E3 Spark Plugs News

You can bet we here at E3 Spark Plugs are headed to the theatres for "Fast Five" this weekend!

Gearheads across America (and worldwide, for that matter, including a few of us here at E3 Spark Plugs) have a dilemma today. Wives and girlfriends have tens of thousands of us tied to the TV for worldwide coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s royal wedding. It’s like a week-long chick flick. Mind you, we love our women or we wouldn’t willingly suffer through the media’s matrimonial overload with them. And we truly do wish Wills and his new bride the best. He a regular-guy kind of cool and she’s a babe. But a gearhead can only take so much. And E3 Spark Plugs has the answer: “Fast Five,” baby!

That’s right, the Vin Diesel/Dwayne Johnson-powered IMAX installment of Universal Pictures’ “The Fast and the Furious” film series hits American theater screens today. This time around, former cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) partners with ex-con Dom Torretto (Vin Diesel) to pull off one last job in an attempt to get their freedom back. The team reassembles in Rio de Janeiro for their one shot at confronting the ruthless drug lord who wants them dead. Meanwhile, die-hard federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is hot on their trail. Trouble is, sometime during his strike team’s all-out assault, Hobbs gets the feeling that the lines between the good guys and the bad are blurred. Now, he’s gotta rely on his instincts to corner his prey – before someone else runs them down first.

“Fast Five” is the first of the series to be released in IMAX. It’s two hours and ten minutes of fast cars, fiery crashes, fist fights and fine women. If all that wedding watching has your testosterone levels depleted, this’ll get your swagger back.

E3 Spark Plugs wants to know what you think of “Fast Five.” Leave us a blog comment or post on our E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page.

Rock Stars & Spark Plugs! Get a job your buddies will envy when you enroll in the next Celebrity Bus Drivers Academy.

Got big rig experience, a clean driving record and a way with strong personalities? You may be a candidate for Nashville’s Celebrity Bus Drivers Academy – but you’ll have to know every aspect of the job from spark plugs to bed bugs.

Chip Huffman, who spent more than 20 years on the road with acts like Country band Alabama and the Smothers Brothers, and Tandy Rice is a former Country Music Association President and talent agent whose clients have included Country music greats like Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, last year founded the Celebrity Bus Drivers Academy, an ongoing series of intensive three-day workshops designed to teach Class A and Class B CDL holders the art of chauffeuring celebrities. Who knew that 80 percent of the world’s entertainment transportation operations (according to Huffman) are located in Nashville, TN? It’s a little-known factoid for most of America, but not for the celebrity set. Rock stars, movie stars, even circus stars have hitched rides via Nashville’s numerous celebrity bus and coach companies. But able drivers are tough to come by.

The best prospects for the job, Huffman and Rice say, are those who understand that they’re more akin to ship captains than bus drivers. They have to know everything going on under the hood and under the roof of these luxury rigs outfitted with gourmet kitchens, luxe bedrooms and entertainment suites. And they have to drive so smoothly that their high-dollar clients think they’re on stationary ground. You do not want to be the guy who hits a pothole and causes Lady Gaga to spill he latte in her lap.

“You need to know everything about your bus, from right there in your seat because they’re going to ask you: ‘How do you turn the TV on? What channel? How does the stove work?’ You need to be the answer man,” Olan Witt, president of Goodlettsville-based Coach Quarters Entertainment Transportation, told students at a recent academy. Witt’s clients include performers Gwen Stefani, Alicia Keys and Mary J. Blige.

At the same time, it’s crucial that a driver not mistake himself for part of the band. And that he not ask for autographs.

Not that you won’t enjoy some perks. First year salaries for celebrity bus drivers can range from $40,000 to $60,000. You’ll be on the road for weeks or months at a time, but may get to enjoy the rest of the year off. Happy celebs often tip big and there increasingly is off-season work available. Great example: Larry the Cable Guy’s tour driver took home $135,000 for six months of driving last year.

Are you a celebrity bus driver with advice for big rig drivers looking for a career change? E3 Spark Plugs wants to know. Leave us a comment on our blog or on the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook Fan Page.

E3 Spark Plugs announces their new associate sponsorship of UMP Dirt Modified racer Roger Williams.  Williams will be campaigning his 700 horsepower, methanol burning, small-block Chevy powered UMP Dirt Modified race car for National UMP Points, Lawrenceburg Speedway Points and the AMS Modified Series Points carrying the E3 colors.

