I've been driving 'wrongly' for 25 years....

[Nightshade]

That's one of my pet hates; bikes drop speed so darn quickly, especially if you're flicking down the cogs. The number of times I've nearly plowed into the back of them, caught of guard with such deceleration and no brake lights.....

[Sonia406]

Interesting... I am 'new school' and I agree with the old school method, In fact I do it all the time..
To brake in 4th and 5th and then when the car runs out of puff to change gear seems wrong in my opinion, if your entrance to the round about (or what ever is clear) then you go for it, then run out of puff half way through doing your maneuver how are you supposed to be turning the wheel with both hands and then reach for the gear knob, whether that be a round about or even a good visible junction... sounds dangerous in my opinion - I am surprised this method is being taught
(To be honest, I don't remember it being taught at all...........)

[Ares]

i am 26 years old and always brake with slowly downshifting trough the gears,it seems very dumb to brake in 5th and listen to that sound of car in 5th on minimum.
As someone said before,i am also proud of going trough the gears smoothly so braking is barely noticable,ofcourse,if some sudden problem occurs in the middle
of the road,hard braking is required but in oher cases,going trough gears seems to me to be the only logical solution,bonus prolongated life of pads.

As far as i know,in autoschools here folks are still being taught to brake with gears,but who knows,maybe this new dumbass facebook,iphone,ipad,isomething textbook generation
will start learning to brake with steering wheel or something

[rwb]

...who knows,maybe this new dumbass facebook,iphone,ipad,isomething textbook generation

Cars will just have have a PlayStation controller.

I was at an MOD seminar a couple of years ago, they were offering money for technology. One of the points they made in their intro presentation was that they made a thing that had controlls like a PlayStation because that's what the kids they send out to be shot at are familiar with.

[steve_earwig]

Wonderful I suppose it has the added advantage that its user also thinks it doesn't matter if they die because they'll get another life...

...a thing that had controlls like a PlayStation...

[Menophanes]

I am entirely of Welly's opinion. In my case the technique was no doubt founded on a naturally cautious disposition, but it was strongly reinforced by many years of running unrestored (that is a euphemism) classic cars for everyday use on a minimal budget. (These included a 1937 Austin Ten whose rod-operated brakes needed adjustment at least once a week - applying them on a wet road gave the illusion that no two wheels were the same size or even shape - and a 1959 Rover 105 with one front brake-hose clamped off and the servo disconnected.) Such experiences implanted the idea, which I have never quite outgrown, that brakes need all the help they can get. After all, if your muddy shoe side-slips right off the pedal, as happened to me in a Morris Minor forty years ago, none of the modern refinements is going to make the slightest difference.

The point about the importance of brake-lights as warnings to those behind is a very valid one, and I often touch the brakes when decelerating purely in order to make the lights appear. On this issue, I feel it would be helpful if automotive designers would develop a 'brake' light which was actuated by any reduction in vehicle speed rather than solely by pressure in the hydraulic system. I am sure this could easily be done (or has it been done already?) by means of electronic sensors, though I doubt whether it could be applied retrospectively to existing cars.

Oliver Mundy.

[Doggy]

That made me chuckle, Oliver, perhaps because it so nearly mirrors my own experiences. (I remember applying the brakes when reversing a 1959 Triumph Herald, hearing a bang, feeling the front end drop and watching the o/s/f front wheel, c/w part of a stub axle etc roll away down the hill with Marty Feldmann-like malicious intent).

My dad prided himself in being able to complete long journeys without touching the brakes, with the predicatable consequence that if you ever needed them everything had siezed up, so you can take this thing too far.

So:
- brake how it suits you
- change down when it's natural
- and scratch where it itches, (with due regard to audience sensibilities).

[KozmoNaut]

That's one of my pet hates; bikes drop speed so darn quickly, especially if you're flicking down the cogs. The number of times I've nearly plowed into the back of them, caught of guard with such deceleration and no brake lights.....

Stop following bikes so closely, then?

I ride bikes and the only thing worse than being tailgated while you're in a car is being tailgated when you're on a bike.

[steve_earwig]

I'd have to go for a drive to answer this truthfully.

I thought I'd resurrect this thread to say.. It's a bit like Schroedinger's cat, trying to work out what I'm doing stops me doing it. However, I seem to downshift when I think there's a good chance that I'll be moving on, however if there's no chance of doing anything other than stopping I don't bother, just take my foot of the gas, brake and dip the clutch when the revs drop to about idle speed. I think the main reason for doing this in the yoyo is it hates downshifting, it often baulks when I shove it in second and always complains bitterly when I force it into first. Tough.

[Welly]

S'funny you should bring this up as I've been putting more thought into what I do, and things I do without thinking, and have found I quite often coast out of gear when coming to (what I know will be) a stop

I've tried the 'don't change down' method and the car doesn't really like it, labours a bit.

I also traveled under Her Indoors' stewardship and observed that on approaching a roundabout she braked.....dipped clutch....and then selected '3'....then '2'....but without releasing the clutch inbetween so gears were being called up but not put into use. I DID NOT query this method you understand; preferring as I do a nice quiet life

[nick]

Advanced driving is taught for

Position in the road (Central lane x)
Speed (choose correct speed for obstacle first)
Gear (THEN choose a gear)
Accelerate (away from obstacle/hazard.

For example, approaching a set of traffic lights where there's a pedestrian ready to walk out on the road at 50MPH in 4th gear


Position OS lane 1 in case they do step out
Speed down to a safe speed, for example 20MPH from 50MPH
Now select gear 2
Accelerate away from this hazard using he newly selected gear.

Officially there's no brake-gear overlap, so you brake first, without changing gear. Once the correct speed has been selected, then you change gear.

For more info, there's a book called Roadcraft. It's used by the IAM if you ever sit that test, as well as other professional driving people that drive fast to things (safely!)

N


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadcraft

[robb]

I was also taught to use gears for slowing down ,now I use a mixture of both depending on the situation .Also when I,m accelerating I sometimes miss gears when changing up, first to third ,third to fifth I dont know if it is bad driving but I suppose it saves on clutch wear .

[Doggy]

I've been analy analysing my gear change habits since we started this thread and have now reached two inescapable conclusions:

1. I haven't messed up so many gear changes since I drove a column change 1957 Hillman Minx, (or maybe even a 4-speed Sturmey Archer equipped bicycle).

2. I'm not doing it any more - my way is the right way, anything else isn't.

No more comments

[DaiRees]

4-speed Sturmey Archer equipped bicycle

You had a posh bike! My Grifter had a Sturmey Archer 3 speed, but it also had a perpetually broken gear cable (or I used to smash the hub nut on rocks / curbs / floor and break the little chain ) so I always ended up stuck in 3rd. Thighs like tree trunks!

[Welly]

Didn't the Grifter have a pedal<back brake thingy in the hub?

My Chopper had a toggle chain gear thing (was always using my Pocket Moneh to buy new chains ).

Graduated from thereon to a Huffy BMX with flexible MAG Wheels