Question for the experienced manual drivers..
 

I'm pretty good at driving standard, but the slopes still are nervewrecking for me. I was wondering how you guys go about driving up slopes.. and slopes in traffic. I get the whole parking break thing, but I feel like that would burn either my clutch or break if I keep doing that up a slope during traffic. . .

its just learning how to mix the accelerator and the clutch.

once you've mastered it, you can conquer any slope

Just dont get stuck on a slope in winter :P
That's the ultimate test lol

find yourself a quiet uphill road and practice till you get it, that's how my dad taught me 20 years ago...
the concept is quite easy but it really does take a lot of practice: you need to find the spot where the engine 'holds' the car, with the clutch fully engaged.
if your RPMs are too low, the car will stall, if too high, it will lunge forward.
the mistake that most people make is that they try to prevent either by using the clutch to compensate, and that's what will burn it in the long run.
the amount of RPM you need will vary on the steepness of the slope, so that's a matter of experience but in this car 2500 RPM should be more or less all you need in most situations. Once you get the right revs, you can release break and clutch at more of less the same time as the clutch will grip when the handbrakes stops gripping.
So remember, use your throttle to control the car, not the clutch. When done well a hill start requires as much clutch engagement as a normal gear shift.

Kinda what the other guy says when I come to a stop on a hill if there is a car stopping behind me I roll back a little to let them know I'm driving a stick ( in my mind ) then just give it a bit of gas while you let out the clutch. Key thing to know is engagement point, once you figure that out its smooth sailing. I like to practice by rolling back n pulling forward in place at a light. It really teaches you how to finesse the clutch. One last thing in my state anyway if while driving a manual car if you roll back into someone it's actually the other persons fault for not keeping a safe distance. Check into that


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i'd rather burn the clutch a little bit instead of backing up into someone's car... so i always use the e-brake to be 100% sure. But that's just me.

The absolute first attempt I ever had in a manual at 14 was up a hill in reverse in the grass....sideways....with no shoes on....in the snow....and there was a cougar in the car with me.

experience.

the more and more you drive and get use to manual, the more and more manageable and easy hills become.

Ive learned to drive stick a year ago, and kept having those nerve wrecking feelings, but cant remember when, but ive just gotten use to it that i dont even think about it anymore. It was just experience and getting use to driving with the clutch and the catch point.

You'll get use to hills and not worry about them soon, ive tried searching hard for the "magic" technique, but really just keep driving. if you rollback, chances are itll just be a slight tap on the guy behind you if they are that close.

right, until someone does it to you. Maybe it's b/c i was taught the hard way, but i think rolling back habitually on a hill start is just a sign of poor driving skills and if you can't control your car, you shouldn't be on a public road.
God forbid there's ever a child standing behind your car when it happens. Burn that clutch if you must, but don't roll back

hard to practice on hills in houston I would imagine, more so, how is this a problem in houston anyway?

Time and practice, my friend. I don't use the handbrake to start from hills, though if you lived in San Fran this might be a different story.

Another option, if you're not happy using the emergency brake, is to keep the ball of your right foot on the brake pedal, turn your ankle so your heel is over the gas pedal. Gradually ad some throttle as you ease off on the brake pedal and the clutch.

how do you expect a new stick driver to learn then? stay in the parking lots until hes 100% comfortable? If hes new to driving stick, then yea its a sign of poor driving skills because hes learning. and im not saying to let him keep rolling back, i am sure common sense tells him to brake if hes going to roll like 50feet.

But if your saying that new drivers who havent completely learned to control their car yet to stay off the road until they are 100% confident, then your just telling people to not learn because if you cant do it, dont do it.

All im saying is that if hes trying to learn, and he happens to roll back because he forgot to put enough gas or whatever, is that its not going to be the end of the world.

Can someone check with the Mayans on this? cause that would be some shit right there.

Just practice on this.


http://jenkrause.com/blog/wp-content/steep-road.jpg

After several weeks/month of driving the car, you will barely roll back. Just takes practice and it becomes second nature.

how old was your friends mom?

Practice. My wife grew up in the hills of eastern Kentucky and learned how to drive on a stick and had it mastered at age 16, because she had to. I grew up on a farm and was driving manual transmission vehicles by age 13 on the street, and pretty much had down driving a stick on hills by age 14 or 15. Practice makes perfect.

If you don't want to use the park brake and don't want the car to roll back the trick is learning how to let the clutch out quickly and coordinate it with your brake release without stalling the car.

