"Slow is smooth; smooth is fast"

I got this cool quote from the video game titled “First to Fight”, an X-box game that Tita Debbie had gifted us last Christmas. It’s an FPS, similar to “Counter-Strike” and “Rainbow Six”, about US Marines in a fictional conflict setting in the Middle East. They use this quote when they do “Room Take-downs”, which is entering a room and killing enemies within, usually done to rescue hostages. So what’s the connection here?

I know how to drive. I’ve been driving for about 7 years now, and I’ve gone through personality changes associated with it – from being a novice to a more self-confident driver. In all those years, it was only for the past year or so that I’ve driven an automatic transmission car. Most of the time, I drive manual transmission cars (stick-shifts), but now, when my father sold the car that I had been using for the past 4 years (a silver ’91 Toyota Corolla 1.6GL) and bought his “slightly new” Toyota Revo LXV, he gave me permission to use his ’96 Toyota Corolla 1.6GLi with automatic transmission. In the beginning, I was apprehensive in driving this car (and to some extent, I still am) for the primary reason that it is a very complicated and complex machine (much more than the already complicated and complex manual transmission car that I drove) that cannot be easily fixed by any roadside mechanic (one of my greatest fears is this car breaking down in the middle of nowhere and with no one to fix it) and also because I know that the price of its spare parts and the cost of maintaining will ultimately lead me to poverty. In addition, I had a very traumatic experience while driving this car – I fell asleep at the wheel with my sister as my passenger. When I closed my eyes, I swerved to my left, nearly hitting a car and crossing the intersection. It was a good thing that my body managed to wake me up. I immediately jumped to the brake and then the car came to a screeching halt. My sister, bless her, slept through the whole thing. But now, I have no choice. I can’t drive my father’s LXV (he won’t let me), nor can I drive the 98 Toyota FX that serves as my mother’s “service” (it’s way too big for me since I usually drive alone) so I was stuck with it. Don’t get me wrong; it is a very nice car. I just didn’t see how it fit my driving style (I’m more of a passive-aggressive type of driver, especially with the ’91 Corolla, which was set-up for speed). So I made a decision. I had to change my style to fit it.

The change was a bit difficult. I sometimes cannot control my urge to put the pedal to the floor and charge away particularly in intersections. And I can’t maneuver as easily in traffic as I did before (being an automatic, it’s painfully slow from a standing start). In short, I felt it was limiting my freedom somewhat. My father had always told me that automatics don’t like sudden bursts of speed since it takes them a certain level to change gears; instead, I should always keep my foot pressure constant on the gas pedal so that I reach the optimum speed at the right levels and not force the engine. Unfortunately, I kept forgetting that fact. However, that all changed last week, when I bought a book entitled “The Greaseless Guide to Car Care and Maintenance”. I had been looking for that kind of book for sometime since I do have plans to learn to be a mechanic someday (even just for troubleshooting). There I learned that my father had been right all along, that the engines of automatics should never be forced and that driving them should be nice and smooth (how stupid of me not to believe my father… He’s been driving way before I was!). So now, as much as possible I try to drive as smoothly possible. Then I remembered that quote from the game, which has now become my mantra for driving – “slow is smooth; smooth is fast”. And it really works, you know. I feel relaxed while I’m driving, the car is more responsive and I save more fuel. I still get a little flustered at times so I forget, but most of the time, I remember. I hope to become a better driver with it.