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- From: rml3362@summa.tamu.edu (Michael Litchfield)
- Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
- Subject: how to speed (really)
- Message-ID: <19075@helios.TAMU.EDU>
- Date: 20 Jul 91 20:56:23 GMT
- Sender: usenet@helios.TAMU.EDU
- Reply-To: rml3362@summa.tamu.edu
- Organization: Texas A&M
- Lines: 93
- News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4
-
- I am working on this article for a local alternative paper; whatcha think.
-
- How to Speed.
-
- There is no Icon of American culture more widely revered than the
- Automobile. Getting a drivers license is our last right of passage ritual and
- a very pale one at that. The car is endemic to our society, it is a symbol for
- maturity, power, and freedom. In fact it is one of the last places we have
- left to combat the growing totalitarian state. Where expression of freedom
- meets headlong with the repressive regime is that nebulous are known as
- speeding. Speeding is probably the single most common crime committed by
- American Citizens today. Speeding consists of driving in excess of either the
- posted legal limit or maximum safe driving speeds for the conditions present.
- By exceeding the first we make a statement of individual liberty and thumb our
- noses in the face of the Big Brother, by doing the second we display our
- idiocy and perform a disservice to our community. In this article I shall
- attempt to explain how to speed more safely and avoid police hassles.
-
- Mechanical
-
- Of tremendous consideration is the mechanical state of the vehicle we are
- going to use to speed. Most people just get in and let 'er rip, paying no
- attention to whether or not their car can take it or other pertinent factors.
- All vehicles have a safe operating range of speeds, exceeding that speed places
- undue stress on the vehicle and can result in catastrophic failures. Most cars
- in America today are not designed with high speeds in mind. Especially in the
- cases of economy cars the makers have tended to sacrifice safety and ability
- for money.
-
- There are two speed limits one should always bear in mind, 85 M.P.H. and
- 120 M.P.H.. Unless you have a GT or other sporty car your vehicle is unlikely
- to be safe above 85 M.P.H. and unless one takes outlandish measures and
- expense your car probably will not be safe above 120 MPH. Further, driving at
- speeds in excess of twice the posted speed limit or 120 is a felony, and
- probably more hassle than you want to deal with.
-
- The first item one should consider in determining what speeds you vehicle
- should travel are the tires. Your tires are where your car meets the road and
- as such of extraordinary importance. Look in your owners manual or preferably
- call a tire store and find out what the ratings are for your tires. In most
- cases it will be 85, though if you have shelled out the bucks for Gatorbacks
- or Eagle GT's it may be as high as 120. This should be taken as THE TOP SPEED
- YOU CAN GO, everything from here on will cut off from that number. Now examine
- the tires themselves. How are the wearing, If they have less than half of the
- original tread left you should either cut down on your speed or consider
- getting new tires. Are they the correct pressure? You can play with pressure a
- little bit, higher pressure gives you better gas mileage and more responsive
- steering lower pressure gives you better traction. In no case should you go
- more than a couple of pounds away from the recommended pressure for the tire.
- Is the wear on all four tires even? If not you need to rotate them and play
- with them a bit to get them more true. Make sure the rubber is in good
- condition with no cracks or distortions, make sure the grooves of the tread
- are free of rocks and garbage. Make sure they can stand the temperatures you are
- going to be driving on, ask the dealer about the temperature rating of the
- tires you have.
-
- Moving from the tires next consider the brakes. Are your pads in good
- shape? Have you skimped and got economy pads? Are the rotors/drums true? Are
- all the lines well connected with no leaks? Is the Master cylinder functioning
- correctly? Is there adequate fluid and are there no bubbles in the system?
- Right before you hit the road use your brakes while driving in reverse, this
- will advance the star sprocket in your drum brakes and tighten them, make you
- brakes more responsive.
-
- Next is your suspension, find out how your car is balanced, towards the
- front or the rear. If your driving style is suited towards a balance other than
- what you have you should modify the suspension to suit it as long as the car
- can deal with the modification. Make sure you shocks/struts are in good
- condition, taking a quick corner is no time to find out you have busted a
- gasket in your shocks.
-
- Is your steering mechanism adequate for the driving you intend to do? Are
- the steering knuckles greased and in good condition? Do you have a stabilizer?
- Is it in good shape? Do you have power steering? WHY? Get a decent rack and
- pinion set up and make sure that is in good condition.
-
- What kind of R.P.M.'s will you engine be pulling? Can it deal with that
- safely? is you timing adjusted to compensate for that? Do you have the proper
- camshaft? This gets farther away from safety and more into performance, you can
- push you engine a long way. However watch your lower end and make sure you can
- drive at slower speeds and can get something approaching reasonable gas mileage.
-
- Check your headlights, make sure they work and are clean. Consider getting
- some auxiliary driving lights, these are lights which are focused farther ahead
- of you than your headlights are normally and often look like foglights. If you
- are speeding at night never drive in front of your headlights, always make sure
- your roadway is illuminated in time for you to respond to anything which comes
- up.
