Driving

abh29

abh29

Zorg Guru (II)
Supporter
British Zeds
Joined
Jul 18, 2015
Points
105
Location
North Wales
Model of Z
Z3 2.2 Sports
A couple of years ago my granddaughter passed her test. Recently she is complaining her mums car has no power. While with her i notice she changing up very early. It seems she was taught to change up as soon as possible. Now got her using the revs and changing up later. Even got her to use the rev counter. It seems this is the way she was taught, she was changing up when on a steep hill
Should says mums car is a Cooper S , and we won’t discuss insurance
 
This seems to be the way to drive nowadays, all part of the obsession with economy. My daughter has a Fiat 500 and a few times when I have driven it I have been about to change down for an incline and the indicator on the dash is saying change up.
 
abh29 said:
A couple of years ago my granddaughter passed her test. Recently she is complaining her mums car has no power. While with her i notice she changing up very early. It seems she was taught to change up as soon as possible. Now got her using the revs and changing up later. Even got her to use the rev counter. It seems this is the way she was taught, she was changing up when on a steep hill
Should says mums car is a Cooper S , and we won’t discuss insurance
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I recall some US cars having a [completely useless] shift light..which, meant for economy, would light up about 1500 RPM too low, at least. No where near the top of the power curve.

Friend had a Cooper S convertible - fun car, quick - suddenly I was doing 85 MPH while merging onto the freeway. I also learned that if you're driving down the freeway with the top down and you happen to have a box of tissues on the hump behind the console, the turbulence is such that it will pull said tissues out of the box, creating a trail behind you.
 
TheBoatDude said:
I recall some US cars having a [completely useless] shift light..which, meant for economy, would light up about 1500 RPM too low, at least. No where near the top of the power curve.

Friend had a Cooper S convertible - fun car, quick - suddenly I was doing 85 MPH while merging onto the freeway. I also learned that if you're driving down the freeway with the top down and you happen to have a box of tissues on the hump behind the console, the turbulence is such that it will pull said tissues out of the box, creating a trail behind you.
Click to expand...
Handy if your being kidnapped?
 
I had a myriad of Jeeps for years. One day I was late to the airport and the shift light came on in fifth. Didn't have a six speed box so the the light was removed very soon after.
 
My daily driver is a 150bhp petrol Audi A3 with the S-tronic 7 speed box. Unless you look at the display it's impossible to tell when it changes gear, for normal driving for economy it changes early and when cruising it shuts off two cylinders and the MPG shoots up into the stratosphere, utterly amazing. However when you want a bit more oomph, just pull the lever back into Sport and it delays changing and becomes a rocket ship. Best of both worlds. Oh, and of course if you want to there is always the paddle shift for the very twisty bits. I'd love this gear box in a Z3!
 
A friend was a RED instructor and he told me eco driving is now a standard part of the practical test, i.e. smooth accel/brake inputs and changing gear sooner
 
I was told the same by an instructor who used to come to the garage I worked at.
Ah bless, the good old nanny state at work eh?

Tony.
 
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