Roger Williams is the owner of Williams Precision Engines and a builder of custom, high-performance racing engines.  WPE builds high performance street and racing engines for sprint cars, drag race cars, dirt modifieds and pro pulling vehicles.  Williams first decided that he wanted to be involved with E3 spark plugs after conducting tests on his dyno with his race engine where he saw for himself that E3 spark plugs provided a better, smoother power curve.  Williams tell us “When a product does what it says it’s going to do, that’s when I know I want it in my race engines.”

When E3 Spark Plugs Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, Steve Joiner, was contacted by Williams regarding sponsorship he was convinced to get onboard because of Roger’s engine expertise and real-world testing capabilities through his race program.  “E3 is excited to be a part of the Williams Team because Roger gives us both a racer’s and engine builder’s point of view, and can provide valuable feedback about our product.”

Roger is proud to be involved with E3 Spark Plugs as well, saying “E3 represents new technology, increased power and superior performance, and that’s what we look for when selecting products for our race cars and our customer’s race cars.”

Roger Williams will be competing at over 20 events at Lawrenceburg Speedway this season plus several other events at regional tracks throughout Indiana and the midwest during the 2011 race season.

Backed by a five year, 100,000-mile warranty, E3 Spark Plugs, with their patented side-wire electrode, projects the combustion spark in a way that more quickly ignites the air/fuel mixture thereby creating a significantly faster and larger flame kernel.  In effect, this burns more of the available fuel, resulting in increased combustion efficiency for improved power and fuel economy with reduced emissions.  They are now available for most automotive, lawn & garden and power sports applications at automotive and home improvement retail stores nationwide. For more information and complete test results, visit www.e3sparkplugs.com.

###

Sorry, Dude. We can't help you dig outta that. But we can hook you up with a set of new E3 spark plugs to make sure your car starts when you find it.

We know, we know – money’s tight right now and everyone is looking to put off any non-emergency auto repair and maintenance items they can. But we’ve got three great reasons why you shouldn’t put off replacing your old spark plugs.

Reason 1: New spark plugs help keep your engine at its peak performance and efficiency levels. Of course, every vehicle on the road will misfire from time to time. But as those misfires get more and more frequent, they also get more troublesome. Frequent misfires mean increased exhaust emissions, wasted gas and reduced power. Misfires caused by worn spark plugs will cause older vehicles to buck, stall, run rough or start slow. Vehicles made since 1996 have OBD II onboard diagnostic systems that track ignition misfires and shines a warning light.

Reason 2: New spark plugs can significantly improve cold starting. Worn or dirty spark plugs require higher voltage to get a strong enough spark to start a vehicle. By the time you’ve cranked the engine umpteen times hoping for an eventual start, you just might have run your battery dead. Now, you’ve got two problems. Keeping your vehicle stocked with a good set of spark plugs instead means lesser voltage requirements on your ignition system, which decreases the chances of a misfire and leaves more amps for the starter and injectors.

Reason 3: As if reasons 1 and 2 weren’t enough to convince an auto owner of the importance of a good set of plugs, this one may do the trick. New spark plugs will minimize your risk of a catalytic converter failure. Just one misfire can dump enough draw fuel into your vehicle’s exhaust to overheat and damage the converter. The resulting load of unburned gasoline in the exhaust will jack up the operating temperature of your converter and may cause a meltdown of the converter substrate, which in turn will form a restriction or full blockage of the exhaust, literally choking your engine. Your vehicle may run, but it will lack power and eat up your fuel economy. And we can assure you that a new catalytic converter is a whole lot pricier than a new set of spark plugs.

Bottom line, when it comes to slacking on replacing your old spark plugs, its “pay a little now or a lot later.” E3 Spark Plugs advises you dig out that auto owner’s manual and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for timely car spark plug or truck spark plug changes – preferably before you have to call your buddy last minute for a ride to work.

Let's not get carried away, here. Celebrate Earth Day and National Car Care Month by using eco-friendly automotive products like E3 Spark Plugs.

