Last Sunday, I went up to Genting with Christine and AndrewAu. The night turned to worry, when we were coming down. I was applying brakes too hard, till at one moment, it became hard to slow down. Pulled over to the emergency lane to check things out, and drove cautiously after that. It really got me thinking.. My brakes/car has never let me down before and neither have my driving skills. These are the things that I place my faith in, when I drive. But little did I know that my brakes would fail me at such a time.
Question is, where do you place your faith?
David[hmm...]
Next time you go down a steep slope, use your gear to slow down your car. Keep it at first or second gear and you’ll find that you won’t have to apply the brakes too often.
Chances are, your brakes overheated and thus cannot “eat” the tyres anymore.
Here ends today’s Physics 101 :) Thank God you’re OK, and that He’s shown you even atheists and agnostics still have to place their faith in everyday stuff…like the sun rising in the morning.
Heh.
Ok take care dude!
Yup. Got that from the mechanics, when I went to service my car the day after. Due for it’s service by then. The car feels good now.
David[woohoo!]
PS: Just introspection, yeah?
Now that Physics 101 is over, here’s Mechanics 101. Brakes DON’T EAT TYRES. hehehehe… They grip the brake discs/rotor and the rear brake shoes grip the brake drums (in the case of the kancil). End of lesson.
David, that’s why i don’t or rarely step on the brakes in my car when going down a steep slope. I have seen people stand on their brakes all the way down a slope like gentings or camerons. The term is called “brake fade” when the brakes become overheated and loose it’s ability to grip. I have seen many cars or rather drivers with that problem. Next time it happens, pull over to a safe spot and wait for the brakes to cool. NEVER NEVER pour water on to the brakes when it’s hot! I’ve seen a number of people do taht because the brakes are smoking and they are afraid that it would catch fire. Once water is on, get your money ready to replace the brakes.
Oh, and most of all, drive slowly and safely! You are not Sebastien Loeb in a Xsara WRC.
I think Edwin @ reapies is just translating directly from Malay, “brek tak makan”.
Ah, he’s one of my heroes, other than Petter Solberg and the other guy on the Xsara, Markus GRÖNHOLM. ehehe.
Yeah, I’ve never driven on on the Genting stretch. Went up only till the Skyway. Guess it’s a good lesson. Praise God for the emergency lane, to stop by.
David[woohoo!]
thank God everyone survived :)
vonnig, have i seen u in autoworld forums?
just outta curiousity, how come never take bas? :P
dave… yeah… anyways, everyone makes mistakes every now and then. Some live to tell the tale, others no. This is where the driving schools in malaysia fail to adequately teach learner drivers to drive correctly.
alexc… yeah… i’m the guy from autoworld NMT, Le Club Citroen etc…
Edwin : I live nearby… It took me aabout 45 minutes to get up to the Skyway. Er, and by the time we left Melawati, it was already close to 9PM
Nigel : Yeah, praise God that I was alert enough to realize it immediately!
David[hmm]