Archive for January 9th, 2010

Ferrari Benefit From The Bad Luck Of McLaren

After the disastrous performance in the first Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne, Ferrari fans, sponsors and merchandise producers may have been worrying that it had created a standard for the rest of the season. This however has changed in the last month with Ferrari putting in performances that at the worst could be described as resurgent. In the last two races Ferrari fans, merchandise companies and sponsors will be infinitely happier, the dominant position that was apparent at the end of last season has been regained and in Ferrari eyes this is the return of to the correct order of things.


The last race weekend in Bahrain saw a domineering one two finish for the team that not only placed both drivers on the podium but leapfrogged the team to second in the constructor’s championship only a solitary point behind the unexpected leaders, BMW. Gaining prominence over main rivals McLaren Mercedes would have been what merchandise producers, sponsors and the avid fan base wanted. After spending the majority of the season behind the British team last year, to take the lead is a great psychological advantage; one that they will be hoping to cling on to.


The Bahrain Grand Prix saw the previous season’s champion driver finish in second position. This will make his personal sponsors and merchandise dealers jubilant as in Melbourne it looked as if he was going to struggle with the new anti-traction control regulations. This has proven to be unfounded as he has put in two solid performances since then, taking the chequered flag in Malaysia. The reigning champion now stands three points clear of BMW’s Nick Heidfeld, whilst his main rival Lewis Hamilton is a surprising five points behind the Finn. Merchandise produces, sponsors and fans will be wishing for the state of play to stay this way.


So far though, it is Ferrari that has been fortuitous in the opening stages of the 2008 Formula 1 season, unlike last year. McLaren have had problems in both the races since Australia, especially young racing prodigy Lewis Hamilton. While in Malaysia both Hamilton and his team-mate Kovalainen were penalised for going too slowly during their qualifying in-laps.


This time it was Hamilton who had a mare of a weekend. After first putting his car in the wrong setting at the start and losing five grid places he found himself in the unenviable position of tenth. It would have been salvageable had it not been for an altercation with Lewis’ former team mate Fernando Alonso, which saw Hamilton lose his front end and another three places for a unscheduled pit-stop. Whether his sponsors and merchandise producers will be worrying is undisclosed, but the ever philosophical Hamilton still fancies his chances for the title.


Ferrari will be happier with the performance of their second driver Felipe Massa. After a spin in Malaysia that saw him forced into retirement during the thirtieth lap; his backers, sponsors and merchandise dealers may have been be questioning their support. Added to this his performance in Australia was blighted by engine problems and yet another retirement this time in the twenty ninth lap. The Brazilian Massa will however be buoyed by his performance in Bahrain which saw him take the chequered flag in a weekend dominated by the prancing horse of Ferrari.


The season is still however in its infancy and there is a long way to go for all the teams. While Ferrari may be currently benefiting from a string of bad luck for rivals McLaren, luck can change quickly in Formula 1. Last year’s season only goes to show that leading all season does not guarantee a title; something sponsors, merchandise suppliers and educated fans will be acutely aware of.


As the teams head for the first of the European stints, plenty of practice and testing will be undertaken to ensure maximum performance. All eyes in Spain will be on a flagging McLaren team to assess their ability to compete with not only Ferrari but surprising championship leaders BMW.

Motor sport expert Thomas Pretty looks into how Ferrari merchandise producers and sponsors alike will be buoyed by the team’s performance in Bahrain.

5 Things You Don’t Know About Bmw

5 Things You Don’t Know About BMW

Most people think that they know everything they need to know about BMW when they go to the dealership, read about BMW in Consumer Reports or Car & Driver magazine or go online and do some “research”. You can’t go wrong by doing any of those things.

But the truth is my friend, there is so much more to the BMW experience than just the usual brochures and information.

When you own a BMW you’re not just buying a luxury car. You’re buying a tradition of quality and excellence. And to show you what I mean, let me tell you about some “little known” insider information about BMW. This is going to be like a trip through your family tree. And just like you are the way you are because of all members of your family that came before you, the same is true of BMW.

Why should you care about any of this?

First, just like you, every BMW has its own special personality that started almost a century ago in 1913. Even then the obsessive need to create great mechanical machines was born. And like most true stories of “greatness”, BMW has its roots in failure. Karl Rapp started the company as an aircraft engine manufacturer. With a gleam in his eye and a dream in his heart, his watched as his aircraft engines struggled to overcome vibration problems.

But all would not end well for Karl.In about three years the dreams of Karl Rapp were dead.

The financial problems of the company were just like a bullet through his heart. And there was no way he could survive this massive trauma. So in 1916 he sells out to Franz -Josef Popp and Max Fritz. For the next four years the company does well with the aircraft engine business. But it was not enough.

As the old saying goes, the only thing that stays the same is “change”.

Secondly, BMW started building motorcycles in 1921. And the reason this is important to you dear reader is because this was another turning point for the company. During the next six years the company has great success with its R32 and R37 motorcycles. In fact from 1924 to 1929 all German championships in the 500 ccm category were won by BMW. Can the vehicle you drive today boast of such an inspiring heritage?

