car-bibles.com - the official home of the Car Maintenance Bibles
Covering everything you need to know about, wheels, tyres or tires,
engine oil or motor oil, suspension (including springs and shock absorbers),
brakes (disc brakes and drum brakes) and general car maintenance.
Disclaimer
I am a pro-car, pro-motorbike petrolhead into basic maintenance. This site is self-published to spread my knowledge. By reading these pages, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the author, any sponsors and/or site providers against any and all claims, damages, costs or other expenses that arise directly or indirectly from you fiddling with your vehicle as a result of what you read here. If you hurt your vehicle or yourself, don't blame me.
Translated versions of this site:
Svenska 
Русский 
中國
Many visitors to my site come back from time to time looking for new information. This page is simply a changelog of additions, edits and modifications to the Car Bibles, along with links to the relevant parts. This changelog was started in June 2006, so obviously there won't be anything further back than that.
Special offers
Rochford Tyres has an excellent fitment guide page where they list a ton of combinations and permutations of wheels and tyres for all the popular makes and models. The guide is designed to give you an idea of wheel and tyre sizes that will keep you close to spec for rolling radius. Use the 'Alloy Wheel Search' box at the top-left of their site. As an added bonus, if you decide to buy anything from them, use the 
at the checkout to get 5% off! Sweet!
Tyresite.com are also a car-bibles.com partner. Again, if you decide to buy anything from them, use the at the checkout to get 5% off!
Like the site? The page you're reading is free, but if you like what you see and feel you've learned something, a small donation to help pay down my car loan would be appreciated. Thank you.
2013
July 24th
Two more tips on the gas-mileage tips pages 
April 2nd
Minor tweaks to the EV page, mostly moving the Fisker car company from present to past tense
March 25th
Added clarification about ZR speed rating to the tyre bible
March 1st
Updated info on the BMW VANOS variable valve timing system
January 19th
Some minor edits and re-writes in the engine oil bible.
2012
July 19th
Competition - win a BlueDriver wireless OBD2 tool
July 19th
New product review - BlueDriver wireless OBD2 tool
July 13th
New guest article - the implications of car modifications on insurance
January 17th
COMPETITION: WIN A CARMD DIAGNOSTIC COMPUTER
January 8th
Some updated info on TPMS systems
2011
July 12th
Added a new subsection on digital suspension systems
May 25th
Information on the new 2011 EPA mpg window stickers.
May 3rd
Revised my advice on oil-change intervals.
April 7th
New page : the electric vehicle (EV) bible.
March 30th
Minor update to the Toyota DNPR clean diesel system.
March 7th
Added a little section to the end of the fuel octane explanation talking about energy density differences.
February 26th
Added an under-car video showing suspension working during driving.
February 22nd
US house blocks the sale of E15 petrol.
January 31st
A major re-write of the wheel and tyre sizing guide and size calculators.
January 26th
Moved entire site to a dedicated host because of the traffic levels. Hopefully you're all still here....
January 9th
Added a trip report from the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas.
2010
December 14th
Minor edit to engine oil shelf life.
October 4th
New page - diagnosing problems from your car's fluids.
September 18th
New product review - Quixx Paint Scratch Remover.
July 8th
New page detailing the 10 most dangerous roads in the UK.
June 21st
New product review - CarCheckup diagnostic / tracking device. Also a competition to win one.
June 6th
Began to slowly migrate videos on the site to HTML5. Let me know if you see any problems with videos or javascripts not working.
May 28th 2010
Posted the first of a set of new DIY articles on various aspect of working with your car.
May 11th 2010
Added some info on cold crank simulators to the page on oil viscosity.
April 21st 2010
Added some info on the TOP TIER petrol detergent supplier program to the fuel & engine bible.
April 11th 2010
Added a new section to the site on car care and cleaning.
March 3rd 2010
Engine Oil Bible - added a page explaining the Amsoil issue with API licensing.
February 22nd 2010
Suspension Bible - a little more info about a Swedish company who also made vehicles with transverse leaf spring suspension.
January15th 2010
Complete site redesign. Hope you like it.
