The Italian Job

[Jdsk]

Select the correct gear appropriate to the speed.

Brake to slow down, then select the correct gear.

Which could be first, if you have slowed to walking pace behind a heavily laden touring cyclist going uphill with no where for you to overtake and you are towing a caravan.

Yes. And if that's on a manual gearbox with no synchromesh then the skill to do it is rather useful.

Jonathan

[thirdcrank]

I'll save MICK F posting that a hybrid Yaris isn't approved for towing a caravan

[Jdsk]

These days folk are taught to avoid engine braking, but to use the brakes to reduce their road speed, hence far too many drivers do poor overtakes due to being in the inappropriate gear!

What's the connection, please?

Engine braking is discouraged because braking with all road wheels makes it less likely that traction will be broken, and because modern brakes don't need to be protected from overheating and fading.

That's why learners are now taught that way.

And here's what an IAM provider recommends for... advanced motorists:
https://www.iam-bristol.org.uk/index.ph ... ears-to-go

Sometimes things change.

Jonathan

[PDQ Mobile]

^^ upthread mickf
-------
So the man with the automatic hybrid is telling those of us with old fashioned manual cars (some without syncro 1st) how to drive?

The Institute of A Motorists is hardly relevant here, I think we can safely (no pun etc) ignore that.

I can only assure you Mick that there are one or two places on my local roads where selecting 1st on the move is highly beneficial.
Most especially to the vehicle and its clutch.
And others have noted other situations where it can be helpful- low traction environments etc.

The art of double de clutching (for those really old gearboxes) is certainly a skill that requires a little practice to get really slick at.

I guess not everyone has the time or the ability.

[richardfm]

That's why learners are now taught that way.

And here's what an IAM provider recommends for... advanced motorists:
https://www.iam-bristol.org.uk/index.ph ... ears-to-go

Sometimes things change.

Jonathan

I'm going to have to learn to drive again!

[Jdsk]

: - )

But I hope that it's obvious from the preceding discussion that I'd recommend drivers to know about engine braking, and its advantages and disadvantages, and then to choose when to use it and when not.

Jonathan

PS: With regenerative deceleration where there's a one pedal option there's a new skill to learn: feathering the lift-off. Some EVs have selectable settings to control how it cuts in, and I think that it's quite common for drivers to gradually adjust that setting as they get used to the car.

[Mick F]

I'll save MICK F posting that a hybrid Yaris isn't approved for towing a caravan

Not homologated to tow ......... anything.

Dunno why, and everyone I've asked, even the Toyota dealers, don't know why either.
Homologation, is a problem perhaps because they have to predict what the future owner people might tow.

The car can be fitted with a tow-ball and electrics legally, and it is an optional extra from Toyota, but only supposed to be used for bike racks etc.

Trouble is, ten or twenty years down the line with numerous subsequent owners, someone could connect up a trailer-full or a caravan and not knowing that the car isn't legally allowed to do it.

As I said, the Toyota dealer couldn't explain why they can't tow.

Note the Vin plate.
Max Gross weight is the same as Max Train weight.

[merseymouth]

Hi MickF, Wake up boy, concentrate! A "Mk1 Vauxhall Viva"? Dat be "HA", then came a "HB", followed by a "HC", Vauxhall never used the Mk tag.
Then they did the Chevette (Yuk) tag, weak, to sound like "Chevrolet Light"! Why not go back to Victor, Velox, Wyvern, Cresta? MM

[francovendee]

Hi MickF, Wake up boy, concentrate! A "Mk1 Vauxhall Viva"? Dat be "HA", then came a "HB", followed by a "HC", Vauxhall never used the Mk tag.
Then they did the Chevette (Yuk) tag, weak, to sound like "Chevrolet Light"! Why not go back to Victor, Velox, Wyvern, Cresta? MM

Lets have the rust back too, a bit of welding and your car had another year on the road.
Ex Vauxhall owner of a reliable rust bucket that rusted before your eyes. At the end it had patches on patches.

[Oldjohnw]

Hi MickF, Wake up boy, concentrate! A "Mk1 Vauxhall Viva"? Dat be "HA", then came a "HB", followed by a "HC", Vauxhall never used the Mk tag.
Then they did the Chevette (Yuk) tag, weak, to sound like "Chevrolet Light"! Why not go back to Victor, Velox, Wyvern, Cresta? MM

Lets have the rust back too, a bit of welding and your car had another year on the road.
Ex Vauxhall owner of a reliable rust bucket that rusted before your eyes. At the end it had patches on patches.

As someone who in my youth often only bought quite old cars I thought that that was how Vauxhall’s came!

I never actually bought one until the 1990s when I had an Astra then a Vectra Estate, both good cars.

[Jdsk]

As I said, the Toyota dealer couldn't explain why they can't tow.

"Why can't some electric and hybrid cars tow?"
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/indu ... -or-hybrid

But which model is it... a Yaris 1.5 hybrid CVT?

Jonathan

[Mick F]

Sorry, can't open that link as I have an adblocker and refuse to disable it.

Yes, 1.5 hybrid.
Goes like a rocket. Fastest overtaker I've ever driven.
130bhp instantly as combined engine and battery. It won't keep up the full 130bhp for more than a few seconds to protect the battery but considering there zero delay in the Go pedal, it really is a nice car to drive.

"Normal" automatics have hesitation as the gears select, but a hybrid doesn't have a gearbox so no gears.

Usually get 60mpg even round here. 80mpg is possible on the motorway.

[Mick F]

Hi MickF, Wake up boy, concentrate! A "Mk1 Vauxhall Viva"? Dat be "HA", then came a "HB", followed by a "HC", Vauxhall never used the Mk tag.

I'm well aware of HA and HB, and HC too .......... passed my driving test in an HC, and have rented one too.

Check out this website.
https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=✓&q=vauxhall+viva
Note, no mention of HA, B, or C

Dad bought a brand new Viva HB, but it was called the Mk2. The man in the street didn't use HA, B or C.

[Jdsk]

Our present car doesn't have a gearbox, as it's a hybrid

Yes, 1.5 hybrid.

...

"Normal" automatics have hesitation as the gears select, but a hybrid doesn't have a gearbox so no gears.

The Yaris 1.5 hybrid CVT has a... CVT. That's not a gearbox in the sense that it doesn't have discrete gears, but it is a mechanical equivalent for the same purpose: adjusting the speed and torque from an imperfect prime mover to match the requirements for moving the car relative to the surface of the earth. And whether they use gears or belts they take up space, and they have mass, and they waste power as heat because of their inherent efficiency.

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

These days, gearboxes are a thing of the past.
Our present car doesn't have a gearbox, as it's a hybrid. EV's don't have them either of course.
Gearboxes are antiquated and consigned to history synchro or otherwise.

"Normal" automatics have hesitation as the gears select, but a hybrid doesn't have a gearbox so no gears.

There are many different types of automatic gearbox. Delay was common with systems that had torque converters such as the canonical Borg-Warner 35.

But it isn't inherent in automatic gearboxes. And there are two different technologies mixed up in this: how the driveline ratio is varied and how that variation is controlled.

Many automated control systems can change ratio faster than humans. This was an interesting marketing point for VAG when they introduced DSG systems... so that they weren't thought of as "unsporty".

...

Many hybrids and a few battery-only EVs have variable ratios in the driveline... the CVT in the Yaris is pretty typical but there are others. And the Taycan has a two-speed mechanical box, possibly for no other reason than image.

Jonathan