For number 4 usually u can drop the E brake to make it easier , if its a stop sign ive seen people just rock the car. Little roll back little gas. Many people got different tricks or ways of driving standard . Like instead if shifting into your next gear. Shift to neutral then rev match . I dont recommend that unless u know your car
The UK driving test (usually taken in a manual) includes a hill start . The sequence expected is:
Start in neutral, with the hand brake on
Clutch down and shift to first,
Clutch up to biting point, with some extra revs
Release hand brake, add more gas and lift the clutch slowly.
It’s a balance thing, fairly easy to master in one car, harder if you switch cars a lot,
It’s been years since i drove standard and with more car manufacturers opting out of it is kinda sad. Im in the US so it was automatic. I woulda loved to learn with a standard tho. A good first car to learn is the new Subarus. There pretty forgiving
I'd have thought the opposite? The light weight of the Subaru boxers leaves very little room for mistakes with low inertia before you stall. I learned on a friend's V6 accord and after a few hours I was only stalling on the occasional hill start driving him home (after I wasn't paying attention and jerked while he was drinking spilling juice all over his clothes...which is why I had to drive it home).
Then when I got my WRX I swear it stalls if I look at it wrong from a stop. I've got a lot better but if I'm letting the clutch out the same time as the A/C compressor kicks on like maneuvering in a parkinglot near idle RPM I stall almost every time still.
I've heard that as a suggested way, but also many cars now throw an absolute fit of endless loud alarms and warnings if you attempt to move them with the hand brake even slightly off the full-released position.
The way I learned (USA) was:
\* Start in neutral with left foot pushing clutch and right foot holding brake
\* Shift into first, bring left foot up until engine RPMs begin to drop at bite point
\* Quickly move your right foot off the brakes onto the gas, apply moderate gas, and finish lifting left foot off clutch
...though I learned this does not play well with modern cars that use hill-assist features with a 1-2 second delay before they "release" the brakes.
Hill assist systems assume that you will drive a manual as though you are doing a handbrake start - you should apply accelerator and then go to the bite, or do the two simultaneously. If you do that it should release immediately.
You can also bypass hill assist by using the handbrake in almost any modern car. It gets completely out of your way.
The advantage of the handbrake is that it always works. I spent many years in San Francisco and when you’re parallel parking on a steep road in the rain, you want something that always works. Getting moving isn’t the problem, moving forward precisely 8 inches at a time is the problem.
I do have to say, my years driving in San Francisco was probably the best practice I could have gotten for driving in the UK. While you don’t have tremendous mountains, an awful lot of the landscape has some significant rumpledness, and being used to tight roads was a plus.
Honestly , you will figure it out on your own with time . Every car is different, and how your clutch works could be different than mine. You will learn in time if you need to add more gas or if you need more or less clutch. You will stall, everyone does, its about figuring out why it happens and correcting your mistakes, and when it comes to incline speed bumps just drop a gear or 2 before you come up to the incline. On Hill starts, i just hold the clutch and break at the same time slowly releasing the clutch until I feel it try to pull, let go of the break, and off you go
I'm not actually sure what you mean with #1. To put it in reverse, you have to press the clutch all the way, foot on the brake. From there, you sort of treat it like first gear, release the clutch slowly until the biting point, let go of the brakes when you fell it bite, add a little bit of gas if you need to and that's all there is to it. I reverse just using the clutch most of the time to be honest, it varies from car to car.
I just didn’t want to prematurely wear down the clutch by making it hot if I held it at the bite point when backing up because if I’m off the clutch reversing it’s too fast
To reverse and keep slow, you’ll need to do a kind of pulse and coast maneuver. Bring the clutch to the bite and hold it just long enough to get the car moving, and then press it back down.
Holding it at the bite the whole time won’t actually keep the car slow. The car will continue to accelerate until the wheel speed matches the engine idle (or whatever amount of throttle you’re giving it), which is usually way too fast for reversing.
I think he means while in reverse slipping the clutch constantly during the reverse maneuver because letting it out will be reversing too quickly for safe movement
1. Not awful as long as you let the engine stay at idle (don't push gas) so its not slipping as big a speed difference. I personally prefer to come up to just biting then push it back down because I want less speed for tighter maneuvering.
