Happy Days
Gone are the days in the 80s-90s where we could wheel spin our fiats and M800s, bolt across residential colonies without a eye blink, even drive on narrow foot bridge and go down pedestrian concrete steps (as we used to do in Lajpat Nagar in Delhi in our M800’s packed with friends and loud music).
Welcome to the present =Ever Crowded City Roads where parking is a nightmare and we wait till Sundays when most shopping and businesses are closed.
City Driving is stressful by all means. And every day that is. They test your reflexes and patience every minute, for which even Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has yet to formulate asans or realizations etc.
Mantras
Untill they come up with something, take these mantras:
- Go with the flow | Don’t Rush
- Combine trips, carry stuff in your car like documents, clothes, shoes, or even that conked out microwave you need to get serviced.
- You don’t need to attend that wedding reception. If at all you need to attend, reach late. Come on you will get more importance.
- reach office 1 hour early and leave 2 hours late,
- if at all you have to exit office, bunk it mid-afternoon,
- whatever you do, avoid rush hour traffic
City Driving Vs. Highway Driving
Highway driving is much different from Intra City Driving as we all know. We just need to shift to a different mode altogether. While City Driving is more about, swerving carefully, cornering and bumper to bumper performance skills, what we need to keep in mind all the time is that it pays nothing to race in the city esp. zig-zag maneuvering. This is because every stretch of road (Red light to red light or crossing to crossing or turning to turning, straight or meandering) has its own in built speed limit which cannot be exceeded beyond safety considerations.
In Built Speeds?
So are Highways, they too have an in built speed limit, ( I am again referring to stretches, but here they are much much longer) Now what makes them interesting is other vehicles. Assume vehicles travelling at various points on a road stretch at constant speed, we need to reach up to them , slow a bit and overtake them – what we generally do with trucks. So on Highways the challenge is to either lug behind and assume the speeds of other vehicles or systematically move up to every other vehicle in front of you and pass them and so on.
Overtaking Helps?
It’s a trade-off between fuel economy and time. Theoritically, it may make sense to overtake if other vehicles are doing 60 and your vehicle gives the best mileage at 90kmph. Contrary to popular belief, most modern vehicles give best mileage at 90-100 kmph as opposed to 55-60 kmph of our older generation stock.
Science of Overtaking
Overtaking is a risky maneuvering, period (if u are a defensive driver). You need as much decelerating capability as you would need accelerating. So we tend to down shift a gear ( say 5th to 4th or 3rd mostly) to get a better torque. Torque to briskly surpass and the reverse: better engine braking to decelerate. I guess engine braking also has to do something with the torque curve of an engine, maybe just inverse. (Throw some light on this, members)
Cost of overtaking
It is a tradeoff between whether you would want to suffer lower mileage at 60-70 kmph for hours or shift down > rev up > burn some > extra fuel > and cruise at more economical speeds. This is something we need to internally calculate in our minds while at the wheel at the same time. No computer programmes here to help you.
Indian trucks: The good side
They are like heavy locos and would be happy to let you pass, the way you would do to a biker. You are just an irritant just as a biker would be to you. There is a hell of a difference in a car braking and a truck braking. Though I have never seen one, I presume their wheels lock and they shudder to a halt more unexpectedly than a car would. I mean they maintain more constant speeds than cars so they behave differently.
Ironically, unlike City Environs, Truck Drivers on Indian Roads are considerate the moment they are on highways. As expressed by one of our co-members, they sometimes become a guiding angel, signaling when to and when not to overtake and you would be more than happy to give them a wave once you pass them.
Members please keep the thread alive by contributing more on topics like these