Technical Tips |
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1. ABS |
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2. Changing Gear |
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8. Telematics |
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Ever pressed hard on the brake pedal to reduce speed and felt a grating, vibrating sensation through your right foot. There is no fault with the brakes! Chances are you've activated the ABS, which you've seen on car ads and on the car dashboard when starting up and wondered what it was all about. ABS detects when any one or more wheels (i.e. tyres) is about to skid under braking and is activated to put the brakes on and off up to 20 times a second (hence the grating feeling). Speed is reduced but ABS allows the wheels to continue to rotate. So what does that enable the driver to do? Imagine braking hard and skidding. Without ABS, the wheels would 'lock up' and the car 'plough on' in a straight line! Turning the steering wheel will make no difference to your direction whatsoever. With ABS, the wheels are allowed to rotate under braking, allowing you to emergency brake and steer. Want an easy way to remember the main benefit: ABS, A llows B raking and S teering. So do ABS brakes shorten stopping distances? NO! They don't. Think about how they work again. ABS puts the brakes on and off up to 20 times a second. So the brakes are on 50% of the time and off 50%. If you release a little brake pedal pressure to just de-activate ABS, creating 100% braking effect but less hard, you will brake in a shorter distance. If you are braking under ABS in an emergency, look for the 'escape' space to steer towards and don't look at whatever caused the problem. You will always steer towards what you are looking at!! |
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Nothing to do with wearing a new outfit or exchanging illegal substances!! Have you ever seen TV film reports on driving through towns and, when interviewed, the driver of a prestige, performance car says to the reporter, "This car won't do 30mph!!". The car's top speed is probably 4 or 5 times that so it's not the driver complaining that the car is too slow. The problem is that he or she is trying to drive at 30mph in 4th, 5th or 6th gear and the speed is difficult to control. Selecting no higher than 3rd gear would give a lot more urban speed control, give more 'flexibility' with improved engine braking when decelerating and eliminate excessive braking and gear changing when negotiating hazards in towns. "But my driving instructor told me to get into 'top' gear as soon as possible and my dad says 'top' saves fuel!". Firstly, when you learnt to drive in a Nissan Micra 1.0L 4 speed gearbox, or something similar, 4th gear may well have been a much lower gear ratio than 3rd in most medium powered, 5 speed production cars. Secondly, selecting no higher than 3rd gear in 30mph limits does NOT use more fuel. Fuel consumption is not governed by the speed of the engine but by the position of the accelerator pedal. Pressing the accelerator down in too high a gear squirts excessive fuel into the engine and becomes 'unburnt'. If you are fortunate to drive a vehicle with an instantaneous fuel consumption read-out, try it and watch the mpg drop dramatically. Smooth gear changing up or down can be measured by what I term the 'passenger test'. Does your passenger 'bob' noticeably forwards and backwards every time you change gear? When you accelerate, due to weight shift, the front of the car goes up and the back goes down. On changing gear, power to the wheels is momentarily removed then replaced and the car 'rocks' on it's suspension. Try settling, balancing or 'plateauing' the power just prior to changing into each higher gear and you'll find that your passenger acts less like a 'nodding donkey' and may well praise you for a 'chauffeur-like drive!'. So, use gears intelligently to improve driving and manage speed more effectively. Try this:- No higher than 2nd gear in 20 mph limits No higher than 3rd gear in 30 mph limits No higher than 4th gear in 40 mph limits and you may well keep a few penalty points off your driving licence! |
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For those of us who are into TLAs (Three Letter Abbreviations), BHP means Brake Horse Power. Simply put, this is the maximum power delivered by an engine at a particular engine speed, denoted in RPM (Revolutions Per Minute). Also, if you ever see max. power output is, say, 150PS, and you did GCSE German, PS means Pferde Starke, Horse Power auf Deutsch, sorry, in German. So it's the same thing! Due to rapid developments in engine design technology, the choice between buying a petrol or diesel powered car is becoming more difficult. Modern diesel powered cars are clean and can deliver amazing performance. Remember the Astra GTE 2.0 litre 16 valve? In the early 1990s its petrol engine was used in the Formula Vauxhall Lotus race series. Today you can buy a VW Golf 2.0 litre TDI (Turbo Diesel Injection) with the same power output! Not only that, but a colleague of mine who runs one of these is getting 65 - 70 miles per gallon, and he used to race Stock Cars! Diesel powered cars can cost more to buy and may require more frequent engine oil and