CNG V/S DIESEL

CNG v/s DIESEL?This is becoming a very common question for car buyers now a days. With the developing infrastructure in the form of CNG filling stations and kit fitting stations people are getting tempted to run their vehicle on CNG, and also the latest technologically equipped cars are giving the petrol cars a run for their money.


1.Analysis on CNG
Coming on to CNG equipped cars, the most advantageous parameter is terrific economy, the running cost is only1.3 to 1.5 re/km where as the same petrol car costs 3.5-4.5 re/km, where as the diesel car costs 2.5-3.5 re/km. With CNG car you have decent economy,with which you can freely move your car without fearing about the running cost. Development of CNG filling stations is on a high growth so searching for filling stations will not be a problem. The most of  Gujarat region has the CNG filling stations, and you can also find CNG stations in Mumbai.CNG filling stations are not available across the country, they are concentrated in Gujarat and Maharashtra and some parts of northern India like Delhi, Gurgaon,Jaipur.It is less developed in southern India with only a few stations in metropolitan cities like Hyderabad.


The other most advantageous point of using CNG cars is its less polluting tendency, it is less polluting by 70% than petrol cars, by using CNG cars the preservation of nature is confirmed.
                                                             
Along with the advantages, there are some disadvantages of the using CNG. The CNG is stored in a metal storage tank  which uses up the trunk space(diki) so in case of small car a carrier has to be fitted and a sedan car(car with separate trunk) the trunk sizes reduces to half.Moreover CNG being a gaseous fuel does not have the volatility of petrol so it does not burn very efficiently, hence you have a power cut of 10% over the same petrol vehicle, E.g if a petrol car power is 100BHP then the same car will produce 90BHP, so their is less pick up compared to petrol vehicle. Proper fitting of kit is very important, improper fitted kits will result in frequent garage visits, with the problems like starting trouble.


Analyzing the running cost, if the running of car is more than 25 km a day, then CNG will be economical.The CNG kit will cost around 30-40 thousand rupees, so the price of CNG kit will be recovered in one year, considering a 3 Re saving per KM and running of 12000 km a year, which equates to 36000 Rs in a year.The succeeding years of driving will be your saving.


While buying CNG car be sure that the dealer provides engine warranty, fitting CNG kit without dealer or company warranty will lapse warranty period, resulting in no free replacement in case of any sensor or other engine problem.The problems are rare but the risk should be avoided.


Driving your car only on CNG will choke up the fuel injectors and also disturb the valve setting after 15000kms,so it is advisable to run you car on petrol for 10kms in every 150kms to avoid such problem.   


2.Analysis on Diesel 
Coming on to diesel, the latest diesel engines unlike the old diesel engines, are more sophisticated in terms of economy and performance. The latest engines are electronically controlled, and all the parameters of engine are monitored by Electronic Control module(ECM), so the efficiency is high and the noise and vibrations are very low. Driving a latest diesel car will pamper you the same as a petrol car. The latest diesel cars are equipped with turbo charger which produces more power,which gives you more pick up sometimes even better than petrol.Their isn't any problem of diesel filling stations like CNG.


Running cost for diesel cars are about 2-3 Re/km which is whole 1.5 times more than CNG and 1.5 times less than petrol, and also the diesel car costs 70,000rs more than same petrol car.The advantage is that the trunk space is not compromised and also you can take the car anywhere with the proper availability of diesel across country unlike CNG. For diesel the more the number of kilometers you drive the more is the advantage, because with  more number of kilometers the running costs saving increases.Latest diesel engines are equipped with turbo chargers and have high torque. It suffers from turbo lag thus you will feel sudden acceleration after 1-2 sec time. Problem which is somewhat common with all diesel cars. Thus buying diesel car is a thoughtful think where CNG sources aren't developed.


