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Things To Keep In Mind When Hiring A Car In Malta

One of the most popular summer holiday destinations for tourists is the Mediterranean island of Malta (Europe). Car hire in Malta is affordable and is a much more practical alternative to local public transport. The fact that the island offers a variety of attractions to visit in very close proximity makes that hiring a car pays off, as less of your precious holiday time is wasted on unnecessary trips with public transport.

If you decide to hire a car on your Malta holiday there are a few things you should keep in mind as regards driving in Malta. Although the core information provided in these tips is truthful, they’re a little exaggerated and should definitely not be interpreted as discouraging you from hiring a car in Malta. Driving around Malta is fun, but more so if you’re informed about what to expect!

Warning – Parts of this article are purely fictional. You can easily figure out which parts I’m referring to though, with a little sense of humour!

1.Where do the Maltese drive?

The usual answer that the Maltese give you when you ask them what side of the road they drive is something along the lines of “On the shady side of the road”, or “On the side that doesn’t have potholes”. The correct answer is really “On the left hand side”. Malta is a former British colony (but has been an autonomous republic since 1964) and adopted the left hand drive system and Highway Code used in the United Kingdom.

2.Right of way depends on the size of your vehicle

Although the Maltese do actually have a Highway Code similar to the one used in the UK, the rules tend to be interpreted in a creative way by a lot of Maltese drivers. That’s not necessarily unique to Malta, but these creative interpretations of road law are probably more noticeable there. What’s most often ignored is who is supposed to be given the right of way in any given situation. In Malta, it’s generally the size of your vehicle that determines who has the right of way. If you hire a van or a Jeep you’ll get from A to B much faster compared to most road users in their economical tins on wheels. If, however, a yellow monstrosity from the Iron Age (public transport bus) crosses your path you’d better play safe and stop – the bus driver won’t. This rule applies to private coaches, lorries and mini-buses (red Ford Transit vans used as private transport).

3.Baking an egg on the dashboard

In times of economic downturn it’s tempting to go for the budget option when hiring a car on your holiday, but in the case of Malta there’s an important luxury you will not want to pass up on during the summer months: Air conditioning. Summers in Malta are HOT with temperatures reaching up to 40 degrees Celsius sometimes. Perfect for sunbathing, swimming and baking an egg on the dashboard, but not much fun when you’re on the road. A/C? YES PLEASE!

4.The moon’s surface is smoother

Maltese roads stretch to all parts of the island and getting to even the remotest of places is pretty easy, with plenty of tarmac having been laid over the years. What you’ll find, however, is that the quality of the roads in Malta is well below par compared to European standards. It does get quite bad in some parts, giving you that rollercoaster ride adrenaline rush or making it seem as if you’re driving a tumble dryer. Thankfully the roads aren’t so bad that driving becomes dangerous.

5.Parking, parking, parking

Malta is a pretty small island, and there are almost as many cars as people on the island, so you can imagine parking is a challenge in the busier areas. Problem areas in summer are Sliema, St. Julian’s, St. Paul’s Bay, Bugibba and Qawra.

6.Parking skills

Some nearly faint at the idea of having to parallel park a car, and are relieved to find a regular parking bay back home. No such luck in Malta though, where parallel parking is a necessary skill to posses since most parking spaces are pavement side slots which are pretty small compared to abroad. Surprisingly, exchanging paint is not something that happens often in Malta.

7.Learning Maltese – a beginner’s course

The Maltese are known to be passionate and expressive in their ways, and that comes forward most easily behind the steering wheel, in situations where they believe they have the right of way (but don’t). Maltese isnt an easy language to learn but the best way to start picking up a few words is by hiring a car on your Malta holiday. Dont expect the vocabulary to be the kind to boast about back home, however.

8.Navigation is key

What could be more frustrating than going out for a drive around Malta in your hired car and getting lost? Being Maltese and almost hitting a tourist stopping in the middle of the road who’s trying to figure out whether they should take the turn or not. Driving in Malta is much more fun when you know where you’re going, both for you as a tourist as well as the Maltese. If you decide not to pre-plan your trips chances are you’ll be getting a complimentary intermediate course in Maltese swearing as well. Congratulations.

