Why do most van drivers insist on accelerating to the rev limiter before changing gear?
Not only is it excessively noisy to do so and bad for fuel economy, it also slows the rate of acceleration as diesel engines benefit from earlier up shifts.
Also why are they all in their early thirties, stocky build and read The Sun? ;-)
PS: I am not knocking Sun readers, that is what I read most days!
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They don't own the vehicles and they're not paying for the fuel. See other examples of this syndrome: drivers of rental cars, company-car drivers in general (of course there are exceptions), drivers of cars owned by someone else in the family (only when someone else in the family is not on board), etc. There's nothing like ownership to instill a greater sense of responsibility and care.
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There's nothing like ownership to instill a greater sense of responsibility and care
Which is exactly why I think our endemic company car culture has led to such bad driving standards in this country.
Pay everyone who needs a company car an allowance instead and watch common courtesy and adherence to speed limits etc return.
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I don't know about now, but the transits I used to deliver to Wessex Water 8-10 years back had such short gearing that to change up just after reaching maximum torque in any gear would leave you in 5th at 35. The Sherpa is even worse, all but impossible to pull away in an unladen one in first without spinning the wheels. Standard practice to engage 2nd unless loaded to the roof and doing a hillstart.
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The Van Man thing again! :)
I really think that they are only perceived in the stereotypical way that they are, because people allow the stereotype to live on and to affect their judgement.
Personally, (and I have studied this closely) I find that van men, whatever the colour of their vehicles, are no more or less likely to be polite and considerate drivers than anyone else.
In fact turning out of a difficult junction onto a main road every weekday morning, I have to say that I think I am statistically more likely to be let into the line of traffic by a van man, or a bus, or a lorry, than by commuters or parents on the school run.
HF
PS I am not so nerdy that I have actually compiled statistics on this - I just want you to know that.
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Having seen your photo I would be surprised if van drivers didn't let you out ;o)
I, on the other hand, look like the troll from the C5 advert and scare them into letting me out.....
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>>Why do most van drivers insist on accelerating to the rev >>limiter before changing gear?
>>Not only is it excessively noisy to do so and bad for fuel >>economy, it also slows the rate of acceleration as diesel >>engines benefit from earlier up shifts.
I used to be a white van man before I saw the light and started driving buses. I can assure Miller that the Transits that I drove on a daily basis needed to be taken to maximum revs in each gear in order to keep up with the traffic. It may be that the vans you see are fully loaded. In that case, getting the most out of each gear ration is a necessity, not just a whim on the part of the driver!
Cheers
Rob
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Nothing to do with vans - but I watched a guy launching his RIB from the slipway in Lymington. He reversed his car rght into the water until the rear compartment filled. When I suggested this was not going to do his car a lot of good he replied "It's OK, Guv. It's only a company car!"
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Aren't most vans white and driven by men? If so, the phrase 'white van man' is more or less interchangable with 'van driver'.
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They do serve a purpose, however.
I have seen a 'WVM' driving at such a ballistic pace on the A1 that even the BMW drivers were getting out of the way!
Now THAT was a sight!
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i agree with rob i drive a transit with a bt logo on the side it is fully loaded all the time it is the most gutless thing i have ever driven trying to get away facing uphill its foot to the floor and hope for the best.
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I agree with Colin M, not only in terms of the reasons he gives but also because the company car has been such a massive distorting factor in the car industry and the economy in general for three or four decades.
The example given by HisHonour is but an extreme manifestation of the attitude problem common among drivers of company cars, an attitude I find completely alien to my way of thinking. But then, I can recall plenty of former colleagues and some employees who shared it . . . and funnily enough, it was consistent with their general approach to the company/employer as something out of which they would screw every last ounce of what they considered they were entitled to. None of them lasted long.
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I sympathise with Rob.
I drive a Renault Trafic 2.1 diesel (my own).
The reason I try to change gear at the last possible moment is to accelerate as quicly as I can.
The only reason I accelerate as quicly as I can is because there are usually car drivers behind me thinking 'Why is he revving the guts out of it??'
Seriously, I don't want to hold them up too much.
H
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