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-   -   Do we abuse our rides??? If yes, then lets stop ! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/68817-do-we-abuse-our-rides-if-yes-then-lets-stop.html)

Hello Guys,

I have always wondered how can someone abuse the car. Can you all please help in what all ways can someone abuse the car.

Is cruising on a Higway at speeds of 150kmph called abusing?
Is sudden acceleration called abusing?
Is sudden braking called abusing?
Not slowing down for pot holes, is this abusing?

These are just a few that came to my mind.

When we see, look or drive certain cars we say that they have been abused like mad. How and why we say that.

What I am sure about is that a abused car will always have a more wear and tear hence less resale.

Am I correct in my thoughts? If yes, then why would somebody want to abuse the car and inturn abuse the lakhs of rupees that he has spent to buy it.

Why?

“A beast does not know that she is a beast, and the nearer a man gets to being a beast, the less he knows it.”

Cruising at 150 on a highway cannot be abusing. Alright it depends on the car doing 150 too.:D

Sudden braking is never recommended under any situation and low gearing is a better option on the highway, unless the situation really demands that.

What are abused cars to me?
1. Cars with bad exterior maintenance.
2. Irregular service and wheel alignments.
3. Filthy interiors.
4. Sqeaks- that could have been arrested.
5. Steering columns that shake with you.
6. Suspension. A person who loves to drive will never drive with a bad suspension.

These are all I can think of now.

Cruising at 150kmph is just that, cruising. Abusing is redlining the engine incessantly even when it's screaming for dear life.

Not washing/cleaning your car is the biggest abuse of them all! Seriously, I can count the number of "clean" cars I see everyday on the tips of my fingers!

Riding the clutch, running over potholes, banging the car into poles/other objects while parking and keeping all sorts of garbage inside the car also constitutes car abuse.

Sudden acceleration, suddent braking, cruising at 150 on the highway are NOT examples of abusing a car. If you dont want to either of these, get a Tata Nano and be happy.

People(especially TBHPians) buy fast cars to do all three of the above.

Abusing a car means driving it like a rally car on our potholed roads, not getting it serviced regularly, not getting small niggles sorted out when they are small, basically being indifferent to your car.

Hey Nikhil, I am feeling much better now :thumbs up

We all say "I love my car". That does not mean we get up in the morning everyday, go and stand near the car and say "I love you" and forget about it. Try doing that to you better half.

Regular maintenance, servicing, cleaning, sorting out niggles, always buying only the best / original spares for replacement, the list goes on and on.

I always wonder - there are a lot of people out there, who like to dust and wipe their television, but totally ignore their cars.

Rajan

Driving fast, braking hard etc. do not count as abuse, cruising at a decent speed (depending on the car) is definitely not abusing a car.

Doing donuts, slides, hard launches (except on a drag strip) etc, is abuse. Burning your clutch is abuse, intentionally taking bad roads at a high speed is abusing the car. Ripping the car (red lining continuously) would be abusing the car.

Not changing worn parts, not servicing etc are criminally abusive.

Cheers,

What i consider abusing :
1. Revving to warm the engine after a cold start.
2. Running with low or old engine oil.
3. Running without enough radiator fluid.
4. Running ultra low tyre pressure.
5. Running a clogged air filter.
6. Revving the engine beyond its redline.
7. Shifting into a lower gear at speeds its not designed to handle.
8. Ripping the car over potholed roads.
9. Overloading the car with extra weight.
10. Irregular toe angles and unbalanced wheels.
11. Running with the engine check light on, not knowing what is causing it.

Its a never ending list really......

Shan2nu

An informed car owner can drive his car fast and still keep it in good health. Its not necessary that every car that does 150 kph is abused. Some drivers can follow a smooth respectful driving style at 150, while others yet are rash even at 50 kph.

I drive my Vtec & C220 rather hard, yet they are amongst the best 7 and 4.5 year old examples (respectively) you could find today. On the other hand, my 2.5 year old Indigo which rarely sees the highway and is primarily at less than 50 kph is not in as good shape. Reason? Its the beater car in our family and goes through a lot of different hands / drivers. My Jeep is also abused, thanks to all the offroading that she goes through.

What amounts to abuse : Skipping on maintenance schedules (most common being missing oil change intervals), overlooking basics (e.g. revving a cold engine hard), a rash / rough driving style (possible even at 30 kph), a novice driver (riding the clutch, too high a gear at too low a speed or vice versa), a bad mechanic, counterfeit parts, bad driving conditions (broken roads, going fast over speed breakers) and similar.

+1 to GTO.

The key about abuse is really how the car is maintained. You can have athletes who occasionally smoke and drink tons and are still looking 5 years less than their physical age - and you have pure veg teetotallers yoga doing people who look 5 years older and are overweight! Its as simple.

Sometimes whe the roads are empty i love to rev the car almost till the red line in 2nd and 3rd before shifting up. Am i abusing my car ?

No cooldude not at all , its good to clear up the throat sometimes . What I have found is spirited riding/driving keeps the engine healthy .

With Turbo Diesels, i'd say

1. Not following the Turbo timing rules of 30sec stationary before moving a cold engine and 30secs before cutting off the engine after stoping.

2. Lugging the engine.

3. Redlining

4. Routine maintainance not being carried out.

How often can one do this ?

Everyday, every single time you drive. Remember keeping the engine at the redline in a lower gear is what kills it, shifting up at the redline is fine. So as long as you shift gears appropriately your engine will still love you.

Cheers,