3.CONCLUSION
Concluding it can be said that with developing infrastructure and economical running CNG has a bright future,their is a little disappointment with the pick up and the trunk space,avoiding these two facts a fantastic and a economic deal.Diesel is also advantageous with great pick up and technology and is worth buying, but for uncertainty of the fuel prices and the higher initial cost diesel cars are always going to be more expensive deal.

ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM.........................

Cars in today's world are equipped with safety features, as the infrastructure of the country is improving the conveyance through roads has increased over few years, and to ensure complete passenger safety, companies are considering these features to be very important. One such safety feature that you will find it more common is ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM(ABS). The explanation of the system is divided precisely for easy understanding.

 1)BASIC WORKING

 2)ADVANTAGE 

 3)DISADVANTAGES

1)Basically anti-lock means it prevents locking of the wheel, when you brake suddenly. Sudden and heavy braking will cause the wheel of your vehicle to lock which will tend to skid your vehicle, because the momentum of the vehicle is more than the braking force.

The brakes used in cars are controlled by hydraulic pressure, when you brake the oil pressure pushes the piston, which pushes the brake pad to push against disc(which we call disc brake now a days) which reduces the disc speed and thus reduces wheel speed. Applying brakes will supply a constant oil pressure, so the brake pad will continuously be sticked to the disc which will result in a brake lock which will indeed lock your wheel.

 ABS helps to prevent such a situation. It is a electronic device and is connected to the electronic control module(ECM), the ABS works on the sensor placed near the wheels. When the brake pedal is  pressed the wheel speed is sensed by the sensor.The sensor senses the speed of the wheel and sends a signal to the ECM ,the ECM regulates the  hydraulic pressure which is sent to the brake, through the master cylinder. When brake is suddenly applied the pressure is higher than normal, so here to prevent the brake lock the ABS system orders the master cylinder (master cylinder is a component of the braking system which is responsible for pressurizing the oil for effective braking) to release the pressure of the oil intermittently, which results in application of brakes and releasing of brakes many times in second. In most ABS system the pressure is applied and released for 30 times in a second. Such precision enables better control of the vehicle.

Most cars comes with EBD(electronic brake force distribution) along with ABS.EBD can also be called as a sub-system of ABS. EBD controls the brakes force electronically to all the wheels. The main use of EBD is to divide the braking force linearly among front and rear wheels, for the reason that the front wheels have more braking force than the rear, hence to prevent lock up of rear wheel EBD is also provided.

The importance of ABS is more on highways where the car travels at an average speed of 70-90 km/hr than the city roads.ABS also refers to the driving style of the person and adaptability to the system.

COMPONENTS OF ABS SYSTEM:-

1.Speed sensors.

2.Pump.

3.Valve.

4.Controller.

These are the major components with which the ABS system work

1.Speed sensors:- They are located near the wheels and sometimes also in the differential of the vehicle.Sensors sense the speed of the wheel and sends the signal to ECM.

2.Pump:- Pump builds up the hydraulic pressure required for braking.

3.Valve:-Valve releases the hydraulic pressure when ECM sends a signal to release the braking force.Pump and valve works alternately, to build and release the brake pressure during the working of ABS system.

4.Controller:-Controller is basically ECM which is pre-programmed with the information for working of the system.It receives the information from wheel sensors and controls the pump and the valve for the functioning of ABS.

2)With ABS vehicle has better control and stays on the surface, on surfaces like RCC and TAR the stopping distance reduces on ABS equipped cars than normal cars, while on gravel and other uneven surface the braking distance may increase to cope up with directional stability of the vehicle, but the car will stick to its track. ABS has proven its worthiness on wet and slippery surfaces also where the car maintains it stability under heavy braking and does not slip off the road.

Reports say that accident on road has decreased by 18% with presence of ABS in cars. 

35% of accidents reduced when vehicle driving off road.

3)Disadvantage of the system is that extra bucks have to be paid for  equipping the car with ABS, it isn't a standard feature in all the cars.