2009
November 1st 2009
Product Reviews - added a product review for the VholdR ContourHD sports camcorder.
September 20th 2009
Transmission Bible - re-worded the section on syncro meshes in an attempt to clear up some confusion. Re-rendered the synchromesh animation to suit.
September 1st 2009
Added a new page showing a microsimulation of traffic flow in different scenarios.
August 14th 2009
Added a full text sitemap for easier (?) navigation.
August 11th 2009
New page - just for the fun of it - So You Think You Can Park.
August 3rd 2009
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added some new info about snap-in TPMS valve stems, and the disadvantages of the all-metal design.
July 9th 2009
Engine Oil Bible: re-worded the section on synthetics and flushing oils.
June 18th 2009
Created a standalone page with a lookup table for many vintage tyre sizes and their modern equivalents.
May 5th 2009
Created a standalone page with all the tyre size calculators and converters in one place for quick reference.
April 22nd 2009
Broke the e-book down into smaller 'lite' versions so people can buy just the section they're interested in.
April 21st 2009
Hybrids Bible - added a new section on aerodynamic considerations.
April 20th 2009
Engine Oil Bible: re-worded section on phosphorous.
April 9th 2009
Split the info on hybrids out into its own page : the Hybrids Bible.
April 9th 2009
Fuel & Engine Bible: Updated info on Hydrogen generators (HHO) and ethanol exhaust emissions. and
April 8th 2009
Engine Oil Bible : Updated ACEA specs and info on using diesel oils in petrol engines. and
March 17th 2009
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added some new info about TPMS systems.
February 27th 2009
Product Reviews : New review - CarMD Automotive diagnostic tool, plus a competition to win one.
February 26th 2009
Fuel & Engine Bible: Added a paragraph on horsepower loss because of altitude.
February 20th 2009
Product Reviews : Concluded the long-term test of Pulstar Pulse spark plugs.
February 5th 2009
Tyre Bible: Re-wrote the section on tyre size vs. grip.
January 30th 2009
New page - some tips to getting cheaper car insurance.
January 7th 2009
Competition winner announced.
2008
December 20th 2008
Product reviews : added some new info on Rain-X Latitude wipers now that I've had chance to test them in snow and ice.
December 13th 2008
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a new page on variable valve timing.
December 8th 2008
Product Reviews : Reviewed the ScanGauge II and opened a competition to win one.
November 20th 2008
Added a panel with the latest blog entry to the right hand side of the main Bibles pages.
October 26th 2008
Product Reviews : Began the long-term test of Pulstar Pulse spark plugs.
September 9th 2008
Fuel & Engine Bible : Revised the section on voltage stabilisers and noise attenuators.
September 5th 2008
Suspension Bible : Added a little paragraph and illustration of Ford truck twin I-beam suspension.
September 3rd 2008
Engine Oil Bible : Sulfated ash - another reason not to use car oil in your motorbike engine.
August 12th 2008
Tyre Bible : Allowed wheel offset calculator to go down to 12 instead of the previous low of 20.
August 1st 2008
Transmission Bible : Added a section on dog boxes (crash gear boxes)
July 29th 2008
Added an automotive abbreviations page. Don't know your socks from your SOHC?
July 22nd 2008
Launched the forum. Obviously I'm the only user right now but hopefully it will become an active place full of dodgy advice and personal abuse, just like every other internet forum. Occasionally there might even be useful info here....
July 11th 2008
Tyre Bible : re-wrote the section on coloured dots and stripes based on information from some tyre assembly technicians.
June 29th 2008
Improve your mpg 2: Added a second page with reader tips on getting better fuel economy from your car.
June 30th 2008
As Featured In.... A bit of shameless self-promotion here : I illustrated the cover and some of the internal technical illustrations for the new Richard Hammond Car Science book which is out now.
June 29th 2008
Improve your mpg : Added a new page with 10 tips on getting better fuel economy from your car.
June 18th 2008
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a new page on the history of the internal combustion engine.
May 29th 2008
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a new section on rotary (Wankel) engines.
May 28th 2008
Transmission Bible : Refined the section on CVTs and added some history of their development.
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a 'reader ideas' paragraph to the Transatlantic Conundrum.
