Driving Techniques Dos and Don'ts

KK · Jun 4, 2002, 11:06 PM

This forum is to allow members to discuss techniques used while driving, whether it's drag racing or track events. The main focus of these discussions are meant for driving enthusiasts that frequent race track/driving events.

As an avid track enthusiast I take safety VERY seriously. You may post about drifting techniques, etc, but street experiences are looked down upon... in other words if you wrote about drifting through your neighborhood you will probably get a "that is dangerous post" from me just to let you and others know how dangerous those actions really are. The post would not be to flame, but to inform only and we ask that you understand.

Enjoy,

Mark

herson21 · Jan 9, 2003, 12:38 AM

Well I think in my opinion drifting is one of the types of racing I enjoy , it's dangerous I know and need alot of practice and time but its amazing , I hope one day in the future people like more that, and somebody start organize some competitions and the evo is a perfect car to start with , AWD is not more easy, but more in control ,,,

bobaab · Jan 9, 2003, 12:39 AM

i think that's basically it, it's enjoyable cause u have a sense of fear! even watching it is exciting..but that could get you killed too haha i love how our minds work

-Bob

insomniac_evo · Jan 9, 2003, 01:08 AM

hey, people say that if your

is still below 1000miles, dont rev it up above 4000rpms, it'll screwed the engine, thats what they said, is that true???

BOOYAH1369 · Jan 9, 2003, 01:29 AM

Didn't screw my engine, actually, made it run a bit better.

RallyLancer21 · Jan 9, 2003, 01:35 AM

when you gotta car like an evo, you know the fun of driving it is taking it up to redline, that where most hp comes out to play...hard to wait 1000 miles to take it over 4g...i didnt wait, seemed to do fine, jsut dont redline it habitually

**urbanknight** · Jan 9, 2003, 01:36 AM

don't rev your engine above 6500 RPMs, that WILL screw up your engine. but 4000 is just fine, not even to the peak of the power band probably. You're supposed to vary the speed and RPMs to break in a new engine, and I see plenty of people autocrossing brand new cars, never hurt them at all.

SoR · Jan 9, 2003, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bobaab
i think that's basically it, it's enjoyable cause u have a sense of fear! even watching it is exciting..but that could get you killed too haha i love how our minds work
-Bob

I don't think it's a sense of fear but enjoyment.
For those who never or rarely tried it won't know what i'm talking about.
I enjoy driving fast on public roads but NOT in USA.
The bare thought of fines, surcharges and consequences of "speeding" makes me release the acceleration pedal.
Here i depend on the car and i can't risk my drivers license being taken away from me.

Plus it's less fun and MORE dangerous if you have to be on a watchout for police more than you concentrate on avoiding obstacles (good example is driving omg 80!! on the highway and breaking the speed limit by 15mph).

I think that you can drive fast and be safe as long as you're not a nut. There's driving and there's driving. There's always a risk that someone's gonna hit you or you gonna hit someone and for people with less driving skills it doesn't matter how slow or fast they're going.
I've been driving for 9 years now and i've never had a single accident (knocking on wood) and 7 years out of that was driving in Europe.
Over there on the highway i rarely droped the speed below 100mph (160km/h) unless in a ****ty car that when flored didn't go as fast or when a rude driver wouldn't move from the left lane (which for example is just so normal here in the US). Tailgating which is very illegal in US is actually very helpful in Europe to get rid of such drivers. Yes - it is dangerous but i would restrict it to the situations where there is a big line, not when a single driver is blocking your way and in those cases it's very smart to make bigger distance especially with such speeds and not trying to "push" the traffice in front of you.
On other public roads it wasn't strange to be doing the same even in twists and turns if they allowed it. The most fun of it all is having live obstacles (other drivers and trucks) and passing them.
My opinion is that no track driving can replace that level of fun.
It is sad to have a 150+ horsepower car and never even use one third of it's potentials.
And finally - I've seen many accident's because i was on the road alot and most of them were because people go into "scissors" (which is overtaking someone when someone else is coming your way from the opposite direction without making a good judgement of how fast he's going and not knowing your car enough to know how much you gonna need to actually pass the driver in front of you),
driving too close to the person in front when there's a line and there's sudden braking, being too confident about your Mercedes BMW and such and thinking that a good and expensive car will take you out of every situation a road gives you (those are my favorite) etc etc and not because of the "speeding" as usually advertised all over. What usually kills is alcohol, drugs, unexperienced driver with no co-driver and lack of sleep. Speed itself is never a factor but combined with the above is a killer.

Just my $0.02

RallyLancer21 · Jan 9, 2003, 03:59 AM

my $0.02.....Lncers are the ****! i love drifting!

forty · Jan 12, 2003, 06:16 PM

i have two questions.

1. What is drifting?

2. my questions regards RPM's i just got done reading about the RRM header and someone had asked ROCK which was better the RRM header or the one by KAMAKAZE, his answer was this..

