Avoiding BGOL around town

Topics relating to Advanced Driving in cars
TheInsanity1234
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Re: Avoiding BGOL around town

Postby TheInsanity1234 » Sat Jan 30, 2016 12:27 pm

Gareth wrote:
TheInsanity1234 wrote:There isn't an 'economy' mode...

I found an online Yeti Owners Manual - all the systems that are described as 'air conditioning' have a mode where the cooling function can be disabled.

We have a Climatronic system on ours though.

The only "economy" thing you could do to it would be to switch off the AC, but it makes very little difference in terms of consumption so we tend to leave it on all the time. It's probably better for the AC bits'n'bobs to be left running all the time rather than every so often.

Gareth wrote:
TheInsanity1234 wrote:But what I'm trying to do is trap all the heat possible in the engine, with recirculate, it's still taking heat out of the engine to warm the cabin up. The car puts warming up the cabin first, then warming the engine second.

It's generally more important to keep the windows clear than it is to warm the engine.

Which is why I tend to run the demister function if necessary, and when the windows are demisted, I'll switch off the climatronic to aid heating up the engine.

Gareth wrote:If the windows are properly clear, helping the engine warm up quicker might improve fuel economy for the journey.

The main reason for wanting the engine to be fully warmed is to be able to use higher engine speeds without causing unnecessary wear.

Eh, well. I'm not bothered by economy anyway, it's mainly because I tend to rev the engine a lot, and so having an engine up to temperature is ideal for me.

waremark
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Re: Avoiding BGOL around town

Postby waremark » Sat Jan 30, 2016 1:15 pm

Gareth wrote:
Horse wrote:A junction I commute through is traffic lights at the end of a motorway off slip.

In my little car, with its 1.6TD, top gear seems reasonable for 70mph, doesn't it?

I change down a gear or two before entering the off-slip.

As discussed before, my preference is to keep both hands on the wheel, declutch just before the anti stall, and take no action on the gear until I am ready to pick up the drive and I know which gear is best for that. Again as I said before, IPSGA. I am not saying an unnecessary gear change is a crime, but why?

Jonquirk
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Re: Avoiding BGOL around town

Postby Jonquirk » Sat Jan 30, 2016 2:18 pm

I used to drive a V4 Transit which had the tendency for the distributor to rotate slightly out of position. IIRC this advanced the ignition. Performance would drop noticeably but as a bonus start up could be achieved without choke, idle was much smoother than usual ( the V4 was famously lumpy and coarse) and the engine would be up to temperature in about 200 yards of moving off. Given the degree of computer control in modern engines I wonder if a similar effect could be obtained from a cold engine before reverting to the "correct" timing once warmed up?

My VW LT35D took water directly from the back of the cylinder head to the heater matrix, completely bypassing the thermostat. As the heater was an air blender type it made no difference what temperature you selected on the controls. Water was still passing through the heater matrix and back to the engine. Of course no coolant went to the main radiator until the water temperature was sufficient to open the thermostat.

If your vehicle is often excessively misted up inside in he morning consider the conditions of the last journey. Did a bunch of passengers with wet coats get in out of the rain? You may need to run the heating hotter than necessary for comfort and crack open a window or two to drive the excess moisture out. A dry car will be less likely to have streaming wet windows next day.

Gareth
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Re: Avoiding BGOL around town

Postby Gareth » Sat Jan 30, 2016 4:50 pm

waremark wrote:I am not saying an unnecessary gear change is a crime, but why?

Just mindlessly doing what John Lyon taught me ;-)
there is only the road, nothing but the road ...

TripleS
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Re: Avoiding BGOL around town

Postby TripleS » Sat Jan 30, 2016 4:52 pm

Horse wrote:
ROG wrote:I NEVER have to BGOL for any other gear

If braking too much then the chances are that too high a gear has been selected


A junction I commute through is traffic lights at the end of a motorway off slip.

In my little car, with its 1.6TD, top gear seems reasonable for 70mph, doesn't it?

At the lights, if I try to brake to a halt in top gear, declutching just before stopping, the engine will stall.

So what should I do?


Either:

1) Stay in top gear but declutch a little earlier, or

2) Change to an intermediate gear earlier in the slowing down phase, in which case you can finally declutch a bit later than you would have done with option 1.

