichshafen was formed in Germany just after the turn of the 20th century. Initially, ZF was dedicated to designing parts for Zeppelins, but the quickly growing automobile industry soon became its main focus. By 1934, Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen had built its first fully synchronized...
What’s in your oil really matters. Different engines require different protection, so you really should use oil that meets the right specification. Extracting the exact information you need from all the other numbers and symbols on the bottle can be difficult, as there are a couple of phrases to...
2004 was quite a year for the world. Americans had an election, the Summer Olympics were held in Athens, and Volkswagen/Audi debuted the most significant new automotive product in decades: the dual-clutch transmission. At the time, it was a major leap forward, as it delivered the best of the...
One of the more costly parts of owning a car is the upkeep. Maintenance is typically affordable, but every car has an area or two that are an “Achilles’ heel,” so to speak. For many, it’s a big, expensive part that requires some involved hours. However, there are plenty of others whose big issues...
The best way to save money during your car ownership is by fixing it yourself. No matter what your car may need, a dealership will have a reasonably significant hourly rate that can push a simple service into an eye-wateringly expensive experience. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be that way, as many...
Do you really know what's going on when you flip on your car's air conditioning? You press a button or turn a knob and voila, chilly air come out like magic, or at least, it should. Behind that simple process is a significant amount of mechanical and electrical components activating each other in...
Fuel pumps have one of the highest rates of return at FCP Euro, and it’s easy to see why. Fuel systems can be pretty complex, with many electrical and mechanical parts influencing fuel delivery to the engine. Common causes include a debris-filled fuel filter, blocked fuel line, blown fuel pump...
Oxygen sensors are one of the most critical supporting parts of your engine. While sitting in the exhaust, they gather information on the engine’s combustion characteristics and the fuel mixture. A damaged or ineffective sensor will affect your vehicle’s running condition for the worse, often...