Clutch control petrol 1.3 litre car
I recently passed my driving test in a diesel car and have now bought a 1.3 litre petrol car.
Anyway, I'm really struggling with the clutch control on hills and even when still. I always seem to be stalling and it feels like I'm learning how to drive again. When I had my lessons in a diesel I didn't even have to use the accelerator to move forward as the clutch is very strong.
What I'm doing is I lift the clutch to the highest biting point and then I press a bit on the accelerator but it either revs really loudly and stalls.
What am I doing wrong?
Anyway, I'm really struggling with the clutch control on hills and even when still. I always seem to be stalling and it feels like I'm learning how to drive again. When I had my lessons in a diesel I didn't even have to use the accelerator to move forward as the clutch is very strong.
What I'm doing is I lift the clutch to the highest biting point and then I press a bit on the accelerator but it either revs really loudly and stalls.
What am I doing wrong?
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Yes, some diesel cars which would move away from standing just lifting the clutch with no gas pedal, I used to use that as a very lazy way to move in crawling traffic jams. But you'd be very lucky to find a petrol car that could do that without a stall.
Anyway, yes, you will need to put some revs on before you lift the clutch so it survives the bite point, and then as you move through the bite point you need to feather in the revs to pull away. A little bit like a hill start in fact.
Get biting point, add small amount of accelerator, crawl away at first.
Hills will require more accelerator.
Book one more driving lesson if you can't get the hang of it.
But yeah, most manual petrol cars will struggle to pull away even on the flat if you just let the clutch out. You need to apply a bit of extra power and definitely on a hill start.
Thank you all for the advice. I can see where i'm going wrong and will try your suggestions like not lifting the clutch as much.
I guess practice makes perfect, and I'm going today with some friends for a drive. i'm dreading those hill starts though
Doesn't help when I have people taking the piss saying how did you pass your test
I know some people really struggle driving a new (to them) vehicle and they have years of driving experience. I'm fairly lucky (touch wood) that I can jump i'm most vehicles and within a few minutes are comfortable with clutch, accelerator positioning, size of the car etc.
I may be worth asking your instructor to take you out in your own car, add in a bit of motorway driving too.
My very first car was a knackered Mini and I never pushed the choke all the way in because the engine would stall when warm
My old dad taught me to drive and every few lessons he’d make me start off in 1st gear and get the car from zero to 15mph ‘ish, without changing gear and without touching the accelerator pedal!
I then had to repeat the exercise starting off in 2nd gear!;
.... then repeat, starting off in 3rd gear!
And finally, start in 4th gear and get to 15mph ‘ish, again without any help from the accelerator pedal;
............ if you can complete that exercise, without stalling, you’ll never have a problem with 'clutch control' again.
My dad used to punch me in the ear if I stalled
P.S. you must do this exercise on a flat/level road;… if the road is slightly downhill that will be 'cheating'!
…both ears, TBH;
…he’d punch me in the left ear,…and the right side of my head would rattle into the drivers’ side-window.
Wow, that made me smile. I remember doing the same thing.
Handbrake on, apply accelerator (not crazy amounts) and depress clutch. When you reach biting point, you'll feel the car try to move forward and at that point simply release the handbrake while tempering your clutch and throttle.
The first few times you do this try and practice, making sure there's nothing directly in front of you or behind you. If you over rev you will go shooting forward when you release the handbrake and/or possibly wheelspin which can cause you to slide backwards on a hill (especially if it's wet).
Using a handbrake when stationary for more than a few seconds is good practice anyway, hill or not.
Yep, 100% normal.
The difference your expericing is basically down to 2 things...
Diesels have more torque or pulling power at low speeds - they try to keep going, while a small petrol will just cut out.
The other thing is the individual clutch on a given make/model of car. Some stall very easily. Some are more forgiving, I recently borrowed an original shape 1.3 petrol Yaris, and it was like I had to rev the engine to prevent it stalling, even worse on hills, It reminded me of the late 1980s 950cc petrol fiesta I learned to drive in. I would make a point of never buying a car like this. As an aside note, driving a car like that + repeatedly using the parking brake every time You stop and then purposely gas + clutch every time makes for slow driving. But other manual cars I have owned, such as the mk2 1.2 corsa petrol were very easy on the clutch. This is why a test drive is essential.
Personally, I Prefer automatics now. The number of times I have to keep stopping and starting, it just makes more sense (at least to me).
I think manufacturers have now mostly fixed it.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cinquecento+hill+start+problems&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
That was only on certain fiat cars.