Friday in Dub

At first it appears to be just your average viral dub made for teh LuLz and teh internetz. But watch further, this deep work of art is actually a very important public safety announcement. Special prize for anyone who can spot the character who is not using their real voice.

Michele Mouton

748

acrylic on paper 8x12" sold

Michele Mouton,Fabrizia Pons

Audi Quattro

Rally Portugal

CHEVROLET CRUVE SPECIAL EDITION

Okay hari ni saya nak update sedikit info tentang kereta2 mewah. Dari jenama Chevrolet dengan modelnya Cruze. Menariknya model ini hanya dikeluarkan sebanyak 300 unit sahaja untuk jualan. Apakah keistimewaan kereta ini?

Apa yang menariknya kereta ini? Menurut sumber yang kami terima, kereta ini base kepada model standard Cruze 1.8 LT, tetapi dengan rekaan special edition kali ini ianya ditambah dengan beberapa solekan dari pereka khas termasukbumper hadapan dan roda yang lebih bersaiz besar. Harganya pula anda boleh dapati pada RM 97,888 sahaja. Pendek kata, dapat sahaja kereta ini tak payah nak solek atau custom lagi sebab memang dah nampak sporty dah.

Essential Services - Initial.co.uk - Reg. HX09HBU

The human tides which inhabit the HMO's of Aberdeen's Broomhill Road are a constant source of trouble to their entrepreneurial landlords. Often, the problems are of a nature which we would prefer to draw a tasteful veil around!

Initial "Washroom Services"

Suffice it to say that we've seen "Inital Washroom Services" reg HX09HBU around a few times, clearly dealing with an urgent toilet emergency of some kind, as the driver of this Aberdeen Van has been present-minded enough to use the pedestrian build-out "demand-responsive" emergency parking area outside the HMO in question as he goes about his "business". It's also a nice piece of PaveParkVertising which directs us towards the Initial website at www.initial.co.uk - nice one!

"Inital Care is Everywhere!" (as they used to say)
and, they should add, "At Any Time"

The very model of "Corporate Social Responsibility":

Everyone at Initial, from onsite personnel to senior management in the boardroom, demonstrates a firm commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility by putting our good practice guidelines into action on a daily basis.

Where are the 20 mph zones they promised?

Someone posted us this video complaining that it shows a car driver unable to think ahead, because the driver overtook a bicycle aggressively on the way into Montpelier, whereas everyone knows that you only put your foot down on the way out. The tax-dodger not only ended up being held up by the Audi YY03YGM, they had to drop down Brook Hill, sprintg along Upper Cheltenham Place and then squeeze past the car on Picton Street blocking the road with the hazard lights on, while the Audi was still stuck on York Road negotiating rights of way with whatever was coming from the other direction.

We feel that the whole incident documents a more fundamental problem. The 20 mph zone isn't delivering what was promised.

The opening sequence shows how a bicycle doing 18 mph held up the car, but as soon as they go a little above 20 mph to get past them, there's another oncoming bicycle before the blind zig-zags. Even the bicycle video documents the other problems: the pedestrian and their dog on Brook Hill, the two bicycles on Upper Cheltenham Place, the two kids playing with a Pogo Stick in the road -our road- at 1:14, and then another bicycle. At least the car with the hazard lights on has paid for the right to be there.

Where are the 20 mph zones? The signs show them, but the car would have been lucky to have an average speed of 10 mph across the entire journey. We were promised 20 mph limits, yet it only takes one or two people walking, cycling or even pogo-sticking around and you brought screeching to a halt. We have been betrayed.

Clever Little Chevy song

Music (piano by Fred Ewing, vocals and lyrics by Jack Lucero Fleck):
tune: Surrey with the Fringe on the Top (from Oklahoma)


When I take you on a ride with me
Honey, here’s the way it’s goin’ to be
You will ride inside a car with solar power
One that runs on electricity.

SUVs are just too top heavy
Come and take a ride in my Chevy
It’s some fun to ride in my Chevy that won’t binge on gas
Just plug in and see how it’s better
I could tell as soon as I met her
She’s so cute that I’d like to pet her and she takes off fast!

