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Driving advice please? Passed my test this summer
I'm kinda seeking some advice in relation to the clutch and driving at slow speeds. There's a local car park that I sometimes use close to where I shop. Its quite a busy car park and not always many empty spaces - unless I go very early.
Anyway, I passed my test back in the summer, and sometimes seems to struggle with the clutch at slow speeds. Here's what happens:
When I drop down into first gear (in the car park trying to find a space and it has a 5 mile speed limit) I then get into a habbit of not bringing the clutch all the way up after selecting first gear. My foot seems have the clutch "up" a little. The car is still moving as I have my foot on the gas just a tad, but the car is making this really loud revving sound? If I then bring the clutch up slowly the rest of the way, the car appears to lunge forward a little. This scared me a little the first time this happened and I also got a couple of looks from people in the car park. Is this because the car is revving so much? Also, is this known as 'riding the clutch'
What am I doing wrong? Is it me not bringing the clutch all the way up and releasing it? Or is it too much on the gas peddle? I passed my test in a diesel car and this one is a petrol. I don't drive that often and apart from this I don't have any real issues with anything else.
Can someone please offer me advice?
Many thanks
Anyway, I passed my test back in the summer, and sometimes seems to struggle with the clutch at slow speeds. Here's what happens:
When I drop down into first gear (in the car park trying to find a space and it has a 5 mile speed limit) I then get into a habbit of not bringing the clutch all the way up after selecting first gear. My foot seems have the clutch "up" a little. The car is still moving as I have my foot on the gas just a tad, but the car is making this really loud revving sound? If I then bring the clutch up slowly the rest of the way, the car appears to lunge forward a little. This scared me a little the first time this happened and I also got a couple of looks from people in the car park. Is this because the car is revving so much? Also, is this known as 'riding the clutch'
What am I doing wrong? Is it me not bringing the clutch all the way up and releasing it? Or is it too much on the gas peddle? I passed my test in a diesel car and this one is a petrol. I don't drive that often and apart from this I don't have any real issues with anything else.
Can someone please offer me advice?
Many thanks
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Comments
By not bringing the clutch up enough, you're overcompensating by pressing the accelerator too much, you're thinking "accelerator makes it go" instead of considering the clutch as equally important.
Practice some slow driving in an empty industrial estate somewhere, like when you pull away normally, but instead of speeding up to 30, just stay at a crawl. Try to see how slowly and smoothly you can drive with minimal revs. Don't know what size engine you have, but a bigger one can pull the car along with clutch up and no throttle.
Slow manoeuvring is a fine balance of clutch and throttle. You'll get it eventually.
So when I drop down into first gear (like in the car park) I should then bring the clutch all the way up slowly?
Think about it, both feet doing clutch, brake and throttle, both arms doing gears, steering, indicators, wipers plus all the observation and processing.
There are combos on Street Fighter II that aren't that complex.
There is a school of thought that says that you "aren't really driving unless you have a clutch and gear-shift."
Maybe you subscribe to that, if so, keep practicing and you'll eventually master it.
Personally I can't be ar**d with that, I avoid a stick shift like the plague, although sometimes, when renting a car in Europe for example, I just have to suffer it.
I think that the last time I owned a stick-shift, Harold Macmillan was probably Prime Minister.
Just start the engine, put your foot on the brake, ease the shift from Park to Drive, gently stroke the gas, and enjoy relatively stress free driving.
You will have to get the biting point of the clutch, release the foot brake / hand brake and then very carefully release the rest of the clutch.
The car will go very slowly. You will know for future then that any speeds higher than that will not require you to use the clutch at all.
From memory, I don't get on with very small engined petrol - manual cars, like the original 1.0 petrol Yaris, or ancient Ford Fiesta. Ofcourse some of it is down to the clutch on each, but I think having a very tiny petrol engine makes things worse.
A diesel tends to be more forgiving.....they tend to want to keep running rather than just cut out on you. Like with the petrols, the clutch will vary from model to model a bit. My turbo diesel polo can ghost ride in 1st gear, like an automatic car due to the clutch on these cars and an engine that just wants to keep ticking over. What I mean is, on the flat I can gently let the clutch up (in 1st) and the car will pull away without me touching the accelerator. This "diesel torque" even on a baby 1.4 engine comes in very handy when the roads are covered in snow & ice.
I eventually had to change the clutch as it always squeeked when it was used as the previous owner had been "Riding the Clutch" and wore the spring plate out. Even after changing it the car still had a high biting point. Some cars just do and you have to adjust your driving to suit.
It's not stressful to drive a manual. There are those of us that can do it, and those that can't (e.g. Americans)
Basically riding the clutch wears it out more because the plates are spinning against each other and eventually it will fail and you'll wonder why you can't accelerate properly.
You should be able to go at car park speeds in first with the clutch all the way out and almost a feather touch on the accelerator.
I agree with burton07; that's certainly a good exercise and will help you..
My dad taught me to drive and every few lessons he used to make me get the car from zero to 20mph or so, without changing gear and without touching the accelerator at all.
I then had to repeat the exercise starting in 2nd gear!
.... then repeat starting in 3rd gear!
And finally start in 4th gear and get to 20mph, again without any help from the accelerator pedal;........
............ if you can do that you will never have a problem with 'clutch control' again.
P.S. you must do this exercise on a flat/level road; if the road is slightly downhill that be be 'cheating'! ;-)
Automatics can be very good on snow/ice, my one (petrol) was excellent. It had a winter programe which limited the power to the wheels.
