Just A Guy Thing

Do you panic when talking to your buddies about cars? Do you confuse a stick shift with a crank shaft, a Dodge Challenger with a Chevy Camaro or a V-8 engine with a V8 drink? Fear not – with a few bits of information you too can sound like a “car guy.”

The folks over at AutoTrader.com have come up with some tidbits you can throw into any car conversation to make it sound like you actually know what you’re talking about:

Four-wheel and all-wheel drive vehicles must have all four tires exactly the same size; even the difference between a new tire and a used tire can cause performance problems and lead to hundreds of dollars in repair costs.

• If your car won’t start, a rapid clicking or a slow chugging sound probably means your battery is flat but not dead, so the car can still be jump-started.
• Keeping track of your gas mileage for reimbursement or tax reasons can also help you see changes in miles per gallon early on, so you can see when maintenance may be needed and thus extend the life of your vehicle.
• Believe it or not, gas mileage usually decreases at speeds over 60 miles per hour, so observing the speed limit can save on gas!
• And finally, in the useless trivia category, The Guinness Book of World Records certified the British Peel P50 as the world?s smallest commercially produced road legal car ? created in the 1960s, it measures 54 inches long and 41 inches wide and has a top speed of around 35 mph.

All you auto amateurs are now ready to start in on the car banter. Got some other useful car talk tips? Share them in the comments.

photo credit: Someone Somewheres Life