The cord is orange, and the battery’s strong,
It’s charged by our solar panels
The ra-dio’s playin’ our fav’rite song
On one of our dozens of channels

Think I’ll take a ride to the levee
Quiet as a mouse in my Chevy
Now I hope they build up a bevy with their nuts and bolts
Of those clever little Chevy’s that we call th-e Volts

Pipelines, oil spills, earth left in tatters
Though big oil just keeps gettin fatter
Without my car I’d be much sadder ‘cuz it’s built to last
We can drive right on past the station
Every day’s’a gas free vacation
Thanks to electrification we can save our cash

We’ve got CO2 that’s wreckin' the earth
And making our future hotter
With oil boys takin' us for all we’re worth
The Volt makes you glad that you’ve got her

We’ve been lookin' for a solution
To all of this global pollution
Now it’s here and it’s no illusion with each nut and bolt
It’s that clever little Chevy and we call it the Volt

Beautiful Concept Cars

This morning while surfing Autoblog.com, there was this article with a very interesting concept car that looked very similar to a Lamborghini. The car in question is a "1970 Lancia Stratos HF Zero". Apart from being a very intriguing car, it is now currently being displayed in a musuem at Bertone. From the article, the car is going to be auctioned. The cars coming out from the musuem to be auctioned include: 1967 Lamborghini Marzal, 1970 Lancia Stratos HF Zero, 1963 Chevrolet Testudo, 1974 Lamborghini Bravo, 1980 Lamborghini Athon and 1978 Lancia Sibilo. Each is expected to fetch well into the six and even seven figures. The Marzal, particularly, which was driven by Prince Ranier and Princess Grace at the start of 1967 Monaco Grand Prix, and the Stratos, the first prototype for the iconic supercar rally machine of the same name, are expected to sell for between €1,000,000 and €1,800,000... that's as much as $2.5 million apiece in equivalent American funds. 

1980 Bertone Athon

Original Article From Crazy Collection of Concept Cars - Autoblog.com

Nicking ideas off our neighbours is the key to truly European motoring

BONJOUR, guten tag and benvenuti from a very continental Life On Cars, which is this week embracing the idea that you're no longer a British motorist, but a European one.

That's the thinking behind the latest white paper from Brussels, where European Commission officials have come up with the idea of creating something called a Single European Transport Area. Only it's not a white paper - it's a roadmap. I look forward to buying mine for £4.99 at a motorway service station and stuffing it my glovebox in the near future.

Lots of very British organisations - like the Association of British Drivers, and the UK Independence Party - have already kicked up a fuss about the idea, because it proposes things like road pricing and a complete ban on driving your car into any city - whether it's Liverpool or Lisbon - by 2050.

Naturally, as a Brit and a motorist I disagree with pretty much all of it, but as a - whisper it quietly - proud European I think there's a lot of ideas we can nick off our neighbours.

Here are some policies I've come up with for a truly European driving experience, to save the EU the trouble:

1) All roads must be maintained to the same standards as Germany, which are almost entirely blemish-free and, in the case of most of the autobahns, have no speed limits. Not for us Europeans the potholes of your average British high street!

2) Petrol and diesel prices should be kept at Luxembourg levels, which are among the cheapest anywhere in the EU.

3) Italy should be put in charge of coming up with all the car names, because “Fiat Cinquecento Sporting” is infinitely more rewarding to utter than, say “Renault Wind”. Jaguar XF Competitizione, anyone?

4) French engineers - who gave us the Peugeot 205GTi and the Renaultsport Clio, pictured above - should be put in charge of anything to do with ride and handling.

5) The best car interiors on offer today, which you'll see lining the likes of the Range Rover and the new Aston Martin Virage rather than their BMW and Mercedes rivals, have been crafted by Brits. Because we've long abandoned the idea that our dashboards should look like church pews and gone for the luxury yacht style instead, we should be in charge of this department.

6) Brits - specifically, the ones who run the delightfully quaint Westmorland Services on the M6 up in Cumbria - should also be in charge of service stations.

7) On a serious note all motorways in Europe should cost the same to use (preferably, nothing at all). How is it fair that you've got to pay to use a French autoroute, but their truckers can use the M58 for free?

All ideas, I'm sure, which will help bring Europe together to make it a better place for us humble motorists. My cheque from Brussels is in the post.