In most cases I probably choose option 2, but what I also do (and this may get me criticised) is slip into neutral after declutching, then immediately release the clutch pedal and roll up to the junction thus. Reason: if we're in neutral there's no benefit in keeping our foot on the clutch pedal, and in any case we can quickly engage a gear when we arrive and see which gear will be suitable.

This doesn't look to me like a major problem, unlike that other topic we were discussing! ;)

TripleS
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Re: Avoiding BGOL around town

Postby TripleS » Sat Jan 30, 2016 4:58 pm

waremark wrote:
Gareth wrote:
Horse wrote:A junction I commute through is traffic lights at the end of a motorway off slip.

In my little car, with its 1.6TD, top gear seems reasonable for 70mph, doesn't it?

I change down a gear or two before entering the off-slip.

As discussed before, my preference is to keep both hands on the wheel, declutch just before the anti stall, and take no action on the gear until I am ready to pick up the drive and I know which gear is best for that. Again as I said before, IPSGA. I am not saying an unnecessary gear change is a crime, but why?


Because there are those who prefer to always be in a flexible gear, even if there's absolutely no chance of it being needed, which is usually the case.

I mean to say, when do we ever have to accelerate out of danger? 8-)

Gareth
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Re: Avoiding BGOL around town

Postby Gareth » Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:05 pm

TheInsanity1234 wrote:
Gareth wrote:I found an online Yeti Owners Manual - all the systems that are described as 'air conditioning' have a mode where the cooling function can be disabled.

We have a Climatronic system on ours though.

I'm not sure where my patience comes from!

TheInsanity1234 wrote:The only "economy" thing you could do to it would be to switch off the AC, but it makes very little difference in terms of consumption so we tend to leave it on all the time.

If you remember, I was suggesting a sequence near the end of journey that might help to reduce moisture in the air conditioning system, to avoid undue misting when the engine is next started.
there is only the road, nothing but the road ...

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Mr Cholmondeley-Warner
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Re: Avoiding BGOL around town

Postby Mr Cholmondeley-Warner » Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:22 pm

TheInsanity1234 wrote:We have a Climatronic system on ours though.

Yes, and ...
TheInsanity1234 wrote:The only "economy" thing you could do to it would be to switch off the AC

Yup, that's the economy mode - in the past the button was even labelled "Econ"
TheInsanity1234 wrote:but it makes very little difference in terms of consumption so we tend to leave it on all the time

About 1.5 mpg in my old Octavia 1.8T (petrol)
TheInsanity1234 wrote:It's probably better for the AC bits'n'bobs to be left running all the time rather than every so often.

Not any more, it isn't. Modern refrigerants don't dry out seals like the old stuff used to do.
TheInsanity1234 wrote:But what I'm trying to do is trap all the heat possible in the engine, with recirculate, it's still taking heat out of the engine to warm the cabin up. The car puts warming up the cabin first, then warming the engine second.

The difference will be marginal. Diesels just take longer to warm up, period.
TheInsanity1234 wrote:Eh, well. I'm not bothered by economy anyway, it's mainly because I tend to rev the engine a lot, and so having an engine up to temperature is ideal for me.

Well learn to drive sensibly until the engine is warm (and that doesn't just mean the temperature gauge - the oil will take significantly longer to warm up).

... and what happened to the other Insanity1234 who was whinging about how uneconomical it was, the other day?

The impatience of youth! :roll:
Nick

Gareth
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Re: Avoiding BGOL around town

Postby Gareth » Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:33 pm

Mr Cholmondeley-Warner wrote:The impatience of youth! :roll:

I'm not sure we're allowed to even think that!
there is only the road, nothing but the road ...

Astraist
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Re: Avoiding BGOL around town

Postby Astraist » Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:52 pm

TripleS wrote:Because there are those who prefer to always be in a flexible gear, even if there's absolutely no chance of it being needed, which is usually the case.

I mean to say, when do we ever have to accelerate out of danger?


I believe I can dig up a couple of good examples. Chief among them was a bunch of seven cars, a pick-up truck and a van which were pulled in two junctions immediately after a hill.

The driver of a lorry overloaded with gravel (sixty tons) decided to sautée his brakes on the donwhill slope. Since the vehicles weren't standing in a single file, the truck easily ploughed through them, broke a brick wall and only came to a stop when it hit a tree.

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