MotionLite, is a brand new innovative product introduced to the aftermarket wheel industry at this year’s SEMA show. With the potential to become the next craze in car customization, its’ job is to light up your beautiful wheels at night, the time when they’ll be least noticed. MotionLite is remote controlled, can switch between seven colors, and includes a universal mounting kit that makes it compatible with most cars, trucks and SUV’s.  Unlike previous wheel lighting solutions, MotionLite illuminates the wheels from the outside. It achieves this because the LEDs are mounted on an actuator that extends outside the wheel-well when turned on, but retracts to be hidden when off. Check out the video below.

Losing control of a car on wet pavement is a frightening experience. Skids are scary, but hydroplaning is completely nerve-wracking.

Hydroplaning occurs when water on a roadway accumulates in front of a vehicle’s tires faster than the weight of the vehicle can push it aside. A layer of water collects between the tires of the vehicle and the road surface leading to a loss of traction, thus preventing the vehicle from responding to control inputs such as steering, braking or accelerating. The water pressure can lift the vehicle causing it to slide on top of the thin fluid layer between the tires and the road. In less than a second, the vehicle can completely lose contact with the road, putting the driver in immediate danger of sliding out of his lane. This usually happens at higher speeds, over 40 miles per hour.

In Case Hydroplaning Should Occur

Following these simple tips can save your life:

1. You can prevent skids by driving slowly and carefully, especially on curves. Steer and brake with a light touch. When you need to stop or slow, do not brake hard or lock the wheels and risk a skid. Maintain mild pressure on the brake pedal.
2. If you do find yourself in a skid, remain calm, ease your foot off the gas, and carefully steer in the direction of the skid. For cars without anti-lock brakes, avoid using your brakes. This procedure, known as “steering into the skid,” will bring the back end of your car in line with the front. If your car has ABS, brake firmly as you steer into the skid.
3. Avoid hydroplaning by keeping your tires inflated correctly. Maintain good tire tread. Don’t put off replacing worn tires. Slow down when roads are wet, and stay away from puddles. Try to drive in the tire tracks left by the cars in front of you.
4. If you find yourself hydroplaning, do not brake or turn suddenly. This could throw your car into a skid. Ease your foot off the gas until the car slows and you can feel the road again. If you need to brake, do so gently with light pumping actions. If your car has anti-lock brakes, then brake normally. The car’s computer will automatically pump the brakes far more effectively than a person can.

Friction materials containing ceramic compounds were first used on select original equipment applications back in 1985.  Since then, their desirable properties have become widely recognized. Ceramic brake pads are able to handle higher brake temperatures, generate less dust and rotor wear, and provide quieter braking than traditional braking materials.

Fast forward to today, Ceramic compounds in automotive brakes are no longer used only in brake pads, but brake rotors also take advantage of their wonderful characteristics that include, reduced weight, and like ceramic pads, they can withstand higher operating temperatures, more wear and tear, and generate less noise than traditional cast iron rotors.

The term “Ceramic” applies to most  inorganic, non-metallic materials formed by heat. The most commonly encountered simple ceramics include clays used in pottery, bricks and tiles, as well as cement and glass. These single-ingredient simple ceramics tend to be very brittle, and do break easily. To make ceramics tough enough for a brake rotor, and light enough to offer the reduced-weight advantage, the part is made as a composite, in which strands of carbon fiber - that are highly resistant to stretching - are embedded in the part. The fibers are woven into the shape of a disc including the internal cooling vents, before being doused with a liquid made of carbon and silicon. That liquid is then heated carefully up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, to convert it into a very tough ceramic known as Silicon Carbide. This material is nearly as hard as Diamond. The fibers in the structure hold the material together to prevent cracking. The finished surface resembles stone.

Traditional brake rotors are made of cast iron, which is heavy, so it reduces a vehicle’s fuel efficiency.  A typical cast iron rotor weighs about four times as much as a ceramic rotor. Using ceramic rotors therefore, allow the vehicle to accelerate faster, make it more maneuverable, and reduce fuel consumption.

The process used to produce ceramic brakes is complex and time-consuming, therefore, making the brakes is expensive. Currently, they are available from OEMs, only on exotics and higher-end cars. The goal is to have them eventually trickle down  to all passenger cars, SUVs and trucks as their production costs fall.

The Pitch Circle Diameter (P.C.D.) commonly referred to as “bolt pattern”, is a reference to the number of bolt holes in a wheel, and the diameter of an imaginary circle that passes through the center of these bolt holes. The P.C.D. is represented by two numbers, for example: 4×100. The first number indicates the number of bolt holes in the wheel, and the second number indicates the bolt circle diameter. In this example, the bolt circle diameter (100) is in mm. It can also be in inches, in which case it would be: 4×3.93.

P.C.D. will vary with vehicle type, and per model. It is important to get the P.C.D. of the wheels to match exactly the P.C.D. of the vehicle, as wheels with even a slightly different P.C.D. will not be able to fit on the vehicle at all. There is a workaround for this however, as wheel adapters can be obtained to be used to change a vehicle’s P.C.D. and track width.

Fitment and sizing information of a wheel, can usually be found on the inside of the wheel (side to the vehicle) whether along the rim itself, or on one of the spokes. Identifying this information on your factory wheels will enable you to correctly choose wheels that have been designed to work with your vehicle. If you are unable to identify this information, here are a few ways to determine the P.C.D. of your vehicle.

For vehicles with an even number of studs, i.e. 4, 6, or 8 - the method is quite straight forward. Simply measure the distance between the centers of two opposite studs. This will give you the P.C.D. of these vehicles.

P.C.D. of 4 Lug Wheel Hub

P.C.D. of 6 Lug Wheel Hub

P.C.D. of 8 Lug Wheel Hub

For vehicles with 5 studs, the method is a little trickier. In these cases, measure from the back of one stud to the center of the second stud from it. Another method that can be used as verification on these applications is: measure the distance between the centers of two adjacent studs, then multiply the figure you get by 1.7012.

P.C.D. of 5 Lug Wheel Hub

I came upon a very useful, yet interesting web tool - a tire size calculator that highlights some effects of changing your wheel & tire size. Among other outcomes, larger wheels will increase vehicle height, reduce acceleration (because the larger wheel & tire combo has a larger rotating mass and requires more force to turn), and increase the actual top speed - while the speedometer reading will be inaccurate (lower than actual).

Other effects of altering wheel size are: changes to suspension geometry (alignment), affecting ride quality, and larger, heavier wheels normally reduce braking performance - resulting in increased braking distances (since a greater mass has a higher momentum and therefore requires more force to stop).

Check out the calculator here.