9.The men (and women) in green

Now as I mentioned before, the Maltese tend to take the rules of the road as guidelines really, but it took a while for the Maltese government to realise that they had a cash cow with udders the size of a horse’s… head. The result? Local wardens, sporting their sexy green uniforms (with cap and all mind you), handing out fines left right and centre. The best tip to follow? Make sure you abide by parking rules by parking your hired car within the white lines only (and not the yellow or green ones) and you’ll avoid having to deal with citations (and wardens).

10.Avoiding being taken for a ride

Scientists spent years trying to figure out the phenomenon encountered on Maltese public transport buses and a study proved what many had thought for years: Time passes slower when you take the bus in Malta. Now, under normal circumstances it would probably be a plus – longer holidays. However, if you’re trying to get from one place of interest to another and you didn’t book a holiday that lasts for eternity, you’ll find that riding the bus in Malta is a waste of time. It is cheap though. Very cheap.

Malta car hire

Don’t be worried too much by this advice – Hiring a car and driving around in Malta is fun and not expensive, especially considering the amount of precious holiday time you save by going around in a hired car. Shop around for good car hire prices and you’ll be sure to find a bargain to suit your budget.

Car Battery Trickle Charger

You want to store your car, or RV, but you know that when you go to start your vehicle after it’s been sitting for a few weeks or months, that your battery will be dead.

The car battery trickle charger is specifically designed for the maintenance of 12 Volt batteries that are used periodically or kept in storage for extended periods.

The normal self-discharge of a battery is prevented when using a car battery trickle charger. In addition, the life of rechargeable 12 volt batteries is extended by providing a minimum current, regulated output.

Low quality chargers will produce a strong, rapid charge that often will decay electrodes and boil out liquids. We strongly recommend purchasing a charger that; once your battery has been fully charged, it will automatically shut-off and then resume charging as your battery level drops. Also, check to make sure the charger you buy is specifically designed for longterm use. You want to be able to safely leave it connected to your battery for days, weeks, months, even years!

More important tips for vehicle storage:

Gas up

Air carries moisture with it and that will result in condensation in the tank. To reduce this as much as possible make sure the tank is as full as it can be. This will reduce the condensation and considerably lessen the amount of water in the gas and the injection system. Get a gasoline stabilizer such as Stabil and put this in before filling the tank. You will need to run the engine for a while to ensure that the stabilized gas has penetrated the entire injection system.

Change the oil filter and the oil

The contaminants in old oil will corrode the insides of your engine so it’s important to put fresh oil and a new filter in the car.

Over-inflate Tires

Inflate automobile tire to approximately 40 or 45 psi. Modern radial tires aren’t known to have problems with flat spotting from storage. Still, some people suggest that you roll the car a little every 2 weeks or so. It is strongly recommended that you don’t jack the vehicle up and rotate the tires because when you lower the car the suspension will be loaded up. Try and check the pressure of the tires every few weeks or so and watch for slow leaks.

Some say that the suspension will sag by putting the car up on jacks. Letting it sit on the ground for the few months shouldn’t lead to any problems.

Clean the vehicles interior

When it comes time to take your vehicle out of storage you won’t clean it. You may not want to clean it before you put it in storage but when you take it out you simply won’t do it. So, take some time and get everything really clean. Clean the carpets. Clean the glass, inside and out. Clean behind the pedal cluster. Clean and condition the leather. You’ll be surprised at the dirt you’ll find. Clean all the nooks and crannies. Also, don’t forget to also clean the trunk, etc. There is a full season of dirt and junk in the vehicle that you’re not going to want to carry into the next season. Moth balls and a bag or two of the silica gel inside the car (which absorbs any moisture in the air) are excellent preventative measures.

Wash the vehicle

Dust and dirt are corrosive to any paint job so to ensure a longer life it’s important when storing to not leave those elements on the vehicle, but take care not to put it away wet. This can be challenging if you want to use the vehicle right up to wet or snow season. You should never put your car away wet because rust will form everywhere the water collects. You’ll want to try anticipating the weather and cleaning the car and driving it a little to dry it out before storage. Then it will be necessary to get the dust off before storing it with a wipe down with wet/damp towels followed drying it with towels. Another option is one of the “quick detailer sprays” available at many auto parts stores.

