Disagreement with advanced driving instructor :biglaugh:
Discussion
Arrived at work the other day to be told I had ADI training.
All the vehicles at work have telematics and the drivers are monitored closely and rated at the end of each month, I have been getting a poor result due to “coasting” that had dropped me to 7th overall (out of 325 drivers)
But there were 2 areas that I didn’t agree with the instructor.
The first was wanting me to block change and the other was coasting.
The vehicles we drive are 3.5 tonne 6 speed manual deisel.
Normally pulling away clear road etc you probably change up at 2200 ish rpm
The instructor wanted me to rev to nearly 4K rpm then miss 3rd and go straight to 4th.
I said I wouldn’t drive a fully loaded van like that, Mercedes gave me 6 gears and I’m happy to use them.
Second was the coasting,
Approaching lights, clear road and they change to red, we are 300m away, I would be off the throttle
Slowing gently no need to brake yet, down through the gears and anticipating the change to green.
This instructor wanted me to keep going longer, then brake whilst in gear, only dipping the clutch when the engine was starting to shudder as it was going below tick over revs.
I knew these days come up randomly for the drivers and was quite looking forward to mine, I’ve only ever had 4 hours of instruction from starting to drive (in 1977)
All the vehicles at work have telematics and the drivers are monitored closely and rated at the end of each month, I have been getting a poor result due to “coasting” that had dropped me to 7th overall (out of 325 drivers)
But there were 2 areas that I didn’t agree with the instructor.
The first was wanting me to block change and the other was coasting.
The vehicles we drive are 3.5 tonne 6 speed manual deisel.
Normally pulling away clear road etc you probably change up at 2200 ish rpm
The instructor wanted me to rev to nearly 4K rpm then miss 3rd and go straight to 4th.
I said I wouldn’t drive a fully loaded van like that, Mercedes gave me 6 gears and I’m happy to use them.
Second was the coasting,
Approaching lights, clear road and they change to red, we are 300m away, I would be off the throttle
Slowing gently no need to brake yet, down through the gears and anticipating the change to green.
This instructor wanted me to keep going longer, then brake whilst in gear, only dipping the clutch when the engine was starting to shudder as it was going below tick over revs.
I knew these days come up randomly for the drivers and was quite looking forward to mine, I’ve only ever had 4 hours of instruction from starting to drive (in 1977)
The block changing I referred to was going up through the gears, we did have a good chat about
the methods discussed, and some friendly banter over a cuppa.
My view was that it takes a lot of energy to get a 3.5 tonne van going, overcoming drag, rolling resistance, drive train losses etc, why not use some of that to your advantage when trying to slow.
My brakes tend to last a long time, I’ve never had to replace a clutch (except a dmf failure) in 43 years of driving.
the methods discussed, and some friendly banter over a cuppa.
My view was that it takes a lot of energy to get a 3.5 tonne van going, overcoming drag, rolling resistance, drive train losses etc, why not use some of that to your advantage when trying to slow.
My brakes tend to last a long time, I’ve never had to replace a clutch (except a dmf failure) in 43 years of driving.
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