triple-tango:
when I taught my kids to drive I told them to use the brakes as little as possible. Using forward planning and downshifts to slow down, as practice we would see how far we could go without touching the brakes.
But then when they had a few “proper” lessons they were told to approach roundabouts in top gear then hit the brakes.
It always makes me laugh at the amount of people I follow downhill that have their brakes on all the way down, while I roll down in a low gear without using my brakes.
My car is auto, and when not ‘driving’ it drops the revs to around 1000rpm which isn’t far off it’s neutral tick over and provides virtually no engine braking, so I have to use my brakes. I try to use them on and off.
Saw a lorry go over top of the Birdlip, and I swear he was going slow, so I went back to our place and mentioned it.
If we carry 22’s/100l kegs there is a chance of a “Slow roll-over”, mad I know, but at about 7 to 8 mph and a slight camber, there is a serious risk of a rollover.
waynedl:
My car is auto, and when not ‘driving’ it drops the revs to around 1000rpm which isn’t far off it’s neutral tick over and provides virtually no engine braking, so I have to use my brakes. I try to use them on and off.
I’ve had auto’s for years, nearly all will provide decent engine braking if you select one the lower slots other than D, like yours my 4 speed MB auto’s engine braking is non existant in D, but select 3 and it will hold speed quite well down long inclines if i so wish.
However in most cars and similar weight vehicles, the brakes are overspecified, and cool rapidly and are so cheap to maintain that its simply not worth the bother or the wear on the transmission by engine braking.
On the subject of modern truck instructors failing to teach drivers to drive, this brakes to slow fallacy is laughable, in nearly all applications of satans auto boxes there is a method of selecting automatic full ■■■■■■, which automatically downshifts to relatively high engine revs and uses the engine brake to its best advantage, presumably then the makers are all wrong fitting these systems and they should be disabled, and fully loaded trucks should bowl down steep hills in top gear just using the brakes.
There must be some instructors out there (please tell me there are) who can see how wrong this whole method is with truck training, why do they not stand up and be counted and tell those in charge they have got it arse backwards and why.
att:
I can`t believe that no one has mentioned the feeling through the arse…That is connected directly to the brain…Add a bit of common sense and it aint rocket science is it?
Like when you sit on a jet plane, you can feel every movement in the air, it aint as smooth as you think!
That’s the exact way I judge wether it’s safe to tip or not
waynedl:
My car is auto, and when not ‘driving’ it drops the revs to around 1000rpm which isn’t far off it’s neutral tick over and provides virtually no engine braking, so I have to use my brakes. I try to use them on and off.
I’ve had auto’s for years, nearly all will provide decent engine braking if you select one the lower slots other than D, like yours my 4 speed MB auto’s engine braking is non existant in D, but select 3 and it will hold speed quite well down long inclines if i so wish.
However in most cars and similar weight vehicles, the brakes are overspecified, and cool rapidly and are so cheap to maintain that its simply not worth the bother or the wear on the transmission by engine braking.
On the subject of modern truck instructors failing to teach drivers to drive, this brakes to slow fallacy is laughable, in nearly all applications of satans auto boxes there is a method of selecting automatic full ■■■■■■, which automatically downshifts to relatively high engine revs and uses the engine brake to its best advantage, presumably then the makers are all wrong fitting these systems and they should be disabled, and fully loaded trucks should bowl down steep hills in top gear just using the brakes.
There must be some instructors out there (please tell me there are) who can see how wrong this whole method is with truck training, why do they not stand up and be counted and tell those in charge they have got it arse backwards and why.
You are correct, mine’s a 5 speed auto / tip box, but to put it into manual 1st selects ‘sports mode’, then you can pull up or down to select a gear, easier just to use the brake pedal now n then, and as you say, MUCH cheaper to repair / replace, but they are replaced pretty much every mot