While Christians celebrate Good Friday today, they and others around the world also are celebrating Earth Day today. And since April also is National Car Care Month, Earthgarage.com has released its list of “Top 10 Green Automotive Products,” including E3 Spark Plugs. Use of these and other environmentally friendly auto care products, along with proper maintenance of your vehicle, goes a long way in helping to reduce harmful emissions

“Poor vehicle maintenance directly impacts the environment, with 10 percent of the nation’s automobiles causing 50 percent of the automotive pollution,” says Rich White, Executive Director of the Car Care Council. “With skyrocketing gas prices, people are wasting more money and polluting the environment if their vehicles are not running properly.”

Do your part to help drive a cleaner environment by keeping up to date with all manufacturer-recommended maintenance and by choosing products designed to improve both your vehicle’s performance and its eco-friendliness. That’s exactly the goal that E3 Spark Plugs’ founders had in mind when they went into the laboratories, on to the tracks, and back to the drawing board a time or two to develop a revolutionary spark plug technology. E3′s patented DiamondFire technology allows for a faster, more thorough burn that increases power output and fuel economy while reducing emissions in gasoline engines.

For a cleaner, stronger, greener ride, visit E3 Spark Plugs’ online catalog to find the perfect eco-friendly spark plugs for your ride. And look up a few of Earthgarage.com’s other eco-friendly car care picks including: TripleEdge Green Silicone Wiper Blades; Fuel Doctor; CarMD; Accutire Tire Gauge; Car Planet Cleaning Products; PLX Kiwi; Fuel Infusion; CarEconomy and MotorSilk.

Rick Huseman is the man to beat thus far in the E3 Spark Plugs co-sponsored Lucas Oil Off Road Series Pro 4 Class.

Lucas Oil and E3 Spark Plugs racing fans must be exhausted this week, what with three full days of weekend racing. The Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series presented by Rockstar Energy Drink dropped the green flag on round two of its 2011 season Saturday with the4 CANIDAE All Natural pet Food 75 at the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway in Blythe, CA. And the 2011 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series presented by Geico Powersports held its third and fourth rounds on the Speedworld Off Road Park tracks in Surprise, AZ.

The CANIDAE 75 gave fans plenty of on-track fireworks with an uncharacteristic nine yellow caution flags. Aaron McMorran, Doug Hamm and reigning series champion Jim Mardis spent much of the race locked together like a freight train. McMorran held the lead spot lap after lap after lap. Finally, lap 71 wrapped with both Hamm and Mardis passing. The move earned Mardis the bonus for the Magnaflow Exhaust Products’ Clean Pass award, but it was Hamm who sailed into the Sunoco victory lane first. The win was a redeeming one for Hamm, whose 2010 season ended badly and whose 2011 season got off to a rough start. Fourth and fifth places, respectively, went to Tim Morse, who won the Dart Machinery Trophy Dash, and Doug Carpenter, who started the race mid-pack and worked his way up to the electronic scoreboard, earning him the E3 Spark Plugs Hard Charger Award.

Hick Huseman and Rob MacCachren proved their mettle on the tracks once again, winning Rounds 3 and 4 of the Pro 4 and Pro 2 (respectively) races on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s Pro 2 race was a heated match between MacCachren and Marty Hart, with Hart leading most of the race until Hart lost a tie rod in turn five. But on Sunday, it was an early and consistent clean getaway for MacCachren.

Huseman continued his own clean sweep, winning both the Pro 4 rounds as nearly all of his competition fell victim to fire or equipment failures. He has now won all four Pro 4 class races of the season and has firmly established himself as the guy to beat this year. Game on!

E3 Spark Plugs congratulates all of this weekend’s winners.

Blues legend Robert Johnson's "Terraplane Blues" was one of few recordings released in his lifetime.

In one of his all-time greatest hits, Country crooner Randy Travis balked at the lyrical love language of city slickers, declaring salty ocean water and fall-prone stars unworthy testaments to a good ol’ boy’s romantic emotions. Yet much to our chagrin, Travis’ AMA winner failed to mention the love-inducing power of the spark plug among the snowflakes, Whippoorwills and Southland hollers. Thankfully, the appeal of a shiny new spark plug is not lost on the minds of a number of other songwriters and singers. E3 Spark Plugs offers this list of six great spark plug-loving tunes, from Country to Rap to Blues to comedic Folk to the creepiest Bluegrass you’ve ever heard.

