auto enthusiasts – Adam's Auto Advice

Now that it is April, and hopefully getting warmer where you are, I am sure you have thought about Spring Cleaning. One issue I have noticed a lot of car guys and gearheads have is the perpetual problem old car and auto magazines lying around and stacking up. What are you supposed to do with all those old car magazines?

Spring is a time of rejuvenation and reflection and doing a little bit of Spring Cleaning is the perfect time to think about this issue facing many auto enthusiasts out there with stack of car magazines. The way I see it we have several different options for clearing our your car magainzes;

Keep ALL your Car Magazines

This is obviously what most of would like to do, keep all our precious car magazines! If you are going to do this you better make effort to buy magazine holders or racks and sort them properly. Does that really make sense though? No, not really. Also you know there will be complaints about keeping all the old car magazines in the house from your significant other. You probably have to make space for that new couch.

Only keep some of your Car Magazines

This requires you going through all your old car magazines and seeing which articles in certain issues are useful and important and which are not. This requires a bit of time and effort but all Spring Cleaning does. Something to think about is that a lot of the articles in printed magazines are available online nowadays. If you are like me and like having print books and magazines around this makes sense. zz9I guess I am old school even though I am young.)

Recycle the Magazines

If you don't think you need the magazines anymore, and they are not worth much, probably you should just recycle them. Please don't throw them in garbage! When I say Recycle I mean Recycle. It is better for you and the magazines as they will have second life as shiny new car magazines arriving in your mailbox.

Donate

Does your kids school or a community center need materials for craft projects? This way your old car magazines could be turned into art for more people to enjoy. There are also options like offering them on Craigslist or Freecycle to someone that does want or need them. If you live in Maryland or around here you could take them to the BookThing. I take a lot of my old magazines that are non car related to the Bookthing when I do my spring cleaning.

Sell

You could try your entrepreneurial spirit and try to make some bucks off those magazines. Your annual spring cleaning could you turn you a profit. Put those magazines on eBay or Craigslist and see who wants them. FYI – When I have tried this option I usually fail. Most people who are interested in those old magazines probably have them and are facing the some dilemma as you. Unless the car magazines you have are old, rare, and in good shape I doubt you will get much for them.

Bathroom

If you can't donate or sell your old car magazines and are planning to recycle them, why not use them in the bathroom first? Sounds funny, but it makes sense! You can read issues you didn't have time to read and get use out of them before you do number 3 and recycle the magazines. Just realize once a magazine is “flagged” that is past the point of no return.

Honestly, I wish I had better answers to this gearhead problem. For my Spring Cleaning I will going through my old issues of Automobile, MotorTrend, Car & Driver, and SportsCar (SCCA‘s magazine and newsletter)to see what I should do. I will say that I don't really like MotorTrend's editorial direction and most likely will recycle issues with bad writing. (Quite a lot of them actually.) I like Automobile and Car & Driver's articles so I will keep those to study. It's hard to know without looking at the magazines though. I might look at them and have to keep them all! 🙂

If you have a better solution, answer, or advice to this issue please leave a comment below and let the community know.

As the days are getting shorter with winter upon us, I am sure you are using your headlights more. Inevitably one of your headlight bulbs is going to burn out or be on it's last legs, putting you in the market for new headlights. When you take a trip down to the auto parts store you should consider upgrading to some better bulbs, like the Sylvania Silverstar zXe's.

Sylvania was nice enough to send me a set of zXe's for my 96′ Honda Accord. Some fans of Adam's Auto Advice might remember I also wrote a review of the Slyvania SilverStar Ultras. (Also see my review of the Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit.) After using the zXe's I wouldn't bother with the Ultras because the zXe's are hands-down better.

This was made obvious one night while driving to a friend's house in Northern Baltimore county. The roads to his house are small, twisty, and lack streetlights where walls of trees line the side of the roads. This forced me to rely on the zXe's. With the brights on, they effortlessly lit the way for my Honda Accord. I had driven this same route with the SilverStar Ultras which were great, but definitely not nearly as good as the zXe's. The dark roads were simply no match for the light that the zXe's produced.

Another night, driving home on a dark Baltimore city street, I noticed two people walking in the middle of the street. I mean they were literally walking in the middle of the street! I braked and swerved around them honking. Luckily I saw them far before an accident would have occurred, but I am pretty sure I wouldn't have seen them as early without the zXe's.

Also, when driving in rain or bad weather, the zXe's shine. They are particularly useful at night when it is raining.

What makes the zXe's superior is fullness of the white light and the intensity. Some headlight bulbs provide a wide lighting area but the light diminishes around the edges, reducing their effectiveness. This doesn't happen with the zXe's crisp illumination.

“SilverStar zXe headlights use a proprietary cobalt blue coating combined with xenon halogen gas technology to generate a color temperature that rivals HID.” according to the description on Sylvania's website. Part of the appeal of the zXe's for auto enthusiasts and tuners is they mimic High-Intensity Discharge (HID) headlight housings without the expense and hassle of installation. A big advantage to the zXe's is they are 100% legal and Department of Transportation (DOT) approved so you don't need to worry about running into any legal trouble. Sylvania hopes you will consider these before buying a set of HID's. While the zXe's did slightly improve the look of my Honda Accord with slicker lights, I am not sure the zXe's are a true replacement for the overall look of HID headlights. This is strictly my opinion though, maybe they look better on other cars.

One complaint I have read about the zXe's is that they do not last as long as regular bulbs. Slyvania doesn't really advertise it in big bold letters but on the box it does say, “Slyvania SilverStar zXe lamps are engineered to achieve the highest performance possible, which results in product life that is less than standard lamps.” So they are not trying to hide this or mislead Sylvania customers. It states this limitation clearly and it might be something to be aware of before purchasing them. I have been using my zXe's for a number of months and haven't noticed that the light has diminished or had a bulb burn out though. If they do I will let people know.

Once you use Slyvania's zXe's you will most likely not care about what the box says. It would be hard to go back to using any other type of bulb for your headlights. They are better and brighter then anything I have ever used and if you buy a set, I am pretty sure you will be happy with that choice.

Tag: auto enthusiasts

Spring Cleaning: What to do with old Car Magazines?