The Art and Science of Driving

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The Art & Science of Driving

Preamble:

Most Driver Training Schools in India are a total farce.

When confronted, they’d blatantly tell you that their obligation is to get you a driving licence only and not to get their own Cars and people knocked out on the roads. These you have to ‘accomplish’ at your own expense and with your own Car!

So, having undergone such ’Training’ and acquired a driving licence to boot, laments like these are far too common –

“I have just competed driving-training. Within a day or two I am going to get my new Car. While learning to drive I have noticed my lack of co-ordination between the clutch, gearshifts and brake operation. How do I overcome these while driving my new Car?

“Please suggest some tips. I also have very little perception of the left side road clearance. How to have a better judgment in this regard - pl let me know”.

My Response

Difficult Qs to answer on paper indeed!

It's true that the ‘co-ordination’ that one talks about comes with some practice and getting the 'feel of it all'. However, if one can grasp the basics of how a Car works, it can make things a lot easier.

Let me try as follows:

1) Who's in command?
Always remember that a Car is, though 'alive', a 'passive' piece of machinery and will only do what you ask it to - knowingly or un.

2) The Engine
It's the prime mover. Its lowest working 'rpm' is the 'idling' speed, around
8-900 rpm for most Cars. At such a speed, its 'load carrying' capability is also at its lowest. This rises almost in direct proportion to its rpm - controlled by pressing or releasing the 'Accelerator Pedal'.

Most Engines are designed to operate on a sustainable basis within an 'rpm-range' of 2000 to 4000, which corresponds to a road speed of 60 to 100 kmpl in the IV gear, 40/60 in III, 30-40 in II and 10-20 in the I gear.

3) The Gear Box
If you have ever tried to push a Car to get it to move from stand still, you would have observed that the highest effort is required to get it to 'inch away' first, i.e. to over come it's 'static' inertia. Once it begins to roll, it needs lesser effort to push it further.

What it means for the Engine is to produce max power when it's at its 'lowest ebb' i.e while idling ! So you need a Gear Box to do that, which has the max power 'multiplying' effect in the I-Gear - typically 1:12 in I, 1:8 in II, 1:6 in III, 1:4 in IV and 1:3.5 or so in the V-Gear. These Ratios include what it known as the 'Final-Drive-Ratio' of the Differential Gear, which is an integral part of the present day FWD Cars.

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Author: S.K.Gupta

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