Hey everyone,

Sorry about the lapse in posts, I was originally trying to post twice weekly...once on the weekend, and once in the middle of the week. I realized that my teachers sporadically attempt to overwhelm me with work, and posting in the middle of the week may be difficult from time to time. I'll try to post on a somewhat regular basis, but I can't really promise perfect punctuality until teachers stop giving homework.

Now that I've gotten through that, I'm just gonna mention that we're ON VACATION! I thought I'd never make it, this last week was definitely more than five school day long.

I'm going to fill you in on a little secret which few of you will probably care about: though you or your benefactor (parent) probably always feel as though you're being robbed at the pump, the oil companies decide that "'tis the season!" to charge you even more. No, the prices don't actually fluctuate more than usual in the winter, but the power you get from your gas does. The average gallon of winter gasoline contains about 112,500 Btu (British thermal units, a measurement of energy). A gallon of gasoline purchased in the summer has roughly 2,000 Btu more. Sadly, you can't do anything to change that. If you are looking for many or any tips to get the most of your money for gas, I have a few little-known ideas which I read a few years ago...fantastic stuff, if you're into saving money, and maybe your car's longevity.

I'll eventually come up with consistent material of my own, but as I've said, topics that you readers want to hear about are what I want to write about. I guess the biggest news is that there's a solid chance that I'll be able to find enough time to get up to the Detroit auto show (NAIAS) in January. If I do, I'll have absurd amounts of media and stories to post. The last NAIAS I went to was the 2008 show, and I took something like 900 pictures, and 40 videos. This, of course, was for me alone. If I end up going, I'll be taking requests for media and info on any and all makes, models, concepts, and technology.

Did anyone else find it odd that we had a 60 degree day followed closely by some weather in the 20s? My views of global warming on the whole have flip-flopped from time to time, but that sort of temperature variation so late in the year is the sort of thing that makes skeptics wonder who's telling the truth, or how much it's stretched. As it has gotten colder, I've realized one nice benefit: the colder air is denser, so I get a significant increase in power. When you're driving a car as tiny as the Corolla (which has, as I mentioned, only 125 horsepower) it's great to get a 5 to 7 horsepower jump. If anybody knows much about turbochargers, you know that an intercooler does. The function of the intercooler is exactly as it sounds: it cools the air, making it more dense. This allows for more complete burning of the air-fuel mixture, which yields more power. Other than that little bit of extra power though, I'd rather weather above 5 degrees. This vacation should give me some time to think of less random topics, and answer any questions people have.
Just giving you a preview of things to come, I'm sure interesting stuff will appear over the next two weeks. Also, if you're at all interested in running, you might wish to check out this other blog: http://tocomeagaintobelfast.blogspot.com/

Thanks to everyone who read this, I'll certainly be posting some new material soon. NAIAS 2007 pictures are likely to follow, and trust me, they're awesome. I just need to figure out if there's an easier way to get the files; scanning 350 pictures could take a while, though it'd be worth it. If it snows, check here, I'll delve into one of my favorite subjects which relate to cars. Happy holidays, I hope everyone will enjoy their vacation!

-Stephen