filter changes than petrol cars. However, from a taxation viewpoint, modern diesel engine emissions are low, providing significant benefits to the personal allowances of company car drivers. Diesel engines are not only very reliable (no spark plugs or electrical ignition timing involved) but they also last a long time - see how old some of your local diesel powered buses are. So, look out for performance cars like the BMW 330d (this is the one Jenson Button got stopped doing 140+mph in!) and stylish cars like the Peugeot 406 Coupe diesel. I make no excuses if I come across as a bit of a diesel fan. Well actually I'm not! I am a BIG fan! Who knows, in the next five years I might be writing about the new Ferrari Diesel! Now that would be something! Finally, I hope this doesn't make you despair about UK fuel taxation, but do you know the cost per litre of diesel fuel in Cyprus? 18.1 pence!! (BBC2 CEEFAX P497). |
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In the 'Old Days' (1950's) places like London often suffered from, given particular circumstances, a choking atmosphere called SMOG (SMoke and fOG). This was witnessed in other European cities. Across the Atlantic, a 'heat haze' of sunshine refracting through a deep layer of car exhaust fumes often blanketed American cities. Respective populations had no choice but to breathe this unpleasant air. Something had to be done! 'Smokeless zones' were brought in to legally regulate smoke levels from home fires and factory chimneys and for cars, similar laws began a technological revolution in engine efficiency and reduction in emissions of harmful exhaust gases. OK, I am going to have to go a bit technical now but I'll try to keep it simple! The main emissions of a car engine are:- Nitrogen gas - air is 78% Nitrogen so most passes straight through the engine. Carbon Dioxide - a product of combustion. Water vapour - another product of combustion. These emissions are mostly harmless, although Carbon Dioxide is believed to contribute to global warming. Because the car engine combustion process is never perfect, some smaller amounts of more harmful emissions are also produced. So what is a Catalytic Converter? This is a device that uses a catalyst to convert three harmful compounds in car exhaust into harmless compounds. Harmful compounds are:- Carbon Monoxide - a poisonous gas, colourless and odourless Hydrocarbons - produced mostly from unburnt fuel that evaporates Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) - contribute to smog and acid rain. In a Catalytic Converter, the catalyst (in the form of Platinum and Palladium) is coated onto a ceramic honeycomb or ceramic beads that are housed in a muffler-like package linked into the exhaust system. The catalyst helps to convert the Carbon Monoxide into Carbon Dioxide. It converts the Hydrocarbons into Carbon Dioxide and water. It also converts the Nitrogen Oxides back into Nitrogen and Oxygen. So, we end up with very much cleaner exhaust emissions and air in our towns and cities we can actually breathe! Exhaust emission levels now form the basis of company car 'Benefit In Kind' taxation and is now based on car and model exhaust emission levels and not annual mileage. Even though globally, emissions from cars forms a very small percentage of total greenhouse gas emissions from industry and other sources, car manufacturers believe that they have gone a long way to producing product which more than meets their obligations under the Kyoto agreement. Globally, as more old 'dirty' emission cars and vehicles are scrapped and replaced by new 'clean' ones, this situation can only get better! |
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Big and important topic, this one! Look at the palm of your hand. Not that big is it? But that's the size of the 'contact patch' between each properly inflated tyre and the road. Unless you're on a motorbike, or driving a Reliant Robin, you have got four of these helping you brake and corner. When manufacturers develop cars, a lot of research and testing time goes into correct types and sizes of wheels and tyres to give optimum performance, at correct tyre pressures, under braking, cornering and accelerating. But you've just looked in the local motor discount shop and seen a superb looking set of wide alloy wheels that will impress your mates and help you look cool for the girls! Take great care! Unless wheels and tyres are approved for your car, you may end up with less grip than you started with! It's time for a quick Q&A test on tyres. Here goes:- 1) What is the legal minimum tyre tread depth in the UK? 2) Who is legally responsible for tyres, driver or owner? 3) What is the maximum fine per illegal tyre, in points and money? 4) How often should we check tyre condition and pressures? 5) Why is it that screw or nail punctures happen more often in rear tyres? Answers:- 1) 1.6mm, across the central 3/4 of the tread and all the way round. 2) Always the driver, with possible incrimination of the owner. 3) 3 penalty points and up to £2,500 per illegal tyre! 4) Weekly minimum, but check before driving after someone else has - they may have 'kerbed' the front, nearside tyre and damaged it! 5) The front tyre runs over the screw or nail, flicks it upright and the rear tyre runs onto it! In the wet, incorrect tyre pressures and shallow tread depth reduce tyre performance dramatically!! Please Check Your Tyres Often!! |