“Terraplane Blues” by Blues legend Robert Johnson. Recorded in 1936 and later covered by Foghat, this song makes the famous Terraplane model a metaphor for love-making – quite the bold move in Johnson’s day. It was one of only a handful of Johnson’s recordings released during his lifetime.

I’m gon’ get down in this connection, oh well, keep on tanglin’ with these wires. And when I mash down on your little starter, then your spark plug will give me fire…

“There Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong with the Radio” by Aaaron Tippin. Ever try to sell a car with that line? Singer Aaron Tippin sold a few million albums with it. The song became his first No. 1 country hit.

She needs a carbuerator, a set of plug wires. She’s riding me around on four bald tires. The wipers don’t work and the horn won’t blow, but there ain’t nothin’ wrong with the radio…

“Nobody Does it Better,” by late rap artist Nate Dogg and Warren G. Born Nathaniel Hale, Nate Dogg lived the fast life, contributing to more than 40 music chart singles but racking up a hailstorm of legal and health woes. He passed away earlier this year.

They call me DJ and the spark plug, keepin’ it licked. There is no accident for these platinum hits…

“Chainsaw Charlie” by Angry Johnny and the Killbilles. We guess you can’t blame a guy for a love-gone-wrong song that involves a pickle jar filled with formaldehyde when he comes from a place called Killville, Massachusetts.

She’s leaving on the 10:05, tomorrow morning it’ll be too late. Maybe it’s the spark plug, or the gas he siphoned from his daddy’s truck, but that Poulan won’t cooperate. It looks like Charlie might be out of luck…

“The 12 Elan” by Buddy Wassisname & the Other Fellers. This trio combines Canadian folk music and rubber-faced comedy ala Jim Carrey, and are in dire need of a set of E3 snowmobile spark plugs.

Her hood is stitched with wire, and her windshield is tied on. Her spark plug runs on the lighting coil, she’s wired up all wrong! I taped a flashlight on her hood because the headlight’s gone. And the muffler bolts are all stripped out, and the track is stretched too long!

“The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything,” by Relient K. It’s the title song of the first theatrically released computer animated film distributed by Universal Studios. A 18th century pirate crew of zany vegetable characters experience high seas adventures, dinner theatre and barbecue sauce.

“And I’ve never licked a spark-plug and I’ve never sniffed a stink bug and I’ve never painted daisies on a big red rubber ball. And I’ve never bathed in yogurt and I don’t look good in leggings and I’ve never been to Boston in the fall…

Know any other songs with spark plugs lyrics? Let us know. Post a comment on our blog or, better yet, post a video on our E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page.

April is National Car Care Month - A great time to check your spark plugs, gas caps, air filters and tires.

Did you know that April is National Car Care Month? It’s a great time to give your car a once-over with a good mechanic. Four simple-but-effective items to focus on: spark plugs, air filters, gas caps and tires.

American auto owners skip more than $62 billion of recommended vehicle maintenance and repair annually, according to the Car Care Council. As a result, those owners eventually face even pricier repairs or irreparable damage to their cars. Plus, thousands of poorly maintained vehicles can take a toll on the environment.

In keeping with the goal of National Car Care Month, auto experts recommend a quick check of four primary items that are simple fixes with big impacts:

Gas Caps: “Nearly 150 million gallons of gas vaporizes into the air every year because of damaged or missing gas caps,” says Car Care Council Executive Director Rich White. “This wasted gas not only has an effect on the environment but also has people spending more money at the gas pump.”

Car Spark Plugs: A vehicle can have four, six or eight spark plugs, each of which fire as many as 3 million times every 1,000 miles. That’s a lot of heat, electrical and chemical erosion going on. Resulting dirty spark plugs can cause misfiring – another fuel waster. For optimal performance replace yours with new E3 Spark Plugs, featuring the patented DiamondFire technology that delivers a faster, stronger, cleaner burn.

Air Filters: An air filter clogged with dirt, dust and bugs chokes off the clean air and creates what mechanics call a “rich” mixture – and that’s not “rich” in the good sense. It means that excessive gas is being burned off, causing the engine to lose power. Replacing a clogged filter can boost your gas mileage by up to 10 percent, saving as much as 15 cents a gallon.

