10 Common Car Tricks Debunked!

As you know, cars are one of the most important parts of our life. They are beyond just transportation for almost all car enthusiasts. A fantastic driving experience enables you to realize the importance of performance and acceleration. In fact, perfect performance and acceleration are generally associated with the price and the model of the car. As the price of new vehicles is gradually increasing due to inflation, many people tend to pay more attention to used car tricks to have better ride quality.

There are a lot of car tricks in different issues, from blinker fluid to air vent decoration. Even though these car tricks seem useful and effective, some of them are false and useless. If you don’t do extensive and sufficient research on the reliability of a car trick, you can unintentionally damage your car parts because of a wrong car trick.

Moreover, some manufacturers tend to distort car tricks to shape your buying habits. When you apply them to your vehicle without question, you will have to spend a lot of money and time. This is because a wrong upgrade idea, misusage, or false maintenance can lead to serious damage and working problems in your vehicle. So, you should be aware of which car tricks are confirmed or debunked on the Internet.

As a result, we will talk about wrong and useless car tricks. More specifically, this article will debunk 10 common car tricks.

1. Change the Oil Every 3,000 Miles

Many people accept changing their car oil every 3,000 miles as a useful trick. But this is a common myth, just like blinker fluid which is a popular prank. Those who still ask, “is blinker fluid real?” may claim that frequent oil change is necessary to preserve the quality of engine parts. We can define them as mythmakers. If you listen to their useless myths, you can go to unnecessary expenses.

As you know, regular oil changing is important to make engine parts perform better. While old cars may require a frequent oil change every 3,000 or 5,000 miles, today’s modern vehicles don’t have this kind of need. Most modern engines require fully synthetic oils, and those can last for more than 10.000 miles or one year. For this reason, you should regularly check the oil levels, and refer to your owner's manual.

 2. Bigger Wheels Make Your Vehicle Go Faster

One of the most famous myths about car performance is closely related to bigger wheels. If you accept it as an effective trick, you can waste your money and time. The reason is that larger wheels generally reduce driving force, in other words, the overall quality of acceleration. For this reason, when you buy oversized wheels, the engine of your vehicle can have difficulty rotating them.

As larger wheels are heavier than normal ones, the engine works harder than usual. This situation leads to more fuel consumption. On the other hand, it is quite normal to encounter some manufacturers who introduce larger wheels as a perfect performance upgrade part. This is because they put their economic interests first. Thus, if you don’t deal with slow acceleration, poor handling, and more fuel consumption, you should stay away from oversize wheels.

3. Warm Up Your Engine in Cold Weather

There is a common tendency among people towards warming up their car engines in cold weather. It is actually based on a well-known myth that is inherited from generation to generation. For this reason, almost all people tend to start their vehicles and keep them idle during the winter. They believe this process makes the engine operation easier and more effective before driving their vehicle.

However, you should know that the engine is exposed to serious damage and also pollutes the environment during the warm-up process. If you have a very old vehicle, you may wait about 10-30 seconds before driving it. But, when you apply the same process to your new model car, the working life of your engine will reduce over time. In fact, turning the engine on and then driving immediately is the best alternative to idling it during winter.

4. Tune-Ups Improve the Ride Quality of Your Car

One of the most common myths about car performance is that frequent tune-ups are considered vital to protect the overall performance quality of your vehicle. As you know, tune-ups are generally based on checking, fixing, cleaning, and replacing. We can say that this process keeps the ride quality of your vehicle dynamic up to a certain point. So, too frequent tune-ups don’t guarantee the best performance, acceleration, and fuel economy. 

Actually, today’s advanced technology promises you more effective aftermarket parts than car tune-ups. . Even though you make a regular schedule for tune-ups, you cannot reach perfect performance without a functional car mod. Thus, all you need to do is leave behind these kinds of useless car tricks.

