What are HID headlights and how are they different from regular headlights?

Posted on June 19, 2013 by admin

However reluctantly, you’ve probably started replacing the regular incandescent light bulbs around your house with new compact fluorescents. You know they’re more efficient, but you’ve probably also noticed the light they give off is a little less warm. A similar change is underway in automobile lighting, albeit for different reasons. Our team at DCH Audi Oxnard has the details.

The new thing in auto lighting is HID headlights, sometimes referred to as Xenon HIDs or just Xenons. (“Xenon” is pronounced “ˈzē-ˌnän” and is the name of an inert gas. And while we’re being picky, let’s note that engineers would prefer you to call headlights “headlamps”. The lamp is the assembly, light is what comes out.)

HID stands for High-Intensity Discharge, and HID headlamps work much the same way as those curly fluorescent bulbs. Instead of electricity heating a thin wire filament, it’s passed through a gas – xenon – that glows brightly, giving off an intense bluish-white light. Compared to traditional headlamps, this offers several benefits.

Benefits of HID headlamps

Quite simply, because they shine brighter, HID headlamps help you to see better in the dark. But it doesn’t end there. Many drivers report that the bluer light makes it easier to pick out details in the road ahead. They also tend to throw more light to the sides, helping you see the curb, and cut-off sharply rather than fading out.

Another advantage, admittedly of more interest to the people designing cars, is that they use less energy. Since that energy is generated by the engine in your car, this leads to an overall improvement in your vehicle’s efficiency.

Buying HID headlamps

The best way to get these brighter headlamps is to buy a new car and pick the upgrade package that includes HID’s. If you do, you might notice that some are described as “Bi-Xenon”. That means both high and low beams are xenon.

However, trading in a perfectly good vehicle just to get HID headlamps might seem extreme, in which case the answer is to have them installed on your current vehicle. This process can be difficult, so you’ll want to speak with a trained technician like those at our service department.

HID headlamps are the new thing in auto lighting. They shine brighter and enable the driver see well. Be sure to look for them on your next car.

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Caring for Your Car Battery in Hot Weather

Posted on June 12, 2013 by admin

Many car drivers experience problems with their car battery during the winter. Damp, cold weather can wreak havoc with this critical car part. Many an early morning has been made more stressful by a car battery that doesn’t want to work. However, the warmer summer months are not entirely worry-free when it comes to your car battery, with the sun and hot temperatures posing challenges. Here are some tips from our team at DCH Audi Oxnard on caring for your car battery during the summer.

Excess Heat

The excess heat of summer can cause problems for the car battery. If the car is left in the sun for a long period of time or out on the road, the internal temperature can soar. The excess heat can cause the battery fluid to evaporate, which can the damage the internal parts of the battery. If the components fail, the battery could eventually stop working entirely, which could be disastrous for you.

Checking the Battery and Electrical System

Before the summer starts, ask your service department to check the battery and electrical system. An expert eye may identify problems before they become too serious. While you may need to spend a bit of cash up front, you could easily discover that this is a good investment in the long run. As a general rule, if your car battery is more than three years old, you should have it fully tested to see how much more life there is in it.

Additional Battery Pressure

Even if the battery checks out, it is important to look after it during the summer months to ensure that it works at maximum efficiency. Ensure that you check your battery on a regular basis, and certainly before every long journey. Add distilled water as necessary and make sure that you carry additional distilled water for long journeys. Remember that the battery may be under additional pressure on long journeys, not just from the heat outside. Getting stuck in traffic, air conditioning, and the use of electronic devices such as GPS systems or portable DVD players can all place additional demand on your battery.

Battery Cleanliness

It is also important to keep the battery clean. Excess dust or dirt on the battery can become a conductor which, in turn, can drain battery power. Accumulated corrosion on the battery terminals may insulate the battery and inhibit the flow of current. Both these things can add additional pressure to the battery. You can easily clean the battery and terminals with an old toothbrush. Always clean the battery before the car heats up.

If you are still unsure about how to care for your battery or if you would simply prefer assistance from a professional, be sure to contact our service department to alleviate your car woes this summer.

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A Supercar without Consequences: The Audi F12

Posted on May 16, 2013 by admin

Silent speed never looked so appealing

The Audi R8 E-Tron was a revolutionary study in making a proper electric sports car that unfortunately never came to be. After all, what can possibly be bad about the beautiful lines of the R8 supercar combined with an environmentally friendly electric powertrain?

Good news is the R8 E-Tron has lived on in spirit, reincarnating itself in the new Audi F12 supercar. Still sporting the same good R8 looks, this new viewpoint of electric performance ups the performance ante even further. Where the R8 E-Tron had two electric motors, the new F12 will have three, sending power to all four wheels for extreme grip and traction in any conditions.

In collaboration with Bosch, the F12 sports new battery technology aimed at improving safety and performance. With an overall capacity of more than 38 kWh, the F12 houses two separate blocks of batteries. Using a new battery design, each block is made up of 200 macrocells that feature beveled walls to allow the cells to shift among each other for added safety during an accident.

As for performance, the F12 takes an innovative approach to combining efficiency with all-out speed. With one electric motor housed in the front axle, the remaining two motors find themselves in the rear axle, owing to typical performance car rear-biased power deliveries. During typical, slow speed driving only the motor in the front axle is active. Decide to play a bit, and the motors in the rear axle come to life. With all three electric motors doing their job, performance enthusiasts can count on 204 horsepower, but that isn’t the whole story. The real story is the mountain of torque, 406 pound-feet to be exact, that accompanies that horsepower figure. Take that torque and combine it with all-wheel drive, and there’s no denying the performance at hand.

All of us here at DCH Audi of Oxnard are excited about the developments coming from Audi in search of the harmonious blend of efficiency and driving pleasure. If we keep seeing cars like the Audi F12 on the horizon, the enthusiast base has little to worry about.

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Audi A3 G-Tron Runs on Carbon-Neutral Fuel

Posted on May 3, 2013 by admin

Audi unveils A3 Sportback g-tron e-gas vehicle at Geneva Motor Show

While electric vehicles may seem like the obvious choice for eco-friendly driving at the moment, Audi is making strides in something a little different. At the Geneva Motor Show in March, Audi introduced the new A3 Sportback g-tron, a compressed natural gas (CNG) and gasoline hybrid vehicle.

Though it can run on regular CNG, the five-door A3 g-tron was built to run on e-gas, Audi’s new carbon-neutral synthetic gas. Made from recycled carbon waste in a new power-to-gas plant in Germany, e-gas is essentially identical to natural gas, but more sustainable, as it emits no more CO2 than was chemically put into it in production.

Two lightweight CNG tanks underneath the A3 g-tron each hold up to 15.43 pounds of e-gas or CNG, equaling 248 miles of driving range according to the official press release. The car also has a gas tank, giving it an additional 559 miles in range.

The car’s turbocharged four-cylinder engine produces 110 horsepower in both gasoline and e-gas modes. An electronic gas pressure regulator monitors and adjusts gas pressure for optimal efficiency, and the car switches from e-gas to gasoline when pressure conditions are not ideal.

Audi has not yet announced when this car will come to America, but if you’d like to know more about the e-gas project or other eco-friendly Audi vehicles, contact DCH Audi of Oxnard.

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