Tires: If your tires are under-inflated, you’re not only wasting gas at a rate of up to two miles per gallon, you’re also putting yourself, your passengers and others on the road in danger. Under-inflated tires contributed to more than 600 accident-related fatalities and more than 30,000 injuries each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Yet, surveys show that upwards of 55% of vehicles on U.S. roadways have at least one underinflated tire.

We here at E3 Spark Plugs want to help keep our clients, friends and supporters safe on the roadways, racetracks and off-road trails. We hope you’ll take a few minutes each month (not just National Car Care Month) to make sure all the critical parts of your vehicle are in prime running condition.

"Two Cadillacs and a Dog" by artist Nicola Wood.

If you’re an auto buff and an arts connoisseur, E3 Spark Plugs suggests checking out the Automotive Fine Arts Society. Founded in 1983 the AFAS is comprised of an exclusive group of the world’s top automotive artists who work in various mediums including oil, watercolors, acrylics, wood, gouache, pen and ink, and clay and metal. These artists’ works are featured at select shows nationwide such as the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.

A few of E3 Spark Plugs‘ favorites:

• Art Fitzpatrick, who began his career in 1937 designing four-door Darrin Packards, before going into automotive advertising. He’s best known for dramatically transforming Pontiac’s image with the Pontiac Wide Track advertising campaign art he created from 1959-1971, driving Pontiac sales from 7th place to 3rd place. Look for his name in the consultant credits on Disney/PIXAR’s animated film “Cars.”
• John Francis Marsh, a world-renowned industrial designer and artist who jump-started his career while still in high school, submitting model cars to the GM Fisher Body Craftsman Guild Scholarship contest. Today, he offers industrial design services via his Marsh Design Office and teaches industrial design at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
• Niles Nakoaka, a Hawaiian-born, self-taught artist whose watercolor paintings often are created using up to 30 layers depending on shades of transparency. He’s a contributing artist for Road & Track magazine and exhibits his art each year at Pebble Beach.
• Richard Pietruska, whose dynamic sculptures capture the dramatic, fluid motion of fast-driving, exotic automobiles of the past and present. He is a highly respected professor at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and many of his former students are the leading automotive designers in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
• Natalia Wood, whose entered the automotive arts world in 1981 after spotting a 1959 Cadillac with a license plate that read “VADAR.” Born in Great Crosby England, she developed a preoccupation with the United States while “going to pictures” as a kid and falling hard for screen icons like James Dean, Elvis Presley, Marlon Brando, and Marilyn Monroe. Great American cars, particularly the “tail finned monsters of the Sixties” are prominent fixtures in many of her paintings, pencil and ink pieces.
• Gary Whinn, a former graphic designer who works predominantly in acrylic and pastel with a focus on nostalgic themes. He always includes people in his paintings to help to portray his personal view of automobiles as “an integral part of the backdrop in the everyday drama of life.”

Do you have a favorite automotive artist? E3 Spark Plugs wants to know. Leave a comment on our blog or post an image on the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page.

Do you know how to spot pothole damage to your vehicle? E3 Spark Plugs offers tips.

Hitting that pothole at 40 miles an hour can do some serious damage to your vehicle. And a busted tire is the least of your worries. Pothole damage can affect your car’s suspension and steering components, shocks and struts, exhaust systems, tie rods and much more. In fact, Pothole damage accounts for nearly 500,000 insurance claims each year and many of them may not be covered by your insurance company.

E3 Spark Plugs offers a few signs that your car may have pothole damage.

• Rolling  or swaying on turns
• Front-end dives when braking
• Rear end squats when accelerating
• Bouncing or sliding sideways on a rough or winding road
• Bottoming out or heavy thumping on bumps
• Sitting lower in the front or rear when stopped
• Loss of directional control during sudden stops
• Bulging in the sidewall area of the tire
• Dents, leaks and rusting on the rims and undercarriage

If your vehicle shows any of the above signs, E3 Spark Plugs recommends you head to your most trusted mechanic. Pothole damage that goes unrepaired can have disastrous effects later on. Damage tire walls can cause a tire blow-out days or weeks down the road. And damaged tracking causes excessive wear on tires, which can compromise cornering and braking.

Check the E3  Spark Plugs blog regularly for more vehicle maintenance and repair tips. And be sure to use E3 car spark plugs, truck spark plugs and motorcycle spark plugs for a stronger, cleaner, more efficient ride.