Ethanol (ethyl alcohol) is becoming increasingly common in pump gas. Most commonly produced from corn crops in North America, it is viewed by some to represent a more sustainable alternative fuel source, reducing North American reliance on global petroleum markets. While the validity of those “greener fuel” claims may be disputed, one thing seems to be quite clear about Ethanol blended fuels: If you own a vintage, collector or just plain old car, Ethanol fuel might be causing damage to your engine’s fuel system.
Archive for the ‘Product and Service Reviews’ Category
Is Ethanol fuel damaging your vintage engine?
Posted: September 20, 2011 in Car Culture, Product and Service ReviewsTags: Engines, Ethanol
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Buy This Product and Save Your Crotch!
Posted: January 10, 2011 in Product and Service Reviews, SkepticismTags: EMF, motorcycles, physics
This man loves his bike. And his crotch.
Motorcyclists of the world! Dangerous waves of mysterious something-or-other are pouring out of your bike and directly into your crotch! These waves are evil and could be causing cancer! If you love your crotch, you should buy this amazing product (and obligatory book) to save your crotch TODAY!
The man behind this website claims that motorcycles generate dangerous electromagnetic fields that flood riders bodies from the crotch on up, and could be cancer causing. Fortunately for us, he also sells a special seat liner (only $110!) you can put inside your bike saddle to block these fields and save yourself.
What a surprise. (more…)
Are Snow Tires a Snow Job?
Posted: November 16, 2010 in Product and Service ReviewsTags: physics, tires
Every year about this time in Alberta, we see stories on the local news about the mad rush of people to the tire shop wanting to get winter tires installed, and those news stories usually include a poll of random people on the street asking if they have snow tires for their cars. Invariably, there is always some one who says “snow tires are a scam! All-season tires are good for all conditions.”
So what’s a person to believe? Snow tires are expensive. An extra set of winter rims are also expensive, and the labour at the tire shop to change your tires over and back twice a year gets expensive. If there’s no real benefit to snow tires, why not avoid all that extra cost and save your money?
Good question.
To explore this, I’m going to suggest you ignore all the well-meaning opinions out there. Ignore what your uncle Jimmy says about the difference he did or did not notice in his car after switching to snow tires, Ignore what your neighbour the mechanic thinks about them, and ignore what that guy at your office thinks. Instead of personal opinions, anecdotes and rumours, let’s ask science.
Dear Dealership Sales Jerks: We’re Not Idiots.
Posted: October 28, 2010 in Product and Service ReviewsTags: advertising, dealerships, marketing
I recently got some mail at the house that looked very much like it came from the Government. If you live in Canada, you know the sort. A generic brown envelope with a crinkly plastic window and some pre-printed rubbish on it that sounded like some government agency. I tend to view my government mail like I view my government: I go in anticipating confusion, tedium, and disappointment, but not expecting anything of any real consequence for my day to day life.
What I found inside was not from my government at all. I found an insult to my intelligence and either a failed attempt to be clever and ironic, or a blatant attempt to be misleading, intended to separate me from my money.
Click the link to read my mail.
Episode One: Nitrogen Filled Tires
Posted: July 24, 2010 in Product and Service Reviews, Skepticism, Video PostsTags: nitrogen, physics, tires, video
Wow – I can see that keeping these things under 10 minutes will be a challenge. I had to cut a bunch of stuff to make time for fart jokes and cartoons!
Anyhoo - the video episode covers the two most common claims of nitrogen filled tires. I won’t spoil anything in case you’re reading this while waiting for the video to load, but in addition to the claims examined in the video, my research turned up a few other less common alleged benefits that we can look at here. Let’s get right to it after the fold:
