Useful Car Tips

My column this week will be all about car tips. I have already given some of them to you, but this is a compilation of all the ones I’ve gained over the years, plus some I just recently learned.

I know that we all buy our vehicles and start driving them without ever referring to that booklet they put on the glove compartment called “The Owner’s Manual.” That is too bad, because there is a wealth of information in there that save gas, engine wear and tear, and lives.

In case you want to question my authority to be giving advice, I once drove for Greyhound as an over-the-road bus driver. I’ve never forgotten the training and tips I was given as a driver for Greyhound, and many of the ones you will read here go back that far.

Tip 1 – Always drive with your seat belt fastened, especially if your car is equipped with airbags. That goes for driver and passengers. When an airbag inflates and the person in front of it is not wearing a seat belt, severe injury can result, including suffocation and broken bones. I know that seems weird, but the force of that airbag, combined with your forward motion, can create tremendous impact. Buckle up for safety is a good rule.

Tip 2 – When you turn on your air conditioner (I guess all newer autos are equipped with an A/C) on a hot day, I’ll bet you turn it to “Max A/C” to get the coldest air. Wrong! Use the normal A/C first to exchange the hot air in the passenger compartment with the outside air coming through the fluid that is in the A/C to cool it down. Once you get to a reasonable temperature in the inside, then switch to “Max A/C” to recycle the cold air. From then on, no outside air will come through the vents, only the already cooled air inside the vehicle.

I also recommend that when you get into a hot vehicle, you roll down the windows before you turn on the A/C and get the really super-heated air out while you drive the first few hundred yards. Then turn on the A/C just before you roll the windows back up.

Tip 3 – When you are driving in any kind of precipitation, and whenever you are using windshield wipers, put your headlights on. It makes your vehicle more visible to other drivers both ahead of and behind you. If it is snowing, and your lights against the snow tends to blind you, then use your parking lights instead, but have some lights on. Taillights are especially useful, if traffic is heavy or if it is also foggy or in blowing snow.

Tip 4 – If you drive with automatic shift, learn to use the numbered gears or the “standard’ Drive—the one without the circle around it. It gives you more control of your vehicle when you are on steep downgrades or on any wet or slippery pavement. That in turn saves you from skids and also saves your brakes. If you shift from overdrive to standard drive just before you get on a downhill grade of 5 or 6 percent, you will notice that you don’t have to use your brakes at all most of the way down the hill. The engine will act as a brake for you. I guarantee that you will also feel more in control.

If you drive one of those “funny cars’ with a standard gear shift, then the same tip applies, but in this case, just shift down one gear to achieve the same effects. The top gear is like an overdrive, so the next one down will give you the control and braking you need.

Tip 5 – If you like to go “a little bit above the posted speed limit” here is a tip for you. Due to the inaccuracy of speedometers, most police officers, even those with radar units, will give you a little leeway. If you have a GPS device in your car, you will probably see that it doesn’t agree with the speed on your in-dash speedometer. The GPS will probably read 2-3 miles below the speedometer.

I trust the GPS, and I use it as my guide to the correct speed. On the interstate highways, I usually drive about 3 miles over the posted speed, but I have gone past many police units using radar guns at 5 miles above, and I’ve never been stopped for speeding.

I wouldn’t try the above on a country road or in any populated area along those roads. Obey the posted speed limit to the letter there, or even go a few miles below the speed limit. We all know about speed traps, so be forewarned.

Here is just one more tip about speeding and radar... If you spot a cop up ahead in the median, and it looks like he has a radar gun trained on you, please resist the temptation to hit the brakes. That is a dead giveaway that you are probably speeding, and he already has your speed on the gun. He is more likely to let you get away with a few miles over the limit if you don’t react at all.

I hope these tips were helpful, and that you learned something today that you can apply to your enjoyment of driving.