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Did you drive along the same familiar route to work this morning, guessing how far the usual queue had moved back in your direction? Did your heart sink when the back of the queue was at junction 10 instead of 9? A familiar tale to motoring millions, a kind of automotive roulette in which you bet upon where the back of the queue is today, place your chips on red or black and spin the wheel of fortune, for good or bad! But what about all those great traffic reports we get on the radio? All very good but they are often telling you about the traffic jam you are currently stuck in! So what are your options? Use public transport, find another job or find an alternative route or 'rat run' when your normal route is congested. So how do you know when this is? Trafficmaster plc, based in Milton Keynes, have been providing in-car traffic data for over 4 years. They are the people responsible for all those 'stalks' drivers see off motorway bridges and on A roads, dark blue poles which many people still think are speed cameras. In fact they're Trafficmaster passive flow meters. They work by reading number plates of cars as they pass then when you pass a second unit the system produces an average speed based on a sample of vehicles. When compared to the standard journey time (at legal speeds) the system gives an accurate measure of delays caused by traffic congestion. The Trafficmaster Freeway system gave this information to the driver by what some people consider to be a 'Doctor Who, Dalek sound-alike' female voice, "M6, traffic flowing freely" and the YQ unit based system uses an LCD display to show current average traffic speeds on all major roads and motorways. But wouldn't it be great to know what the roads were like before you left! Enter Trafficmaster-Online! www.trafficmaster.net is a well designed web-site with partial free membership which allows the basic features to be used for gratis. Within the site, Traffic View produces a map of England, Scotland and Wales onto which the major highways are overlaid to provide an environment which you can zoom into to locate your particular area. This basically is an internet version of the YQ unit. The additional services (where you do need to pay) include Journey Forecast and Journey Guard. Journey Forecast is a powerful bit of kit which uses the Trafficmaster data to predict a journey time based upon the current traffic situation and, using prediction software, can use its traffic models to advise on the best time to make the journey. Journey Guard provides the motorist with a guardian angel! You take the time to set up your most used routes, perhaps the daily trek to work. Guard monitors this route and provides updates twice a day, at a time determined by you, to either an email address or via SMS to your mobile phone. Mobile View offers a WAP based service which allows you to access the same screen as the website for easy pictorial updates. The site has been excellently adapted for WAP and displays very clearly on a Nokia 7110. Further improvements to the system need to include some form of site based route guidance which could suggest an alternative route where there would be a time advantage. Trafficmaster is not perfect but it can be a very helpful tool with Britain's increasing road congestion. Also, the system can only monitor those roads where the flow meters have been installed, but this is increasing all the time. So, take a closer look at Trafficmaster - especially now you know those dark blue posts are not yet another type of speed camera!! |
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The joy and freedom for a young driver having the use of a car just cannot be beaten! Go anywhere, whenever you like, with whoever you choose, just knocks the spots off public transport! That is, until you get stuck in a traffic hold up or end up getting lost, trying to choose whether to turn left or right at this junction, to get to your destination! Some people have a brilliant sense of direction! I haven't! It's nothing to do with male or female either, just as poor and skilled drivers cross both sexes. What some of us need is a little help. YEOMAN Navigation could just be the friend we need! Used hands free or with a passenger making the call, this mobile phone based, pay-for-use navigation service is brilliant for drivers like me, born without a biological compass! Phone Yeoman on 09050 50 50 50 and try the system. A REAL person will ask where you are travelling from and to. The voice system then gives an overview of the route, distance, estimated journey time and any current delays. It takes less than a minute to set-up a journey, then hang up when you've heard what you need. Yeoman keep your information (automatically from your mobile phone number) so you can call back at any time for the latest traffic or turn-by-turn directions. It doesn't take long - most people spend under 3 minutes a journey - and only one minute for just traffic. Free text messages warn of any new delays on your route. Simply call back in for a new ETA or faster route. So how much is it? Calls cost 1p a second but only while you're connected, so most journeys cost less than the price of a sandwich! So DON'T GET LOST!! Ring 09050 50 50 50 AND GET THERE!! Visit www.yeomannavigation.com for more detail. |
