A common driving mistake that damages your car's engine. How to prevent it
Adopting correct driving techniques not only spares fuel but it also minimizes the wear and tear of your vehicle. Regrettably, even most experienced drivers fall into bad driving habits. One of the them is failing to downshift before accelerating.
7:56 AM EST, November 14, 2023
When drivers need to pass slower cars, they often neglect to downshift before accelerating. Even though they have ample time and space to perform the overtaking maneuver and their car accelerates adequately when they press the gas pedal fully, this mistake may have adverse effects on the engine.
It's also common that drivers assume that accelerating at lower RPMs (resulting in less noise from the exhaust) is a better option. However, a high load at low RPMs is detrimental to your engine. At this working range, the engine operates less efficiently - less energy from fuel goes towards acceleration and more goes into heat generation. Not only does this lead to higher fuel consumption but can it also can cause overheating of the engine, particularly within the cylinders.
Excessive heating of these components results in uneven combustion and ignition timing issues. The uneven distribution of forces within the cylinders accelerates engine wear. Accelerating forcefully at low RPMs is particularly harmful for turbocharged engines that are common in new cars. In such engines, a risk of premature ignition of the fuel-air mixture increases.
Two Japanese companies, Toyota and Denso (a manufacturer of automotive components, including spark plugs), conducted research on the consequences of accelerating without downshifting. They found that in such scenarios, residues of unburned fuel and oil can linger in the engine, leading to a higher chance of premature ignition at low RPMs. As a consequence, pistons and spark plugs experience accelerated wear, which sooner or later results in the necessity to take the car to a service.
An often overlooked but important reason to downshift before accelerating is safety - a point often highlighted in driver's education courses and training sessions. Overtaking is a potentially risky maneuver, and should be executed swiftly and completed as quickly as possible. Downshifting is essential to maximize acceleration and overtake slower vehicles safely.