AUDI A8 L 3.0 TFSI RM658,800

Sekali tengok pasti anda berasa teruja juga melihat rekaan terbaru Audi A8 ini. Ia mungkin dikatakan mampu menyaingi S-Class ataupun 7-Series. Kereta ini boleh dibeli dengan harga RM 658,800 termasuk insuran. Dengan pickup yang baik iaitu ia boleh mencapai kelajuan 100 KM/H dalam masa 6.2 saat sahaja daripada kelajuan penuhnya 250 KM/H. Saya pasti anda teruja melihat kenderaan ini, walaubagaimanapun pilihan ditangan anda. Inilah sedikit review dari saya.

The Allant: Trek's Best Bicycle?

I work at the Bicycle Center here in Issaquah and we sell Trek bicycles. Trek makes a wide range of bikes, from carbon Madones that go really fast when some guy named Lance is riding them to the laid back Pure cruisers with wides seats and cushy tires. And Trek makes mountain bikes, kids bikes, sport-fitness bikes, the classic 520 touring bike, commuter bikes and well, we've got a pretty good sized shop and we don't even come close to having enough space to stock every bike that Trek makes. We can order anything Trek has in their warehouses and have it in a shop in a week, but like any business we have to pick and choose what we have in stock and on display.

We have one spot in our shop that is the prime spot -- the front window display. And there is one bike that owns that spot -- the olive green women's Allant. Trek did something very, very right with this bike. It's a women's bike that's not pink or purple. The bike is pretty but not overly girly. The Allant is a practical city bike with a light aluminum frame and a good range of gears so it works well in our hilly part of the world. The tires are a good width for city streets or a gravel bike path. It comes with real metal fenders, a front rack and and kickstand. It is both comfortable and fun to ride. And pretty much as fast as I can build them up, they roll out the door. At less than $600, it's a good bike at a great price. And yes, I'm biased. I sell Allants. I sell a lot of them.

I've seen women drag their husbands into our shop, point them at the Allant and say "this is what I want." When we don't have the Allant in the window, we have women coming into the shop asking "where did that bike go?" I even had one woman say "where did my bike go?" She'd been saving up and was thrilled when I told her I was building up another Allant.

We tend to stock the 15" framed Allant, which works well for women from 5 feet to 5 foot six or so. We order in bigger models for taller women, but it is so nice to have a bike in stock that works for a small adult. Iruru, who is pictured at the top of this post, is five foot nothing. See the smile on her face? I see a similar smile on the face of almost every woman who tries the Allant.

The men's Allant is similar but it's black and comes with a rack on the rear instead of a front. The men's version is a very good bike and it sells well, but the men's Allants don't fly out the door the way the women's bike does.

I'm thrilled that bikes like the Allants exist. For too long it seemed like the entire bike industry had plenty to sell you if you wanted to race on the road or thrash bomb down a mountain but nothing if you wanted to ride to the store, ride with your kid or go to the coffee shop. Trek makes a bike that's great for the kind of biking that a lot of people do every day. It's called the Allant.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah WA USA

PaveParker of the Week! SV08LCO

Yay! This weeks PaveParker of the Week is the driver of Aberdeen Car SV08LCO.


Yes, congratulations to the driver of Aberdeen Car Vauxhaull Astra Sport (oooh!) 1.6i Design (ooooh!) who shows excellent technique on Aberdeen's Rubislaw Park Road.

The double yellow straddle, the 'flipped' wing mirror, leaving just enough room for the pestestrian to squeeze past without having to resort to "carraigewalking". It's all good stuff. We particularly liked the choice of PaveParking location - close to that rogue cone. This will cause the hapless (and carless!) pestestrian to have to execute a sort of slalom maneuver. This will humiliate them by moving them off of their desire line and reminding them of their proper place on the streets of Aberdeen - subordinate even to the cones! Quite right.

We have only one gripe with this weeks PaveParker: why is he not flashing his "exempts"? By this omission he runs the risk of being spoken to by a hated Community Warden. Flashing the hazards exempts is the sure secret way of demonstrating your importance and vitality to the local economy - thus causing the hated Community Wardens to leave well alone - they know what side their bread's buttered on!

However, perhaps it is that the driver of this Aberdeen Car is less certain of his status, driving a lowly Astra in Aberdeen's exclusive West End. You'll note he shares the road (and pavement!) with a Chevvy Jeep, a brand new Range Rover and one of those Porsche Cayennes - oooh we like them! Rubislaw Park Drive is quite steep, after all.

