Automotive Safety
When you’re young and have your first car you forget automotive safety and become keen on tuning the engine for maximum performance because you are interested in discovering just how much you can get out of the machine. That’s natural and it’s healthy too providing you are always aware that the car overall is a machine of many components and the engine is just one of the parts to the tuning jigsaw puzzle.
Sadly graveyards have too many headstones remembering young people that paid the ultimate price of thinking they knew how to tune a complex machine. Once you forget the rules governing safety you are not only risking your life but the lives of many other road users too because when driving you are in charge of a potentially lethal weapon and the privilege of driving comes with a high responsibility to mankind.
The biggest mistake most young people make is to assume that if the engine revs higher the car will go faster. To kill this myth we have a typical example in Formula 1 Grand Prix Racing in this 2009 season. Three cars are powered by Mercedes engines, one is currently leading the championship, one is running around the midfield mark and the third is anchored at the bottom of the championship. We have two cars powered by Ferrari engines and the Toro Rosso team is currently outperforming the Ferrari team. Finally we have two cars powered by the Renault engine and the Red Bull Team is performing way ahead of the Renault team at the moment. The fact is that all of these engines are roughly the same, they all rev to equal limits but that does not make the cars they drive equal performers.
Simple reason: Performance is based upon how the entire machine is tuned not on one single component. The questions that need to be asked of the tuner include: Do your gear ratios provide torque where you need it most, this naturally includes the ratio of the differential. Will the aerodynamics coupled with the suspension enable you to keep the car firm and controllable in all corners, even hairpins? Are your brakes good enough to enable you to be the last to brake going into a bend? The last to brake is the driver that keeps the power on longest and this is a big advantage. What about the tires you are using; are they suitable for the conditions? A good dry weather tire is usually a lousy wet weather tire and therefore the final part of the tuning process is the driver: Can s/he drive to the conditions presented? Are the air pressures correct for both tyre and conditions?
Never forget normal road tires are not made for racing and will not give as much road grip as racing slicks; you cannot emulate your track heroes on public roads and neither should you try to.
If you spin your wheels when taking off you are simply wasting power and showing that you’re not too smart as a road driver. You need to be gentle when applying power to ensure that the power is used to propel the vehicle not spinning the tyres uselessly to create a lot of smoke and wasted power.
Probably the most important thing to keep in mind is that the public road is not the place to race; if you must race join a club and race only on the track at an organized meeting. Automotive safety is about having your machine well tuned so that you can rely on it being able to do the right thing when you need it to. But it is also about the responsibility you, as good motorist, to ensure the safety of other road users that have just as much right to be on the public road as you.
There is nothing wrong with aiming for an accident free driving career but like everything else in your life that is entirely up to you. Accidents don’t just happen they are caused - try not to be the cause.
Good motoring.About the Author:When it comes to cars and their best and worst attributesthe Author of this article always starts researchhere. He has been actively involved in all thingsautomotive for many years including his popular irreverent formula 1racing articles that were featured on F1rumors worldwide. Youcan view more of hiswork here.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Automotive Safety