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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1981-11-11, Page 10See us for the best in * COLLISION WORK * BODY WORK * SPRAY PAINTING * FRAME. STRAIGHTENING "We're Your Cars Best Friend" CLINTON BODY SHOP JOE ESSERY 73 Mdry. St Clint on 482-9531 We're i‘ Masters At Our Craft! Because you don't TM KERWIN have money to bum * 99.9% FUEL EFFICIENCY * CLEAN-BURNING * NEEDS NO CHIMNEY * ADVANCED SAFETY FEATURES AND * SAVES YOU MONEY! III [ill III •P Your Kero-Sun Dealer uic EDWARD FUELS ANGLESEA ST., GODERICH 524-8386 IF YOU OWN A-CHRYSLER CAR OR TRUCK THEN WE'RE THE PLACE FOR SERVICE YOU CAN COUNT ON! Dean Reid Dennis Harris Bill Dalrymple Laurie Henderson . Service Manager. Licensed Licensed Class "A" Proprietor Licensed Class "A" Class "A" Mechanic Mechanic. Mechanic. GETTING YOUR CHRYSLER VEHICLE SERVICED AT CLINTON CHRYSLER-PLYMOUTH WILL SAVE YOU MONEY IN THE LONG RUN - HERE'S WHY! *All our mechanics are Chrysler Factory-Trained technicians •We use genuine Chrysler Factory Parts - with a 90 day or 6,400 Km. guarantee, parts and labour •We receive all current factory service bulletins *We have the latest In factory test equipment oWe service all Makes.speciallzing In ' Chrysler, Plymouth and Dodge cars and trucks SEE US FOR A PRICE YOUR WINTER TIRE NEEDS OPEN: eAtle DIPANTMINT: Monday 16.nir Weilnarime6y Thursday s • eel* 0.M. 1 pan.-16:ee p.a.; friday i p.m.. iefAinifiy ' SeleeKE AND PARTS DEPARTMENT: Moridely Orld•V $ o.in, 4/1 Opiii Thiirtioly night 6 P.m. to le CHRYSLER A10 THE BRUSSELS, POST, NOVEMBER 11, 1981 Race instructor s winter driving tips Whether a car with front- wheel drive is beneficial in snow depends on the driver, according to Popular Mechanics Magazine. Popular Mechanics says two basic factors make a front- drive car handle differently from a conventional, rear-. drive one. First, with all the power- train mechanicals up front, this car's weight distribution is in the range of 60 percent front/40 percent rear, com- pared to the typical rear-drive's 55/45 weight distribution. This gives it excellent traction and makes it very stable in a straight line (like a dart with a weighted tip), but that very stability also makes it somewhat reluctant to change direction when the road is slip- pery, giving a tendency to understeer. Second, a front-drive car's front tires, by design, have to 'perform both steering and driving functions, tasks that are equally divided in a rear- drive automobile. Thus, if the front tires lose traction on snow or ice because you've stepped on the gas too hard and started them spinning (or you've jumped on the brakes and locked them up), they're not about to steer the car until traction is regained. The result is more understeer, Popular Mechanics says. Controling A Skid Bob Bondurant, one of America's foremost road- racing drivers, became a train- ing instructor after a bad crash in 1967 caused him to switch careers. He founded the Bon- durant School of High Perfor- mance Driving in 1968. Bondurant is an expert on skidding in all kinds of vehicles, including a front- wheel skid (understeer) and rear-wheel skid (oversteer). The key to controling a front-wheel skid, Bondurant explains, is to transfer weight forward to push down on the front wheels and help them regain traction. This is done by easing off the throttle and (if necessary) squeezing gently on the brakes. The first is a natural reac- tion, but the second requires both thought and restraint. If you hit the brakes too hard. or too suddenly, you'll lock up the front wheels and lose steering control. If this happens, ease off the brakes until the tires stop skid- ding and start steering. Then gently squeeze on the brakes again, if necessary, trying to keep the braking force just below the point of lockup. This gentle pumping of the brakes, combined with steering input to get you headed in the right direction, should take care of any normal understeer- ing condition. In a front-drive car, you can also use a little throttle to get 'the front tires pulling you 'through the turn. If you give it ,too much and lose traction 'because the front wheels are ;spinning, simply ease off a bit until you feel them rolling and gripping the road as they should. A rear-wheel skid (oversteer), is a bit trickier t to control because your natural reactions — getting off the gas and on the brakes — transfer weight forward, away from the skidding tires, which can make the situation worse. The first crucial thing to remember is never touch the brakes! If the skid was caused by too much braking in the first place, get off of the brakes im- mediately and stay off until the skid is under control. This is easier said than done when you're in a panic situation, but it's absolutely necessary to regain control. The second critical factor is steering.' You've probably heard that you should turn into For Winter Here are some items that may come in handy this winter: Windshield de-icer spray, scraper-brush, small snow shovel, blankets and sand. the skid, and what this means is to turn the front wheels in the direction the rear end is sliding to get both ends of the car going the same way. This has to be done immediately and decisively — turn the steer- ing wheel fast to stop the rear end from pivoting around the front. If you can do those two things — stay off the brakes and steer hard and fast the way the rear end is skidding — you can catch almost any potential spin. But once you've caught it, the job isn't quite done. Many people, even experienced race drivers, sometimes lose control because they don't an- ticipate the second, often more violent skid in the opposite direction that usually follows the initial slide. Once you've caught the rear end and it starts back, im-. mediately crank the steering wheel just as quickly and decisively back the other way to counteract the second skid. That done, you can return to steering to center, add just a little throttle to transfer weight back to the rear tires (once you're pointed the right way) and you're home free. . Lifting Off Throttle Another thing to be very careful of, especially in a front- heavy, front-drive car, is lifting off of the throttle too quickly when the oversteer condition first occurs. Remember that lifting, like braking, transfers weight and therefore traction away from the rear tires and can worsen a rear-wheel slide. This "trailing throttle oversteer" tendency is com- mon .to all cars, but typically much worse in front-drive or in rear engine, rear-drive models. Most of us have experierwed mild oversteer in rear-drive vehicles when we've started the rear tires spinning with too much throttle. Easing off on the gas to regain traction while steering into the skid will get us out of that sort of problem. But beware of trailing throttle oversteer if your drive wheels are in front. It's best to leave the throttle where it is and just concentrate on the steering when your rear end slides. Or,. if you can remain cool and calm enough, you'll find that adding a little throttle in an oversteering front-drive car actually helps pull the rear end back in line. If you don't catch an oversteer condition quickly enpugh, and the back end does skid, around, you can straighten the wheels and steer it going backwards to avoid hitting something. Or, you can even crank the wheel one way or the other to spin in another 180° and drive off the way you were going in the first place! In a front-drive car, you can also learn to over- come understeering in slick conditions by using the hand- brake to lock up the rear wheels and slide the back end around until you're pointed the way you want to go. This only works in cars whose handbrakes operate the rear wheels; but don't try it on the road without' practicing it in a safe place first.