Although my diesel manual hatchback is very good in snow, ice, it's not as good as my automatic.
Lots of expensive cars are automatic now, for example range rovers and they seem to work very well with an auto box.
Automatic characteristics do vary, so some will be better than others, but the engine/clutch control on manual cars also vary in how easy they r to control.
Spot on
I don't know if I could do that now and i've been driving fora couple of years
You may think it will never come, but eventually clutch control and achieving 'the balance' is just something that comes naturally. You don't have to think about it.
There is a notorious steep hill near me where mid climb you emerge at some crossroads where you sometimes have to pause and give way. Easy peasy. If I can do it with my unco-ordination and two left feet, anyone can.
Try it !
It’s so long ago now and I actually thought it was a standard thing that all learner drivers did as an exercise!........I never had any lessons with a ‘driving instructor’.... just my dad.
It’s much cheaper than a driving-school..........but the downside is you get shouted at a lot!
I was only 17 but I distinctly remember having serious problems mastering ‘hill starts’. I just couldn’t get the hang of it......it was all down to a complete lack of ‘clutch control’; however, after mastering my dads ‘pet exercise’ then hill-starts became easy.
Another exercise he used to make me do was 4 or 5 successive hill-starts on a very steep hill.
i.e. A conventional hill-start using the handbrake to start the car moving uphill for 10 yards and then slow to a halt and ‘balance’ the car for a few seconds, just using the clutch and accelerator (no handbrake) and then slowly move uphill another 10 yards and slow to a halt and again ‘balance’ for a few seconds before moving on another 10 yards etc etc.
My old dad was a bit of a stickler but he always reckoned that once a learner had mastered ‘clutch control’ then the rest would fall into place....I think he was probably right.
I personally found Ford were pretty terrible, vey sudden biting point. Yet GM were fine.
Granted in snow or icy conditions you have to adjust your driving methods and thought processes a bit, and treat the gas and brake pedals as if they were made of glass, but once you know what you're doing you'll be okay.
By that I don't mean YOU personally smudges dad, I mean drivers in general.
To answer idlewilde, I didn't mean that driving a stick-shift is stressful, I meant that the OP might find driving an automatic less stressful than being concerned about clutch control.
I'm afraid that your memory is defective.
It takes only a moment's thought to realise that this scenario is impossible. To reach 20mph in first gear would require engine revs of several thousand per minute which cannot be achieved without use of the throttle.
I'm afraid your post is defective.
Before being so pedantic (and offensive) you really should have read my post properly; I did say 20mph or so.
You obviously missed the point completely. The exercise was to get the car moving smoothly whilst never touching the accelerator. It is not an exercise to get the car to 20mph per se!
20mph was just an arbitrary figure to illustrate the point of the exercise and wasn't meant to be taken literally.
Anyone who has passed a driving test (and most learner drivers) would have been able to work that out.................you obviously couldn't.
P.S. and you a retired lawyer as well!
Some people are saying buy an automatic but it isn't really the answer, and quite defeatist! Particularly if you're wanting a small car, choice is very limited and they generally use boxes that are "robot boxes" or automated manuals (often technically semi autos), with motors or hydraulics operating the clutch for you. Generally these are, in a word, crap, either because they're full of electronics that pack up, mechanicals that pack up, or don't change gear smoothly. The traditional torque converter type is usually better but are falling out of use because they're not as fuel efficient. There is a VW/Audi DSG gearbox, but I wouldn't touch one with a bargepole on reliability grounds. They're also stuffed with electronics that can pack up, mechanicals that can pack up, and when they do, they're hellish expensive.
You say defeatist, I say enlightened.
Autos vary, as do manual cars. I always hated manual fords, to light on the clutch. My driving instructor had a fiesta which was a sod to drive due to the clutch. My sister used to have a ford Orion where the pedals had no pressure under them whatsoever. It was also very easy to get the wrong gear, eg 2nd to 5th. Truly hateful design.
Some autos do use automated or robotic manual transmissions, and these vary in quality. Some are only fitted with a single automated clutch others have 2 clutches like on vag cars. The 2 clutch system is by far the better of the two, and vag cars have hill hold fitted along side their dsg automated transmission. I drove a vw Jetta 2.0tdi dsg a few years ago and it was impressive (just like a regular automatic).
Not forgetting CVT automatics, which are common on smaller cars. Again they vary in how well they respond. The original Honda Jazz had it, and was very good. They then switched with the series 2 to a single clutch automsted manual without hill hold fitted (Honda iShift), which was dire, learning from this mistake they replaced it with an updated CVT.....which is what I drove 5 days ago....and the 1.4 petrol engine & latest CVT is very good indeed, the best part of the car IMO.
Regular automatics, the kind used in the states are the most mature, in theory the most hardy due to the decades of development. Vauxhall use this design and it's found on several Fords. The Ford Focus I tested was a 1.6 petrol with regular auto and it was very refined. My last car was a 1.8 petrol Astra auto with regular auto box, which was, how shall we say "fun" to drive. Winter mode was awesome in snow/ice....when I had it, one winter the roads had not been cleared and there were several of us from my town which drove to work in the next town-I was the only one to make it, and I was the only one with an automatic car. The route inc 2 hills as well, which were shut according to the local radio....i still got to work, despite the road being covered in snow & ice. Had a productive day as i recall, section manager did a double take, could understand how I made it in.