ACE ON WHEELS

Right, This has been a long time coming so let us get right into it.  Last we talked about AWD systems we highlighted the Subaru's implementation of the same. To get all caught up, click here to get to the article. I will however provide a disclaimer before getting this article started... These terms ( 4WD and AWD ) are normally thrown around by manufacturers and have been reduced to marketing tools. The general idea is to have the power sent to all the four wheels. That is the only similarity as the implementation will vary across different manufacturers. 4WD are normally associated with big off-road cars. Cars that are built to pretty much tackle any terrain thrown at it. Having this in mind, we will explore what differentials are and why they play a huge part in the pros and cons of this system. The differential delivers power to the wheels. For most 4WD vehicles, they offer the option to manually engage the four wheels and options to locks the differential. Now this is very e

The Toyota Axio…  A car loved and cherished by Uber..? NO? Eer, it's fair to say this car is not a head turner in any way, shape or form. I don’t think people actually like it that much, but somehow it sells. Well it got my attention and here we are. That can only mean there is something about it that made it warrant a review. To be completely honest, I ended up driving this car because the other option was a Nissan Tiida. Given I was travelling from Nairobi to somewhere past Kisumu, I figured the Axio was the lesser evil. I barely slept the night before, so being the model driver that I am😆, I started driving from Nakuru all the way to my destination. Starting with the amount of room available in the car, I sat in the co-driver's seat and honestly there isn’t anything mind blowing to report about. Also, after some research on this unit, it turns out it's just a Corolla underneath but with some size restrictions. That applies to the engine size too, but more on that late

Toyota Ractis... Right! There is a Sub Trezia running around looking like a Ractis... and that's because it mostly is a Ractis... I don't even want to get started on what agreement led that but it exist. ( The design team did not do a very good job on this car, it is borderline unispiring and frankly just dull ) So what does this little car have to offer? You have probably seen it, it’s a small car, a small city car to be accurate. This information is necessary as the conditions I tested it under did not flatter it one bit. Let's try paint a picture; Imagine how the Ractis looks like, right? You have it in mind? Good... Picture it with 5 adults in it... Let's not forget their luggage now!!... Is the picture vivid in your mind? Trust me, it was way more cramped than you think! We left Nairobi at around 11:00pm and heading to HomaBay county… ( not a short drive by any standard ). Having that in mind we can now get into the details of how the car performe

It has been a while.. so lets try and make up for lost time. It’s a blue bird. Is this the first Nissan we featured here? I think it is, actually spare a second to check all the other articles to see if it is the first Nissan here. Right, let's have a little chat about the Nissan Bluebird. I am not a huge fan of Nissans I have to admit, but as a professional, I will try and be as unbiased as I can. ( I wouldn’t hold my breath on that though ). Background search gives us an idea on what Nissan had in mind when they made the Nissan Bluebird ( Sylphy in most markets ). Apparently Nissan wanted to make a car for the modern career lady in a city somewhere.  Eer, so like a budget E - class? Not really but like I said, we are going to break it down with the utmost objectivity and professionalism. What boxes does the bluebird tick, gauging it by its intended standards. This car has so much room. I mean I don’t know how Nissan did it but the back seats have so much leg-room, it'

“I think you should be able to handle this, just remember, it has no brakes...” These were the words the owner of this unit told me as he handed me the keys. In hindsight, I should have probably heeded the warning and gracefully handed back the keys… but HERE WE ARE, talking about a car that was hell-bent on making sure I don’t make it back... My bio states I love cars, I don’t know if this qualifies as one. It had three wheels and its officially known as Piaggio Ape. FUN FACT, they also make planes ( they really like three wheels huh ). Usually, this is where I talk about the engine specs and what not but sadly, I didn’t seek all that information.  Let’s just jump straight into my experience with this car. The Ape is one weird machine, here is why. Did I mention it has three wheels? That aside, its steering wheel looks like that of a motorbike. Now, this sounds like information you had but the weirdness doesn’t stop there. The brakes are on the floor, and the accelerator is a

Right, so I am chilling in my house and then my friend calls me and she is like, Ace, I am having an argument with my friends over the difference between 4WD and AWD. I wasn't ready but I feel the response I gave her was sufficient. ( Spoiler alert, this will be more informative than entertaining but like always, I will try to keep you interested long enough to see it thru ). I did some research and I realised manufacturers are in the habit of throwing these terms around, mostly for marketing purposes. So they will slap a 4WD sticker on a car to appeal to a specific target market. Before we dive deep into this article, let us clarify some basics first. Different manufacturers go about the business of delivering power to the wheels from the engine differently. In this specific article, I will focus on power delivered to all wheels. I will, however, break this article into two parts and start with AWD systems. This printscreen shows the symmetry...  To try to break this a