May 26th 2008
Product Reviews : Rain-X Latitude and Bosch Icon bracketless wiper blades reviews.
May 23rd 2008
Steering Bible : Added a new section on oversteer and understeer.
May 22nd 2008
Suspension Bible : Split suspension bible into two pages. All the images and animations were taking too long to load as a single page.
May 17th 2008
Suspension Bible : Re-worded the section on torsion bars and rendered a new image to show longitudinal torsion bar suspension.
May 9th 2008
Fuel & Engine Bible : Re-wrote the section on hybrids to talk about the three competing mainstream hybrid technologies.
March 31st 2008
Transmission Bible : Split transmission bible into two pages. All the images and animations were taking too long to load as a single page.
March 30th 2008
Fuel & Engine Bible : Refined the section on turbos and rendered a new cutaway image to show the inner workings of a turbo.
Transmission Bible : Added an animation showing dog gears and helical gears during gearchange.
March 24th 2008
Started the car-bibles.com blog 
No, but seriously. Now you can subscribe to my column.
March 6th 2008
A general reformat and style change to make the main font a little larger and easier to read throughout. Some readers were getting fed up of squinting at my 11pt font
February 14th 2008
Fuel & Engine Bible : Refined the section on intercooling and water injection including a correction about the Subaru WRX STi.
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a section on why cars overheat on snow days.
February 12th 2008
Fuel & Engine Bible : The Transatlantic conundrum - why do US cars get worse mpg than their European counterparts?.
February 1st 2008
FREE STUFF! A New competition launched today. Win a GoPro Motorsports camcorder.
January 21st 2008
Product Reviews : Re-wrote the review of the ATC2K action/sports camcorder, and added a review of the GoPro Hero motorsports camcorder.
January 21st 2008
Tyre & Bible : Added info about ultra high speed tyre size notations.
January 16th 2008
Fuel & Engine Bible : Minor edit - changed tense of article about EPA 2008 figures.
January 10th 2008
Product Reviews : Added a review (with video) of the ATC2K action/sports camcorder, and concluded the test of the FFT fuel treatment.
January 3rd 2008
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a video of in-cylinder combustion cycle.
January 2nd 2008
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a Schlieren photo of a spark plug spark to illustrate the idea of keying your spark plugs.
2007
December 5th 2007
Suspension Bible : Added a section on transverse leaf springs. and variable stiffness anti-roll bars.
November 23rd 2007
NEW SECTION: Started work on a new page : The Steering Bible
November 18th 2007
Speeding facts: Added a lot more information on the facts vs. the fiction about speeding and tidied up the whole page.
November 14th 2007
Brake Bible: Added info on BMW's brake drying system and some other new technologies.
November 12th 2007
Wheel & Tyre Bible: Added a note about the DOT age code on spare tyres.
October 25th 2007
Suspension Bible : Added a section on air suspension.
October 25th 2007
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added information about checking ignition timing.
October 18th 2007
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added information about the Fifth Gear Octane Booster test.
October 17th 2007
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added information on direct-injection as it applies to petrol engines (gasoline direct injection - GDI).
October 8th 2007
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added a section on tyre reviews.
September 24th 2007
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a case study on why cooling and engine design is important.
September 16th 2007
The Tyre Bible : Added some more info and new photos on Porsche N-rated tyres.
September 11th 2007
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Re-wrote the section on nitrogen inflation.
September 10th 2007
Basic Maintenance Tips : Added oil and coolant warning light descriptions.
August 28th 2007
Suspension Bible : Miscellaneous corrections to the article on hydropneumatic suspension.
August 20th 2007
Like the site? Help Chris buy a bike. The total is up to $485 so far.
August 11th 2007
Transmission Bible : Completed the article on differentials and AWD couplings.
August 9th 2007
Brake Bible : Re-wrote the section on master brake cylinders and added some info on cross-linked brakes.
August 8th 2007
Brake Bible : Added some more info on brake squeal.
Suspension Bible : Rendered new images for suspension bushes and anti-roll bars.
July 29th 2007
Transmission Bible : Started the article on differentials. Still need to write about Torsen and Viscous couplings.
