Jump to content
SAU Community

General Road Knowledge

Engi

By Engi,
in General Automotive Discussion

 Share

Recommended Posts

Engi Newbie

Engi

Posted
Posted

Hi All,

I've been driving now for about 2 years and have learnt alot along the way. I still think i have alot to learn.

In particular i wanted to know about certain things that may be general knowledge to more experienced drivers such as;

1) How can i use road numbers to the best of my advantage?

-is there a code in assigning road numbers ie, East-westbounds rds vs North-southbounds roads?

-Particular numberings such as M1, A430 ...what do they mean?

2) Do you know of ways to better use a street directory? Certain overlooked symbols?

3) Parking tips?

-for example i learnt never to park at the last bay where your car becomes the 'corner' and there is a high chance of someone swiping you. Any similar tips?

4)Is there cheap short term parking in melbourne (melbourne central area)? is there a website that lists parking spots? This is mainly for weekend parking, i'm aware QV is all day weekend for $10, are there better options?

Look forward to hearing your thoughts

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/198055-general-road-knowledge/
Share on other sites
Cooper Proficient

Cooper

Posted
Posted

I think sense of direction is something you are either born with or have non at all. Buy a GPS for your car and that should help you. If you can remember images of places you are going etc you will find it easier, thats how i know where to go etc i can picture it all im my mind if i have been there before and usually only need to go somewhere once to know how to get there any other time but again thats something that you either can or cant do.

HackerX Community Regular

HackerX

Posted
Posted

If you don't know where you are/are going, stick to main roads as long as possible (even if directions say it's quicker through the back streets). It's easy to miss turns when the streets don't quite match what's on the maps, but main roads tend to have more/bigger signs to make finding streets easy.

scathing Grand Master

scathing

Posted
Posted

On road designations, the letter designates the type of road.

M = Motorway

F = Freeway (or possibly Federal Highway, I can't remember)

Then you have A, B, C (and possibly D) roads. From A-D the road's quality decreases. An "A" road would be your typical country highway (think of the highway from Geelong to Adelaide), probably with a 100km/hr speed limit.

A "B" road is a more winding road. Still well surfaced and probably reasonably wide, but not quite highway level. Great Ocean Road is a B road.

A "D" road would be a narrow laneway, probably one lane wide in both directions. You'd struggle to get two cars to pass each other on such a road. It might not even be sealed.

There should be official designations on how each road is ranked on VicRoads, but they tell you how wide and how "safe" the road is.

The number, I believe, is an arbitrary value used to designate that specific road. Its not tied to anything else.

  • 2 weeks later...
W0rp3D Grand Master

W0rp3D

Posted
Posted

If you buy a street directory get a melways, ubd are the most useless piece of junk ever made.

But #1 get a gps, makes life a lot easier, take it from a truck driver who has had to use a street directory untill recently, but if you persist with the melways you too will be able to talk on the phone (handsfree of course) drive with one hand and hold the melways with the other.... aledgidly..........

dangerous_daveo Grand Master

dangerous_daveo

Posted
Posted
If you buy a street directory get a melways, ubd are the most useless piece of junk ever made.

...

QUEENSLANDERS take note, the Brisway is FAR superiour to the ubd. People from melbourne know what they are talking about with that one.

Anyway, just go for random aimless drives. Go with some mates, you get to an intersection, first to say left/right/straight wins and thats where you drive. (have street directory handy for when the fuel light comes on tho). Just remember landmarks etc. Best way to learn the place is to get lost.

And I always park next to a pier or a wall. Means its only one side of the car some fool can open their door in to, not both.

longboy Apprentice

longboy

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the tips!

With regards to getting a GPS system, from what i've seen with freinds using GPS, they're sometimes unreliable and fail to give directions at convenient times, also why spend $200+ when people have been driving fine in years past without the technology(Using GPS is abit soft imho if your not a courier/truckie).

VB- Veteran

VB-

Posted
Posted

yeh even if you get GPS, dont rely on it, make sure you carry a melway too. friends and i went on a random trip to sydney, and he was relying on his GPS, sure enough the thing just died and couldnt get it to work again. i dont know sydney as im a melbourne boy, but still knew where the arterial was to get us home. f*ck it was funny watchin my mates panic though, they just had no idea what to do lol

W0rp3D Grand Master

W0rp3D

Posted
Posted
With regards to getting a GPS system, from what i've seen with freinds using GPS, they're sometimes unreliable and fail to give directions at convenient times

But if your no good a reading a melways then you will get in less shyte with a gps than you will trying to figure out where you are going with a map.

Just make sure you get a decent unit with up tp date maps and set it up right, i have found with tomtom that if you choose to go the most direct route its usually slower than if you choose to go the fastest.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Duncan
      R33 GTR running -9 with no tune

      By Duncan · Posted

      Sounds like you've got an interesting adventure ahead here with local support if you have trouble! My guess is that, unboosted, you will be OK with a small upgrade like -9. What will happen is that once the stock ECU sees more airflow than it expects it will add a heap of fuel and pull a heap of timing to be safe because it can't understand how it could get that much air without there being an issue. You will see clouds of black smoke and it won't pull hard through the midrange and top end. So, overall it will be a bit frustrating but should be OK. If you are still nervous set the base timing back 2o through the CAS, but it will be even more sluggish everywhere. As said above through...this is not my guarantee your engine won't be blown into a million pieces, leaving you looking for very hard to find parts A better idea is get a computer with logging ASAP, wire in a wide band O2 sensor and a use remote tuner. I've done multiple cars this way and while it is not as good as a specific tune on a dyno they can get it 90% right. I'd suggest if you can afford an R33 GTR these days you can afford an ECU and tune. And if you can't afford that you sure won't be able to afford the rebuild if it goes bad in the meantime,.  
    • Duncan
      New kid on the block

      By Duncan · Posted

      Yeah it would be nice if someone took the time to put that sort of information together, but there are a lot of variations in looms. I think you are making this way hard for yourself if you just want to get it running....sourcing an SR20 with the right wiring will be a billion times easier than matching the RB loom to an S15 chassis. If you do end up going this way, you just need to trace every wire in the loom with a multimeter, 95% of them will go to a location you can confirm at the ECU.....and then post it up for the next person who needs it  
    • Duncan
      Coolant leak?

      By Duncan · Posted

      Just top it up with water, and keep a general idea of how much you added. It is normal for water to be pushed into and pulled out of the reservoir through the cap, and it should not be more than half full or it will be likely to overflow when hot. Any decent mechanic can do a pressure test of the cooling system to confirm if you have a leak. Keep in mind if it is only leaking a little and when hot it may well evaporate before you see it hit the ground
    • GTSBoy
      Coolant leak?

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      I'd ask the shop what they used and use that. Mixing coolants is sometimes OK, sometimes not, and you have know the details of each coolant to know whether it's a good idea or not.
    • Chupapy
      Coolant leak?

      By Chupapy · Posted

      Is it alright to top up with just another green coolant?
×
×
  • Create New...