Braking with the gears what ridiculous practice

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

banger9365 wrote: »

i give up ,
CAR drivers are allways right, they are the best drivers on the road
i really can not boverd trying to explain what you do wrong any more
because you are right all the time and we are wrong ,i will not comment on this any more ,end of ,full stop

While your advice may be applicable to driving a HGV (I have no idea), it certainly isn't the course of action recommended either by the IAM or ROSPA.

Given the choice of somebody who appears to lack basic English skills, and two road safety organisations with a proven track record, I know whose advice I'll be taking.

JoeyG

pault123 wrote: »

I don't know specific speeds as its not something I think about.

As long as the revs are healthy ie. above 1100, and the engine isn't labouring the engine will be fine. If i'm in 6th with foot off the revs and the engine is slowing, before the engine labours I will switch to 5th.

I certainly wouldn't switch to 5th before the engine was ready though, in order to achieve the same affect as pressing the brake.

As far as I'm aware using brakes to slow the car and selecting the appropriate gear for the revs is the recommended course of action, labouring the engine with too much or too little revs will shorten its lifespan.

pault123

Joey I let off the revs, and the car engine brakes, when I feel the lower gear is needed (ie before the car labours or revs reach 1100) I go to a lower gear - this is automatic I don't think about it. This is when i'm driving and the traffic is slowing but not coming to a stop.

BUT if i'm approaching a red light I will stay in whatever gear I was in, eg 6th if coming off motorway or eg. 4th if on A-road. I lift my foot off the revs and the car will start to slow down due to engine braking. By the time the revs have got close to 1200 my speed is around 20-30 mph, i'm then a short distance away from the red light. Apply foot brake and clutch if needed. NO circus act of gear drop downs required! :T

If its a long slip road I may drop down ONE gear when revs and speed are correct for that gear and again when close to red light brake and then clutch. If the light changes as i'm close to it i'll stick it in correct gear and proceed.

I'll never use 5-4-3-2-1 and go into the gears when there not ready to scrub off the speed aka Non Mse Driving.

Alex_the_lad

I share the view of Jackie Stewart who in one of his books said that it cheaper to change a set of worn out brake pads than it is to change a transmission!

The_Undercover_ADI

I've disagreed with pew-pew before on certain "advanced" driving issues, but on this one lasers is correct.

Braking smoothly then choosing the next gear you need to drive through a hazard or junction is efficient. Going down and up through all gears just because they're there is a lazy and inefficient way of going about things.

Excessive engine braking can lead to people slowing down rapidly with no warning (no brake lights) to the vehicles approaching from behind. It can also destabilise the vehicle and take concentration from the conditions (hence autos now often being recommended for company car drivers).

On a side issue, there is very little difference between the official DSA, IAM and RoSPA methods once you get past the terminology. The L-test involves all of the same principles, though it allows for a candidate to be less proficient in the skills in comparison to an experienced driver. If everyone drove to L-test standard on the roads they would be much safer. The majority of drivers I am expected to train would not pass this "minimum standard".

(And as we're on MSE - ignore the "eco" side of fuel efficient driving - think about 10-20% off your fuel bills. A good excuse to get off the gas early.)

tomstickland

It might not be best practice, but calling it "lazy" is a poor choice of adjective.

Regarding stability, I agree that 4 wheels braking will be better than loading up two. When it snowed there was no way I was going to use engine braking - it was one foot on clutch, other gently pressing the brake pedal, letting go as soon as the car started to slide. Good fun too.

I'm suprised that changing gear is regarded as being an onerous mental task, hence autos being recommended for company car drivers. Personally I prefer to have to do some work, but maybe I'm a niche market in that I enjoy getting the most from a vehicle.

Regarding training, can you explain a mystery to me. About 40% of the drivers I follow seem to turn a smooth corner into two jerks. On the exit road from work there's a bend with a white line painted about 1m away from the kerb. They usually manage to get at least 0.5m over the white line with the front wheels. Are they scared that the car won't make it round?

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Cornering is quite simple once you know how. Unfortunately most people position themselves for the shortest route around the corner, so for a left bend they'll position themselves in the kerb. This is much less safe than positioning one's self to the centre of the road, for better visibility around the left bend.

Changing gear isn't "an onerous mental task", it is just one thing that makes driving manuals more complicated, removing it as much as possible from the equation can reduce the danger of a hazard encountered.

tomstickland

What about stimulation? I am questioning your 2000s style "having less to do makes people safer" assumption. I have a graph somewhere showing stimulation on one axis, ability on the other and it is then split into 4 areas, with the high ability-low stimulation area marked as "dangerous".

Cornering is very simple. It mainly involves turning a wheel, using your brain as a smooth control system. So what I'm questioning is what some people do it as a series of wild jerks rather than one smooth operation.

Andy_Hamilton

I have had total brake failure at 50 miles per hour coming up to a roundabout at rush hour, no hand brake and had to use the gears to slow it enough to end on the grass avoiding killing people! From that day onwards I lernt that controls do not always work.
I plan ahead when driving - always did and do. When I'm slowing I leave it in 5-6th until around about 30mph then into second only going into 1st if I stop completely.
My brakepads last atleast 100,000 miles (honestly) and I'm still on my orginal clutch at 220,000 miles. My MPG is never below 50 commuting but still like to git it the italian tune up from time to time.

tomstickland

I observed myself today and found that on a 50mph stop I did the following:
5th-4th-3rd with very little drop in speed because I matched the revs up
in 3rd gear I then did 90% of the slowing using the brakes.
Changed down to 2nd at about 20mph, rolled to junction and pulled out.