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, Sat, 14 Jun 2003 20:20:21
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To say that the freewheel "thankfully" is locked out, shows a complete misunderstanding of the whole concept. In fact, the freewheel is a fantastic asset both in everyday driving and more advanced driving.
When just driving around town or on the highway, the freewheel lets you coast without losing much speed, which saves gas and makes for a pleasant and comfortable noise level in the vehicle, at the cost of losing "engine braking" which is a very minor loss; esp if you're used to driving an auto trans.
When doing "active" cornering with an under-motorised car like the SAAB 96, the freewheel is an amazing thing. Standard Saab 96 gravel cornering technique:
* approach corner. apply brakes as late as possible, and use left foot for braking
* let off gas slightly - no need to drop all the way to idle rpm, so don't take your foot completely off the pedal, just ease up a bit
* downshift w/o clutch (this is made possible by the freewheel) and immediately step on it again. keep braking w/ left foot... this it what lets you control how wide your tail is sweeping
The above also works well on pavement, even if wide skids aren't to be expected. Otoh, left foot braking helps on paved surfaces too, since it reduces wheel spin on the inner front wheel and thus acts like a "limited slip differential" to transfer more power to the outer front wheel.
/Magnus
posted by 213.65.236...
, Sat, 14 Jun 2003 19:15:53, Mon, 16 Jun 2003 23:41:39, Sat, 14 Jun 2003 20:20:21, Sun, 15 Jun 2003 06:00:47
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