I discovered - in my late father's papers - a cutting from the Telegraph from, I imagine, the mid 1990s, which I reproduce here. Interesting to see that it refers to a driving style invented in 1936. Written by Paul Ripley:

When I learned to drive, motorists were taught to change down sequentially through the gearbox to lose speed on the approach to hazards. This meant that the driver had to change down through 2 or 3 gears to select the correct one, a technique still practised by millions around the world. Unfortunately it has some disadvantages, namely:

1. Unless you have a 4WD, it means you are effectively braking (via engine compression) with the two driven wheels only. (The foot-brake works on all four wheels.)

2. Changing down through the gears to lose speed can cause unnecessary mechanical wear on a number of engine and transmission components.

3. A following driver may not notice or realise that you are reducing speed, because he expects to see brake lights when a car slows. This means he has less time to react, which may in turn cause problems for vehicles travelling behind him.

4. Changing gear menas you cannot keep both hands on the wheel, which is necessary for control and safety when braking firmly as the vehicle is unstable in this condition.

5. You must be able to correctly match engine speed to equivalent road speed before you select each gear. Clutch operation must be smooth, especially when letting up the clutch onto a 'dead' engine (i.e. at tickover).

These are just some of the reasons why changing down through the gears to slow down the car is no longer recommended (although as discussed last week, it is still useful in some slippery condititons, when braking may reduce tyre grip).

What is taught nowadays is to miss out the 'unnecessary' intermediate gears in most situations. The brakes are applied once, followed by a single gear chagne.

Having been taught the old way, this at first sounded strange to me, but through motivation and practice, I eventually got to grips with the new technique. In fact, it is not really new, having been used extensively by police drivers and other advanced dirving organisations for many, many years. Indeed it appeared in the Roadcraft Police Drivers Manual as early as 1936.

So how is it done? When using the Driving Plan on approach to hazards (for which the sequence is Mirror-Signal-Postion-Speed-Gear), speed should be lost b y means fo a singel braking application or decelartion to achieve an appropriate road speed for entry to the hazard.

Only when the desired speed has been achieved is a single gear change made, selecting thegear to match the chosen road speed and to provide maximum control, balance and flexibility as you negotiate the hazard.

You will find that this requires greater levels of awareness and anticipation (no bad thing). A common error at first is failing to alow enough time and space to complete both the braking application and the gear change.

The secret is to start losing speed much earlier; this not only produces smoother, more controlled deceleration, but allows plenty of time to make an unhurried gear change before you enter the hazard.

It may well be better in certain situations to select a gear slightly earlier when approaching a doubtful traffic situation, such as a busy roundabout. In circumstances such as these, it is important to be flexible when applying the 'one gear change only' rule. As with other dirving 'rules' , sticking rigidly to the text book occasionally brings its own problems. A good driver must be flexible if safety is the prime objective.
Read more

Hi all,

My VR6 has started to "misfire" in low revs. This does not happen all the time and there is no pattern to when, it just randomly does it under 2000 revs.
It seems like the car is running on 5 cylinders for no more than 10 secs and then clears.

A month or so ago, when looking under the bonnet, I noticed that one of the plugs was arcing against the cylinder head. (It had new plugs and leads 12 months ago.) However, I have not seen this since and as the car is rarely used, I put it down to condensation.

The backbox seems to be on its way out, there is no obvious leakage but I believe the baffles could be the key.

Could this cause back pressure and cause the misfire?
Any thought / suggestions?

It had an MOT 1 month ago and passed emmisions.

Thanks all.


Read more

A neighbour of mine has a 97 Escort with a Zetec engine. When Starting from cold when it has been standing for approx 6hrs is abit of hit and miss.
Sometimes it starts first time or maybe after 4 or 5 goes. They have taken it to a garage who fitted the gizmo to tell them the fault. They found that the temp sensor was showing a temp of 28degs which would not engage the cold sart, they also replaced the airflow sensor.

But its still the same. Any clues what the fault maybe ????? Read more

I read a few threads on insurance recently and took up the advice when my wife's insurance renewal hit the door mat, from Direct Line. First stop was the DL web site which came in £80 cheaper than their own renewal, but to be fair, that's with a £150 excess. Other quotes (confused.com and anyone I could think of) came in much the same, maybe up to a further £20 lower. I'm leaving out companies I've not heard of here.

So, worried that "it can't be right", wife rings DL, pointed out that web quote was £80 lower but had a voluntary excess, what would the phone quote come down to with a voluntary excess ? This is where the comedy starts. Because she is a "long term customer" they couldn't offer that option and told her to go with the web quote. She's done that, has all of her documents from DL and has been asked to provide proof of her NCB. She's sent them a copy of her postal renewal !

DL were polite and courteous throughout but they're just relying on all of us being too lazy to logon / phone up. That's £80 in my pocket (alright her purse) instead of theirs and I'll be doing something similar when my renewal comes in.

So - thanks everyone. Virtual pints all round.

John
Read more

I am looking for a newer Diesel to replace my Citroen ZX and two of the cars I am considering at the moment are the Rover 620 Diesel and the Peugeot 405. I am familiar with the XUD engine as have had Peugeots and Citroens before with this engine - and have found it to be reliable.

The car I am not sure about is the Rover - because I have had no experience of the engine, and don't know anyone who has had one either. Is this engine fairly reliable? The economy and performance figures look better on paper than the Peugeot but am not sure about the reliability of the Rover - nor potential problems to look for when I go and view the car.

A couple of cars I am interested in are the Rover Diesel with around 90k on the clock and a full stamped up service book - and a 405 with 120k and FSH - both the same age and the same price. I know the XUD engine could potentially go on for at least twice that mileage again maybe more, if it is looked after - but what about the Rover?

Many thanks,

Owen
Read more