Tips on Learning to Drive Manual

If you’re like us, then you love speed.  Not just any speed, but the feeling of driving on a breezy morning, your hair whipping back, the music blazing, hands shifting gears like a pro at Talladega Superspeedway.  If you’ve imagined this scenario, then you understand the coolness of learning to drive “stick,” otherwise known as manual.  In today’s blog, we’re showcasing some tips of how to navigate while driving manual.

Drive on Level Ground

Put on your seatbelt.  While learning, it’s also good to roll down the windows to hear the engine to know when to shift gears accordingly.

Check out the Pedals

There are three.  From left to right they are

1. Clutch – disengages spinning engine from the wheels and allows you to switch gears.  Before you switch gears, the clutch must be depressed.
2.  Brake
3. Gas

 Tips:

• Make sure you push the clutch all the way in before shifting to the next gear
• Does your vehicle seem like it’s about to stall? PUSH the clutch again and wait for the engine to return to idle and repeat.
• If you’re having difficulty starting the car from a stop, make sure that you are slowly letting off the clutch.  Pause at the friction point (the part where the engine starts to move the car and continue slowly pulling the clutch out.
•  Learn to recognize the sounds of your engine; you should eventually be able to tell when to change gears without relying on the tachometer.
• Try to watch if you are on a hill or a steep area. You can roll back and hit the person or object behind you if you are not holding in the brake and clutch.
• Two other descriptions mean the same thing as "manual transmission"--"stick shift" and "standard."

Preparing Your Vehicle For Winter

Winter is coming.  This year has flown by, and in that flurry of work, quick vacations, and visits to the store, you’ve forgotten one thing: Winter is almost here.   Our dealership takes pride in providing insightful information on our blog.  Today, we’re continuing that trend.  In today’s blog, we’re discussing some quick effective tips on preparing your vehicle for winter.  Feel free to comment below:

Inspect your antifreeze: Your car contains a 50/50 mixture of water and antifreeze. It’s an essential part of your vehicle’s protection.  Take it into us to check out, and also ask about a radiator flush while you’re at it.

Check out the tires: Winter is the time to amp up your tire protection if you’re not doing so.  The National Highway Transportation Safety Board says you need at least 2/32” of depth to be safe.  Try using the old penny test to check your tires.  Just place it between the tread, if the tread covers part of Lincoln’s head, you have more than 2/32 of tread.

Replace your wipers: Anything coming from the sky will land right on your windshield.  Also, there’s a soupy muck that’s created on the road once the highway department clears the road.  The muck contains sand and salt, both of which can end up on your windshield.  You need new, clean, efficient wipers. 

Clean your battery posts: Regularly treating your battery is key.  Make sure the posts are clean and void of acidic residue. 

Inspect your brakes: Come in today and have one of our technicians check these out for you.  These will be crucial on a slippery road. 

These are just a few tips to get you going.  Stay tuned weekly and subscribe below!

Gas Saving Myths

Gas fluctuates so often, that it’s difficult to find a consistent method of getting affordable gas ALL of the time.  With the emergence of smartphones, we can search the nearby area for gas station prices, but it’s still difficult to consistently find a price we don’t mind paying.  Sure you want to save gas, but there's a lot of bad advice on how to do it. Some of it makes no difference, and some of it can wind up costing you.  So, here’s a look at a few misconceptions:

1.)    Filling Your Tank in the Morning

Many people have heard that filling your gas in the morning is opportune because the fuel is cold.  The theory is that fluids are more dense at lower temperatures, so a gallon of cold gas has more molecules than a gallon of warmer gas.  However, the temperature varies little during the course of the day, so there’s little difference in early gas.

2.)    Changing Your Air Filter

A clean air filter WON’T save you gas.  Engines have sensors that automatically adjust the fuel-air mixture as an increasingly clogged air filter choles off the engine’s air supply.

3.)    Using Premium Fuel

Lately, premium gas has been a hard sell for gas stations.  However, many drivers still fill up with premium gas.  Newer cars for which premium is recommended, but not required, won’t suffer with regular fuel.  The result is a slight reduction in peak horsepower that a normal daily driver won’t even notice. 

4.)    Pumping Up Your Tires

Ok.  First and foremost, proper tire inflation is important.  Under-inflated tires can lead to accidents and poor handling.  According to on-the-road driving tests by both Consumer Reports and auto information site Edmunds.com, underinflated tires reduce fuel economy, so proper inflation is key. But you should never over-inflate your tires. They'll get you slightly better fuel economy because there will be less tread touching the road, reducing friction. But that means less grip for braking and turning. The added risk of a crash isn't worth the extra mile a gallon you might gain.