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Apart from being very uncomfortable, and there being an enhanced risk of skidding or control loss, it is quite harmful for the car. Think about the stress it places upon the suspension linkages, the brake components and even the engine mountings. Yes, the engine mountings - and the gearbox too for that matter. Every time you snap the brakes on in a rough manner your engine and gearbox are trying to jump out through your radiator grille in just the same way as your shopping's jumps forward off the rear seat.
There is a lot of stress going on here. If you want highest degree of control, braking should always be completed when traveling in a straight line before cornering and always be carried out progressively. Remember what we have said about weight transfer? Upon realizing the need to slow down or stop, firstly rest your foot on the pedal and then gradually increase the pressure until the desired amount of braking effect is achieved.
Once your speed has been reduced sufficiently the procedure is then completed in reverse. You release the pressure on the pedal in the same progressive manner. In fact, braking should be tapered at both ends and fat in the middle, and it is amazing how by pondering upon that thought your braking technique suddenly becomes much smoother. It also should be commenced early to give time for it to be delivered smoothly and progressively, so as to provide the maximum degree of vehicle control.
Braking during cornering will put the car off-balance. Under the effect of deceleration the front of the vehicle is more heavily loaded weight transfer again , and because you are steering, that extra loading becomes unbalanced by acting of the centrifugal force on outer front corner of the car. This places a hell of a load onto that suspension unit and creates a great deal of extra work for that tire to have to cope with. When this happens, particularly with front wheel drive vehicles, the rear of the car becomes lighter, and with the dramatic unloading of the diagonally opposite wheel and suspension unit to that which has been unnaturally loaded.
Lifting off the power in a front wheel drive vehicles is like applying brakes only to the front wheels. This braking effect being due to the retardation effect of the engine.
This makes it more difficult for the back tires to grip the road, due to the reduced amount of downforce, and the back of the car can more easily become provoked into oversteer and start to overtaking the front. Applying the brakes whilst cornering can even cause the rear tire, the one traveling on the inside of the bend, to lose contact with the road altogether, as illustrated in this photo.
The other product of braking into a bend is that the car will want to push straight ahead, instead of changing direction as you had intended it to, and so understeer can be induced. You don't get away with it in a rear wheel drive either. If you think about what is happening under you when you drive you will understand what this is all about. When we accelerate the engine is driving the driven wheels.
When we decelerate the driven wheels are now driving the engine, unless we depress the clutch , in which case the drive chain between the engine and driven wheels is broken please don't do that during the cornering.
To put it another way, when you lift off the power the fuel supply is stopped from reaching the engine, but the engine doesn't stop running. It keeps going, because now the momentum of the car pushing along the road keeps the engine running at a rate that is consistent with the road speed of the car.
This is producing a braking effect at the back wheels, and if we have a car that has a very torquey engine, the torque that gives us so much driving power and fun, now acts in reverse when decelerating, or on over-run as it is called. Lift your foot off the gas sharply, or if you select a low gear and then are rough with the clutch, you might just as well pull the handbrake on, because that is the effect you are having on the car. Oversteer is guaranteed. The usual way in which "normal "driver" deal with bends and corners is to decelerate, brake and change down through the gearbox all whilst steering around a bend , with all these actions usually being completed at the same time.
Most will only reach appropriate road-speed for the bend, and have selected the appropriate gear, at the point when they are at the apex , halfway-round corner. Not only that, but it knocks the hell out of your tires too.
Drivers who brake into corners will scrub the outer shoulders of their front tires away and won't get anywhere near the mileage they could out of them. They also accelerate the amount of wear and tear that occurs within the suspension components. The best method in relation to braking for corners is to first bring down the speed of the car until we are happy that it is appropriate for the corner or bend we are about to enter, and whilst still traveling in a straight line.
Having settled the car to the speed required we now directly select the most suitable gear that will give us the necessary response relative to the speed at which we are traveling - again before we start to turn into the corner. Changing the gear can be done during the end of the braking phase too so that we are at the proper speed and proper gear in the same moment. By the time we turn into the corner we are traveling at the right speed and with the right gear.
When not causing you to spin, braking in corners not only scrubs the edges off the front tires and gives an uncomfortable ride, but it leaves nothing in reserve grip for you to use if things turn more ugly.