Brunel Ford -proud to sponsor the Concorde Way

One thing missing from the official opening of the Concorde Way a couple of weeks back was the sponsor. London has Barclays "wealth for the wealthy" sponsoring the bikelanes "a tax-deductible gift for the poor in our society". Nobody was forthcoming in North Bristol, as our main local benefactor prefers to support development in and near Ashton Gate, rather than up here, Bristol Rovers territory.

Hence: no sponsor

This has changed, as J0TCT shows.

The best view is from Dovercourt way, where anyone who avoided a dooring incident gets a lovely view of a better option for the city.

Our tax-dodging troublemaker is here recorded harassing an innocent driver.

Let's review the video and score the discussion

1. The tax-dodger takes the photograph and says this will be the reference "before" photograph: kick-off!
2. The driver rightfully points out, no yellow lines -hence legal. 1-nil!
3. The tax dodger responds: blocking dropped kerbs are illegal as is obstructing a cycle route, and that they could call the police. 1-all!
4. The driver counters with "you are cycling on the pavement". 2-1 to Brunel Ford!
5. The troublemaker tries to respond with "that's because there is a large vehicle blocking my normal access point". Offside!

We hope the troublemaker will see the error of their ways and buy a nice new Ford Focus, especially now that our Chancellor has reduced the cost of filling up the car by 50 pence.

Incidentally, can we say that we agree with all the comments added to the youtube page -our site does not in any way condone walking, cycling or public transport.

Audi A5 by Project Kahn

Drawing inspiration from the R8, the car features an aggressive front fascia, a modified rear bumper and a trunk-mounted spoiler. Elsewhere, there's a lowered suspension (which reduces ride height by 35mm), a four-tailpipe sport exhaust system, and 21-inch RSL alloy wheels.

To spruce up the cabin, designers added quilted Nappa leather seats, billet aluminum pedals, stainless steel kick plates, and a revised instrument cluster.

Currently available for order, the completed A5 Sport Coupe is priced from £31,875.

220 Volts now installed

The ChargePoint people installed a 220 Volt charger last week, just missing a whole lot of rain.  It comes in handy when we go somewhere in the morning and use our charge.  For example, this morning  we went to San Francisco for a dental appointment, and I'm charging the car up to go to chorus practice tonight (still a bargain at 11 cents per kwh, rather than our usual 5 cents).  The cost of the charger to us was around $430.  The charger plus $1500 installation cost was subsidized--lucky us!  I wouldn't have opted for the 220 volts without the subsidy, but it is nice to have.



I Dig UTG.

I 'dig' UTG!

We're beginning to gain more of a professional footing now with our popular campaign to to "Save the Denburn Dual Carriageway!" ('like' us on FaceBook, 'follow' us on Twitter). We're gaining more followers every day!

Of course, as we've pointed out, saving our the Denburn Heritage Dual Carriageway (which is part of our city's Heritage Inner City Ring-road), necessitates the destruction of the city's Union Terrace Gardens. Hay, you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs!

So, to celebrate the forthcoming desecration of the gardens to make way for the much needed car-park, we've had this brutally honest tee-shirt created:



The beauty of creating this teeshirt via fulfillment house "Zazzle", is that it's a doddle - anyone can do it, takes about 5 minutes. Not only that, it also demonstrates a provocative disregard for the nimby tree-hugging naysayers who think that grass and flowers are more important than parking spaces. This'll rile them!

Yay! Hud'at nimbys!

I think everyone will agree that this lends our campaign to realise Sir Ian Woods' 'vision' for Aberdeen City centre a professional and mature aspect which was hitherto missing. We have contacted him and his supporters at local enterprise forum ACSEF to ask what he and they think. We've also asked Aberdeen City Council whether they'd like to sell the tees at council tax collection points across the city. We're sure they'll all be delighted by our initiative!

You can't make an omelette...

Without breaking eggs...

Dovercourt Door markings

The new glue-on markings in Dovercourt road "concorde way" are placed in the ideal position to discourage survivors from ever approaching a bicycle again.

Sadly we have been forwarded some email in which the cycling team claim that this was some kind of error and will be corrected.

You are absolutely right about the location of the symbols on Dovercourt Road they have been incorrectly marked due to an error using old plans. We will rectify this.

We agree, anything trying to encourage such subversive actions as not driving in the city needs correction. On that topic, we are pleased to announce the Brunel Ford are now the official sponsors of the Concorde Way, The extension of the Farm Pub Path. More to follow soon.

