"Have you booked a chiropractic appointment because of the ride?” wrote a wag when I said that I would be running a Toyota GR Yaris, shortly to appear in the Our Cars section of the magazine.
Little did my correspondent know that I always have my next bimonthly chiropractic visit booked. But, dear reader, consider this a public service announcement: ride harshness has nothing to do with it
No, you could put a car on square wheels and give it shock absorbers from Thrust 2 and my spine still wouldn’t complain in the slightest. What it hates – and I mention this because, if you’re a high-mileage driver, it could be that yours does too – is quite simply the amount of time I spend sitting, not quite straight, pushing a pedal with my right foot.
If I’m on a circuit, sometimes I’ll be pushing pretty hard. And on some days, I’ll be pushing for hours. Different pedals, different bulkheads and different forces but much of the time, the same leg and an askew driving position to do it.
This isn’t great for my pelvis, it took a chiropractor to diagnose. If I imagine pushing a wall with the same arm for hours, I can conceive getting a shoulder ache. I’m not sure why, then, I spent so long oofing and wondering: was it muscular? Was it a disc? What had I lifted badly?
Nothing: I’d just sat and winced as my pelvis drifted out of whack. Semi-regular chiropractic, plus more focused stretching between times, has kept my slide into middle age rather more graceful.
Yes, chiropractic is considered a complementary and alternative medicine, but it and osteopathy are the only CAMs that are regulated the same way as conventional medicine and ‘manual therapy for lower back pain’ is one of the limited CAMs that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended.
I wonder, mind, what difference will be made by the rise of automatic and electric cars with only two pedals. As in karts, in most race cars and on simulators, if the pedals are set up correctly, you can transfer braking to the left peg. Driving is as sedentary an activity as it gets, but maybe evening out the forces will help.
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Adaptive cruise control Matt - means you can spend 90% less time actually pressing the pedals in normal traffic and save your foot for the fun bits (what's left). Though I do fear, from you previous articles on car systems, maybe you struggle to press the ACC ON switch! Just give me a call on your next RS6 test, I'll help you.
ACC is an absolute boon to any long distance driver! I love cruise control, but ACC is a game changer to me. I've driven from Glasgow to Edinburgh and never once had to touch the pedals.
However, I suspect that for Mtatt, his type of driving isn't purely motorways. So that he can fully test a cars abilities, I can imagine there are a lot of A roads, as well as a lot of traffic jams in London
Talking about the back issues, I agree, someone said sitting too much whether it's your job or at home isn't good for you, get out and walk is the key, find at least thirty minutes to do it, it is a good habit to have.
"And it’s a manual. I’ve not quite worked out how to left-foot brake and operate the clutch just yet"
Watch Walter Rörhl driving a quattro S1... a picture paints a thousand words.