Wax car

This is recommended but it may be difficult to get in a good waxing of the car depending on the temperature when you are preparing to store it. A good quality of wax will be too difficult to apply in low temperatures.

Condition the rubber parts

Many of the brand name products for treating rubber put on greasy coatings of silicon (Silicon isn’t good for paint) or tend to build up over time and actually make the trim look worse. Use a good rubber conditioner to preserve all the trim.

Clean the wheels

Brake dust is highly corrosive and it’s not good to have it sitting on your wheels for weeks or months at a time. To do the most thorough job remove the wheels from the car, clean them on the outside and inside.

Cover Openings

Sealing up the exhaust tips will help to prevent rust inside the exhaust system. Close the heater vents and any other openings. Every 2 weeks or so, it’s probably a good idea to make a periodic inspection. Check if any leaks developed or if any mice are nesting.

Engine Storage

Spray WD 40 into cylinders
Take out spark plugs
Spray WD 40 into air intakes
Turn over the engine by hand with wrench a couple of times
Every three months repeat this (except the spark plugs which will no longer be in the engine)
To change the wheel bearing position, every three months turn wheels, or move car into different location
And for manual transmissions shift into one gear and move gear box internal around
Every six months drive the vehicle.

Starting the vehicle

There are differing views on whether starting a vehicle periodically while it is in storage is a good idea. Starting the engine puts considerable thermal stress on parts which are often in cold temperatures. The majority of engine wear occurs in the first few minutes when a car has been started because the oil is still in the oil pan and not lubricating the engine. In cold weather the engine may not get hot enough to burn off the moisture, acids, etc. the car is creating while running. This contaminates the clean oil. If you are going to store your car for a really long time then it needs to be run periodically to keep it operable.

Remote Control Car Setup Tips

Setting up a remote control car is as much a science as it is an art, the physics behind rc cars is exactly the same as the physics that governs real cars, if you know how setup changes in a race car work, you already know how to setup a remote control car.

The problem that most people have with setting up RC cars is that when you make a change in one area it always has a knock-on effect on the rest of your settings, setups are very much a balancing act

To start with I’ll concentrate on the basics of handling, over steer and under steer. The physics behind this is pretty simple, if you turn into a corner the center of gravity will move in what ever direction you were initially travelling. Your tires via friction push back with (hopefully) an equal amount of force. When your wheels lose traction and start to slide the energy that was being turned into heat in your tires gets released as inertial energy in the original direction of travel. With cars, both back and front don’t break traction equally, this creates either under steer or over steer, which is how we describe the experience the driver has under these conditions.

Under steer

Under steer is when the front of the car loses traction while the rear of the car still has grip on the tar, the effect is that the nose of the car drifts away from the direction you are turning, turning harder makes it worse, the only thing you can really do is back off the throttle and bleed off speed.

Over Steer

Over steer is the opposite of under steer, and in most cases it’s best to have a little of this. The front of the car keeps traction while the rear lets go. One of the key benefits is that you can typically corner much faster in a car that has some over steer

Over steer / Under steer Tuning tips

There are a lot of ways to tune the handling or your radio controlled car, the easiest is to adjust the front and rear shocks. While there are a lot of options with springs, different oils and all sorts we are just going to concentrate on the basics, most decent shocks have adjustments, either with spacers or bolts that let you adjust how hard or soft the shocks are.

As far as maximum and minimum stiffness goes, make sure that the bottom of your car doesn’t scrape the ground, and on the other end make sure it doesn’t bounce and leave the asphalt, apart from that you need to find the setup that matches your driving style, most people get winning setups off the internet and try to learn to drive them, mind you this is a great starting point, and most championship winners post their setup sheets

Shock Stiffness guide

Stiffen in front = increasing under steer or reducing over steer
Stiffen in rear = increasing over steer or reducing under steer

You may be wondering why one setting makes two changes, this is because it’s all about balance, you could for example setup your rc car by only every changing the rear stiffness, but you would find that when you got the perfect amount of over steer under braking the car would then be uncontrollable during the exit of the corner. It’s all about balance,

