OK to idle while in gear?

OSI

Hi,

I was just wondering... When I'm at the lights or stuck in traffic, I will usually remain in gear, with the clutch just at the biting point and my foot on the brake.

This is usually because I find having to change to neutral, hand brake, de-hand brake, engage first again, takes too long as I'm not used to driving yet.

But I'm wondering if this is bad practice and whether it is something that will cause me to fail my test....

afatbollix

i was told its ok by my driving instructor to do this... i think i did it during my test and passed...

chris85

betafrog wrote: »

Hi,

I was just wondering... When I'm at the lights or stuck in traffic, I will usually remain in gear, with the clutch just at the biting point and my foot on the brake.

This is usually because I find having to change to neutral, hand brake, de-hand brake, engage first again, takes too long as I'm not used to driving yet.

But I'm wondering if this is bad practice and whether it is something that will cause me to fail my test....

No not good at all. Holding the clutch at biting point will wear your clutch in no time at all. Only time you should ever be at biting point is doing a hill start.

Just do the whole handbrake thing, if you find this too hard at the start then just leave the car in first gear but have your foot fully down on the clutch and of course foor on brake.

Would recommend getting used to the handbrake as soon as possible

Alanstrainor

betafrog wrote: »

Hi,

I was just wondering... When I'm at the lights or stuck in traffic, I will usually remain in gear, with the clutch just at the biting point and my foot on the brake.

This is usually because I find having to change to neutral, hand brake, de-hand brake, engage first again, takes too long as I'm not used to driving yet.

But I'm wondering if this is bad practice and whether it is something that will cause me to fail my test....

I would, handbrake neutral and relax, i can't see the point in sitting there with your foot to the floor on the clutch, just handbrake/neutral and chillax. As for feeling you're not quick enough, it's mostly down to practice you'll get quicker, and if you pay attention to the traffic you can usually tell when your lights are about to go green, giving you a chance to get ready. The one thing that is wrong with what you are currently doing is leaving the clutch at the biting point while stopped, this will wear down your clutch plate and is not good at all. If you insist on staying in gear when stopped, keep your foot to the floor on the clutch. I wouldn't worry too much about other people thinking your slow to start off, they were all there at some stage. Good Luck with your driving

chris85

betafrog wrote: »

Thanks for the replies..

Wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not.

Well at least my left leg will be thankful for the news :-)

Yeah your leg will be killing you holding the clutch at the bite every time you stop.

Just dont wory bout the other drivers and take your time and engage the handbrake. If you know you aint gonna be stopped for long then you dont need the handbrake, just the footbrake, for instance at a pedestrian crossing

The Real B-man

Handbrake is your friend use it!

colly10

I don't know whether or not it will cause you to fail your test but I assume can't be great for your clutch, if you want to remain in gear press the clutch to the floor

chris85

colly10 wrote: »

I don't know whether or not it will cause you to fail your test but I assume can't be great for your clutch, if you want to remain in gear press the clutch to the floor

Counting as coasting afaik, am pretty sure you will get some bad marks for this in the test

Alanstrainor

chris85 wrote: »

Counting as coasting afaik, am pretty sure you will get some bad marks for this in the test

But the car is stopped??? not coasting, bad for clutch yes, not the best driving practice, but not coasting

goodlad

I had done my test a few months back, and as far as i was aware, if your stopped at lights and you remain in gear or dont engage the handbrake it is not an auto fail but you do get a mark against you for it. The way i understood it was if you are either 1st or second position at lights it is "acceptable" to remain in gear but still have the handbrake engaged. And further back in the que and you should be in neutral with the handbrake engaged.

Upon passing my test (woot!) i asked the tester the about it and she had agree'd that you should be in a ready position if you are first or second at lights and be out of gear if you are not.And yes she would of fault me if i broke either of those rules. Now i understand they might not be *actual* rules but in her mind they were. We all know every tester has there own version of rights and wrongs

chris85

Alanstrainor wrote: »

But the car is stopped??? not coasting, bad for clutch yes, not the best driving practice, but not coasting

Sorry yes, just wondering were the tester would mark you down, but forget that it would go down as progression most likely :rolleyes:

OP. I am wondering why do you hold at the biting point? Not trying to make you sound rediculus but obviously you seem comfterable doing this and I am interested as to why.

--amadeus--

The reason you are *supposed* to go into nuetral and apply handbrake is safety. If your foot slips or - probably more likely - you get rearended when the car is in gear and you are holding it at biting point then you'll go flying into the car in front (or across teh road if at the head of a line of traffic).

Alanstrainor

betafrog wrote: »

I just find it very slow, using the handbrake and changing to neutral.

This why I feel ready to go, and less likely to hold up the traffic...
Rather than having to put it back in gear, release the hand brake and then find the take off point again, I'm already there...

Just feels more comfortable. I'm sure with a bit of practice though I'll become more comfortable with the right way of doing things...

Like i said in an earlier post, keep an eye on the traffic while stopped at lights. You should be able to see when their lights go orange and then red, and when you do see this you can start to get ready ie. put the car into gear and get ready to release the handbrake, but dont release the handbrake until the car directly in front of you moves off. No need to worry about how "quick" you are off the mark, just relax and dont mind if people get impatient. Good luck and happy driving!

daiixi

--amadeus-- wrote: »

The reason you are *supposed* to go into nuetral and apply handbrake is safety. If your foot slips or - probably more likely - you get rearended when the car is in gear and you are holding it at biting point then you'll go flying into the car in front (or across teh road if at the head of a line of traffic).

Exactly - it's a safety thing. If you haven't yet you should spend the money on some professional lessons. They'll teach you not to worry about other people and what is best practice. No point learning bad habits from the beginning.