Case in point: when you drink from a cup, do you hold the cup with your hand, or with your wrist?
When you run the vacuum, do you hold the handle with your hand, or with your wrist? hmmm?
As you are playing tennis, do you hold the racquet with the palm of your hand, or do you use your wrist?
When carrying a heavy and precious item, do you hold it securely with your hands, or do you try to grasp it with your wrists?
You say, "only a mad man would use his wrist for such activities," and I would agree.
THEN WHY DO YOU THINK IT'S APPROPRIATE TO DRIVE WITH YOUR WRISTS?
You know who you are. I see you every day, in all kinds of cars, on all kinds of roads, at varying speeds. You are 16, or 25, or 50 or older - it doesn't seem to matter. Your car is really nice or a piece of crap -- it makes no difference. You usually are leaning on your right elbow on what has become the most obnoxious piece of equipment ever installed in a car: the console pad between the seats. Usually, with your left wrist, you are attempting to drive the vehicle, while apparently thinking you are looking cool.
In fact, you look careless and stupid.
Steering wheels are made for HANDS, not wrists. You have no control over your vehicle with your wrists. And by the way.......if you think this makes you an individual, you need to sit up straight for once and look around. Half the people on the road around you (your fellow missile operators) are driving the same way. Do you feel safe now?
For the life of me, I will never understand why so many idiots who have a motor vehicle license think this is a good way to drive. I mean, I've tried it just for information and within 30 seconds my hand was going to sleep. It's not comfortable, and it's not smart. But hey, ya gotta look cool while driving, right?
Listen up Binky, you don't look cool in the first place. That cheesy pair of sunglasses does nothing to offset the emerging bald spot on your oversized mellon and slouching with your wrist perched on top of the steering wheel does nothing to offset everything aforementioned. You're still fat, unattractive and driving a poorly maintained vehicle with little to no control. And seemingly, you don't care.
Maybe it's the advent of power steering and rack and pinion systems and modern radial tires that makes everyone relax and take driving so casually. Sure, those realities make modern cars easier to handle than a sleeping kitten, but like our untrusting feline friends, your vehicle can spring a surprise on you at any time and.......BAMO...........you're headed for a guardrail at 60 and your slouched, inattentive, and your stupid wrist will not be able to bail you out. Don't think it can't happen. It will. Or worse, it will happen to someone else and you're in their path. Either way, it is then that you will regret not having both hands on the wheel.
So, next time you jump in the car, sit up straight, adjust the wheel to where it is directly in front of your chest, get that seat back in the upright position, and place those grubby little hands on the wheel at the 9 and 3 'o clock positions. And keep them there.
If you remember nothing else from this article, know this -- you and the other idiots around you driving with a wrist on top of the wheel do not look cool. You DO look careless and stupid. If you want to look cool, get some rogaine, loose some weight, buckle up yourself and your kids, and drive with precision to the nearest park and make sure your kids and wife (or husband, etc.) have a good time together. THEN you'll be cool.
At least you'll have a better chance of arriving there safely.
Drive precisely!
CAR CARE TIP OF THE MONTH
Tire inflation: there are various theories about the appropriate pressure for your tires, such as "look on the sidewall" or "check the inside panel of your drivers door" and so on. Well, what I am going to highly recommend is the former.
Car manufacturers will post on a label, usually on the edge of your door, a recommendation for pressures of the front and back tires. This seems fine, until you think about it further.
First of all, the car designer had in mind a certain type of tire, which may or may not still be on your car. Second, each car designer has in mind a set ratio of compromise between handling, braking, ride comfort and NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness) dynamics. When it comes to the recommended tire pressures, you can be sure that they are suggesting pressures that balance somewhere in the middle of those factors. Also, it is not uncommon for a manufacturer to recommend different inflation pressures for the front tires from the rear set. I don't care who you are, I would never follow that advice! It's too complicated and it's not the safest way to go if you want a balanced car.
I have always kept the tires on any car I have ever owned at the maximum cold setting stamped on the sidewall of the tire. Back in the old days of bias ply tires, that was almost always 32 psi. It was such a standard that many repair shops will still use that as the default setting for any tire they inflate. Such lunacy is inexcusable today.
As far as I know, there is no tire manufactured today that has "32 psi" as the maximum cold inflation pressure. What you are more likely to find is either 35 psi, or 44 psi, for most passenger car tires. 35 psi will usually be stamped on tires that have a speed rating below 115. Think of this as soft riding, passenger car tires. 44 is often used for tires that have a little more edge to them, such as you will find on sporty sedans or higher priced luxury cars, sports cars, etc. Just check your side wall and you can find out for yourself. You may be surprised that your car has tires rated at or above speeds of 115, so don't assume.
As I said, I have always kept my tires at the maximum setting and have never had anything adverse come of it. In fact, I have posted miles as high as 67,000 on a set warranted for 45,000, and you can bet your boots this was attributable to keeping them set at the max, rotating them often, and keeping the front end aligned.
But why the maximum? Well, anyone in the car industry will tell you that keeping your tires at or near the top inflation pressure will:
- Extend the overall life of the tire
- Greatly enhance cornering ability
- Shorten stopping distances
- Reduce tread temperatures
- Effectively increase the load carrying range of the tire (verses being under-inflated)
- Sharpen steering response
- Increase mileage
So, check those tires and see for yourself what the maximum inflation pressure is. Then, go and inflate them to that setting and you will immediately begin to reap the benefits of a properly inflated set of tires.