July 28th 2007
Fuel & Engine Bible : Split this article into 3 pages - it was getting too long for a single page. Page 1 Page 2 Page 3
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Split this article into 2 pages - it was getting too long for a single page. Page 1 Page 2
July 27th 2007
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a new section on fuel filters.
July 25th 2007
Basic Car Maintenance Tips : Added a new page on basic car maintenance.
July 24th 2007
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a new section on cooling systems.
July 23rd 2007
Like the site? Help Chris buy a bike.
July 20th 2007
Product Reviews : Started a long-term test of the FFT Fuel Additive.
July 18th 2007
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added info on vintage radial load letter sizing.
July 15th 2007
Brake Bible : Completely re-wrote the section on antilock brakes.
Added a new page separating the facts from the fiction about speeding (in relation to ABS).
July 14th 2007
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added a calculator to figure out the differences in offsets between wheel sizes.
July 11th 2007
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a new section on hybrid engines.
July 10th 2007
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added info on nitrogen inflation.
July 9th 2007
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added a case study illustrating the process of changing wheels and tyres.
July 8th 2007
Fuel & Engine Bible : Expanded the section on power-to-weight ratio.
July 3rd 2007
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added some blurb about tyre rotation.
July 2nd 2007
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added some information on reducing the electrical load on your engine to give more horsepower.
July 1st 2007
Brake Bible : Added some info about collision warning systems and brake-assist.
June 6th 2007
Engine Oil Bible : Added some new info on not using car engine oils in motorcycle engines.
May 29th 2007
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added some blurb about the new Goodyear Wrangler 'SilentArmor' tyre.
May 16th 2007
Engine Oil Bible : Added a writeup of the Moroso engine pre-luber.
May 8th 2007
car-bibles.com has partnered with justanswer.com to provide a paid Q&A for unique technical questions which will be answered by licensed/certified experts.
May 7th 2007
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added another imperial tyre calculator and description for LT-style light truck tyres.
May 1st 2007
Brake Bible : Clarified angular force with respect to braking and larger brake rotors.
April 30th 2007
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Clarified PCD on wheels and added some blurb about spigot size. Added a new diagram to illustrate the two.
April 16th 2007
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added some information on hydrogen vehicles.
April 11th 2007
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added a graphic representation to the tyre size calculator so you can compare the relative size of your old and new tyres.
April 10th 2007
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added some clarification on wheel dimensions, PCD, inset, outset and offset.
April 4th 2007
Product Reviews : Added a 20% off coupon for readers who would like to buy BrightCar mileage-tracking software.
April 2nd 2007
Suspension Bible : Added some more info on de Dion tube rear suspension.
March 30th 2007
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added some more info on turbos.
March 2nd 2007
Product Reviews : Reviewed BrightCar mileage-tracking software.
March 1st 2007
Tyre Bible: Clarified the section on wheel inset and outset with a new diagram.
February 20th 2007
NEW SECTION. I've unveiled the first part of the new Transmission Bible. The second part will follow shortly.
February 19th 2007
Tyre Bible: Added info on Goodyear's new Eagle Responsedge tyre.
February 7th 2007
The Tyre Bible : Added a section on Porsche N-rated tyres.
February 4th 2007
FREE STUFF! Seriously. New competition page. Win stuff I've reviewed.
February 2nd 2007
Product Reviews : Reviewed GasDandy mileage-tracking software.
February 1st 2007
Engine Oil Bible : Added a case study about oil sludge in a Saab 9 5 Aero.
January 2nd 2007
Brake Bible : Added a new section on handbrakes.
January 22nd 2007
Added a new menu style to the Tyre Bible. I'm experimenting with this drop-down system. Please take a look and drop me a line to let me know if you like it, and that it worked ok. It's going to cost me to buy the full version so I'd like to be sure before I go ahead and roll it out to the whole site.
January 17th 2007
Tyre Bible : Re-jigged all the wording about run-flat tyres, added a calculator to convert Michelin PAX tyre sizes to standard notation, and added some info about PAX asymmetric beads.
January 4th 2007
Brake Bible : Added a new section on the Siemens electric wedge brake (EWB).
