Advanced Driving Hub

Gareth wrote:In the context of the target audience, the meanings of certain words or phrases, and the advice, seems reasonable.

Thinking about starting engines from cold the initial oil pressure is high, obvious if you have a gauge, and takes time to reduce. Given that all the advice is a continuum, waiting a few seconds to be certain of the oil being pumped around the engine, and limiting revs while the engine is warming up, might be helpful information for drivers in the habit of starting the engine and immediately and repeatedly blipping the throttle or holding the engine at, say, 3000 rpm.

fair point - but... when they phrase it as they did it will take on the role of gospel according to IAM - people like these kind of instructions because they can absorb them and be a 'better driver' without having to think... but it is too simplistic and following it can damage cars - so, yes, it is better than jumping in and taking the car to 6,000 revs as you back out of your drive, but it is not the right answer either and it wouldn't be difficult to advise that you should let the temperatures etc. of oil / water / gearbox get to their working level and this will differ for each car...

Pithy notes for fleet drivers?

akirk wrote:... but it is not the right answer either and it wouldn't be difficult to advise that you should let the temperatures etc. of oil / water / gearbox get to their working level and this will differ for each car...

I agree, it wouldn't be difficult to advise, but the advice would be impossible for the average car/van driver to follow.

Nowadays, hardly any average punter's car has an oil temp gauge, none that I know of have a gearbox temperature gauge. So, how would you suggest that the IAM express the advice quoted above in words that could be properly actioned by the general population of drivers, each with a different vehicle requiring different advice regarding working temperature levels, when the vast majority will not have access to actual oil temperatures or knowledge of normal operating temperature, and none of whom will have access to gearbox temperature information.

We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that these particular IAM Tips and Blogs are nothing more than marketing material for the IAM's commercial arm. We shouldn't be treating the IAM's publicity and marketing material with any degree of seriousness. In fact we shouldn't even be discussing them on an advanced driving forum. They simply don't warrant our valuable consideration or the in-depth insights that our highly honed knowledge, expertise, driving skill and vehicle mastery can offer.

We probably shouldn't be considering much from the IAM seriously at the moment
I agree it is difficult - but a general rule of avoiding over-stressing the car for the first 10-15 minutes of driving is likely to be simpler to follow - I haven't driven many cars which are not up to temperature by then - my M5 which has the lights that go out, and oil pressure gauge is almost always up to temperature within 10 minutes...

akirk wrote:We probably shouldn't be considering much from the IAM seriously at the moment
I agree it is difficult - but a general rule of avoiding over-stressing the car for the first 10-15 minutes of driving is likely to be simpler to follow - I haven't driven many cars which are not up to temperature by then - my M5 which has the lights that go out, and oil pressure gauge is almost always up to temperature within 10 minutes...

My MX5 (2000 model) would be up to temperature in a very short space of time. The brand new Peugeot in even a shorter time.
This is how modern vehicles are made and the sooner up to temperature the more efficient. I would be more concerned for the tyres than the engine.
I agree with your first sentence and would have done so for several decades.

When I collected the present new car in April the (very good and professional) salesman calmly talked me through all the safety features, showed me how to operate them.
I am a great believer in not interrupting and letting people do this as we can all learn something.
What he said after was interesting and it was this 'So many people let me do this then switch it all off' or what can be switched off.
The customer has spent thousands on the latest technology and refuses to use it.

hir wrote:Nowadays, hardly any average punter's car has an oil temp gauge, none that I know of have a gearbox temperature gauge.

Although most of you who think you have temperature gauges don't really, you're getting a needle stuck in the middle of the dial by an ECU that says "so long as it's not really cold or really hot, say that it's bang on the middle"

Wasn't it an early MX5 where they changed the behaviour of the oil pressure gauge (or temp, can't remember) because owners were getting confused by the needle moving when the car was hot and the RPM changed?

jont- wrote:

Horse wrote:I reckon it's another way of trying to get people to plan a bit earlier.

Is it wrong to plan to brake firmly then?

If you're the type of person the article was aimed, perhaps

jont- wrote:[
Although most of you who think you have temperature gauges don't really, you're getting a needle stuck in the middle of the dial

I have a little clicky dial that toggles through various options to display oil and coolant temperatures. If the sensors have been calibrated (and remained so), it's to single °C accuracy.

Horse wrote:

jont- wrote:[
Although most of you who think you have temperature gauges don't really, you're getting a needle stuck in the middle of the dial

I have a little clicky dial that toggles through various options to display oil and coolant temperatures. If the sensors have been calibrated (and remained so), it's to single °C accuracy.

Precise != Accurate. The Elise fuel gauge read in litres, which was fine if you knew 11l really meant empty