Quote:

Originally posted by ROCK

I THINK ours has a more linear powerband than KAMAKAZI. Kamakazi prolly has more power above 5000 rpm than ours but that is because it is built to do that. Our has more power below 5000. It is all in how you design it!

now my question about the RPM's is this.. what do you guys normally shift at, this is the first car i have owned which happens to be a manual. ROCK says that Kamakazi header produces greater performance over 5k rpm, and that his is more tuned for lower RPM performance. how many of you shift over 5k? and if you do i would asume you are driving it hard. and when your not driving hard when do you normally shift.. for me it goes as followed.

1st. 4k
2nd. 4k
3rd. 4k-4.5k
4th. 4-4.5k

if anyone could let me know how there driving, it would be much appreciated.. thanks in advance..

evo_dan · Jan 12, 2003, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by forty
how many of you shift over 5k? and if you do i would asume you are driving it hard. and when your not driving hard when do you normally shift.. for me it goes as followed.

1st. 4k
2nd. 4k
3rd. 4k-4.5k
4th. 4-4.5k

if anyone could let me know how there driving, it would be much appreciated.. thanks in advance..

First off, why are you shifting at such high RPMs under normal driving conditions?

To answer your question, there is no set rule with any given car as to what is the best RPM to shift at under normal driving conditions. There are so many variables.

Are you accelerating up a hill or down a hill? Down a hill you can shift earlier and still maintain the same rate of acceleration.

What is the torque curve of the engine like? Some cars you have to rev overall a little higher because they are lacking torque down low.

Are you driving with fuel economy in mind? Then you would limit you rate of acceleration lower, thereby allowing you to shift earlier saving you gas. Howerver, lower RPMs don't automatically mean better gas mileage.

A good driver can feel when it is the most efficient time to shift, efficient being the key word. This comes over time.

astondg · Jan 12, 2003, 07:09 PM

It depends on what car I am driving and what is happening. If the car's redline is at 4000rpm I won't shift at 4000 when I am not driving hard (and I won't need to because the power will probably be at 3000) etc. Also if I am busy turning, indicating, checking mirrors and stuff all at once (like on a roundabout), then I will let it rev a bit higher to give me time. If I am going uphill In my Lancer I might go to higher revs in each gear so int the next gear the engine is still at the maximum torque (eg. if torque is at 3000rpm I might go to 4000rpm in first so second starts at 3000rpm). That is just so I don't labour the engine and so I will make it up the hill

, my lancer doesn't have a lot torque

. Normally though I will change about 3000rpm - 3500rpm in both my Lancer (redline 6000rpm) and our Galant VR4 (redline 7000rpm). Also If I get to the speed limit and I haven't reached 3000rpm I might shift into the next gear anyway (less noise, saves petrol etc.).
Aston

SoR · Jan 12, 2003, 08:03 PM

If it's your first car with manual you'll get the feeling with time when it is best to shift, but, it pretty much depends on the car torque/hp curve and when your car gets max power (at which rpm). If you look at the curve you will see that after certain rpm the power drastically begins to drop so there's no need to rev the car more when you're not getting anything with it.
That's of course if you're trying to get the max acceleration and it depend's on the car too. Some cars are tuned to have peak power at almost redline and some not. Unfortunately i wouldn't know about Lancer.
My advice would be not to shift to high rpms when your car is cold, i try to warm it up first and when it reaches operating temp. i keep it there for like 10-15mins before reving it over 4000 or 5000. It is good for the engine.
Also when i just feel like roling i shift at like 3000, and again sometimes i keep it in second till the redline (cca 60mph) and then just put it directly into fifth gear

and even press cruise control

If you don't need to accelerate like a maniac it is always OK to shift earlier.

Like someone else said when turning or cornering it can be cool not to shift but keep it at higher revs for more power or just to keep both your hands on the steering wheel...

forty · Jan 12, 2003, 08:39 PM

when i shift as around 3k it kind of sounds like my car is gurgling and lacks torque, when it was stock it didnt seem to do this, but after intake, exhaust and test pipe it seems to do this specially when shifting from 1st into 2nd. right now my gas light is on and i have drove 312 miles on the tank, and i do notice when i drive hard that is goes down to about 260-280 to the tank..

like i said this is my first vehicle being a stick, so i have pretty much tought myself. i will shift sooner and see how that works on the engine.. if it matters, i always warm my car up when ever it is cold and drive soft till the meter hits about normal temp.

astondg · Jan 13, 2003, 12:58 AM

Well maybe you have to shift higher. It's just something you have to try until it feels ok. If you shift ealier your car won't accelerate as fast but it should still go ok and it shouldn't stumble or sound like it's gurgling. If it does than you must be shifting at too low rpm. I don't see how the modifications would affect it, except increase the performance and maybe increase the petrol consumption. It is good that you warm your engine up properly. All of this depends on the car, and I don't have the same car as you so I can't really help much, sorry.
Aston