What gear for speed ramps?

JonnyStout

My instructor is telling me to go over speed ramps in 3rd but anything I've read says 2nd.
In fact I read a thread that said they failed their test for going over the speed ramps in 3rd gear.
Can someone clear this up for me?

shamtastic

Good question. I've failed the test a few times and consistently get a mark or two under reaction to hazards even when nothing notable has happened during the test and traffic has been quiet. Although 3rd feels fine, I think some testers might want you to demonstrate the slowing down process. I wouldn't want to get done for progress either by slowing down every 50 metres though.

witchgirl26

I actually was asking my instructor about this the other day. 3rd gear is ok if they are wide, gentle ramps. However any severe ones should be done in 2nd gear. Also he said to keep your speed up between the ramps & slow down just before them as this shows a reaction to the hazard.

Davy

witchgirl26 wrote: »

I actually was asking my instructor about this the other day. 3rd gear is ok if they are wide, gentle ramps. However any severe ones should be done in 2nd gear. Also he said to keep your speed up between the ramps & slow down just before them as this shows a reaction to the hazard.

I would agree with this. I have passed a B test in third gear over ramps, and passed C and EC in 4th over ramps. All passed first time

PaudyW

if you rented the car you can take them in 5th or 6th

Sparkie93

my instructor drilled it into my head that you have to go in to second although most of the time when im driving myself i stay in third i dont see the point of changing when you have three or four ramps ahead of you ive seen my dad going over them in foutrth or fifth

charlemont

Hate the things. Id go with second depending on the structure of the hump.

spurious

On a related note, where you get a series of these staggered across the road, should you (almost) weave across the road to get the wheels either side of them or keep your line and do a bone-shaking 'one wheel up, the other down' manoeuvre to get over them?

Davy

spurious wrote: »

On a related note, where you get a series of these staggered across the road, should you (almost) weave across the road to get the wheels either side of them or keep your line and do a bone-shaking 'one wheel up, the other down' manoeuvre to get over them?

No weaving across, you will be coming to close to other traffic. They are just like that to allow buses travel over them

challengemaster

Depends on the ramps really - if it's the ones which are ambulance friendly (as in, nearly flat) 3rd would be grand. If they're massive, slow down, drop to second, and before reaching it let off the brakes - if you're braking going over them, the nose of the car is lower which results in a worse bump

spurious wrote: »

On a related note, where you get a series of these staggered across the road, should you (almost) weave across the road to get the wheels either side of them or keep your line and do a bone-shaking 'one wheel up, the other down' manoeuvre to get over them?

Nope, never ever do this for the test...

spurious

I'm thinking mainly of ones that are 3 'islands' across the road, one very close to the footpath and the next out straddling the middle line. They are fine if there are no cars parked on them, but if there is, then you end up doing the one wheeled thing on the middle one, or hoping there's no oncoming traffic so you can straddle it.

In all my tests I haven't yet been taken over them, but I know of them from driving around.

Here's an example of the ones I mean.

Compton

spurious wrote: »

I'm thinking mainly of ones that are 3 'islands' across the road, one very close to the footpath and the next out straddling the middle line. They are fine if there are no cars parked on them, but if there is, then you end up doing the one wheeled thing on the middle one, or hoping there's no oncoming traffic so you can straddle it.

In all my tests I haven't yet been taken over them, but I know of them from driving around.

Here's an example of the ones I mean.

the name haha 'evilspeedbumps'!

loobylou

spurious wrote: »

I'm thinking mainly of ones that are 3 'islands' across the road, one very close to the footpath and the next out straddling the middle line. They are fine if there are no cars parked on them, but if there is, then you end up doing the one wheeled thing on the middle one, or hoping there's no oncoming traffic so you can straddle it.

In all my tests I haven't yet been taken over them, but I know of them from driving around.

Here's an example of the ones I mean.

Maintain the correct position as though the ramp was not there. If this means one wheel up and one wheel down then so be it.