The Life On Cars Radio Show, episode 4

Life On Cars speaks to John Bailie of Aintree Circuit Club about plans for the forthcoming Ormskirk Motorfest, to find why he thinks the full-throttle event will benefit the West Lancashire town.

To hear more from Life On Cars Radio click the Radio link at the top of the page or click here.

BMW 7-Series by Mansory

Swiss tuner Mansory has devised a new look for the BMW 7-Series that comes with a little extra zip for this flagship sedan.

The aerodynamic kit puts a new face on the 7-Series by means of a new front bumper with integrated LED daytime running lights and a new carbon grille. Over the rear windscreen is a roof spoiler and the back end features a new apron, diffuser and integrated stainless-steel quad-pipes from the new sport exhaust system fitted by Mansory.

The tuning package is available for both the F01 and F02 7-Series models and the corresponding engine upgrade packages reflect that.

Mansory offers a performance upgrade kit for both the 750i and the 760Li (extended wheelbase edition). The upgrade on the 750i with a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 consists of an ECU remap and sport air filter which is good for a new total output of 490 PS (360 kW / 483 bhp) and 720 Nm (531 lb-ft) torque over the serial 408 PS (300 kW / 402 hp) and 600 Nm (440 lb-ft).

On the 760Li with a 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12, the tuner dials up the power quotient to 640 PS (470 kW / 631 bhp) and 920 Nm (678 lb-ft) torque compared to the standard 544 PS (400 kW / 537 hp) and 750 Nm (550 lb-ft) .

That makes for a pretty quick long-wheelbase 7-Series as the 0 to 100 km/h sprint time on the Mansory 760Li takes just 4.2 seconds, shaving 0.4 seconds off of the series' model.

To carry all that weight and power in style, Mansory fits the 7-Series with new 10 x 22-inch rims wrapped in 265/35R22 performance tires at the front and 295/30R22s for the rear axle.

For the cabin is a new, ergonomically-designed, sport steering wheel absent the BMW badge but which still provides all the functionality of the standard wheel. Mansory also offers finishes in leather or Alcantara with wood or carbon trims. Personalized options include even the floor mats and any leather touches desired as per the customer's tastes.

The psychotically trick Magee H2.

The case reeds alone put it in another dimension.

BMW X6 M TYPHOON S by G-POWER

Wearing the same body kit (€6,990.00) as the Typhoon S X5 M, the X6 M has an aggressive front fascia, a ventilated hood, a carbon fiber rear diffuser, and sport springs which lower the ride height by 30mm (1.2 inches). Additionally, customers can order 23-inch Silverstone RS alloy wheels with Michelin performance tires (€8,865.55).

Under the hood, the twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 has been equipped with a remapped ECU, a stainless steel sport exhaust system, exhaust manifords and new connection pipes between the turbochargers and the cylinder heads (€13,526.05). Thanks to these modifications, output raises to 725 PS (533 kW / 715 hp) and 890 Nm (656 lb-ft) of torque - an increase of 170 PS (125 kW / 168 hp) and 210 Nm (155 lb-ft). This enables the crossover to run from 0-100 km/h in 4.2 seconds and hit a top speed in excess of 300 km/h (186 mph).

Heel and Toe Downshift

Today while I was testing out a customer's car (which was manual, haven't driven one in 2 years!) I began palying with a shifting technique I heard somewhere. Didn't really get the hang of it till I got a clearer article written by: Brent Romans

If you have heard of the term "heel-and-toe" downshift before, but you've never known what it means, you've come to the right place. It is the mission of this article to make you a heel-and-toe master, a proverbial Jackie Chan of downshifts. Hi-yah!

A heel-and-toe downshift refers to a specific technique used to downshift a manual transmission car. It might seem bizarre to the general populace, but racecar drivers use it all the time. Once mastered, the heel-and-toe downshift offers the benefits of reduced vehicle wear-and-tear, better driver control and faster lap times on a racetrack.

The heel-and-toe downshift is a rather complex action involving both of the driver's feet, the driver's right hand, all three vehicle pedals and the gear shift lever. The purpose of the heel-and-toe is to smoothly match engine speed to wheel speed. Here is a generalization of how a normal person downshifts a manual transmission car.