January 2nd 2007
Brake Bible : Added a new section on handbrakes.
2006
November 18th 2006
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a new section on LPG / LNG / Autogas.
December 9th 2006
Suspension Bible : added info on the OnCamber variable camber steering system.
November 27th 2006
Fuel & Engine Bible : 10 tons of water to refine 1 ton of grain for E85.
November 14th 2006
Fuel & Engine Bible : Refined some of the wording about E85.
November 6th 2006
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a new section on fuel-air mixing, carburettors and fuel injection.
November 5th 2006
Brake Bible : Added some trivia on the history of disc brakes.
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added some updated info on chipping and remapping.
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added some info on the Toyota D-Cat and DPNR clean diesel system.
Engine Oil Bible : Added some info on the dangers of over-filling an engine with oil.
October 21st 2006
Suspension Bible : Added a new section on de Dion tube rear suspension and Rover 2000 MacPherson-derivative suspension. and
October 10th 2006
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a new section on exhaust wraps.
October 5th 2006
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a new section on valvetrain types and engine layouts. and
October 3rd 2006
Bike Suspension Bible : Added some info on the reasons for monoshocks vs. dual shocks.
October 1st 2006
Brake Bible : Correct words and diagrams relating to mechanical advantage
Rendered a new image and changed the text describing radially mounted brake calipers
September 28th 2006
Engine Oil Bible : Added some info on phosphorus.
September 27th 2006
Product reviews : Added a review of the Signal Sorcerer traffic light changer.
September 13th 2006
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added a section about "correct" tyre pressures.
September 12th 2006
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Clarified the types of passenger car tyres.
September 7th 2006
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a section on MPG Caps and other fuel-saving pills.
Product Reviews: Added a review of MPG Caps fuel-saving pills.
September 6th 2006
Engine Oil Bible : Added a section on oil extractors.
August 28th 2006
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a section on gas-mileage and why American cars will never meet EPA estimates.
August 18th 2006
General : Managed to secure a 5% discount for anyone who shops at Rochford Tyres in the UK.
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a section on E85 ethanol.
August 16th 2006
Engine Oil Bible : Added a mini section on not using diesel engine oils in a petrol engine.
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added a section on 4-stroke and 2-stroke diesel engines.
August 11th 2006
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added some reader comments on hydrogen generators.
August 8th 2006
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added information on spark plugs and keying spark plugs for better combustion efficiency. and
August 7th 2006
Product Reviews : Added a test of the PressurePro TPMS.
July 31st 2006
August 4th 2006
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added information about torque, bhp and horsepower.
July 31st 2006
Added a product reviews page for motoring accessories.
July 27th 2006
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added new information on the PressurePro TPMS.
July 24th 2006
Suspension Bible : Added some information links for Hydragas suspension.
Fuel & Engine Bible : Another email about the Electronic Engine Ionizer.
Fuel & Engine Bible : Up-to-date information on the voltage stabilizer aftermarket accessory.
July 20th 2006
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Expanded information on minimum legal tread depth and why it's not safe.
July 19th 2006
Added a feedback page for general comments on the site.
July 17th 2006
Fuel & Engine Bible : Clarified one of my comments on 12v electrical systems and fuel economy.
FAQ : Clarified the policy of linking to and/or copying from this site.
July 13th 2006
Suspension Bible : Added a new section on magneto-rheological suspension as fitted to the new Audi TT.
July 11th 2006
Engine Oil Bible : Ammended status of 'SJ' oil classification.
Suspension Bible : Deleted invalid links and added two new ones for further reference on Citroën suspension systems.
July 9th 2006
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Modified caster / camber image to include direction of travel.
July 1st 2006
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added some extra values to the tyre size calculator.
June 21st 2006
Wheel & Tyre Bible : Added new information about tyre tread wear indicators and hydroplaning.
June 11th 2006
Fuel & Engine Bible : Added new information about grounding kits and voltage stabilisers.
| These pages were last updated in January 2024. Copyright © Chris Longhurst 1994 - 2024 unless otherwise noted. Important Copyright info. Sitemap Contact us |