Facts or Myths....Expose the truth

[sforsarang]

Hi Team,

here are some of the facts / myths regarding Vehicles, Traffic rules etc..I have ever come across from various blogs, newspapers, magazines and automotive experts. Dunno which are the facts and which are pure myths. Team-BHPs take on it?

1) Vehicle's engine can be broken down by just putting some sugar in the Petrol tank.. (hard to believe that an engine can be so volatile)
2) Anti-Roll bars on tall boy vehicles prevent overturn and roll on a sharp turn... ( I wonder how these light weight fiber bars prevent rolling effect)
3) A vehicle can be easily controlled and manoevured at the speed of 70 kmph in case of a tyre burst if the driver is experienced... (what it has to do with driver's capability when machine and technology have their limitations)
4) Suzuki vehicles should be geared up in the order 1 - 3 - 5th...2nd and 4th should be sparringly used... (what does that mean? should we not apply 2nd and 4th gears and directly jump from 1st to 3rd and to 5th? )
5) A 70 bhp car can easily overpower the 100 bhp car technically in terms of speed if the 70 bhp car has more torque than 100 bhp... (is it? a bit strange if so)
6) Lighter vehicles are easy to control in case of a skidding event than the heavyweights.. (debatable)
7) Humid tyre is more puncture prone than the dry one ,thats the reason tyres get more damage due to puncture in rainy season (whats the scientific reason behind it?)
8) SUVs and Goods carriage vehicles cover up 80 % of the accidents happen in India and the casualities in them are on the higher side as compared to the hatchback or small scale sedans (In fact SUVs provide more security, reliability and stability on roads especially highways..also they have more sturdy and robust built..still the statistics indicate else)
9) Teflon coating and any other sort of polish is not recommended in India and it is also not useful anyhow for the vehicle's body...(whats the truth and why?)
10) Windshield cleaner solution should not be used, instead plain water should be used as a glass cleaner..(water can be hard, soft etc...won't it affect glass quality?)
11) Traffic police can trace you upto your home but once you are stopped at your home, he can not challan you.. (it happened once to me...police traced me after our driver jumped the signal but didnt catch us when we reached at home..driver explained this way..)

Thanks and Regards
Sarang

[ajmat]

1) Vehicle's engine can be broken down by just putting some sugar in the Petrol tank.. (hard to believe that an engine can be so volatile)

some amount, not a spoonful, can create a huge lump of carbon as well as molasses residue which will damage the engine normally by making it seize


2) Anti-Roll bars on tall boy vehicles prevent overturn and roll on a sharp turn... ( I wonder how these light weight fiber bars prevent rolling effect)

It reduces roll, not prevents roll. The bars link ends of the axle and the counter torsion effect helps in countering gravity
3) A vehicle can be easily controlled and manoevured at the speed of 70 kmph in case of a tyre burst if the driver is experienced... (what it has to do with driver's capability when machine and technology have their limitations)

True but one needs to understand road conditions, condition of suspension and other variables. Have n't you seen car races where drivers have slow down after tyre bursts at high speeds?

4) Suzuki vehicles should be geared up in the order 1 - 3 - 5th...2nd and 4th should be sparringly used... (what does that mean? should we not apply 2nd and 4th gears and directly jump from 1st to 3rd and to 5th? )

Poppycock

5) A 70 bhp car can easily overpower the 100 bhp car technically in terms of speed if the 70 bhp car has more torque than 100 bhp... (is it? a bit strange if so)

Not enough information - what is the weight of the car etc?

6) Lighter vehicles are easy to control in case of a skidding event than the heavyweights.. (debatable)

As you said - debatable

7) Humid tyre is more puncture prone than the dry one ,thats the reason tyres get more damage due to puncture in rainy season (whats the scientific reason behind it?)

Ever thought about mud and debris washed onto the road during the monsoons
8) SUVs and Goods carriage vehicles cover up 80 % of the accidents happen in India and the casualities in them are on the higher side as compared to the hatchback or small scale sedans (In fact SUVs provide more security, reliability and stability on roads especially highways..also they have more sturdy and robust built..still the statistics indicate else)

Ever thought of the driver education angle ???
9) Teflon coating and any other sort of polish is not recommended in India and it is also not useful anyhow for the vehicle's body...(whats the truth and why?)

Not for the price, a regular polish every two-three months is sufficient

10) Windshield cleaner solution should not be used, instead plain water should be used as a glass cleaner..(water can be hard, soft etc...won't it affect glass quality?)