You can practice this on a flat surface. Try to get comfortable with getting on the gas and engaging the clutch as soon as you get your foot off the brake. Do it as if you are trying to get the jump on someone at the light but with minimal gas input. If you can get the car to be rolling forward slowly within one second of releasing the brake you are pretty much there. Then start doing it on a hill because the gas input will have to change depending on the slope.

Leave a bit of space in front of you when you are in traffic on a hill. This way if you lurch the car a bit due to too much gas input you won't hit the guy in front.

Practice is as others are saying is the only way to get it down.

I use three techniques in increasing severity of incline. #1 does the trick 98% of the time, so just keep practicing and it becomes second nature.

1- Just slip the clutch and get in the gas quickly.

2- Get the clutch to the point where it just begins to grab, and then do #1 more quickly.

3- Use the handbrake and then do #2, releasing the handbrake when the car wants to pull away.

havent tried this in the brz yet but i'm assuming its the same (used to do it in the civic)

if you have the parking brake on, when you're going into first and putting on some gas, you can usually see the front of the car lift a little bit, that'll let you know when to release the parking break without sliding.

actually come to think of it, maybe the reason the front would lift is because civic's are fwd.... if that's the case, then sorry for the useless advice lol

With four guys in my integra in San Francisco - where the hills are like roller coaster - that's how I learned. Ha ha...I even had to shift down to first because it couldn't get going in second.






Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

If I lived on the hill that goes up to Lombard st in SF, I would just get an auto.

that's pretty much the reason I want to learn...and it gets heavy traffic at times...

you're right there aren't hills. but there are highway ramps to get onto other highways that go pretty high and inclined. AND they have traffic at times. I wouldn't need to use it all the time, but I just want to be prepared for when I do.

/thread

You just need practice, like anything with manual.

The first time I was at a stop sign on a hill, there was an F40 behind me. I learned to operate the clutch very quickly.

Uhmm....we are talking about "Driving "right?:D

Not "parking".

The mental images are not going away.

Very smart! :thumbsup:

You've gotten some good tips in this thread. Are you starting to catch on what it is you need to practice?

I learned how to start on a steep slope by watching my father do it in San Francisco (on streets like the one that goes up to Lombard like someone here mentioned lol). Use the handbrake to hold the car. Carefully let out the clutch and get on the gas til just past the engagement point and you can feel the car fighting the handbrake. Then start slowly easing off the handbrake. So you're balancing three things at once: clutch, gas, handbrake. If you can, find a *slightly* sloped empty street to practice, then move on to steeper slopes. That would be the ideal case to learn; unfortunately the world isn't really set up like that so you have to do the best you can lol :)

Where is that? :eyebulge:

It will come with time. I remember pulling out of certain parking lots here in Houston was terrifying at first. Learning exactly where the clutch grab point is and stopping being afraid of hills kind of go hand and hand.

I just hold the brake with my right and release the clutch until I feel it grab just enough to take the engine rpm down without stalling, then I quickly slide my foot off the brake and onto the gas and accelerate normally. I have never tried the handbrake technique because I haven't needed it here in Houston.

This is actually the technically correct way to hill start. The best kind of correct :bellyroll:

I used to instruct drivers in South Africa, where most people drive manuals, and a hill start is actually part of your test (along with alleyway and parallel parking) on a controlled course at the DMV.

ANY rollback is an automatic fail, as it is unsafe and you are not in control of your car.

Oh, and people talking about burning out your clutch? :bellyroll: If you are concerned about that on a hill start, your revs are far too high!

Practice makes perfect, and the above method is definitely the textbook method.

Flame suit on!

you could try using the e brake method

I just 'catch' the car with the clutch (after letting go of the brake) then add RPMs. usually the amount you slip the clutch isn't any more than a normal start on level ground.

this is correct! (throw tranny in neutral) learned this 45 years ago! this eliminates "burning" up the clutch,and properly holds the car on the grade,until you are ready to engage first,and move forward!

no need to "slip" the clutch at all!

How did you do Ricky?

Maybe it's just a play on words but you can't help but slip the clutch each time you take your foot off the clutch pedal. How much depends on how well you can handle a manual.

no flame here,as this is "dead nuts" accurate! absolutely correct! no need to slip the clutch,and your revs do NOT need to be high to accomplish this! balancing clutch,gas,and e-brake gets it done!

I was never told to try the e brake thing when I was learning to drive (I learned on stick). Add to that that it was a truck with a foot ebrake I said forget learning that. So eventually I just got used to timing the release of the brake and clutch and getting on the gas a bit as the clutch starts to engage. When I was starting out I used to look at the revs to see if they were dropping that's when I knew to start adding gas. Just have to practice, I used to practice (and from time to time still do) in our driveway since its a pretty decent incline