Smooth. The Secret Of Speed!

[Guest HocuSChrisT]

Lets not forget steering... smooth steering. My missus, (sorry Dear), is shocking when it comes to oversteer. For some reason, and I see it alot, people think you have to push the steering wheel round. The laws of physics apply here, it is easyer to pull something than it is to push it. By using the inside hand to pull the wheel down and the upper hand to maintain smoothness with 1/3 of the total force used, I find driving very smooth. And changing down gears whilst in the corner, (if you had to), isn't a drama, no stability is lost.

[NT TURBO]

Couldn't agree more on the points made above, the only thing I'd like to add is the point of matching the revs to the gearbox speed when downshifting, amazes me how many people use the clutch to slow the car down not the engines compression.

Yeah yeah but I have an auto, I still know how to drive!

And I love the way alll this goes out the window when you talk rally tecniques!

[Turbo6man]

My tip for smooth driving? Don't slow down more than you ever have to - every time you slow or stop you have to use a lot of fuel to build your speed back up - so look ahead and plan your stopping/slowing distance and you will get much better fuel economy, brake life and tyre life.

I'm one of those people who often hear "you're brake lights aren't working". My favourite reply is "well duh, for them to work the brakes have to be applied".

[KEN 24T]

  Turbo6man said:

I'm one of those people who often hear "you're brake lights aren't working". My favourite reply is "well duh, for them to work the brakes have to be applied".

I'm one of those people who often hear "get your finger out of my arse, and stop fooling around". My favourite reply is "it's not my finger, and I'm not fooling around."

[XR6TK1W1]

All great comments there!! But I'll always remember watching my Father doing a course run by Volvo when he used to drive tourliners. They taught fuel economy and skid control, braking and the likes. It was a hell of a sight watching a Tour Bus doing 360 degree spins on an oiled runway. Very few people could bring the Bus under control when brking mid turn. The trick was not to brake!! Ride it out with smooth and progressive thottle. Alittle bit differant to the ol Turbo bird but the theory applies.

[Trumpy]

Now that's something I would like to see: Opposite locking a tourbus. That would be mighty impressive.

Having said that, a couple of years ago I was on a contiki drinking tour of Europe. The guy driving the bus took us on the arc triumphe (spelling?) in Paris at about 70Ks. Everyone on the roundabout has to give way to people entering, so you should have seen the faces of the people locking up their Citroens etc to avoid hitting the bus. Memorable experience!

Of course we then had to lock up the bus to avoid hitting someone else, but it was great being thrown around in a coach like that.

Sorry for the off thread reply...

[Turbo6man]

  Trumpy said:

Now that's something I would like to see: Opposite locking a tourbus. That would be mighty impressive.

About 25 years ago I was teaching tour coach drivers just that - surprisingly easy to control on a wet skid pan because of the loooong wheelbase. And the trick is NO brakes, as the rears are always biased on heavy vehicles, and end swapping occurs in an instant LOL.

However, on the road there are insufficient run-off areas for large vehicles, and the driver, no matter how good he is or has been taught, simlpy runs into the scenery way too soon.

I always ended the day with this reminder as the drivers thought once they had done the course that they were safe on the road.

It is unfortunate that our roads just aren't able to safely accommodate large vehicles - the driver all to often is left with just one resource in an emergency situation and that is braking - and as we all know, that is not always the most favourable in some situations.

I also used to teach anti-jack-knifing control to semi drivers - and that is very interesting ... virtually impossible in anything less than a 20 acre area .... and again it was almost a total waste of time, as in real road conditions, the driver doesn't stand much chance unless he has a three lane divided road and no cars beside him.

[Guest HocuSChrisT]

Always remember this...

It's not how well you drive, it's the other #%^#heads on the Road that you have to watch out for.

This includes Old people, people with hats, and people in trayback utes, they're the worst people.

[Redhawk]

Dead right about the other drivers Chris.

My old man said to me when I was on L's, 'treat every other person on the road as if they're blithering idiots', and that lesson remains today even to the point I've started drumming it in to my son's head already (he's 11)

When talking smooth........does 'Slick as Sh!t' count??? I'm told I'm that quite often :D

[dankman]

  Silverhawk said:

Dead right about the other drivers Chris.

My old man said to me when I was on L's, 'treat every other person on the road as if they're blithering idiots', and that lesson remains today even to the point I've started drumming it in to my son's head already (he's 11)

When talking smooth........does 'Slick as Sh!t' count??? I'm told I'm that quite often :D

Hehehehe, My dad taught me the same thing,

"Chris, Remeber that the other drivers on the road have no arms, legs or heads. Be on your guard at all times and anticipate that the driving torso's are always going to do something completely f**ked up."