1928 was a very good year. This was the year in which all descendants of every BMW model in existence today began to take shape. For like all visionaries, the owners of the company knew they had to find other markets for their engines because the world economy was changing. And they needed to change with it.

Why is the factory at Eisenach/Thuringia important to you?

Because, and this is the third thing you don’t know about BMW, this was the first factory the company owned that was licensed to build small cars. It’s sort of like saying what hospital you were born in and on what date. Do you feel the connection?

The fourth thing you don’t know about BMW is that 1932 was the first year the company entirely developed the first model BMW called the AM4. With this car BMW wins the Concours d’Elegance in Baden-Baden. Not a bad start for a car that would become a legend—-right?

And finally, the fifth thing you don’t know about BMW is that in 1933 BMW introduced the 303 saloon. This was the first inline-six cylinder engine produced by the company. This configuration is still in use in many more recent models.

Now you can no longer say that there are, “5 Things You Don’t Know About BMW”.

Chet Waters is the BMW Specialist. Learn How To Find Your BMW And At A Price You Can Afford. Go To:

http://www.bmwsauctions.com

Chet Waters is the BMW Specialist. His passion for everything BMW is what he likes to share with others.

http://www.bmwsauctions.com

What Does Upside Down on Your Car Loan Mean?

When you go about securing a car loan the vehicle itself is used as the collateral on the car loan which is what makes the secured car loan itself. The car finance company online that you end up going with will then loan you the finances for the car based upon the cars current value at the time of the loan based upon the loan value of the car. This loan value will usually be about seventy five to eighty percent of the actual retail cost of the car itself. There is an answer to why this is the case and that is simply because one year after you drive a new car off of the car lot the value of it lowers to that amount which is called depreciation.

The car finance company online that you go with will want to make sure that the car loan they are giving you will cover this so that the overall end result cost of the car loan is equal to or less than the value of the loan itself. This is to ensure that they will be able to make a profit if they wanted to sell the car if they were to ever go about having to take it away from you for nonpayment at some point.

An upside down car loan online is when a car balance is worth more than the value of the loan that is on it. Another way of putting it is that the car itself is not worth the amount of the loan. In order for you to ever go about selling the car back or if you were to ever go about trying to trade it in you will find that you are going to have to pay the difference of the car value in cash in order for you to be settled up with the car loan company.

This is a very bad thing to find yourself into because even with great credit you can have a car loan lender approve you for the full amount of a car loan but as a result of that you could end up owing a lot more then you should for several years because you are always trying to pay down more of the balance then the car itself ends up being worth until you end up paying off a car to the value that it really is. Another problem with having this happen is that if you have car insurance it only will cover the cost of the book value on your car so in the event that you get into a major accident or if perhaps your call was stolen then you very well may end up being forced to pay the difference in cash.

This is something that you are going to want to make sure that you remember when you go to buy a new or used car online. You should make sure that you are going to stick with it for a while and that you do not over finance the worth of the car or you could end up in a really bad process where the end result is you paying a lot more money then you should be paying. You can avoid these things so long as you do the proper research and plan out carefully the car itself as well as the car loans that you go about getting for this car.

The other thing that you are going to want to be aware is that a car loan company may entice you with very low car loan rates in order to get you to end up financing more on the car than you should. You should only take these sorts of options if you are lucky enough to have the cash in hand to pay for something should the situation ever occur otherwise do not take the risk unless you understand fully what you may be getting into before this happens.

This is not rocket science in order to make sure that these things do not happen to you and your car loan so long as you are capable of following a few bad credit upside down auto loan guidelines online itself. The first thing that you are going to want to try and do is put down as much money as possible on your initial deposit on the car itself. The more money that you put down the less that you are ultimately going to need to pay and the less that you actually owe.

Try to take out a car loan with the short length car loans term as your budget sees fit. The longer the car loan term the less the monthly payment but the more money you will end up spending due to the car loan rates, so as a result of that try to find yourself a good middle ground. Make certain that you do not add in the taxes and the additional fees to the car loan itself. You want to make sure that the car loan is for the total value of the car itself because this is all that matters. If you are able to pay more than the monthly minimum payment each month then do so.

The more money you can pay off of the principle on the car loan the quicker you will be paying it off and less money you will be spending on paying off interest. If you have any sort of refinance upside down car loans on another vehicle make sure that you pay it off first before you go about getting another car loan.

Simply make sure that you are not paying more than what the car is worth in the first place so do your homework to avoid that one. Make sure that the car that you are getting a vehicle loan for falls into the budget that you have to spend each month. Try to hold onto a car for at least a couple of years because the first couple of years on your car loan the monthly payments that you are making are for the most part going towards the interest on the loan itself.

Whatever choice that you make when it comes to get any upside down auto loan it is really a matter of doing all of the research that needs to be done in order to make sure that you do not make the mistake of falling into an upside down car loans online.


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