Wedekind Motors Blog | Auto Dealer Near Albany

New Climate-Friendlier Coolant Has a Catch: It’s Flammable https://t.co/8V6W7Nn00g

— Wheels (@nytimeswheels) October 22, 2016

To comply with ever-tightening emissions regulations, many major automakers are making the switch from hydrofluorocarbons to a patented new chemical called HFO-1234yf to provide the cooling power in vehicle AC units.

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are extremely bad for the environment. They stay in the atmosphere for over a decade, and have a global-warming potential (GWP) over 1,000 times higher than carbon dioxide. HFO-1234yf, on the other hand, was...

• Grab a clean rag
• Put shaving cream on the rag
• Smooth the shaving cream all over your windshield
• Wipe it off with a clean towel

This sounds too easy, and your instinct tells you that anything that sounds too simple to be true probably is. You've been burned by "life hacks" before.

This one, however, has a solid scientific foundation. If you don't believe it, test it out on your bathroom mirror next time you take a shower.

Shaving cream wipes off clear, but it leaves behind a residue of detergents. These detergents lower the surface tension of…

Is the paint color of your next car a purely aesthetic choice, or can it have a real impact on your comfort?

Color, in fact, changes much more than just appearances. It affects the rate at which heat and light are absorbed and emitted.

In this video, Autotrader's Eric Lanford conducts an experiment. He takes two identical Toyota vehicles, one white and one black, and parks them in the sun for an identical amount of time, on the same 95 degree afternoon.

The black Toyota reaches an interior temperature of 131 degrees, while the white SUV remains at a…

You know that road salt can stain your clothes, your carpets, and any other fabric that is exposed to melting salty ice.

Or do you?

If you're like most Americans, you've always wondered what road salt really is. It's actually the same stuff as your table salt, NaCl, or "sodium chloride." It's just been chopped up in a coarser grit.

That isn't what's staining your used car's carpeted foot wells, however.

Road salt has two "secret" ingredients: calcium carbonate, and magnesium carbonate.

Don't worry, these two chemicals are harmless. In fact, magnesium…

Who doesn't love a crossover episode?

For a Thanksgiving special, the Mythbusters test a legend that you can fully cook a meal using nothing but your car engine. Since they're engineers, not cooks, they bring in none other than celebrity chef Alton Brown.

Imagine how convenient this would be if it were true. You could drive to your relatives, and have a hot, freshly-cooked meal ready by the time you arrive!

First, the team acquired and older used car with lots of space under the hood. Then, Adam and Jamie took temperature readings from various parts of the…