driving my car
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Hi there ! This is maybe a stupid question, but yesterday, as I was driving back home, I was thinking about my driving habits. When I have to slow down my car (just slowing down, no emergency brake), I usually try as much to avoid using the brakes, and to use instead the engine brake by putting a smaller gear. That way, I feel like I'm sparing the brakes. But....is it good for the engine ? Should I better slow down using the brakes only ? Anyone of you is a car specialist ? As you can see, I always ask myself essential questions !!! ;-) Jerome
Good driving, you're in better control when you use the correct gear in these situations: 1. Cornering - the car should be driven round corners and not left to freewheel. 2. Slowing down, should be a mixture of both brakes and gears. Normski. - Professional Windows Programmer
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Right, but maybe the gearbox is designed for that !?!?? Jerome
I guess it depends on the type of driving that you are doing. Admittedly I do use the gearbox (manual) to slow down in normal conditions and slow speeds but if I am flogging the car doing my best skaife impersonation then I will rely on the brakes. Nothing is quite like seeing a friend's car after he tried to use the gearbox to slow down going around a corner, and ended up going into a tree.
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Christopher Lord wrote: its much better to downshift than to break. They are designed to do this. Right, but brakes are not designed as well to do that ???? (BTW, I have a manual car) Jerome
yes, but brakes wear much faster than a clutch... But the clutch costs a bit more to replace. Its a double-value optimization. Replace breaks often which adds up, or replace clutch less often but pay more when you do. I guess it amounts to personal preference. And of course, when you downshift you maintain control of the vehicle better. Your always in the right gear in case you have to speed up again (if you just break then you will have to downshift before hitting the gas, otherwise you stall) Since there is no absolute 'right' answer, do whatever you think will make you a better driver.
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Hi there ! This is maybe a stupid question, but yesterday, as I was driving back home, I was thinking about my driving habits. When I have to slow down my car (just slowing down, no emergency brake), I usually try as much to avoid using the brakes, and to use instead the engine brake by putting a smaller gear. That way, I feel like I'm sparing the brakes. But....is it good for the engine ? Should I better slow down using the brakes only ? Anyone of you is a car specialist ? As you can see, I always ask myself essential questions !!! ;-) Jerome
If you want to conserve your car, take your foot of the accelerator earlier so that you don't need to use the brakes and only a little engine braking, then power out of the corners. Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
More about me :-)
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Hi there ! This is maybe a stupid question, but yesterday, as I was driving back home, I was thinking about my driving habits. When I have to slow down my car (just slowing down, no emergency brake), I usually try as much to avoid using the brakes, and to use instead the engine brake by putting a smaller gear. That way, I feel like I'm sparing the brakes. But....is it good for the engine ? Should I better slow down using the brakes only ? Anyone of you is a car specialist ? As you can see, I always ask myself essential questions !!! ;-) Jerome
In the driving school I was taught that one should only use brakes to stop the car (or in an emergency). One should maneuver the car with rational usage of the gas pedal and gears. So you do a good thing, provided that you move to lower gear at apropriate speed. Tomaz
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Good driving, you're in better control when you use the correct gear in these situations: 1. Cornering - the car should be driven round corners and not left to freewheel. 2. Slowing down, should be a mixture of both brakes and gears. Normski. - Professional Windows Programmer
> Cornering - the car should be driven round corners and not > left to freewheel. Can you explain what you mean by this to non-native speakers? Tomaz
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Christopher Lord wrote: its much better to downshift than to break. They are designed to do this. Right, but brakes are not designed as well to do that ???? (BTW, I have a manual car) Jerome
Using motor brake has several advantages: * it spares the breaks * with an injection engine, the fuel injection is cut when using motor brake, reducing pollution and sparing fuel * it encourages the driver to anticipate, which is a good habit to learn :) We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children. Antoine de Saint Exupéry (1900-1944)
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> Cornering - the car should be driven round corners and not > left to freewheel. Can you explain what you mean by this to non-native speakers? Tomaz
driven meaning foot on accelerator freewheel meaning foot off the accelerator.