There's so much more to braking than simply pressing the middle pedal. The very finest drivers are often distinguished by how little braking they do. And by the smoothness of their braking. The very best racing drivers have always produced noticeably less brake wear than their contemporaries. So skilful braking is very much a case of "less is more. Often drivers who are capable of feathering the brakes in order to make jerk-free stops fail to use the same technique when finishing braking on the move, after adjusting speed to approaching hazard.
Notice how smoothly you taper off the brakes before corners and other hazards. Does the nose of the car rise gently or does it bounce up abruptly as the front suspension "unloads"? Notice whether passengers' heads move backwards as you release the brake pedal.
If your release of the brakes seems a little abrupt, are you allowing enough room on the approach to ease off the brakes gradually or are you holding the brakes on firmly until you're almost at the hazard?
What does ABS do? ABS senses when a wheel is about to lock up under braking, and when it does sense that moment, it releases braking effect at the particular wheel that is having difficulty. Once that has happened it then re-applies the brake many times per second.
So, if we are trying to stop as quickly as possible, why are we releasing the brakes? A revolving tire in contact with the road surface will give maximum braking efficiency at the point where it is on that knife-edge stage where it is about to lock up, but is still revolving.
A skilled driver will be able to sense when and where this point will occur and be able to hold his or her foot in such a position on the pedal so as to maintain that point without locking the wheels.
How much more? Well, almost as much as you want. Squeeze quickly and firmly, set the nose of the car down, then squeeze more… as much as you feel you need to, and ease up toward the end of the stop. The above two paragraphs apply to normal and somewhat quicker than normal stops even if you DO have ABS.
Every driver should practice these skills and be able to make smooth stops, quick or otherwise. While becoming a good driver does not require an in-depth knowledge of car mechanics, you do need to know what type of braking system your vehicle uses. Braking systems can largely be organized into two categories: conventional disc brake systems or disc and drum brakes, in older vehicles and antilock braking systems ABS.
Different braking techniques should be employed based on which system your car uses. In conventional disc brakes, pressing the brake pedal operates a hydraulic system that applies pressure to a disc rotating with the wheel, using a pair of brake pads.
The friction this causes will slow and stop the vehicle. Standard disc braking systems rely on the driver to apply the appropriate amount of pressure to slow the car without locking the wheels and causing a skid. On vehicles with ABS, an electronic system manages the application of the brake pads when you press the brakes, resulting in safer and more effective braking — if the system is used correctly.
If your vehicle has ABS, sensors on the disc brakes will detect when the wheel begins to lock up and pulse or ease off the brake pads accordingly. Pumping the brake pedal can prevent wheel lock on cars with standard brakes, though you should never attempt this on a vehicle with an antilock braking system.
ABS should be used by applying firm, constant pressure to the brake pedal, as the system will automatically correct wheel lock. Pumping ABS brakes is dangerous because releasing the brake pedal will deactivate the electronic controls. Covering the brake can quickly turn into riding the brake, if you rest your foot on the brake pedal. Riding the brake is bad news for your car as it can rapidly wear out your brakes and tires.
It can also confuse drivers to your rear by switching on your brake lights. Be extremely careful not to apply pressure to the brakes when hovering your foot. As we mentioned above, pumping the brakes is a technique that should ONLY be used in vehicles with standard brakes as it would disable an antilock braking system. Pressing the brake pedal all the way down on a vehicle with standard brakes could lock your wheels, cause a loss of pressure in the hydraulic system and throw the car into a skid.
If this happens, you should ease your foot off the brakes until the wheels begin to turn and regain traction. Pressure can be restored to the hydraulic system by pumping the brakes. Your situation will determine which communication devices should be used.
Hand signals should only be used if other signaling tools — such as turn indicators and brake lights — are malfunctioning. Your knowledge of hand signals will also be assessed during the driving test, so it is essential to master them. Most drivers assume that remembering hand signals will only be necessary in the unlikely event that their turn indicators fail, but this is not the case.
It is possible that other drivers will use hand signals if their indicators are broken, though you are more likely to encounter cyclists using them. Drivers commonly flash their headlights to attract the attention of other motorists for a variety of reasons. However, most official state driving manuals recommend flashing your headlights only to notify other drivers that their high-beams are on as they approach you from the opposite direction.
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