Stopping distance is a concern some times, when on slippery surfaces to maintain stability of the car the car may dash into the front vehicle because of more braking distance. 

Configuration of the system is very important, if the system isn't properly configured it may not effectively work under adverse circumstances. We have cars in market which are equipped with ABS, but due to poor configuration hasn't been successful to prevent accidents.

Concluding it can be said that ABS has its own importance and is sure to be a standard feature in all the future cars. 

TATA ARIA CROSSOVER..............................

Tata Motors India pvt ltd. is all set to launch the flagship model the ARIA in a few months. It is a all new design from Tata Motors and will be placed against car like Innova, Safari, and may be CR-V and Captiva. This is car has the features which non other Tata car has been equipped with till today, as we continue with the article we will know the facts and the deatils of this new mighty crossover from Tata Motors.

The pictures shows the first glimpse of the car, which looks like a traditional Tata vehicle with large air grille, swept back headlamps which is similar to the Vista and Manza, a big bonnet which makes the car look robust from front.

The OVRMS(Outside rear view mirrors) get integrated blinkers for signal lamp which makes the overall appearance very decent.

    

The rear of the car looks good, but again it looks like similar Tata Vehicles like Vista and the latest Nano, long vertical lamps, chrome trunk lid and twin chrome tip silencers enhances the looks of the car. The proportion of the car is very well maintained and the car looks very much balanced and the composure of the car is just great which makes the car look very attractive.

  

Coming on to the interiors they are said to be inspired from Land Rover which is now a part of Tata motors and which is costing thrice more than ARIA. The interiors are very ergonomically designed for proper reach of different controls for the driver and the passenger. The materials used for switch gear and dashboard are made of excellent quality that you won't find in any other Tata car. The features in the car are very hi-tech which are available only in the  expensive cars, some of such features include Electronic stability program, 6 airbags, a LCD in a dashboard which shows many information related to the vehicle. The dashboard design shows that Tata Motors has given importance to the details in the interior, with features two tone dashboard available in many trims(shades),steering mounted audio controls and well designed instrument cluster, electrically operated power mirrors, chrome finish door handles, dedicated AC vents for all the three rows of passenger seats, Utility boxes mounted on the roof etc. All these features enriches the looks and the functionality of the interiors. Space in the car is going to be a very strong point for Tata motors as  has been for most of the Tata cars. Leg room and head room are at its best in front and rear and also there is good passenger space in the third row of seats  as well. The third row of seats fold down to give large luggage space, and also  their is considerable luggage space when seats are unfolded.

The new thing about the car is that it has a newly designed ladder frame chassis(support on which the body is mounted), which is specially made to make the car drive ability more like a car than a SUV, which can prove to be a strong point for Tata Motors, secondly the car will be available 4x4 version(power of the engine transmitted to all 4 wheels) and the conversion will be with a simple knob provided in the dashboard, also it will be the  the first Tata vehicle to have all 4 wheel disc brakes(normally the front wheels have disc and rear wheels have drum brakes), so the braking efficiency will improve and safety will increase, the ground clearance will be higher so all those who like their car to go off-road will be benefited.

Coming on to the engine, the car is going to be powered by the same 2179cc CRDi engine(DiCOR) 140bhp, engine that does its duty in the SAFARI, and will have 32 bit ECM(electronic control module), so now you can have good performance with great mileage. Tata motors have made special efforts to cut down the cabin noise by providing insulation in the bonnet, so you don't feel that you are driving a diesel car even at high speeds.

Coming to conclusion the vehicle is perfect a combination of a SUV and car and will appeal to people who are driving INNOVA and XYLO. It has great value for money and has all the features and comforts of a luxury car.The is priced  between 12.50-16 lakh Rs.
 8/8/2011- Tata Motors has launched the 4x2 version of the Tata Aria, starting with a price of 11.42 lakh for the pure version going upto 14.26 lakh rupees for the prestige variant ex-showroom Delhi.