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RE: 16V Scirocco (tranny blow up)
I just couldn't help putting my $0.02 in.
It has been my experience(for all that's worth) that using a combination
downshifting and braking going into a corner helps better control the
braking force, keeping the tires just short of lock.
there were many a time that had I not done both my car would have gone in a
straight line farther than I wanted it to.
Just my observation.
Bryan
'81 Scirocco
----Original Message Follows----
From: 16v Jason <jason@scirocco.org>
To: scirocco list <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
Subject: RE: 16V Scirocco (tranny blow up)
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 11:55:30 -0400
Allright, I'm gonna start a war... but then again, what else is new... :)
At 10:18 AM 9/29/99 , Snow, Jason wrote:
>1.) I have a someone following me into a curve, let's say I don't know,
>YOU...your right on my ass, I hit the brake, because I am going faster
than
>I should, now your even closer, and let's say, my brakes lock...DOH! now
we
>are both floating around with harps...OR I downshift, let the car hold
>itself back, and now at the end of the curve, I am stabbing the gas, AND I
>am in a lower gear, if you use your brake, you are wondering why I am 3 or
>four car lengths ahead of you.
HOLD ON HOLD ON!!!
Your tires (front or rear, but in this case we're talking front) have a
certain amount of grip that they can provide. Once you cross that limit,
they skid. Whether you reach that limit with engine braking or your brake
pedal doesn't matter none to the tires. So asserting that using engine
braking to slow you down more quickly is ridiculous.
And further, when you're using your engine and clutch to slow you down,
which, by the way is horrible driving practice, you're not extracting any
benefit from the <ahem> REAR BRAKES, which, while they're not doing 50% of
braking, certainly help to slow the car significantly, and at the same time
serve to maintain the balance of the vehicle.
(For the record, Jason never inserts points he can't back up. :) I have in
front of me test results carried about by the DOT for a car with a partial
brake failure. Measured in feet from 60mph, this car (a Peugeot 505 STX)
braked from 60mph in 148 feet. With the rear circuit non-operational, the
car took 197 feet. 50 feet is a significant increase in stopping distance
from 60mph... actually, it's HUGE. And, for those of you who are curious,
with just the rear brakes, the car (which had almost 50/50 weight
distribution for the record) took 354 feet to stop.)
So, the reason you're 3 or 4 car lengths in front of me, Jason, is because
you spun out off the road and flew off a cliff. :)
>2.) Downshifting into a curve is better than braking.
Bullshit. The entire purpose of downshifting ***BEFORE*** a curve is to
set up the engine so that it's at the optimum revs through, and after, the
curve. It is positively HORRENDOUS driving practice to, say, downshift
into 2nd gear at 45mpg during a curve. If you want to downshift, you do it
while _entering_ the curve, and you use heel-and-toeing to match the revs
so that the sudden weight transfer doesn't upset the balance of the
vehicle-- especially in vehicles that tend to trailing-throttle oversteer,
like our beloved Sciroccos.
If you're in the appropriate gear upon exiting a corner, yes, you will be
faster than the other guy who still has yet to downshift.
Road & Track published a little tidbit on how downshifting is bad driving
practice a few years back and created a brouhaha like they'd never had
before-- thousands upon thousands of drivers wrote in and said "What are
you fucking crazy?! Do you mean to say that every F1 driver is a BAD
DRIVER?"
But Road & Track won. They are right. The purpose of downshifting is to
put your car in the best possible gear to leave the curve. The main
purpose is *not* to slow your vehicle... it's a nice little positive
side-effect and nothing more. Hence, slowing for a stop sign, there's no
reason to slam your car into 2nd at 40mph and let the clutch drag your
engine up to 4000rpm. Leave the fucking thing in 3rd, and disengage the
clutch at idle.
Entering a turn at 35mph, sure, make sure you're in 2nd before the curve,
so at the apex you can slam your foot on the gas and pull through... or
even better, if the car starts to oversteer, you have the power to pull the
rear end through the skid using the throttle.
But for heaven's sake, don't ever, EVER downshift harshly during a curve.
Your brakes will slow you better than any engine braking will, more quickly
*and* more safely. Get your car in the gear it needs to be before you turn
in, and you'll be even faster than that Olds Delta 88 Brougham you've had
all over your ass around those bends.
Jason
----------
1987 Scirocco 16v
1989 Mercedes 190E Sport Euro
http://members.aol.com/rocco16v
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