Is this a bad driving style

Jimbob 83

The people in this thread thinking they are clever are actually doing their clutches more bad than good, oh well.

RandomAccess

I notice some people here seem to be against short-shifting.. but its a perfectly acceptable technique in the right circumstances.

for example, 1-2-3--5

Used when you want to get up to speed quickly, but once its reached no longer need to accelerate strongly.

I often find it useful when moving off from a set of traffic lights in very-light late night traffic when the next traffic lights change to red some distance ahead.

2 stroke

totally wrong, you never looked in the mirrors, you never looked around and you never used your indicator. And you should avoid coasting.

carzony

I have been driving for about 3 years now and I have to admit i'm a coaster aswell.I used to only do it the odd time and now I always do it. I never really knew it was bad style of driving:o:o..

2 stroke

To those that leave their car in a high gear until your engine nearly stalls. Your engine is running under presure at low revs, your oil presure is reduced meaning that there is a reduced film of oil in your crankshaft bearings leading to excessive wear. Gearing down, keeps engine revs and oil presure up.
With correct (sequential) driving, your clutch should last over 100,000 miles. With bad driving, your engine won't last 200,000 miles.

obi604

obi604 wrote: »

Sorry, for my ignorance but I'm seeing a lot of references like : you should not use your engine as a break

What does this mean exactly ?

think they mean shifting down to 3rd etc instead of braking, it'll force the car to slow down

cjt156

bluewolf wrote: »

they mean shifting down to 3rd etc as well as braking, it'll help the car to slow down in a more controlled manner

Driving 25 years; I've had many cars, three of them with over 100,000 miles. My daily driver has 160,000 miles. And I've never had to change a clutch.

A little mechanical sympathy and you can change up and down as needed without mangling your clutch.

Um, I was saying what not to do...

cjt156

bluewolf wrote: »

Um, I was saying what not to do...

In which case you were, Um, like, wrong, OK?
OK, thanx, bye.

testarossa40

Question OP: Who taught you to drive? Professional Driving Instructor, family/friend, or self-taught etc? Am just curious to know as a lot of the mistakes you're making (imo) & questions you're asking should have been caught & addressed at that stage ...

obi604

testarossa40 wrote: »

Question OP: Who taught you to drive? Professional Driving Instructor, family/friend, or self-taught etc? Am just curious to know as a lot of the mistakes you're making (imo) & questions you're asking should have been caught & addressed at that stage ...

kinda self thought looking back. Went for me drivin test very young, only took a couple of lessons -- and passed, Job done.

for driving test, I did stuff by the book just to pass and after that just fell in to bad habits.

Driving test when I did it was only an hour or less and then 2 hours of lessons. So thats really only 2 hours of proper tutoring. To be honest, being so young, I only wanted to pass at the time.

Afterwards Didn't give a 2nd thought to my strategy for approaching traffic or down gearing etc etc and then just got in to bad habits.

Now I'm more mature ; ) have started re thinking about these things.

testarossa40

Well, fair dues to your honestly! You're obviously curious and concerned which is no bad thing. But as it seemsyou haven't had any proper training would you consider booking a driving "lesson" or two with a professional instructor? Just tell them you already have a license but want a refresher session as you might have some bad or unsafe habits that you want to iron out - I'm pretty sure you can have these in your own car. Listen to any advise, ask questions, and then at least you'll get a proper picture of what's considered standard driving practice that you can then take on board or otherwise. Most people end up changing a lot of what they were "taught" over time anyway but they can revert back if needed.

obi604

testarossa40 wrote: »

Well, fair dues to your honestly! You're obviously curious and concerned which is no bad thing. But as it seemsyou haven't had any proper training would you consider booking a driving "lesson" or two with a professional instructor? Just tell them you already have a license but want a refresher session as you might have some bad or unsafe habits that you want to iron out - I'm pretty sure you can have these in your own car. Listen to any advise, ask questions, and then at least you'll get a proper picture of what's considered standard driving practice that you can then take on board or otherwise. Most people end up changing a lot of what they were "taught" over time anyway but they can revert back if needed.

Suppose it could be an option alright

Pottler

FFS OP, Don't you know, coasting is ILLEGAL. You are a bad driver. A very bad driver indeed.

Marcin_diy

well.. I was taught by professional instructor. my dad was a taxi driver, my neighbour from family home is car mechanic , and all these people were telling me that best way to stop the car is to shift down a gear. not sure why you are talking about clutch here. have you ever burnt one or what? it takes less than a sec to change gear, you don't use accelerator , so explain me in details what exactly and how you are damaging?

same question about engine - what exactly you are damaging when on high revs without accelerator? Is your way of thinking caused by fact that speed limit in ireland is 120km/h and you were never driving close to the rev limit for longer than few seconds? now think about all these cars in germany, where some people daily drive hundreds of km with speed that is close to rev limit and200+ km/h.
so whats exactly wrong with engine when you are on high revs and slowing down? oil has correct ressure thats good..
car doesnt take fuel when on gear but no accelerator, thats good.
you dont use brake pads, brake discs, you dont overheat your brake discs , thats good.
you dont use brake light they will last longer thats also good .

what is bad?

obi604

Pottler wrote: »

FFS OP, Don't you know, coasting is ILLEGAL. You are a bad driver. A very bad driver indeed.

Yeah I better, seeing as I'm the only one in Ireland commiting this atrocious crime

Marcin_diy

one more thing. Do you know how to brake when carrying heave load or trailer?

You should shift down gear to stop as often as possible

the same is with driving downhill especially when you are in mountains. it is the main rule of driving in mountains- you brake with engine, not brakes

if you boil braking liquid, you won't stop at all with brakes.

smemon

Problem with 1 is that if the lights go green you're already committed to slowing down when in fact you're now going to have to accelerate. The chances are if you've been in 4th and go back to 4th, you'll have zero power... go to third you might be ok, go to 2nd and you're jerking / revving around like a fool... chances are you'll have radio on so you may not be able to 'hear' the engine either. So basically you've lost all feel for your current speed, revs and have to guess what gear is most suitable.

No.2 depends on the angle of the turn... if it's 4th going to 2nd in order to make a 90 degree angle, well that's just asking for trouble... you're gonna hurt the engine without using brakes and it'll you let you know about it.

Bottom line - stop trying to drive without using brakes to try and save petrol / battery / pads or whatever old wives tale somebody has convinced you it does.

keithclancy

Pottler wrote: »

FFS OP, Don't you know, coasting is ILLEGAL. You are a bad driver. A very bad driver indeed.

Its illegal ?
I don't believe so .. I think its just bad practice.

Try driving a Variomatic ... more like driving a boat than a car