I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe Jeremy Davis http://www.astad.org
http://www.jvf.co.uk -
Hi there ! This is maybe a stupid question, but yesterday, as I was driving back home, I was thinking about my driving habits. When I have to slow down my car (just slowing down, no emergency brake), I usually try as much to avoid using the brakes, and to use instead the engine brake by putting a smaller gear. That way, I feel like I'm sparing the brakes. But....is it good for the engine ? Should I better slow down using the brakes only ? Anyone of you is a car specialist ? As you can see, I always ask myself essential questions !!! ;-) Jerome
I think it is better to use brakes, because they are designed for that. Advantages : 1. brake plates are not expensive to replace (actually i never had to do that, even after more than 100k km) 2. you have not so much work, to shift to neutral and brak than do shifting 5-4-3-2-1 :) 3. you can brake faster 4. driver behind you can SEE that you are braking on your brake light 5. cornering with handbrake is cool :)
rrrado
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driven meaning foot on accelerator freewheel meaning foot off the accelerator.
I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe Jeremy Davis http://www.astad.org
http://www.jvf.co.uk -
Hi there ! This is maybe a stupid question, but yesterday, as I was driving back home, I was thinking about my driving habits. When I have to slow down my car (just slowing down, no emergency brake), I usually try as much to avoid using the brakes, and to use instead the engine brake by putting a smaller gear. That way, I feel like I'm sparing the brakes. But....is it good for the engine ? Should I better slow down using the brakes only ? Anyone of you is a car specialist ? As you can see, I always ask myself essential questions !!! ;-) Jerome
I also prefer using the engine break. I'm not able to say whitch is worse for the engine - engine breaking or free run during the normal breaking. One plus for engine breaking is, that modern fuel injection use no fuel during engine breaking. Sonork 100.15206;PavelK
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Hi there ! This is maybe a stupid question, but yesterday, as I was driving back home, I was thinking about my driving habits. When I have to slow down my car (just slowing down, no emergency brake), I usually try as much to avoid using the brakes, and to use instead the engine brake by putting a smaller gear. That way, I feel like I'm sparing the brakes. But....is it good for the engine ? Should I better slow down using the brakes only ? Anyone of you is a car specialist ? As you can see, I always ask myself essential questions !!! ;-) Jerome
Watch some Formula 1...... Drive as fast as u can to the corner....Step on the brakes as hard as u can....Power out of the corner....Drive as fast as u can to the corner....Step on the brakes as hard as u can....Power out of the corner....Drive as fast as u can to the corner....Step on the brakes as hard as u can....Power out of the corner....Drive as fast as u can to the corner....Step on the brakes as hard as u can....Power out of the corner....;P bart
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Hi there ! This is maybe a stupid question, but yesterday, as I was driving back home, I was thinking about my driving habits. When I have to slow down my car (just slowing down, no emergency brake), I usually try as much to avoid using the brakes, and to use instead the engine brake by putting a smaller gear. That way, I feel like I'm sparing the brakes. But....is it good for the engine ? Should I better slow down using the brakes only ? Anyone of you is a car specialist ? As you can see, I always ask myself essential questions !!! ;-) Jerome
I personally do both (engine braking and brake braking) in the winter since it reduces slip which means better control. In dry conditions, I anticipate and engine brake as much as possible since it often occurs that as I get closer to whatever it is I plan to stop for (stop light, slow traffic, etc), it usually clears up thereby reducing how much power I need to apply to start up again (verses starting from a full stop). I imagine drivers of automatic cars either get confused or upset at drivers with manual cars that engine brake since they don't see the stop lamps come on when the car slows down. Slightly off-topic - one thing that really bothers me is when drivers with manual transmission cars rock their car back and forth on a slight incline while waiting for a traffic light (or whatever). It looks really bad and makes us manual drivers/C++ programmers :) look really irresponsible. Erik Westermann Author, Learn XML In A Weekend (Summer 2002)