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You need to 'Open Your Mind' with this topic because it's very much the 'Tomorrow's World' of Motoring. Let's start with what this modern word means. Telematics means Telecommunications and Computing. So what does that mean in relation to cars of the future? Imagine voice activated and voice response systems in your car. "Not that far away from what I've seen in cars with Mobile Phones" you say! Now move on to the next stage. Imagine satellite positioning systems combined with Internet Access, entertainment and convenience services, such as fully automatic electronic billing when filling up at a petrol station or immediate connection to an insurance company in the event of an accident or emergency services if the airbag has been activated! Imagine asking, on the move, for your nearest, favourite style restaurant, receiving the menu in advance and ordering, or what about asking for your nearest cinema and 'what's on', booking tickets, then verbally receiving turn-by-turn directions to your choice destination. How about hearing then selecting and downloading to your 'ICE' your favourite music, on the move. Imagine businesses receiving information from your vehicle and offering services based on that information. For example, an insurance or finance company could change a car insurance policy or repayments figures based on the mileage information it receives from your car. You may get a call from your garage who have been notified, by your car telematics, that you've got a slow puncture in your front nearside tyre! As with most things, there are two schools of thought with Telematics. One says it's brilliant and I can't wait to be able to play with all these 'Boys Toys'. The other believes that it is becoming an imposition of personal and civil liberties. I believe that, with careful selection of applications, Telematics is to the benefit of drivers, as long as accessing information on the move does not adversely affect concentration levels and safety. Historically, a car has been seen as a transportation tool. In the future, Telematics will probably transform it into something more essential for day-to-day living. |
Vehicle Security - Thatcham Locks + Tracking
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Think of the oldest, ugliest, least cool, dirtiest and slowest car you would rather run a mile away from rather than be seen driving and you've got one of the strongest anti-theft devices. Fortunately or unfortunately, most modern cars are desirable, especially performance based models. Significant improvements have been made by manufacturers to make new cars even more secure with built in immobilisors, sophisticated alarm systems, removable sound system facings, electronic signal ignition keys and keyless 'go' systems. As a result, there are more cars STOLEN WITH KEYS now than stolen without! This introduces a new dimension into personal security. As a result drivers need to be more vigilant and aware of our location, surroundings and any suspicious looking characters nearby. If you stop for fuel, ensure you take your car keys out of the ignition and keep them with you. If you are a woman and feel uneasy about anyone nearby where you have just stopped or parked, stay in the car with the doors locked. Consider a mobile phone call to the Police or drive off to somewhere public and safe. This may sound a bit OTT but is it really worth the risk not to? How many times have we seen the posters 'Do Not Leave Valuables In Your Car!' and do we always follow the advice? Indeed, anything on show through the window glass will attract the 'would-be' car thief so please remove it to somewhere out of sight. Remember, most car insurance policies do not cover vehicle contents. How much care do we really take about choosing a fairly safe and secure parking space. How many householders with garages regularly leave the car overnight on the drive leaving the garage empty. One current sinister development is that of car thieves, in the early hours when everyone's asleep, using a stick through the house letter box to 'hook' car keys off the hall table! The Thatcham Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre evaluates the effectiveness of car security products against the British Insurance Industry's criteria for Vehicle Security. Tracker is a device which allows the police to track a stolen vehicle via an electronic signal emitted from a sensor concealed in the car. Up to 10% discount off your car insurance premium is available if your vehicle is fitted with a Thatcham One security device or a Tracker system. Back to basics then. When you leave your vehicle you should remove the ignition key and engage the steering lock (consider fitting a high visibility external steering lock), lock the car, even if you only leave it a few minutes, close the windows completely, and NEVER leave children or pets in an unventilated car. Finally, read your car insurance policy. When you come to claim after theft, you may get an unpleasant shock if the circumstances just happen to be listed in the EXCLUSIONS! |
