Really disheartened

Jamie-b

Went for a very good lesson in my own car tonight. Was feeling good about myself, so went out later with my accompanying driver. Got up the road turned up the hill and struggled, had to hand brake, car roared at me and I had to swap seats. Feel like I'll never be able to drive properly

**Timbuk2**

Don't worry!

All learners make loads of mistakes when they start out. Keep at it and you won't be making them as often.

af_thefragile

Yeah, something I learnt very recently is to never give up. The rewards for most things in life come at the final 10%. When you've done all you think you could have had and it feels you've got nothing left, its the final push that gets you through.

Anyway, philosophical talk aside, I feel I've got a decent control of the car but I too a lot of time struggle a little at hill starts. Its all about finding the precise balance of clutch and accelerator that won't let your car roll back when you let go of the hand brake.

What I tend to do is have the revs at around 1.5k and then let the clutch out to just about its "biting point" where you can feel the car just about flexing. Press in the clutch a little bit to ease the strain off the car. Look around, indicate, let go of the hand brake and while doing so I very slowly ease off the clutch to just about the point where the car slowly starts to roll forwards. At this point don't let off the clutch yet. Push in the accelerator slowly till you feel the car is rolling forward effortlessly and then let off the clutch.

The key is to first have the car at around 1.5k revs. Have the clutch at its biting point before you let go of the hand brake. Very gentle acceleration. Stay on the clutch for a while till the car starts moving effortlessly and then let go of the clutch. This is very important cuz if you let go of the clutch too early, you could end up stalling the engine and if push in the accelerator too fast you'll end up with the engine roaring at you.

Guell72

OP, not one driver hasnt had the problems you are having.
If they say they got it first time they are lying.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

greenie

Hey Jamie, I used to hate having to stop on hills. Everytime I approached one I'd just hope & hope there wouldn't be a delay or that the car in front of me wouldn't slow down. For me it only went away with practise. Maybe on your next lesson you can ask your instructor to just concentrate on that. He might know similar hilly roads where there are less cars before practising in traffic.

Is hilly a word? It looks so wrong written down!
Good luck Jamie:)

Richie15

One piece of advice I can give you, make sure you know how to restart the car properly. Handbrake, neutral, ignition off, on, first gear, handbrake off. I was told it's an instant fail if you cut out in your test but, as long as you re-start it properly, it's a grade 2 at worst. I got away with it in my truck test, but got a grade 2 in the car test because it happened twice.

stevenmu

When learning you WILL make lots of mistakes, guaranteed. And when you're "finished learning" (you never really finish) you'll still make mistakes, just hopefully less often and you'll be able to recover from them better. The important thing is to always learn from them. When you make a mistake decide what you did wrong and then just do it the right way.

Reloc8

Totally agree with all of the comments re one step forward two steps back - its a set of skills which you have to learn and then its the experience to apply them correctly - you can't get the latter except by practice.

Richie15 wrote: »

One piece of advice I can give you, make sure you know how to restart the car properly. Handbrake, neutral, ignition off, on, first gear, handbrake off. I was told it's an instant fail if you cut out in your test but, as long as you re-start it properly, it's a grade 2 at worst. I got away with it in my truck test, but got a grade 2 in the car test because it happened twice.

Based on what I was taught I wouldn't agree - certainly its not necessarily an instant fail, especially if you get going properly - but if it happened to me in traffic on a level surface I would simply keep the clutch down and car in gear, then ignitition, safety-checks (mirrors etc) and move off again. If you do that smoothly you might not have caused anyone to stop or slow down.

Cutting out on a hill would require a hill start of course.

ADI34722

Reloc8 wrote: »

Totally agree with all of the comments re one step forward two steps back - its a set of skills which you have to learn and then its the experience to apply them correctly - you can't get the latter except by practice.




Based on what I was taught I wouldn't agree - certainly its not necessarily an instant fail, especially if you get going properly - but if it happened to me in traffic on a level surface I would simply keep the clutch down and car in gear, then ignitition, safety-checks (mirrors etc) and move off again. If you do that smoothly you might not have caused anyone to stop or slow down.

Cutting out on a hill would require a hill start of course.

Agreed. When preparing students for the test, if they stall the engine while getting under way its just clutch down and restart the engine. Handbrake, neutral and stuff can take too long. Especially at a set of green light with a queue of traffic behind you.

As for feeling bad about what happened buddy dont let it get to you. Learn from your experiance and move on. Everybody has bad days from time to time.

**Timbuk2**

The amount of mistakes I have made as a learner is ridiculous. I'm used to handling the control of the car (I haven't cut out in months - a very frustrating expierence!).

However, last week I attempted to pull out of a parking space without my lights on (it was dark, but it was a brightly lit street and I completely forgot about them. Thank God for accompanying drivers!). I also entered the inside lane of a roundabout when going straight on (and normally I'm good at roundabouts... but I think I panicked as I was trying to get on the roundabout fast before a fast moving lorry!).

I think you feel more relaxed during lessons as you know the instructor has pedals as well, so you relax more and therefore drive better. When driving in your own car, you are in full control!

dudara

Even the best of us cut out the car occasionally (cold morning, not giving enough power when turning etc). Just learn to restart the car as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

It's not a bad thing if this happens. Just get practised in the routine of restarting the car. If I conk my car, I have it restarted in a second.

As other posters have said, it can be a two steps forward, one step back kind of thing when learning to drive. If you experience this, just try to learn from your errors. The best learners are the ones that question their errors and learn from them.

Good luck.