Let's say Frank is driving his '01 Volkswagen Passat around town. He is approaching a right-hand corner while in fourth gear at 50 mph. He is going too fast to make it around the corner safely, so he starts braking until he drops the Passat's speed to about 25 mph. Frank sees on the tachometer that his engine revs are dropping too low, so he pushes in the clutch as he goes around the corner. As Frank thinks about accelerating, he realizes that the Passat is still in fourth gear, which isn't suitable for strong acceleration at such slow speeds. So he moves the shifter from fourth to second gear, lets out the clutch and motors away.

The problem with Frank's technique is that when he lets out the clutch, it is not going to be a smooth shift. The Passat is going to buck a little. Why? Because when Frank goes around the corner with the clutch pushed in, the engine revs drop to idle speed. When he releases the clutch, the mechanical locking effect between the engine and the front wheels (the wheels powered by a Passat) forces the engine revs to match the rotational speed of the rear wheels. In this case, 25 mph in second gear would mean the engine has to be at roughly 2,600 rpm. When Frank lets out the clutch after moving the shifter to second gear, his car's engine must instantly go from idle to 2,600 rpm. This sudden change causes the car to buck, as well as causing undue wear-and-tear on the clutch, transmission and engine mounts.

The simple solution for Frank would be to give the car some throttle before he lets out the clutch. Specifically, he should raise the engine speed to 2,600 rpm. This way, the engine speed is equalized to the wheel speed for second gear, making the shift much smoother. For racecar drivers, however, this technique is too slow and also means that when the car is going around the corner, the clutch is pushed in, a serious no-no in a racecar.

The racer's answer is the heel-and-toe downshift. The technique combines braking and downshifting at the same time. Using our example again, if Frank used a heel-and-toe downshift, he would have downshifted while he was braking for the corner. This way, he would have had power while he was going around the corner and he could have quickly applied more throttle once he exited the corner. These are critical elements to a racecar driver, but they can also be useful to any driver on the street.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to heel-and-toe downshift. It will explain how to shift from fourth gear to third gear, though the technique will work for any downshift.

1. Begin braking for the corner with your right foot. The location of the pedals and the size of your foot will dictate where you position your foot on the pedal, but most likely it shouldbe canted a little to the right, closer to the throttle pedal.
2. Push in the clutch with your left foot.
3. This is the hard part. With your right foot still applying pressure to the brakes, roll the outside edge of your foot outward and downward to touch the throttle pedal. The pedal design on some cars makes this easier to do than on others. Use the outside of your right foot to blip the throttle. Blipping the throttle means temporarily raising the engine rpms to match the wheel speed. The exact amount of revs needed is dependent on a variety of factors, but it is usually between 1,000 rpm to 2,000 rpm more than the current engine rpm for a one-gear downshift.
4. Move the shifter to third gear.
5. Release the clutch with your left foot.

As you can see, "heel-and-toe" is a misnomer. It actually involves the ball of your foot and the side of your foot. We'll be the first to tell you that heel-and-toe downshifts aren't easy. We've found that a good way to practice is to just sit in your car in your garage and pretend you are doing a heel-and-toe downshift with the engine off. Keep repeating the steps until you are familiar with the process. Once you are ready, try it out for real. Most likely, your early attempts will be botched. Keep trying, though. Practice each step slowly and then work your way to making them all one, fluid motion. Skilled drivers can execute a heel-and-toe downshift in less than one second.

The trickiest part is getting the correct amount of rpms to match the new gear. If you blip the throttle too much, the engine has too much speed compared to the wheels and is forced to drop down to the wheel speed when you let out the clutch. If you don't blip the throttle enough, the engine rpms are forced to rise up. Either way, you know you didn't do it right as the car will jerk a little.

You'll also know it when you did it right. A proper heel-and-toe downshift is so smooth and so satisfying that, once done correctly, you'll find yourself using the technique all the time. The great thing is that you don't have to be a racecar driver or be on a racetrack to use it. Additionally, using the heel-and-toe downshift technique on the street can improve safety. In certain emergency situations, you might be required to brake heavily and then accelerate quickly. By heel-and-toe downshifting, your car will be in the best gear to achieve maximum acceleration

So, let's recap. It's fun to do. It improves driving safety. It reduces the amount of powertrain wear on your car. Other than the amount of time it takes to learn, there is no downside. What more could you want?

Original Article: Heel & Toe Technique (www.edmunds.com)