Direct injection

Fuel injected engines received a similar kind of discrimination that automatic transmission cars got back in the days. Buying a car equipped with a carburetor was the way to go. My perception of fuel injected cars changed when I, my brother and my Dad worked on getting “Lord Lugard’s” carburetor engine replaced with a fuel injected engine. (Lord Lugard was what we called my Dad’s 5 series). Yeah, it was an un-popular move and other than the fact that my family is not known to go with the flow, we were well aware of the benefits of petrol injection over the use of a carburetor. Instantly noticeable was an improvement in fuel economy. Early morning start ups were now easier than ever.
A petrol engine burns a mixture of petrol and air, this mixture is via a carburetor or an injector. The basic difference between a carburetor and fuel injection is that fuel injection atomizes the fuel by forcibly pumping it through a small nozzle under high pressure, while carburation relies on low pressure created by intake air rushing through it to add the fuel through the intake manifolds.

Fuel injection
Fuel and air mixture rush in to the engine through the inlet valves(blue)
Direct injection takes the advantages of fuel injection further. It injects fuel directly into the combustion chamber of each cylinder as against having the fuel and air mixture rush into the chamber through the intake manifolds. What this simply does is that it takes fuel efficiency and power up while lowering emissions. Power delivery is more linear and the engine runs smoother.

Direct Injection
Injector squirts fuel directly into the engine as air rushes in
While you order your next car, do try to get 1 with direct injection. It works for both sides: the petrol heads get more power and the green people can sleep better at night because they know they’ve done their bit to save the planet.

Whiplash

I was 10 at the time when I told my BFF that one day all Cars will come in Automatic transmission. It seemed crazy at the time. Three years after that my Dad bought his 1st automatic transmission. It was a Mercedes Benz 200 (4 cylinder, 3 speed auto box. The list of options that weren’t included were ABS, A/C, power windows, Central Lock, Power steering was however standard). This was a 1976 model car and current lineup of Japanese cars still can’t match the kind of feedback you get from the Merc. Colored in Banana like yellow it had the ride height of a Rav 4. It basically swam through water.
Most memorable was the transmission shift gate PRNDSL. No fancy Manu-matic shift option that you can find in almost all modern Auto boxes. Shift through Reverse, Neutral unto drive from a standstill, Dump the accelerator pedal to the floor, watch the Speedo rise all the way to 40Km/H and brace yourself for the worst kind of Whiplash( you can feel a minor kind in a manual when you shift through gears hard). It’s that forward and backward motion that throws your head and neck backwards and forwards.
Whiplash gets more pronounced in an autobox as the car gets older. On my Dad’s Benz, it got so bad you could feel it even when the car downshifts to 1st gear. Prevention: make sure you service your gearbox at regular intervals (oil and filter change). On a happy note Whiplash is much reduced in modern Autoboxes. On a sad note, Slama (my Car) has begun showing signs of Whiplash. I guess its time to start saying Bye-bye.