Jamie-b

Thanks for the replies. Think I'll go out tonight- feeling a bit more positive! Can anyone confirm 2 things for me:
1) If I turn up a hill too slowly in second gear and the car is chugging do I apply the brake and clutch then handbrake? And then change to first gear, find the biting point, press accelerator and release the handbrake to get going? (My big problem is turning left up a hill when there is another car waiting to turn down as I'm afraid I'll swing out onto the wrong side and hit them)

2) Roundabouts (bleh!) - on a tiny roundabout, most of the cars coming against me are going straight ahead. I want to go either left or straight ahead. How long do I wait? None of the cars appear to be indicating either left off at their turn or right when they are going around to last exit. Should I stop totally? The last time I was here I nearly hit someone coming from the right as i thought she was going straight (no indicator on)

af_thefragile

Jamie-b wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. Think I'll go out tonight- feeling a bit more positive! Can anyone confirm 2 things for me:
1) If I turn up a hill too slowly in second gear and the car is chugging do I apply the brake and clutch then handbrake? And then change to first gear, find the biting point, press accelerator and release the handbrake to get going? (My big problem is turning left up a hill when there is another car waiting to turn down as I'm afraid I'll swing out onto the wrong side and hit them)

2) Roundabouts (bleh!) - on a tiny roundabout, most of the cars coming against me are going straight ahead. I want to go either left or straight ahead. How long do I wait? None of the cars appear to be indicating either left off at their turn or right when they are going around to last exit. Should I stop totally? The last time I was here I nearly hit someone coming from the right as i thought she was going straight (no indicator on)

1) Usually I don't shift down to 1st unless I'm taking off from a complete standstill. Most cars are powerful enough to pull in 2nd gear. If while going up a hill I feel the car is struggling a little I push in the accelerator in further first to see if it can pick it up with some more gas. If that doesn't work I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do, so anyone can feel free to correct me here, but it works for me!. I press in the clutch in a little (or till about the biting point) and give it a little gas. Sorta like balancing the clutch and the accelerator on 2nd gear. This keeps the engine from stalling and the extra gas gives a little boost to the engine to get the car pulling in gear.

Now if I did have to slowdown enough that I'ld have to change down to 1st, I wouldn't wanna stop the car on a hill. Just press down the clutch, shift down to 1st, let go off the clutch (no real need to break if you're still moving forward as you do this, just don't spend too much time on the clutch) and then continue in 1st.

Again, I'm just learning myself and this is just how I'ld do it so if anyone sees any fault in my technique, please correct me as this would be beneficial for both me and the OP.

Anyway, when you're turning left (or turning in any direction for that case) you always wanna stay in a gear you can keep the car in control in. Thats usually 2nd. Cause while in second if you feel you were going too fast, you can just ease off the accelerator and the car will start to slow down. If you're scared you'll swing out the wrong side, just take it slow. Keep the speed in check by controlling the throttle and just take it slow. No point rushing it if you feel you're not sure about where the car is going. It just takes some practice. But remember to take it slow. Don't worry about speed cause speed will come with experience as you grow more confident at the wheel. When I was first driving I rarely went over 50kmph and I took all turns at around 5kmph or something very slow like that. Now that I've been driving for a while I can turn much faster without much problem. So remember just take it slow.


2) If at a small roundabout you're turning left and there's someone coming from the opposite direction who wants to take the same direction as you then I think you have the right of way. Or please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you have the right of way in such a situation.
Though as my driving instructor tells me, never assume anything. A lot of time you've gotta do the thinking for the other drivers on the road. Signal well before the roundabout to let the people know your intention of taking the turn. Then position yourself onto the left side of the road. If there's someone already on the roundabout stop. If the roundabout is clear, only then take the turn. You'll have to judge if you can make the turn before the person coming from the other side gets onto the roundabout... If you're not sure you'll make it past the turn before the other guy approaches the roundabout, stop and let him pass. Only when you're sure you can make past the turn before the other car gets on the roundabout go ahead...

J_R

Hi,

See Hill Start and click on the video link

However I have found it is unnecessary to practice on a hill.
Learn how to move off correctly on level ground, then go to your hill and just give a little more gas than you did on level ground, you are asking the car to do more work so needs more power.

If you are taking a sharp corner leading into a steep hill perhaps you should use 1st ??

Next time you stall on a hill, relax compose yourself, take a few deep breaths then start all over.

af_thefragile wrote: »

What I tend to do is have the revs at around 1.5k and then let the clutch out to just about its "biting point" where you can feel the car just about flexing. Press in the clutch a little bit to ease the strain off the car. Look around, indicate, let go of the hand brake and while doing so I very slowly ease off the clutch to just about the point where the car slowly starts to roll forwards. At this point don't let off the clutch yet. Push in the accelerator slowly till you feel the car is rolling forward effortlessly and then let off the clutch.

You must have taken a lesson with a properly trained instructor, you've got the sequence right. Or else just using your common sense.


Regarding your later post

Usually I don't shift down to 1st unless I'm taking off from a complete standstill. Most cars are powerful enough to pull in 2nd gear. If while going up a hill I feel the car is struggling a little I push in the accelerator in further first to see if it can pick it up with some more gas. If that doesn't work I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do, so anyone can feel free to correct me here, but it works for me!. I press in the clutch in a little (or till about the biting point) and give it a little gas. Sorta like balancing the clutch and the accelerator on 2nd gear. This keeps the engine from stalling and the extra gas gives a little boost to the engine to get the car pulling in gear.

That is a very big no, no.

In all gears but 1st the clutch must be fully in or out. It is very severe on the clutch to slip it in anything other than 1st gear.