5 ms·

don't forget the first time you have to start on a hill. or brake. first time I had to brake hard I forgot to put in the clutch and that was the whole front end

don't forget the first time you have to start on a hill. or brake. first time I had to brake hard I forgot to put in the clutch and that was the whole front end.

wrycoder 4y ago
Er, what? It should have just killed the engine.
- convolvatron 4y ago
  as the engine was stalling out it caught and lurched forward
airstrike 4y ago
isn't braking more effective if you don't put in the clutch? it kills the engine, but has the advantage of using said engine to break
- ilyt 4y ago
  It is entirely irrelvant in any modern car as brakes are always stronger than your tire grip, unless you track the car and break over and over again often. But theoretically not on hard braking as plainly engine have enough inertia that it wouldn't get to "engine braking" phase when you just slammed on brake. You'd be braking both car and engine. On light braking, sure.
  - progman32 4y ago
    Also, in an emergency situation, it's better to keep things consistent. Save the fancy moves for when you have time and space. Any sign of trouble? Both feet in, no hesitation. Unless you train stopping with the clutch out.
Klonoar 4y ago
Many modern stickshifts have hill assist, so if you're fortunate enough to be teaching on a model with this, you either want to temporarily disable it (if possible) or at least communicate the right way to do it and what might happen if they're going to driver an older car.
- swores 4y ago
  I don't know if it's just the couple of cars I've driven do it badly or if they're typical of hill assist on all cars, but I really hate this feature. It always seems to keep the break on longer than I want, and on a couple of occasions even causes me to stall because I tried to accelerate away and couldn't move. Now I usually put the hand-break on because I find it easier to find the biting point [0] and move from there (pretty much in one smooth motion, not needing to pause at the biting point). I've never bothered to think more about it, because it doesn't cause me any trouble doing that, and afaik there's no harm to the car doing it this way, but maybe somebody has advice on how to use hill assist without finding it so annoying? (Or news that in most cars, hill assist is better than the ones I've used?) [0] Biting point being where you pull your foot gradually off the clutch, not all the way but to the point that the front of the car bonnet starts to rise slightly, which is the point that you can remove the hand-break as you keep declutching without rolling backwards down the hill. Was one of the trickier things for me when learning to drive, but incredibly easy once you're used to it.
  - Klonoar 4y ago
    I too just use the handbrake since it feels natural after growing up with it. By the time I'm accelerating I mostly don't notice if any hill-assist was engaged - but this may be a factor of my particular car, and I'm unfortunately unaware of how it feels in some other modern stickshifts.
- wildrhythms 4y ago
  I haven't driven a manual with hill assist, but indeed this is a difficult thing to master especially on an unfamiliar car. It takes a while to get used to the pedals on any car, much more so the clutch. Drifting backwards down a hill is a scary thing to happen at first! I find that automatic drivers aren't used to engaging with the handbrake, which is the real secret to starting up a hill.
AlbertCory 4y ago
OMG, that would be sadistic to start like that!
u801e 4y ago
This is why I just use the parking brake to hold the car in place. Then I only really have to coordinate the use of the clutch and the accelerator without having to worry about the car moving back, no matter how steep the hill. You just have to feel the car pushing foward while the parking brake is still engaged and just release the parking brake while the car starts moving forward.

don't forget the first time you have to start on a hill. or brake. first time I had to brake hard I forgot to put in the clutch and that was the whole front end.

wrycoder 4y ago

Er, what? It should have just killed the engine.

convolvatron 4y ago
as the engine was stalling out it caught and lurched forward

airstrike 4y ago

isn't braking more effective if you don't put in the clutch? it kills the engine, but has the advantage of using said engine to break

ilyt 4y ago
It is entirely irrelvant in any modern car as brakes are always stronger than your tire grip, unless you track the car and break over and over again often. But theoretically not on hard braking as plainly engine have enough inertia that it wouldn't get to "engine braking" phase when you just slammed on brake. You'd be braking both car and engine. On light braking, sure.
- progman32 4y ago
  Also, in an emergency situation, it's better to keep things consistent. Save the fancy moves for when you have time and space. Any sign of trouble? Both feet in, no hesitation. Unless you train stopping with the clutch out.

Klonoar 4y ago

Many modern stickshifts have hill assist, so if you're fortunate enough to be teaching on a model with this, you either want to temporarily disable it (if possible) or at least communicate the right way to do it and what might happen if they're going to driver an older car.

swores 4y ago
I don't know if it's just the couple of cars I've driven do it badly or if they're typical of hill assist on all cars, but I really hate this feature. It always seems to keep the break on longer than I want, and on a couple of occasions even causes me to stall because I tried to accelerate away and couldn't move. Now I usually put the hand-break on because I find it easier to find the biting point [0] and move from there (pretty much in one smooth motion, not needing to pause at the biting point). I've never bothered to think more about it, because it doesn't cause me any trouble doing that, and afaik there's no harm to the car doing it this way, but maybe somebody has advice on how to use hill assist without finding it so annoying? (Or news that in most cars, hill assist is better than the ones I've used?) [0] Biting point being where you pull your foot gradually off the clutch, not all the way but to the point that the front of the car bonnet starts to rise slightly, which is the point that you can remove the hand-break as you keep declutching without rolling backwards down the hill. Was one of the trickier things for me when learning to drive, but incredibly easy once you're used to it.
- Klonoar 4y ago
  I too just use the handbrake since it feels natural after growing up with it. By the time I'm accelerating I mostly don't notice if any hill-assist was engaged - but this may be a factor of my particular car, and I'm unfortunately unaware of how it feels in some other modern stickshifts.
wildrhythms 4y ago
I haven't driven a manual with hill assist, but indeed this is a difficult thing to master especially on an unfamiliar car. It takes a while to get used to the pedals on any car, much more so the clutch. Drifting backwards down a hill is a scary thing to happen at first! I find that automatic drivers aren't used to engaging with the handbrake, which is the real secret to starting up a hill.

AlbertCory 4y ago

OMG, that would be sadistic to start like that!

u801e 4y ago

This is why I just use the parking brake to hold the car in place. Then I only really have to coordinate the use of the clutch and the accelerator without having to worry about the car moving back, no matter how steep the hill. You just have to feel the car pushing foward while the parking brake is still engaged and just release the parking brake while the car starts moving forward.