When driving to work or on a business trip, try to count how many times you have to use the clutch, gearbox and brakes. After all, while the car is in good order, it rarely occurs to anyone to pay attention to how certain controls are used. Of course, changing, say, prematurely worn brake pads is not difficult. But replacing brake drums or discs will require some effort. And it is not at all easy to deal with worn clutch or gearbox parts.
Of course, nothing in a car lasts forever. But if, for example, you use the clutch too often, maneuvering in dense city traffic, and do not take your feet off the pedal, even standing at a traffic light, the clutch disc will not serve the required 80 thousand kilometers, of course. Early replacement will not save the situation: the next step is the premature failure of the clutch "basket" plates and the release bearing, which simply "dries out" from thoughtless use of the transmission and breaks the "basket"...
The same can be said about the gearbox. The most "patient" of domestic ones - the "Zhiguli" gearbox is capable of "driving" 150 and 200 thousand kilometers without repair. But reckless control of it, accompanied by jerks of the lever from one position to another, long before the term puts out of order the bronze synchronizers. And this, although not the most difficult, is a repair. Therefore, patient drivers, changing gears, use the "on three counts" technique, that is, as if saying to themselves: "one, two, three" when moving the lever from one position to another.
Once, a friend of mine complained about the quality of the steering components of his almost new "Zhiguli". And there was reason to complain: the car had not even covered thirty thousand, and the steering, say, the pendulum, was approaching the critical point in wear. It turned out that my friend is a big fan of twirling the steering wheel under suitable conditions and at the right speed, as is sometimes done on rough terrain. These pirouettes on the road may look impressive. But, as they say, you have to pay for everything in this world. Including harmless, at first glance, "tricks".
However, our "sportsmen" who prefer to take off straight away have to pay not only with a failing steering system and prematurely worn tires. With this style of driving, a huge load falls on the drive components - the elastic coupling, bearings and crosspieces of the cardan shaft, the clutch disc, not to mention the engine. There is no dispute that modern cars equipped with engines can drive like sports cars for some time. But they are not designed for "sports" loads, unless, of course, we are talking about a "one-off" car.
Original published on the website mercedesman.ru
What to do if there is a need to "tear" the engine - to get out on a muddy road or to skid in the sand or on ice? Experienced drivers know how to act in such cases: they create the necessary conditions for the car, increasing its cross-country ability. It is enough to lower the tires of the drive wheels to one atmosphere to significantly improve the grip of the wheels on the surface of the dirt road. On a front-wheel drive car, which surpasses a classic car in cross-country ability, difficult sections of dirt roads are overcome by moving in reverse.