If formulatd for cars, why not - never use washing up liqid like teepol as it is an abrasive
11) Traffic police can trace you upto your home but once you are stopped at your home, he can not challan you.. (it happened once to me...police traced me after our driver jumped the signal but didnt catch us when we reached at home..driver explained this way..)

Your driver is a liar, I accidently did the same but the policement never came but the postman did

[2fast4u]

Originally Posted by ajmat

3) A vehicle can be easily controlled and manoevured at the speed of 70 kmph in case of a tyre burst if the driver is experienced... (what it has to do with driver's capability when machine and technology have their limitations)

True but one needs to understand road conditions, condition of suspension and other variables. Have n't you seen car races where drivers have slow down after tyre bursts at high speeds?

if a person feels like a squid why not use run flats in that case.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

2) Anti-Roll bars on tall boy vehicles prevent overturn and roll on a sharp turn... ( I wonder how these light weight fiber bars prevent rolling effect)
Howstuffworks "How do stabilizer bars work?"

4) Suzuki vehicles should be geared up in the order 1 - 3 - 5th...2nd and 4th should be sparringly used... (what does that mean? should we not apply 2nd and 4th gears and directly jump from 1st to 3rd and to 5th? )
Who told this? You shouldn't listen to his advices.

5) A 70 bhp car can easily overpower the 100 bhp car technically in terms of speed if the 70 bhp car has more torque than 100 bhp... (is it? a bit strange if so)
Well, a 75 bhp Swift diesel can overpower a 100+bhp Ford endavour (not TDCi) easily.
However, If you have more torque, it gives an advantage in the initial acceleration.

7) Humid tyre is more puncture prone than the dry one ,thats the reason tyres get more damage due to puncture in rainy season (whats the scientific reason behind it?)
On the contrary, tyres are less prone to bursting at lower temperatures.

8) SUVs and Goods carriage vehicles cover up 80 % of the accidents happen in India and the casualities in them are on the higher side as compared to the hatchback or small scale sedans (In fact SUVs provide more security, reliability and stability on roads especially highways..also they have more sturdy and robust built..still the statistics indicate else)
SUVs (taxi wallas and call centre ones)and good carriers drive rashly compared to the smaller cars.

9) Teflon coating and any other sort of polish is not recommended in India and it is also not useful anyhow for the vehicle's body...(whats the truth and why?)
10) Windshield cleaner solution should not be used, instead plain water should be used as a glass cleaner..(water can be hard, soft etc...won't it affect glass quality?)
Why dont you read Rudraji's article on car aesthetics?

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by sforsarang

11) Traffic police can trace you upto your home but once you are stopped at your home, he can not challan you.. (it happened once to me...police traced me after our driver jumped the signal but didnt catch us when we reached at home..driver explained this way..)

Those days of catching you physically are almost gone. Dont you see the new phenomena in Hyd, where they are on a number plate misnomer drive. Have you seen the police chaps stopping anybody? They are just standing on the crossroads and videotaping your number plates and sending you a challan at home for 2K

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by sforsarang

4) Suzuki vehicles should be geared up in the order 1 - 3 - 5th...2nd and 4th should be sparringly used... (what does that mean? should we not apply 2nd and 4th gears and directly jump from 1st to 3rd and to 5th? )

Incidently, if you refer to the Grand Vitara test drive threads, a guy eho drove the MT said the car has good pick-up in the first gear, looses steam in second but comes back to life in third....

Any Suzuki owners here???

[ajitkommini]

Originally Posted by sforsarang

8) SUVs and Goods carriage vehicles cover up 80 % of the accidents happen in India and the casualities in them are on the higher side as compared to the hatchback or small scale sedans (In fact SUVs provide more security, reliability and stability on roads especially highways..also they have more sturdy and robust built..still the statistics indicate else)

One reason is because SUVs are taller and hence prone to rollover in a serious accident. Also SUVs are more dangerous to pedestrians than small cars. As for goods carriers, the level of maintenance, overloading etc. is reason enough for these statistics.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by sforsarang

2) Anti-Roll bars on tall boy vehicles prevent overturn and roll on a sharp turn... ( I wonder how these light weight fiber bars prevent rolling effect)

Anti-roll bars are fitted to the suspension and are made of metal. As ajmat pointed out, they only seek to reduce roll, but cannot prevent it altogether.

The fiber bars you're referring to are the rollover bars seen in some convertibles that form part of the rollcage around the passenger compartment.

