At the www.righttorepair.org...
At the www.righttorepair.org website, you can watch several informative videos about the Right To Repair, including one from Michael Waltrip. Waltrip, who is sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts, flew to Washington to testify in Congress in favor of the act.
www.righttorepair.org
Right To Repair
A new bill has been introduced in Congress that would force manufacturers to provide diagnostic access to the new Camaro, and other new cars. The Act is being supported by the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association. The idea behind the bill is to ensure that car owners, not car companies and dealers, are in the driver seat when it comes to where, and by whom, vehicle repairs are performed. At issue is the encrypted, proprietary nature of on-board vehicle diagnostic systems and their software components, which effectively enforces a repair monopoly for new car dealerships. The Right To Repair Act would make manufacturers provide diagnostic access equally to everyone. Besides providing a measure of choice for new car owners in their car repair decisions, the Right To Repair would also make it much easier for small and midsized aftermarket companies to develop street-legal performance parts, tools, and software for modern hot rods.
35.5 MPG Or Bust!
New CAFE Standard Set
It seemed just like yesterday when the EPA first introduced corporate average fuel economy. In 1975, American cars averaged just 12.9 miles per gallon, and it was thought by a lot of people that the new CAFE regulation, which required cars to meet 27.5 mpg by 1985, couldn't be met. We thought it was curtains, but Detroit's best engineering lay in those years ahead. Once again in 2009, the gauntlet has been thrown down, and by 2016, the nation's fleet of new cars must average 35.5 miles per gallon. This is going to change a lot of things, but it won't change the ingenuity and drive of the hot rodding enthusiast!
If you want to get into the...
If you want to get into the high-performance business, experience in CNC equipment operation is becoming a must-even in applications outside the engine compartment. The School of Automotive Machinists has added CNC training to their program.
www.samracing.com
CNC Training
If you've followed the Engine Masters Challenge, or read many of our articles on the engines built by the School Of Automotive Machinists (SAM), then you're already aware of their state-of-the-art engine building program for young, power-hungry enthusiasts. SAM graduates are in top race teams and engine shops across the country, including many NASCAR and NHRA teams. And now that CNC machining has become an indispensable part of the engine-building lexicon, SAM has added instruction on the setup, programming, and operation of five-axis CNC equipment on a sophisticated Haas ES-5-4T Horizontal Machining Center, which the school has procured. Students will thoroughly explore all aspects of the machining center, including digitizing and G-code programming. For more information, visit the SAM website at www.samracing.com, or call 713-683-3817.
www.camaro5.com
Brake Wheel Weights
Some early customers of the 2010 Camaro SS have discovered that the factory has put a stack of wheel weights on their Brembo calipers. One new owner, who is a forum member at www.camaro5.com, and goes by the screen name "Snook," posted: "Anybody know what the deal is on the stack of wheel weights on both front calipers on the 2010 with Brembos?" After a few pages of wild guesses, Chevrolet's John Fitzpatrick answered: "Some early Camaro customers noticed that there are weights on the Camaro SS calipers. With high-performance vehicles like the Camaro SS, minor brake noise is not uncommon. The weights act as a damper to reduce noise in certain driving conditions. This was done after careful evaluation and validation by our engineering team. These weights will only be added to early builds of the Camaro SS."