BBC Panorama

Articles of interest to the AD community, currently in the news.
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Horse
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Re: BBC Panorama

Postby Horse » Tue Dec 01, 2015 1:46 pm

StressedDave wrote:
Horse wrote: We change shape during the day (SD becomes The Hulk on occasion :) ), typically by shrinking slightly, so a mirror set in the morning may not be quite right in the afternoon and evening.


But, in reality, do you actually shift your mirror position every 8 hours or so because you've contracted vertically?


Sometimes, yes. But typically? No.

Thank you for the challenge - I've never actually thought about the 'when?' before :)

Usually, in day-to-day driving, I rarely adjust the mirrors. I think that the times when I do notice it are when I'm going to be driving for a whole day in Mrs H's car, so have to re-set the entire lot (height/distance from pedals/seatback/mirrors), then adjust the mirrors towards the end of the day.
Your 'standard' is how you drive alone, not how you drive during a test.

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StressedDave
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Re: BBC Panorama

Postby StressedDave » Tue Dec 01, 2015 3:45 pm

Being a sad sod, I looked at the relevant literature. It looks like about 15mm over the course of a day. I think I'd need to have a strange mirror setting for that to be an issue. YMMV
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Strangely Brown
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Re: BBC Panorama

Postby Strangely Brown » Tue Dec 01, 2015 4:19 pm

StressedDave wrote:
Strangely Brown wrote:How about making sure that the mirrors (external) are still set where you left them,
that all the doors are shut properly by looking down the sides in mirrors, that any/all passengers are properly secured, that all warning lights come on as expected and then go out as expected, that you have sufficient fuel for the intended journey... etc.

Which of these basic pre-drive checks are pointless? or are you just having medication issues.


None of the aforementioned are pointless. However, all of them are obvious, and thus not requiring a grandiose title of 'cockpit check'.


Hence the use of "for want of a better phrase", and "pre-drive checks".

StressedDave wrote:Certainly all the other crap that many people deem necessary, such as the static brake checks, ensuring car is in neutral before starting, checking the seat position hasn't changed needn't be done. Y'know, all the stuff that couldn't change unless a team of gremlins decides to break into your car, move everything about, just to piss you off.


Assuming that you are certain nobody else has driven the car in the interim, then I would tend to agree with some of that.

StressedDave wrote:Seriously, do you really, really need to do all this, or is it merely another bunch of IAM dogma, just like brake-gear separation, pull-push steering and making sure you have a decent jam recipe for the group meetings? I fear the latter... especially given the mass arguments that I believe happen about it on the IAM forum.


No, a lot of it not "necessary", but equally, a lot of it is useful... and costs nothing. e.g. when I get in the car I automatically check that the handbrake is still on properly, i.e. it hasn't slipped, and that the gear level is in neutral because sometimes I park on a hill and leave the car in gear. Other times I don't. I also pump the brake pedal a couple of time to empty the servo and then start the car with clutch down and foot on the brake. If the pedal sinks as the engine starts then I am happy that the braking system is working.

Yes, there is a light on the dash to tell me if a door is insecure and even which one but I don't normally see that until after it has been through the self-test and I have started the engine. It is no big effort to look at the shut lines when I check the mirrors so where is the problem? Once you have a start procedure in a familiar car, it takes no extra time to run through it every time... and if I were that desperate over the few seconds that it takes, then perhaps I shouldn't be driving.

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Horse
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Re: BBC Panorama

Postby Horse » Tue Dec 01, 2015 4:55 pm

StressedDave wrote:Being a sad sod, I looked at the relevant literature. It looks like about 15mm over the course of a day. I think I'd need to have a strange mirror setting for that to be an issue. YMMV


Blimey - I didn't think it'd be that much! Basically, it's all of the discs in the spine slightly compressing . . . There's about 20-odd of the little beggars, so they don't have to 'give' much. I did hear of one guy who wanted to join the police (or some other height-requirement job) who was 'failed' at the medical, so rebooked for first thing in the morning!


However, I was wondering 'why' it varies between vehicles for me? Filly's car is an Altea, mine an Ibiza. The Altea has a much more 'sit up' driving position, so perhaps that makes the difference more noticeable?
Your 'standard' is how you drive alone, not how you drive during a test.

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Adamxck
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Re: BBC Panorama

Postby Adamxck » Tue Dec 01, 2015 5:51 pm

I hang twice daily to decompress my spine and combat this shrinkage. In the morning from my hands and in the evening, upside down.

I got fed up with having to move my mirrors every day.
Adam.

Revian
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Re: BBC Panorama

Postby Revian » Tue Dec 01, 2015 5:52 pm

TheInsanity1234 wrote:
Revian wrote:I'm not deaf but at 'normal' speeds there's not much to hear. I go by the rev counters reaction. I.e... Does it bounce or switch straight to another steady value.

Well... I wonder if my deafness would be a good excuse to buy myself a convertible...?

