This is the latest edition of the Roadcraft Police Driver's Manual. It is the basis of the driver's courses for all emergency services & teaches a system of driving to make 'good progress' on the road is a safe manner ;)

I was very lucky in my Youth. :o In that i recieved some one on one training by Greater Manchester Police driving instructors at their skidpan and roadcraft training centre. This was when i was only 16 and hadnt driven on the road at all. It was over a few days, not a quick one day visit. So from a very early age i had recieved some very good advice on skid control and general roadcraft. I have no idea if they still do such a thing, it's 22 Years ago now. :eek: I wouldnt be at all surprised if that sceme was scrapped years ago due to cost cutting, change in emphasis.

Good Discussion

I wish compulsory training was given to newly qualified drivers.
Defensive driving, Car control and the consequenses of what happens if you are not responsible.

Road death seems to be so socialy acceptable. And the root causes of the majority of accidents. Peoples poor attitude to getting behind the wheel and lack of defensive driving training is not tackled.

The powers that be -
Endorse car marketing that glamourises speed and performance but provide no training for members of the public.
MPs involved in road policy seem to genuinely think that speed kills (e.g. disscusion on radio 4 the other day)

So many accidents and lives could be saved if the government took this issue seriously

I can see that as a broad generalisation a low gear at 30 makes sense as lmsbman pointed out. I also agree with JF as it is too much of a sweeping statement to be taken as gospel given the wide variety of vehicles on the road.

The great thing about driving is that no matter how much experience you have it is always something you can improve upon.

Steve

I have a JDM STI. At 30 mph, it is doing around 2400 rpm in 3rd gear. if I use 3rd at this speed, the engine is more lightly loaded than in 5th where it will be at around 1400 rpm. The engine will have a reduced oil flow through the galleries and the oil will not be thrown or squirted onto the cylinders as well at 1400 RPM as at 2400 RPM. No one suggested that the engine would seize at the lower rpm but nevertheless if you have any mechanical sympathy then you may like to give your engine a better chance. I do not believe for a moment that the oil quality will suffer significantly at 2500 rpm. Even if it did, that is cheaper than unnecessary engine wear. I doubt too that there is any significant difference in fuel consumption at those sorts of speeds and throttle openings between the different gears used.

I find that if you use the gear in traffic or restricted areas which keeps you between 2-3000 rpm, the engine runs smoothly and quietly, has good response should you need it, and generally feels happier all round. I cannot believe that I was understood to be suggesting that the engine might seize at the lower rpm! I was suggesting a better way to preserve your valuable engine as well as what I feel to be a safer way to drive.

Maybe I was misunderstood earlier, I hope that this shows my suggestions about this matter clearly.

Driving teaching used to reflect that you should always be in the correct gear for the speed and road conditions. I doubt the requirements have changed that much over the years.

Les

Hi Les, the oil issue is irelivent, you dont need any more oil being thrown at the cylinders than you would have at idle until you start to put a lot of load into the engine, ie torque. in fact it is highly desired you dont have oil thrown at them other than from the normal big end feed, which is why the Impreza engine has a windage tray under the crank to prevent this.

Plenty of oil is present for the load being aplied from tickover upwards from the design of the rods having a small outlet that fires oil towards the little ends. You dont need to worry about the oil system at all, you just drive the car in the gear that best suits the circumstances.

sadly, i believe the only way to get training like this these days is to be caught joyriding. you then get this as a form of 'rehabilitation'. mad world.

Hi Jon

Yes the points I mentioned about oil are not that important I agree. It was just another minor advantage for the extra 1000 or so RPM. I know about the oil squirters too. I just like to give the engine as little load as possible where performance is not required and use the "poke" where I am able to for fun.

Les :)