42 BMWcar
DRIVING TIPS
Performance driving coach Neil Furber
answers more of your questions how to
drive quickly, well and safely
Ask
Neil...
CLUTCH CONCERNS
ARE WINTER TYRES
REALLY NECESSARY?I’ve heard that clutches have a fairly
average life in cars with manual
gearboxes, but does this vary with
driving style or how good the driver is?
Alan Carpenter, Runcorn, CheshireDear Alan,
Yes, you will hear average fi gures and
many cars will be somewhere in this
range simply through mathematical
averaging. However, you are quite right
in that the actual life is dependent on
where the car has been used, and how
the driver has operated the controls and
driven the car.
A colleague of mine had an old
Peugeot that had covered nearly half a
million miles and was, apparently, still
on its original clutch! But then he did
win Le Mans back in the 1970s, and
knows a thing or two about minimising
mechanical wear-and-tear!
The greatest loading is put on a
clutch when pulling away from rest,
with the worst case being a steep,
hill start. A car has a large mass and
so it takes quite some eff ort to get it
moving. A conventional, single-plate,
dry-friction clutch – as typically found in
BMW’s manual transmissions – has a
circular friction disc clamped between
the fl ywheel and cover-plate assembly.In recent years there has been more
and more talk about winter tyres. Surely
we don’t really need these in the UK
since it rarely snows, but I’d like to hear
your thoughts.
John Flynn, Colchester, EssexDear John,
Yes, winter tyres are starting to be
discussed far more regularly. In fact,
I wrote a feature in the Winter 2019
issue (back-issues available from Kelsey
Media by calling 01959 541444)
which covered the topic in some detail.
Although the majority of UK drivers
are aware there may be some benefi t
to be had from switching to a set of
winter tyres, sadly, most take the usual
approach of assuming that they’d be
a good idea for drivers in general, yet
somehow, they themselves don’t need
them... and certainly wouldn’t pay for
them!
This is usually because most UK
motorists have never experienced the
diff erence between summer and winter
tyres and assume (incorrectly) that
‘winters’ are just for use on snow and ice.To ask Neil a question,
either email him direct at:
[email protected]
or send it to
[email protected]