5. Premium Gas Offers Premium Performance

There are a lot of advertisements for premium fuel. You can encounter them at gas stations or on the Internet. As manufacturers exaggerate premium fuel to make a good profit, it creates a famous myth that is a strong connection between premium gas and the best performance. To debunk it, let’s look at what premium gas is. Premium fuel involves higher octane, that is, 91-octane and above.

In other words, when you see it on the fuel pump, you should know that premium fuel includes more hydrocarbon molecules free from any additives. As you can guess, it is more expensive than regular gas because of its quality. But premium fuel doesn’t improve performance or acceleration alone. Thus, it is just a useless myth that causes you to spend more money for nothing.

6. Manual Transmissions are Faster and More Fuel Efficient than Automatics

One of the most common myths is that manual transmissions are better than automatics in terms of acceleration and fuel economy. Even though some people accept it as a reasonable car trick, the fact is the exact opposite. The reason is that automatic vehicles are designed with more advanced technology than manual ones.

As automatic transmissions have a complex system due to their high-quality technology, they require more time-consuming repair and maintenance than manual ones. For this reason, manual transmissions are generally associated with effective acceleration and fuel economy. However, automatic transmissions perform better thanks to advancements in technology. 

7.Bigger Vehicles are Safer in Crashes than Small Ones 

Many people of all ages tend to associate bigger vehicles with safety, especially in case of a car accident. So, they find small vehicles more vulnerable than larger ones. However, this is just a common myth rather than a reasonable car trick. The reason is that the safety and resistance of a car are based on the technology of its design and operation.

For this reason, the connection between bigger vehicles and safety is ridiculous. If you have a modern vehicle equipped with the necessary technological features, you don't need to worry about the size of your car.

8. Overdrive Makes Your Car Go Faster

You can see the term “overdrive” everywhere, like in an action movie. We can define it as a product of our pop culture. As many people believe that overdrive offers fantastic performance and acceleration, they generally put it in the category of useful car tricks. However, it is just a common misconception. Let’s look at the definition of overdrive to understand it better.

Even though overdrive means going faster, switching your car into overdrive means the exact opposite. The reason is that it allows the engine of your car to work with minimum effort in order to maintain speed over distance. Thus, the term “overdrive” is actually used for relaxed highway driving. 

9. All Old Messed Up Cars Can Be Modified

Almost all car enthusiasts are mad keen on classic cars. For this reason, they want to believe that every kind of old vehicle can be renewed. It actually falls into the category of interesting myths rather than reasonable car tricks. This is because all old messed-up vehicles cannot be brought back to life with even sufficient restoration and modifications.

Even though you spend a lot of money and time on your old vehicle in a hopeless condition, you will not get a good result from its modification. As a result, old vehicles whose vital parts like engines include heavy damage cannot be completely fixed and renewed despite a substantial amount of money.

10. Performance Chip Tuning Guarantees Perfect Auto Upgrade

Some manufacturers introduce performance chip tuning into the market as the best car trick. Even though this aftermarket part improves performance, acceleration, and fuel economy to a certain degree, it falls into the category of auto upgrade myths. The reason is that chip tuning is designed to change the parameters of the ECU. In other words, it has a direct intervention in the engine operation.

For this reason, if you buy ECU chip tuning, you can face serious damage to the original engine parts of your vehicle. This situation causes you to spend a lot of money and time on repair and maintenance. Therefore, if you want to learn the right car tricks for better performance and acceleration, all you need to do is keep reading to explore the best aftermarket part.

Discover the Best Performance Trick with Pedal Commander

Multiple SEMA award-winner Pedal Commander is the most reliable and effective throttle response controller on the market. We can define it as an effective car trick to upgrade your vehicle. Pedal Commander is designed to improve the electronic throttle system of your vehicle. It offers instant access to the engine’s power by eliminating throttle lag from your accelerator pedal.

Moreover, Pedal Commander has an easy installation and removal process. When you buy Pedal Commander, you can feel like you’re driving four different cars thanks to its cutting-edge versatile technology, including four driving modes. Thus, all you need to do is leave behind useless myths about car performance and try Pedal Commander!