[sforsarang]

Fitted to the suspension....oops...wait wait guys I guess I completely messed up with words... I meant Roof rails.... and somewhere I read that they prevent rollover... I think Antiroll bars is something different (from your description)

[rks]

Originally Posted by sforsarang

3) A vehicle can be easily controlled and manoevured at the speed of 70 kmph in case of a tyre burst if the driver is experienced... (what it has to do with driver's capability when machine and technology have their limitations)

The driver's response is also very important. A panicky driver could make matters worse by braking hard, which could be fatal. A front tyre burst will need a different response from the driver as compared to a rear tyre burst. An experienced driver can recognize the symptoms and take timely action. A newbie may not even realize what the problem is until too late.

5) A 70 bhp car can easily overpower the 100 bhp car technically in terms of speed if the 70 bhp car has more torque than 100 bhp... (is it? a bit strange if so)

I think the weight of the car also matters. The appropriate figures to compare are bhp/tonne and torque/tonne.

6) Lighter vehicles are easy to control in case of a skidding event than the heavyweights.. (debatable)

True, in my opinion. A light and highly maneuverable vehicle will be much more responsive to the steering inputs of the driver. So while the lighter vehicle may tend to step out of line more easily, it will also get back into line more easily.

8) SUVs and Goods carriage vehicles cover up 80 % of the accidents happen in India and the casualities in them are on the higher side as compared to the hatchback or small scale sedans (In fact SUVs provide more security, reliability and stability on roads especially highways..also they have more sturdy and robust built..still the statistics indicate else)

As mentioned already, the SUVs are more prone to rollover accidents. Secondly, there is not enough road space on our highways for SUVs to be driven fast. And the SUVs are also not maneuverable enough for them to weave in and out of the heavy traffic on our narrow roads. For these reasons, I maintain that a small, highly maneuverable car in the hands of a skilled driver is much more safe than an SUV on our roads.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by sforsarang

Fitted to the suspension....oops...wait wait guys I guess I completely messed up with words... I meant Roof rails.... and somewhere I read that they prevent rollover... I think Antiroll bars is something different (from your description)

Roof rails prevent roll-over???

Someone is giving you funny advices!

They are meant for adding to the looks- in case of smaller cars like WagonR/Spark and for carrying luggage as in the case of some MUVs/SUVs like Innova, Scorpio, tavera.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by sforsarang

I meant Roof rails... I think Antiroll bars is something different (from your description)

You've made a common mistake (one that I was guilty of earlier myself!)

You've rightly read that anti-roll bars reduces body roll; but have wrongly assumed that the anti-roll bars are the things you see on the roofs of cars/SUVs.

As CrAzY dRiVeR mentioned, The stuff on the roof are luggage racks / ski racks (like what you'd see on the Safari).

These don't help in any way in controlling body roll, what does help are the anti-roll bars in the suspension.

You can read more about these in the link given by CrAzY dRiVeR (Howstuffworks "How do stabilizer bars work?"), or at Car Bibles : The Car Suspension Bible

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Not enough information - what is the weight of the car etc?

Originally Posted by rks

I think the weight of the car also matters. The appropriate figures to compare are bhp/tonne and torque/tonne.

Like ajmat and rks have already mentioned the weight of the car matters a lot. Also if you have additional torque it means your roll on figures will be better. So in a way its true. Also, a lot would depend on gearing too. And the extent to which an engine will rev.

Originally Posted by sforsarang

A vehicle can be easily controlled and manoevured at the speed of 70 kmph in case of a tyre burst if the driver is experienced... (what it has to do with driver's capability when machine and technology have their limitations)

This is one of those situations where one must pray to dear life you should not get into. I once had a puncture at about 140kmph on a race track. Left rear went boom on a flat out left hander. Lets just say that knowing the handling of the car and a quick hand to leg co-ordination helps a lot. Its 70% drivers capability and 30% luck.

[dadu]

Originally Posted by sforsarang

11) Traffic police can trace you upto your home but once you are stopped at your home, he can not challan you.. (it happened once to me...police traced me after our driver jumped the signal but didnt catch us when we reached at home..driver explained this way..)

Thanks and Regards
Sarang

Depends, you cannot be challaned while off-road and stationary but they can always send a challan by post (for an offence from where you ran).

Ever wonder why you see lines of trucks standing on the roadside just before you see few RTO/traffic policemen on the same road ahead ???

[herculesksp]

Originally Posted by dadu

Ever wonder why you see lines of trucks standing on the roadside just before you see few RTO/traffic policemen on the same road ahead ???

waaaaat??? thats coz trucks arent allowed to ply on the roads inside the city limits during certain hours. And these 1-2 traffic cops + security guys stop the ones who are breaking that rule. How does it matter that the trucker stops before the cops?