"I need the roof down so I can listen to the engine for rev-matching." :mrgreen:

Motor bike maybe with a through exhaust... 8-)
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Re: BBC Panorama

Postby Jonquirk » Tue Dec 01, 2015 6:23 pm

Horse wrote:
StressedDave wrote:Being a sad sod, I looked at the relevant literature. It looks like about 15mm over the course of a day. I think I'd need to have a strange mirror setting for that to be an issue. YMMV


Blimey - I didn't think it'd be that much! Basically, it's all of the discs in the spine slightly compressing . . . There's about 20-odd of the little beggars, so they don't have to 'give' much. I did hear of one guy who wanted to join the police (or some other height-requirement job) who was 'failed' at the medical, so rebooked for first thing in the morning!


However, I was wondering 'why' it varies between vehicles for me? Filly's car is an Altea, mine an Ibiza. The Altea has a much more 'sit up' driving position, so perhaps that makes the difference more noticeable?


There is another variable that can require you to alter the mirrors: seat compression. I reckon my seat sags the longer I sit in it and I have to adjust the mirror to compensate. Next day, when the seat has recovered over night I have to move the mirror back to where it started.

Revian
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Re: BBC Panorama

Postby Revian » Tue Dec 01, 2015 6:39 pm

Almost any load results in the need to adjust my rear view mirror. I've never noticed as much in any other vehicle Ive driven. I also can 'sag' a bit if my seat is too upright so I'm not sitting in it but only on it.

Full cockpit drill should surely include a check on sufficient ammunition for the forward cannons?
Ian

TheInsanity1234
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Re: BBC Panorama

Postby TheInsanity1234 » Tue Dec 01, 2015 9:02 pm

Gareth wrote:A couple more thoughts ...

TheInsanity1234 wrote:But that's an awful lot of gear changing between 3rd and 4th on a normal country road where your speed varies between 30 and 50.

You'll be needing to change down more often than necessary if you habitually try to use a lowish engine speed; try working in a slightly expanded rev-range and/or a slightly higher rev-range.

I know our cars aren't the same, but just as an example, I'm happy to use 1500-2000 rpm on motorways where physical hazards do not require much speed variation, whereas for more interesting roads I'll tend to be using 2000+ rpm most of the time. Once the engine has fully warmed up, I often use most of the rev-range to accelerate briskly, then picking a gear that allows a certain amount of speed variation without needing to change down.

If I change up, only to be forced to change down a short time later, I generally consider that a failure to see or imagine something, poor planning.

Yes, that's all well and good, but the Yeti makes a fair amount of unpleasant noise at any engine speed over 2500 rpm, and it's got no power below 1500 rpm. If the engine was more refined, then 3rd probably would be fine for most of the 30-50 variation, but it isn't, so I'm constantly flicking between 3rd and 4th because the engine feels/sounds unhappy above 2500 rpm (I know, it's probably fine, but it's not nice).
I think I also do all the gear-changing because the car has a very irritating gear change indicator, which has been positioned in the upper-right corner of the MFD, such that when it's telling you to change up, it's right there in the lower end of your peripheral vision, and it's just mildly irritating.
It may not affect the average hearing person, but it certainly affects me because I have a slightly wider visual range due to my deafness, so I notice it more than my parents do...

Gareth wrote:
TheInsanity1234 wrote:Not nice and effortless at all when it comes to being tired after a long day

If you don't already do this it might be worth taking a moment or two to get your head around the change of task, before you set off for home. It's all too easy to jump from one mental environment to another without giving due consideration for what you're about to do, and the hazards you're likely to meet, and to switch your focus.

I kind of have a cockpit drill. I get in, switch my phone to silent mode (no vibration/sound) so it doesn't disturb me with notifications while I'm driving, switch the ignition on, put belt on while all assorted lights come on and go off, waggle gearstick, start engine, and go. It usually gets me in "driving mode" and I'm often feeling more awake.

Revian wrote:
TheInsanity1234 wrote:
Revian wrote:I'm not deaf but at 'normal' speeds there's not much to hear. I go by the rev counters reaction. I.e... Does it bounce or switch straight to another steady value.

Well... I wonder if my deafness would be a good excuse to buy myself a convertible...?

"I need the roof down so I can listen to the engine for rev-matching." :mrgreen:

Motor bike maybe with a through exhaust... 8-)

No ta, I'll stick with the 4 wheels, I'm less likely to fall off :mrgreen:

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Re: BBC Panorama

Postby Gareth » Tue Dec 01, 2015 9:45 pm

TheInsanity1234 wrote:the Yeti makes a fair amount of unpleasant noise at any engine speed over 2500 rpm

Maximum power is at, maybe, 4400 rpm but you won't use it?

TheInsanity1234 wrote:and it's got no power below 1500 rpm.

The power you are missing has been located further up the rev range :roll:
there is only the road, nothing but the road ...


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