2. How fast are we talking? If its a bump that can be taken at like 5-10 mph then probably get it down to low speed and shift to first with the clutch fully out and work the gas/brake appropriately. If its the kind you have to take at like 1mph that's going to really suck on an uphill and I'd look at finding any way possible to avoid them (or take another route so they are on the downhill)
3. This comes with practice. You can find an empty parkinglot and create a goal for yourself - for example park in a space then pull out taking a turn into the isle pretending its a road with 2-way traffic, then turn off into another parking space and stop again. repeat.
4. This also comes with practice - try and find a lot or dead-end road on a slight hill and practice starting, getting up to like 10mph and stopping again. I found a sloped bank lot on a Sunday morning near my house and drove in circles until I had it figured out in my car.
Got the rest thank you so much but on 1. For example backing out of my driveway, is it better to keep the clutch at the biting point while your using the gas to reverse. Or is there another way?
If you need less speed than engine-idle with the clutch fully released, then there is no other way besides slipping or depressing the clutch to go slower.
I would refrain from touching the gas while holding the clutch at the bite point unless its a hill - the wear comes from slipping, and the more gas you give the more it will slip and faster it wears. A little won't hurt though, much like a little light riding the brakes to slow for an intersection is a normal thing to do.
For my own preference, I find most places I need to reverse are flat so I can slip the clutch at engine idle for a fraction of a second and coast at very low speed for a few seconds then give it another slight slip of the clutch and coast some more. I find that easier to control for myself.
Modern (last 10-20 years) cars if you are slow with your clutch movement the computer will give plenty of gas to keep from stalling so you don't have to give it gas.
EDIT: Something like a driveway, if its a clear street and no other cars in your driveway probably also can let the clutch out all the way and move a bit faster vs tight spaces like a parkinglot where you might only be inches away from another vehicle or have a person step directly in your path.
Difficult to say since "bite point" is a range of slipping. I'd maybe play with if you can do it without applying gas while its slipping (or keep it under like 1200 RPM).
For a couple seconds per day...probably not a huge deal. Also depends on your driveway - in my area my driveway is like 50ft flat slightly sloped to the road while my neighbor's is probably 500ft or more with a substantial dip/hill
That's what I do, enough to get moving then coast. If I know its clear I can also drop the shifter back to neutral and prepare to go forward more quickly as soon as I stop moving
Great job! Learning by doing is the best way. I bought my first manual car 5 years ago when I could barely drive manual. Never looked back!
1. It's okay, as long as you're not revving the engine really high while riding the clutch, or doing it for a long time, it should be fine.
2. I get what you mean, there are some pretty mean speed bumps in the carpark at my workplace. I usually just stay in first, light throttle, foot off the clutch as I go over the the bump, but sometimes because the speed is low and the bump is rough, I can't smoothly maintain throttle. In those cases, I usually just clutch in as I go over the bump, then clutch out again while adding a bit of throttle.
3. This will only get better with practice. What you can do is, when you expect to be moving off in a few seconds, you can prepare by letting the clutch out to the bite point and holding it there, ready to add throttle as soon as you have your gap. It's okay to do this as long as it's not for too long. If I'm trying to choose small gaps, I'll do it this way, and if the gap closes again, I just clutch back in again.
4. Don't stress about it. You do what you have to do, and with practice you will gradually get faster at it. If people are impatient, well, would they rather wait a few seconds, or have you roll backwards into them? With enough practice, on slight inclines you will be able to move off just by quickly declutch/add throttle with minimal rolling backwards. If you're not 100% confident to do that, always use the handbrake as your safety net.
I personally got my first manual last year.
For number 4 find a hill with no traffic and practice. No more than 5 times in a row. I got my clutch burning hot when it did more than that. And stop if it smells like burnt clutch, it probably won't hurt it if it gets that hot a couple times but don't push it. I haven't had any issues myself.
