- Parking Brake
- Bumps
- PRNDL
- Restart the Restart the Restart
Parking Brake – Driving away with the parking brake on can hurt your car. This is an instant fail on your driving test because you are harming the car. An unsafe car equals an unsafe driver equals failed test. It also demonstrates that you are not paying attention to the warning systems, and the parking brake warning light on your dash.
Bumps – Banging the car over bumps, things banging around in the car or shock absorbers extended full length causing big banging noises is a failure. Again damaging the car is not a good thing for you, the car owner, the safety of the car and the driving test. Damage and wear and tear will cost you in the long run not to mention hard jarring causing other effects such as breaking lenses, lights, breaking wires, losing bolts and connections etc.
PRNDL – Changing gears must only be done when the car is completely stopped. Any movement of the car while shifting is a failure. It can harm the car and is dangerous to not be in full stop control of your car, especially when engaging the power.
Restart the Restart the Restart – Turning the ignition of the can hard the starter motor if you hold the key forward for an overly long period of time. Again this can damage the car as well as fail your test.
DRIVING CHANGES THAT CAN SAVE YOU MONEY
Tires – $1800 dollars for four tires run generally for 60,000 km more or less. Squealing tires and ripping around corners, aggressive braking and full gas usage make the tires less. No tires squealing, gently balanced corners, smooth deceleration and smooth acceleration moves your tires more.
Gas – Supper strong gas makes for a rough passenger ride and can cause more wear and tear on tires if you lose traction and spin the tires, or burn out. It also burns more fuel and more money. The opposite conserves fuel and extends the life of tires. Changing your driving can save a considerable amount of fuel. Track it carefully and you will be very surprised.
Brakes – I would say that this is the biggest financial savings on maintenance costs when you slow down earlier, using your frontal vision to reduce earlier versus brakes. Downshifting using transmission lower gears will also save significant replacement of brake shoes and rotors. I replace both from and back rotors and brake shoes every 12 months. This could easily extend to 18 months if every one of my clients knew these smoother braking techniques.
Parking Brake Pin – Many trainers teach keeping the pin in when engaging the parking brake because it will extend the life of the ratcheting mechanism. Many parking brakes are part of the braking system of the rear tires and get replaced when the back brakes are replaced. Many parking brakes are automatic and some are applied with your left foot. I don’t believe that holding the pin in when engaging has any benefit.
Everything here is a great conversation during your Vancouver driving lesson. Enjoy.
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