The real secret why cars dont last

[wander2039]

My wife-to-be hasn't killed any yet but she sure tries hard to. At least she knows to change the oil and pays attention to the tune of the car- unfornately. The only thing shes managed to do so far is to break the welds of the exhaust on two of the cars. I really don't know what's she's did to my festiva, been awful cranky lately. Although I've noticed if I pop open the hood at least once week on the cars she drives or has driven the drives seem a bit more pleasant

. A side note though all the cars run a little better after she drives them for a week. So in my opinion a little WOT doesn't hurt.

 

[GMGuy]

quote:

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I don't know if they ever integrate that they're "going nowhere fast" ..but it's kinda fun from my end of it.

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Its not about getting there first for everyone. Myself, I like acceleration, and that includes the process of going to the stop sign 6 houses from my driveway. Hmm, thinking about it, maybe some of it includes getting there first, as if I am not, it means I won't be able to enjoy another round of acceleration at my desired pace.

Alex.

 

[ekpolk]

Garrett:

I pretty much agree with what you've stated (and in fact, I pretty much drive like that too...), but I would add that UOAs, while they don't lie, don't tell the "whole truth" either, especially the relatively inexpensive ones we typically see here. Two things I can think of that will not be revealed on a UOA: cracks and metal fatigue. My point, I guess, it to be guided by all available info, not just by UOA alone. This, and a good dose of common sense, will go a long way to ensuring your car lives a long, happy life.

 

[Gary Allan]

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Its not about getting there first for everyone. Myself, I like acceleration, and that includes the process of going to the stop sign 6 houses from my driveway. Hmm, thinking about it, maybe some of it includes getting there first, as if I am not, it means I won't be able to enjoy another round of acceleration at my desired pace.

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Then you're doing it for the fun of it. You don't care if you get caught at a light ..in fact, you look forward to it. I drove like that at one time. It was a total policy of "as fast as you can in the space alotted". Very simple. You may never outgrow it completely ..since you may avoid putting your wallet on a diet. Hurry up and wait can be fun if you don't have any other purpose to driving then to enjoy the thrill of using the pedals

 

[Audi Junkie]

I only gas it hard when there is someplace to go. COnservation of momentum is my rule. Hit it if you feel like it, but only up to speed and only when you can cruise at that speed for a while.

 

[Gary Allan]

My daughter was driving my jeep for a good bit. It needed the rotors turned @ 12k. @24k ..same thing. I paid for pads and they've been the same pads since 24k ..it's now 49k. The difference? I now drive MY jeep.

 

[GarrettSocling]

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Idiocy to me means driving without "mechanical empathy" and is very different from even vigorous excercise within a car/engine's limits.

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That is pretty much how I feel as well. I'll push my car to redline, WOT, what have you, but not until the engine is completely warmed up. Not constantly all day, over and over and over, but in the normal course of daily driving. UOA tells no lies, it isn't hurting the engine. Hopefully the (manual) transmission doesn't mind as well, I'll find that out after my first UOA on it.

 

[ekpolk]

I had forgotten about this thread which I posted when I was relatively new to BITOG. I suppose the guy I'm describing here pretty much represents the antithesis of how to drive so as to maximize the life of one's engine. I imagine that engine has been scrapped by now. . . And reviewing the description of the smoke I saw, this was not the little wisp you sometimes see from a car going rich at WOT, it was a good bit more than that. Ouch. Talk about lack of mechanical empathy (and, for that matter, concern for self-preservation, but that's another story). . .

 

[97f150]

I also drive the snot out of my cars and it is not uncommon for me to acheive 150,000-200,000 miles out of them.

 

[Dominic]

Most of the time I drive very conservatively, especially when cold. Once fully warm though, minimum 20min driving, I'll take her up over 4000RPM for sure and have a little fun.

My main maintenance problem - can't seem to find a set of tires that can handle my driving for more than 20,000mi

OEM set only got me 10k! I hope this new set lasts 30K