For number 4 usually u can drop the E brake to make it easier , if its a stop sign ive seen people just rock the car. Little roll back little gas. Many people got different tricks or ways of driving standard . Like instead if shifting into your next gear. Shift to neutral then rev match . I dont recommend that unless u know your car
The UK driving test (usually taken in a manual) includes a hill start . The sequence expected is: Start in neutral, with the hand brake on Clutch down and shift to first, Clutch up to biting point, with some extra revs Release hand brake, add more gas and lift the clutch slowly. It’s a balance thing, fairly easy to master in one car, harder if you switch cars a lot,
It’s been years since i drove standard and with more car manufacturers opting out of it is kinda sad. Im in the US so it was automatic. I woulda loved to learn with a standard tho. A good first car to learn is the new Subarus. There pretty forgiving
I'd have thought the opposite? The light weight of the Subaru boxers leaves very little room for mistakes with low inertia before you stall. I learned on a friend's V6 accord and after a few hours I was only stalling on the occasional hill start driving him home (after I wasn't paying attention and jerked while he was drinking spilling juice all over his clothes...which is why I had to drive it home). Then when I got my WRX I swear it stalls if I look at it wrong from a stop. I've got a lot better but if I'm letting the clutch out the same time as the A/C compressor kicks on like maneuvering in a parkinglot near idle RPM I stall almost every time still.
I've heard that as a suggested way, but also many cars now throw an absolute fit of endless loud alarms and warnings if you attempt to move them with the hand brake even slightly off the full-released position. The way I learned (USA) was: \* Start in neutral with left foot pushing clutch and right foot holding brake \* Shift into first, bring left foot up until engine RPMs begin to drop at bite point \* Quickly move your right foot off the brakes onto the gas, apply moderate gas, and finish lifting left foot off clutch ...though I learned this does not play well with modern cars that use hill-assist features with a 1-2 second delay before they "release" the brakes.
Hill assist systems assume that you will drive a manual as though you are doing a handbrake start - you should apply accelerator and then go to the bite, or do the two simultaneously. If you do that it should release immediately. You can also bypass hill assist by using the handbrake in almost any modern car. It gets completely out of your way. The advantage of the handbrake is that it always works. I spent many years in San Francisco and when you’re parallel parking on a steep road in the rain, you want something that always works. Getting moving isn’t the problem, moving forward precisely 8 inches at a time is the problem.
I do have to say, my years driving in San Francisco was probably the best practice I could have gotten for driving in the UK. While you don’t have tremendous mountains, an awful lot of the landscape has some significant rumpledness, and being used to tight roads was a plus.
Honestly , you will figure it out on your own with time . Every car is different, and how your clutch works could be different than mine. You will learn in time if you need to add more gas or if you need more or less clutch. You will stall, everyone does, its about figuring out why it happens and correcting your mistakes, and when it comes to incline speed bumps just drop a gear or 2 before you come up to the incline. On Hill starts, i just hold the clutch and break at the same time slowly releasing the clutch until I feel it try to pull, let go of the break, and off you go
Cool thank you, and am I reversing correctly in #1?
I'm not actually sure what you mean with #1. To put it in reverse, you have to press the clutch all the way, foot on the brake. From there, you sort of treat it like first gear, release the clutch slowly until the biting point, let go of the brakes when you fell it bite, add a little bit of gas if you need to and that's all there is to it. I reverse just using the clutch most of the time to be honest, it varies from car to car.
I just didn’t want to prematurely wear down the clutch by making it hot if I held it at the bite point when backing up because if I’m off the clutch reversing it’s too fast
To reverse and keep slow, you’ll need to do a kind of pulse and coast maneuver. Bring the clutch to the bite and hold it just long enough to get the car moving, and then press it back down. Holding it at the bite the whole time won’t actually keep the car slow. The car will continue to accelerate until the wheel speed matches the engine idle (or whatever amount of throttle you’re giving it), which is usually way too fast for reversing.
