DEBUNKING A FEW SPRING DRIVING MYTHS,
As we drop our door windows for some zero-plus sunshine we enter the automotive Eden of spring driving on Canadian roads. But there are more than a few traffic thorns to be wary of. Some of these spring driving myths and hacks were told by instructing parents, some by armchair Andrettis at the water cooler. Here’s the truth on whether or not some of those tales from the traveller actually hold water. Full steam ahead on potholes, never hit the brakes! As with many pieces of driving advice this one’s partially right; if you’re heading for a deep pothole you can’t avoid, standing on the brakes when your front wheels head down into it will likely result in more tire, rim, suspension, steering damage than if you had not braked. But damning the torpedoes with a full-throttle offence won’t provide a guardian tire angel to sail you over troubled waters either.
Ever y time you dri v e through a pothole rather than around one, you’re rolling the dice. You’re laying some sizable repair-invoice dollars down that the suspension of the wheel that’s entering the pothole will miraculously react at just the right speed in order to avoid a strong lateral impact to the face of the tire tread from the leading edge of the hole. The faster you’re travelling, the less time your suspension has to react and the greater the impact force will be. With the proliferation of low profile tires, exceedingly light alloy wheel rims, and suspension components, it doesn’t take much of an impact to cause some expensive damage. The only way of reducing damage is to slow down, keep your eye on surrounding traffic, and avoid potholes altogether. Don’t worry about that puddle; as long as it’s not over your wheels, you’re OK! With spring melting in many parts, waterlogged roads and Olympic-sized puddles are common. Drive through one too deep and you’re in for the most expensive auto repair bill of your life. If enough water is ingested into an engine’s air intake it will destroy pistons, connecting rods, and crankshafts in one or two revolutions of the motor. If water comes up to the bottoms of your vehicles’ doors, or halfway up the wheels; your engine is at risk. Just because the driver ahead made it through is no guarantee your car will survive. What’s that musty smell coming out of the heater vents? Time to make a shop appointment? It might be hard to believe, but we will soon be turning on our vehicle’s air conditioners. Musty odours caused by mould and mildew forming on the HVAC system heater cores and AC evaporator cores are a common complaint when the weather gets warmer. Before taking your vehicle into the shop for this concern, try driving for a few days with the heater set to its highest temperature setting and the windows cracked a bit so you don’t melt. The dry heat will permanently reduce the smells and you can enjoy the scents of a fresh warm day. Running out of fuel? Try a swerve or two. You’re forgiven if the return of sunshine and windows-down driving has left you a little distracted. But that low-fuel warning light and the ominous chugging of an engine running dry has brought you back to reality. If you’re a block or less away from the gas station, a slight, gentle, and safe side to side swerve while driving can slosh enough fuel at the bottom of the tank into the delivery line pickup to get you an extra few hundred metres. Beats pushing right?