In this thread, you will post slices of knowledge pertaining to good driving skills. The question was asked by someone on here--"will 'driving like I stole it' cause a lot of wear and tear?" -Well, yes, it does, but good skills can minimize some of that. There's abusive driving and spirited driving, not always the same thing. The thread is designed to be a collection of knowledge of good tips for performance, safety, and to develop overall driving skill. Keep it clean, keep it safe...
Some examples:
1. For manual transmissions, unless you need to, don't put the gearshift into 1st gear until you're traveling 5mph or less. Putting the trans in first gear with the clutch in at speed accelerates wear on syncros.
2. Rev matching- On manual trans cars, the best gear changes are done when the speed of the transmission and the speed of the engine are matched, to prevent jerkiness or upsetting the car's traction or suspension at speed and to also minimize clutch disc wear. If you're going from 4th to 3rd, you can make a seamless transition by blipping the throttle with the clutch in to match the engine speed in the next gear down, and then let out the clutch without slipping it.
3. Safe hand placement on the steering wheel: A lot of schools (and moms) still teach driving with hands at the 10 o'-clock and 2 o'-clock position. This may place your forearms in the path of an airbag, and if you shuffle steer (google it)- like performance schools sometimes teach- consider gripping at the 9-and-3 or with most 3-spoke steering wheels, at the 4-ish and 8-ish position. (You are gripping the wheel with both hands, right?)
Keep adding! Let's hear them all. This will be good for the new enthusiasts and might teach some of the old dogs some new tricks too!