Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

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Dammit in reply to @Constable_Savage

I used to use car gearboxes like motorcycle gearboxes. Changing down rev-matching and dancing about on the pedals like Nureyev. Then I did the "System" at the police driving school. I was told that brakes cost less than gearboxes/clutches and I should slow down with brakes not gears. It does make sense though. I can still recite great swathes of Roadcraft off by heart (party bore).

My driving instructor said the same thing, however- if you only attend to the brakes when approaching a corner you then have to change gear before tackling the corner, which if at speed can unsettle it, or simply be annoying.

If you match the revs you can (for e.g.) go from fifth to second whilst braking (say for one of the many roundabouts past Chichester) leaving you in the perfect gear to really scare the labrador around the roundabout and off down the road to the next one.

This is a great way to push the MPG down to the 9-10 area, however.

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Constable_Savage in reply to @Dammit

(I hate Labradors).
We used to have "Kebab Vans" in the mid-eighties (LDV Sherpas) with 3.5 litre V8s. On the overrun you'd get four feet of flame out of the side exiting exhaust. Worth using engine braking only on night shifts obviously. Up until they were rev limited they were good for 120.

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lynx in reply to @Constable_Savage

Did you get them to power slide/drift? Found that the weight shift and then lifted the rear wheel and then all the power went to that wheel....

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