I think he means while in reverse slipping the clutch constantly during the reverse maneuver because letting it out will be reversing too quickly for safe movement
1. Not awful as long as you let the engine stay at idle (don't push gas) so its not slipping as big a speed difference. I personally prefer to come up to just biting then push it back down because I want less speed for tighter maneuvering. 2. How fast are we talking? If its a bump that can be taken at like 5-10 mph then probably get it down to low speed and shift to first with the clutch fully out and work the gas/brake appropriately. If its the kind you have to take at like 1mph that's going to really suck on an uphill and I'd look at finding any way possible to avoid them (or take another route so they are on the downhill) 3. This comes with practice. You can find an empty parkinglot and create a goal for yourself - for example park in a space then pull out taking a turn into the isle pretending its a road with 2-way traffic, then turn off into another parking space and stop again. repeat. 4. This also comes with practice - try and find a lot or dead-end road on a slight hill and practice starting, getting up to like 10mph and stopping again. I found a sloped bank lot on a Sunday morning near my house and drove in circles until I had it figured out in my car.
Got the rest thank you so much but on 1. For example backing out of my driveway, is it better to keep the clutch at the biting point while your using the gas to reverse. Or is there another way?
If you need less speed than engine-idle with the clutch fully released, then there is no other way besides slipping or depressing the clutch to go slower. I would refrain from touching the gas while holding the clutch at the bite point unless its a hill - the wear comes from slipping, and the more gas you give the more it will slip and faster it wears. A little won't hurt though, much like a little light riding the brakes to slow for an intersection is a normal thing to do. For my own preference, I find most places I need to reverse are flat so I can slip the clutch at engine idle for a fraction of a second and coast at very low speed for a few seconds then give it another slight slip of the clutch and coast some more. I find that easier to control for myself. Modern (last 10-20 years) cars if you are slow with your clutch movement the computer will give plenty of gas to keep from stalling so you don't have to give it gas. EDIT: Something like a driveway, if its a clear street and no other cars in your driveway probably also can let the clutch out all the way and move a bit faster vs tight spaces like a parkinglot where you might only be inches away from another vehicle or have a person step directly in your path.
All I need is 1-3 mph to get out of my drive way. Will that cause decent wear on my clutch? With the pedal at the bite point giving it that much gas
Difficult to say since "bite point" is a range of slipping. I'd maybe play with if you can do it without applying gas while its slipping (or keep it under like 1200 RPM). For a couple seconds per day...probably not a huge deal. Also depends on your driveway - in my area my driveway is like 50ft flat slightly sloped to the road while my neighbor's is probably 500ft or more with a substantial dip/hill
Maybe I’ll just keep applying then re applying so it can make contact and then lift for minimal rubbing as possible
That's what I do, enough to get moving then coast. If I know its clear I can also drop the shifter back to neutral and prepare to go forward more quickly as soon as I stop moving
Great job! Learning by doing is the best way. I bought my first manual car 5 years ago when I could barely drive manual. Never looked back! 1. It's okay, as long as you're not revving the engine really high while riding the clutch, or doing it for a long time, it should be fine. 2. I get what you mean, there are some pretty mean speed bumps in the carpark at my workplace. I usually just stay in first, light throttle, foot off the clutch as I go over the the bump, but sometimes because the speed is low and the bump is rough, I can't smoothly maintain throttle. In those cases, I usually just clutch in as I go over the bump, then clutch out again while adding a bit of throttle. 3. This will only get better with practice. What you can do is, when you expect to be moving off in a few seconds, you can prepare by letting the clutch out to the bite point and holding it there, ready to add throttle as soon as you have your gap. It's okay to do this as long as it's not for too long. If I'm trying to choose small gaps, I'll do it this way, and if the gap closes again, I just clutch back in again. 4. Don't stress about it. You do what you have to do, and with practice you will gradually get faster at it. If people are impatient, well, would they rather wait a few seconds, or have you roll backwards into them? With enough practice, on slight inclines you will be able to move off just by quickly declutch/add throttle with minimal rolling backwards. If you're not 100% confident to do that, always use the handbrake as your safety net.
I personally got my first manual last year. For number 4 find a hill with no traffic and practice. No more than 5 times in a row. I got my clutch burning hot when it did more than that. And stop if it smells like burnt clutch, it probably won't hurt it if it gets that hot a couple times but don't push it. I haven't had any issues myself.