Tag: how it works

  • It’s this easy to change your own oil

    Our friend Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained has been teaching us a lot about our favorite subject: cars. Today, he’s here to talk about something that just might inspire you to get your hands dirty under the hood of your own car. It’s basic, but every car guy should know it. The topic of the…

  • How the elusive 4-rotor rotary engine works

    As the old saying goes, there is no replacement for displacement. That’s not the case when it comes to rotary engines, which typically have very small displacement. Instead of cubes, if you want a rotary to make more power you do two things: add more rotors and/or slap on a turbocharger or two. Noted rotary…

  • You can build your own go-kart using simple tools

    There’s something endlessly appealing about ripping around in a go-kart—it doesn’t matter if you’re 4 or 400 years old. For the average person, this means you hop in your car and drive to the nearest go-kart track. Hopefully they have gas karts, but you’ll certainly still be happy on a solid electric machine. If you’re…

  • Why you put the most weight at the front of a trailer

    Great demo by @uhaul today @CVSA Conference shows affect of weight distribution on trailer #weightforward #trailer. pic.twitter.com/veefMuWC4v — OPCVC (@OPCVC) September 22, 2016 Trepidation and a healthy fear are wise when hauling a trailer, especially if it’s not something you do often. Still, modern trucks are equipped with a host of…

  • Let’s figure out who makes the best engine

    Congratulations to Jason on his 500th Engineering Explained video. The series has been wonderful in the way it presents technical concepts and brings them down to a language that most of us can comprehend and understand. For his 500th video, Jason is trying to figure out which automaker makes the best engine. He says this…

  • What’s the difference between steel and rubber brake lines?

    Your car’s brakes are pretty darn important. If you have lousy pedal feel, you should do something about that, right? Stopping is at least as important as going. So when you’re looking to fix or upgrade your brake system, should you go with rubber lines or jump up to steel brake lines? Engineering Explained is…

  • 5 things you should never do with a dual-clutch transmission

    Dual-clutch gearboxes are becoming increasingly common, and today’s versions of these fast-shifting automatic gearboxes are far better than they were just a few years ago when they first hit the consumer market. Our friend Jason Fenske at Engineering Explained takes a look at these transmissions in this simple, highly informative video, and he…

  • What factors change air suspension spring rates?

    Just a week ago, we invited you to come along and learn about air suspension systems. Our friend Jason Fenske at Engineering Explained created a video discussing what air suspension is and how it works. Now he’s back with a second video that dives a bit more deeply into the air ride world. This time…

  • Here’s how your AC works and how you can recharge it

    You know that when you push the button marked “AC” you should feel a nice cooling breeze upon your body in short order. Those two letters stand for air conditioning, and it’s within this system that magic happens. At least, that’s as far as you know at this moment. You understand the inner workings of…

  • Man pays for speeding ticket with 22,000 pennies

    A suburban Dallas man has paid for a speeding ticket he received with pennies to, in his words, “make a big spectacle of it.” Brett Sanders says he was ticketed for driving 39 mph in a 30 mph zone in his Frisco, Texas, neighborhood. Even though he admits he was speeding, he says the police…