Kepping foot atop the clutch

rejkin

Had my test today in SGS Tallaght, failed it.

Was told by the tester that i failed cos i was coasting through the whole test,now i had a pretest and the guy said i wasnt coasting anytime through the pretest,never have coasted. Only thing i can think is he thought i was coasting cos i had my foot resting on the clutch but i have done that all the time and no one has said i cant do that.

What does anyone think of that? It just doesnt seem right to be failed on coasting for just resting my foot on the clutch,driving was smooth through the whole journey

Wishbone Ash

But why do it then?

My wife does it all the time and it drives me nuts. She keeps saying "I'm not pressing the pedal". If you are not pressing the pedal why have your foot there? Put it under the pedal. The tester doesn't know for sure that you are not leaning on it.

rejkin wrote:

no one has said i cant do that.

Who has not said it?

Alanstrainor

Even having your foot "resting" on the pedal can cause the clutch to "slip", which ruins your clutch plate. As said, put your foot on the floor/foot rest if there is one. It's something i've noticed a few friends doing, and i just find it incredibly uncomfortable!

BenjAii

This is a big no; keep your foot off the clutch unless you are changing gears. As with other things in the test, its what you are appearing to do that counts.

But on a side note; its a wierd bad driving habit - why should you need your foot constantly hovering over the clutch ?

rejkin

I just always have done it,surprised the pre-tester didnt tell me this,well thanks for clearing this up for me

macroman

Don't put it over, or under pedal - what if you have to jam on suddenly? I generally put it on foot rest, or if no foot rest flat on floor. From the passenger seat it can look like you've your foot on clutch even though you could only be hovering over it.

Even if you've your foot gently tipping the pedal you're still disengaging clutch and wearing it out. Bottom line, don't do it - won't do you any favours...gives me pain in foot even if only resting at lights :eek:

Macker1

My father used to do this all the time and guess what, he always had trouble with wearing out the clutch. Despite it costing him over the years it was a bad habit that he was unable to get rid off.

fiona-f

A really good tip I learnt for this was, if your foot is not using the clutch, then have the back of your calf is pressing against the seat. This will ensure that your foot is flat on the floor and will also give you something specific to do with your foot, if you know what I mean, so you don't forget about your foot and end up hovering / coasting. Obviously this might not work if you're really tall as your seat might be too far back, but it could be worth trying?

Alanstrainor

fiona-f wrote: »

A really good tip I learnt for this was, if your foot is not using the clutch, then have the back of your calf is pressing against the seat. This will ensure that your foot is flat on the floor and will also give you something specific to do with your foot, if you know what I mean, so you don't forget about your foot and end up hovering / coasting. Obviously this might not work if you're really tall as your seat might be too far back, but it could be worth trying?

Was just reading this thinking :eek:, but then again i sit with the seat as far back as it can go!:)

peanuthead

Just make sure that when you're thinking about resting your calf on the back of the seat, and wondering if its back far enough, you remember to keep your eyes on the friggin road!!!! I could imagine you paying so much attention to your left leg that you run up the ass of someone!!

Alanstrainor

Actually, it's probably a bit over kill bringing your leg back to touch the seat, plonking your foot on the floor beside/infront of the pedal should be fine.

fiona-f

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Was just reading this thinking :eek:, but then again i sit with the seat as far back as it can go!:)

Ok, obviously it's just one for us shorties so ! I found it did help me a lot though to have a specific thing to do with my foot, either it was on the clutch or it was back by the seat. So no danger of coasting accidentally or hovering or whatever.

peanuthead wrote: »

Just make sure that when you're thinking about resting your calf on the back of the seat, and wondering if its back far enough, you remember to keep your eyes on the friggin road!!!! I could imagine you paying so much attention to your left leg that you run up the ass of someone!!

I must say I read this thinking :eek:, I can't imagine ever having to take my eyes off the road to move my foot! Do you look at your left leg each time you change gear?;)

peanuthead

fiona-f wrote: »

I must say I read this thinking :eek:, I can't imagine ever having to take my eyes off the road to move my foot! Do you look at your left leg each time you change gear?;)

No, not at all, haha, I can see how it looks now!! What I meant was that the OP is probably so conscious about where her foot is now, I could imagine her concentrating on that so much she would forget about the road!! I know when I was learning it was a long process, and I would sometimes try so hard to be good, that I did really silly things!!