Another thing to keep in mind is that when you change the shocks you also change the roll of the car, this the the chassis of the car moving with the inertia, in effect pushing the front tires into the road during breaking and the rear during acceleration. If your shocks are too soft then the transfer might dig your front wheels in and lift the rear enough to make you car spin out, or lose steering under throttle, you have to find the right balance

More to come…

Why You Need The Best Charlotte Car Accident Attorney

If you have been involved in a car accident, after your receive medical attention; hiring a car accident attorney should be your top priority. You need to consult with an attorney, even if you seem to be uninjured. A personal injury lawyer will be invaluable help when you need to file insurance claims.

Additionally, you will have someone to represent you that can do all the legal heavy lifting while you concentrate on recovering from any injuries you might have suffered as a result of the accident. Accident victims often fail to understand that insurance companies, even their own, are determined to pay as little as possible for every claim.

Trust the expert
Car accident attorneys understand the life-long implications if you do not receive proper compensation for any and all losses that you incur as a result of the accident. This includes:

omedical bills
ocontinuing therapy
ocar repairs
opast and future earning lost

It is psychologically and physically stressful to try and handle all of the legal details when you are up against trained professionals who are determined to save the company profits at your expense. This is why you need the services of an expert.

The best personal injury attorney in Charlotte will know the right procedure(s) when filing insurance claims. Your auto accident attorney is a skilled negotiator on your behalf. If he or she cannot get you the best deal in terms of compensation, you can be assured that they will fight for you in court.

Recognizing the best car accident lawyer
Regardless of the type of accident, you will need a firm who has extensive experience in personal injury cases. Look for a firm that has several decades of experience with a track record of winning cases for their clients.

Ask your prospective attorney about the possibility of going to trial. The best attorneys are ready and willing to fight it out in court. Be mindful that there are many less-skilled attorneys that are content to settle your case. They will most likely negotiate a lower amount even if it is not in your best interest.

Speak with one of the top accident attorneys in Charlotte, NC
Hire your personal injury attorney as soon as possible after the accident. This way, your attorney can immediately get to work filing for personal injury claims, lost wages and medical expenses. Never agree on a settlement with the insurance company without talking to your attorney. Even if you are not sure that you have a case, you have nothing to lose by seeking advice from a car accident injury attorney.

Mississippi Car Salvage Laws

Auto salvage laws were implemented as a measure against the operation of unsafe vehicles on the roadways and Mississippi car salvage laws are no different. Before you are able to drive a recycled car in Mississippi, you are required to make sure that you meet the requirements for inspection and insurance, which are set by the Department of Public Safety. Whether you are the owner of just one salvage car or you sell recycled cars for a living, you must ensure that these requirements are met, since failure to comply with the laws can result in penalties or fines being imposed. Below are a few of the requirements:

Salvage Title

All trucks and cars operated in the state of Mississippi should have a title under code 162 of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS). You can visit the nearest DPS office in order to get a title for your salvaged car and will be asked to provide your address, name and the identification number of the vehicle that is provided on the salvage title application. Additionally, be sure to provide information relating to the type of damage the car suffered.

Motor Vehicle Inspection

Section 63-1309 of Code 162 requires that salvage cars must be inspected at any authorized auto inspection service station in Mississippi before the car is allowed on the states roads. Ensure you take proof that the car has been repaired when you go to have the car inspected as well as photos of the car before the repair was done. Remember, your inspection has to be done within the district you reside so make your appointments accordingly.

Flood/Hail Damage

Mississippis Salvage Inspection Unit has a Bureau of Investigation, which asks that insurance companies make contact with the DPS before they take over the ownership of any car declared salvage. In addition, insurance companies are also required to title the salvage car in the companys name beforehand. Four photos showing the state of the car before repair is also required in this case. The title for cars suffering flood damage will be marked Flood Brand but for those with hail damage, the title will remain unmarked.

Selling the Car

The DPS Bureau of Investigations require that you inform the buyer that the purchase is a salvage car as this will stay a permanent part of the cars title history. This requirement will apply regardless of how the vehicle was damaged.