-
- [End of mechanical, next part (unwritten yet) is on driving skills and
- strategies]
-
- -Michael
- Path: usage.csd.unsw.oz.au!metro!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!samsung!usc!ucla-cs!ucla-se!edison!kdlin
- From: kdlin@edison.seas.ucla.edu (K. David Lin)
- Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
- Subject: Re: how to speed (really)
- Message-ID: <3448@lee.SEAS.UCLA.EDU>
- Date: 20 Jul 91 22:16:42 GMT
- References: <19075@helios.TAMU.EDU>
- Sender: news@SEAS.UCLA.EDU
- Organization: SEASnet, University of California, Los Angeles
- Lines: 52
-
- In article <19075@helios.TAMU.EDU> rml3362@summa.tamu.edu writes:
- >I am working on this article for a local alternative paper; whatcha think.
- >
- >
- >How to Speed.
- [stuff delete]
- >
- >In most
- >cases it will be 85, though if you have shelled out the bucks for Gatorbacks
- >or Eagle GT's it may be as high as 120. This should be taken as THE TOP SPEED
- >YOU CAN GO, everything from here on will cut off from that number.
-
- There are two Gatorbacks made by Goodyear; V-rated can go 130 mph and
- Z-rated can go above 149 mph.
-
- >Now examine
- >the tires themselves. How are the wearing, If they have less than half of the
- >original tread left you should either cut down on your speed or consider
- >getting new tires.
-
- Not true again. When street tires are used for racing, they are almost
- always shaved for maximum traction, which could be less than half of the
- original tread. Besides, it is a waste of money to get new tires when
- old tires have half of the original tread left. My understanding is that
- you should change them when the tread is between 1/32" and 2/32".
-
- >
- > Check your headlights, make sure they work and are clean. Consider getting
- >some auxiliary driving lights,these are lights which are focused farther ahead
- >of you than your headlights are normally and often look like foglights. If you
- >are speeding at night never drive in front of your headlights,always make sure
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- >your roadway is illuminated in time for you to respond to anything which comes
- >up.
- >
-
- I will never drive in front of my headlights. :)
-
- This is a good article. I just can't help but point out some technical
- errors.
-
- >[End of mechanical, next part (unwritten yet) is on driving skills and
- >strategies]
- >
- >-Michael
-
- Keep up the good work.
- --
- Special Disclaimers for kdlin@seas.ucla.edu:
- (1) Nobody here cares what I think and that is why I post to ask your opinions.
- (2) If you read my paper in '91 IEEE INFOCOM Conference, you will believe
- that I'm not related to any automakers.
- Path: usage.csd.unsw.oz.au!metro!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!mips!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!helios!summa.tamu.edu!rml3362
- From: rml3362@summa.tamu.edu (Michael Litchfield)
- Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving
- Subject: Re: how to speed (really)
- Message-ID: <19092@helios.TAMU.EDU>
- Date: 21 Jul 91 22:02:26 GMT
- References: <19075@helios.TAMU.EDU> <3448@lee.SEAS.UCLA.EDU>
- Sender: usenet@helios.TAMU.EDU
- Reply-To: rml3362@summa.tamu.edu
- Organization: Texas A&M
- Lines: 36
- News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4
-
- In article <3448@lee.SEAS.UCLA.EDU>, kdlin@edison.seas.ucla.edu (K. David Lin) writes...
- >>In most
- >>cases it will be 85, though if you have shelled out the bucks for Gatorbacks
- >>or Eagle GT's it may be as high as 120. This should be taken as THE TOP SPEED
- >>YOU CAN GO, everything from here on will cut off from that number.
- >
- >There are two Gatorbacks made by Goodyear; V-rated can go 130 mph and
- >Z-rated can go above 149 mph.
-
- Hmm gonna have to check, it has been a long bloody while since I have been able
- to even fanatasize about owning high speed rated tires, the last time I
- checked, most of them were topping out around 120-125.
-
- >>Now examine
- >>the tires themselves. How are the wearing, If they have less than half of the
- >>original tread left you should either cut down on your speed or consider
- >>getting new tires.
- >
- >Not true again. When street tires are used for racing, they are almost
- >always shaved for maximum traction, which could be less than half of the
- >original tread. Besides, it is a waste of money to get new tires when
- >old tires have half of the original tread left. My understanding is that
- >you should change them when the tread is between 1/32" and 2/32".
-
- Your tires bcome unsafe when tread falls below 1/16th of an inch, and you
- should have new tires by then. But it is my information that traction begins
- decling when tread is less than half there. THere is a difference between
- unsafe and less safe. Every fraction of an inch that you lose decreases your
- tires maximum performance. When they get to half you should start considering
- what sort of tire you are going to get next, you should also begin watchinghow
- they respond and if you are getting slop start cutting down on speed.
-
-
- >Special Disclaimers for kdlin@seas.ucla.edu:
-
- -Michael
-