Have to go down in gear before stop?

arleitiss

Hey, just quick question:
When you are driving say in 4th gear and see red light ahead and you know you gonna have to stop, do I have to downshift before stopping? Or can I stop in 4th gear and once stopped just put it into 1st/Neutral?
Also: Will I get points deducted if I stop and stay in 1st gear rather than neutral? Because I prefer to hold clutch while in traffic and be ready to drive off.

**Timbuk2**

No and no to both questions. You can stop in whatever gear you are in. In fact, this is the recommended method as it reduces wear and tear on your gearbox - the motto that's used is "gears to go, brakes to slow".

So stop while in 3rd/4th gear, press clutch in only just before the car starts to labour (you will be close to stopped). Once you are stopped, then you can put it in 1st or neutral as appropriate.

You can keep the car in 1st gear if you like, but make sure you have the clutch pressed fully to the floor and you aren't actually holding the car at the biting point - this will wear your clutch quickly! Often people who are at the front of a queue of traffic lights, or people waiting for a gap in traffic will keep it in first, so they are ready to go.

If you know you won't be going for a while, or you will have warning before you need to go (e.g. 4th in a queue of traffic waiting at lights), then it makes more sense to put it in neutral, with the handbrake on - it's just easier on your leg apart from anything! Some argue this is safer as if you get rear-ended by a car, you won't be jolted forward as much - if you are sitting with your foot on the clutch without the handbrake on (for example), your foot may slip off the clutch if hit from behind and you could hit the car in front!

Leeg17

One thing I always remember you saying Timbuk was that if 'a pause becomes a wait' you should put it into neutral and stick on the handbrake

arleitiss

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

No and no to both questions. You can stop in whatever gear you are in. In fact, this is the recommended method as it reduces wear and tear on your gearbox - the motto that's used is "gears to go, brakes to slow".

So stop while in 3rd/4th gear, press clutch in only just before the car starts to labour (you will be close to stopped). Once you are stopped, then you can put it in 1st or neutral as appropriate.

You can keep the car in 1st gear if you like, but make sure you have the clutch pressed fully to the floor and you aren't actually holding the car at the biting point - this will wear your clutch quickly! Often people who are at the front of a queue of traffic lights, or people waiting for a gap in traffic will keep it in first, so they are ready to go.

If you know you won't be going for a while, or you will have warning before you need to go (e.g. 4th in a queue of traffic waiting at lights), then it makes more sense to put it in neutral, with the handbrake on - it's just easier on your leg apart from anything! Some argue this is safer as if you get rear-ended by a car, you won't be jolted forward as much - if you are sitting with your foot on the clutch without the handbrake on (for example), your foot may slip off the clutch if hit from behind and you could hit the car in front!

I always put handbrake on while stopped in traffic lights or stopped at all, the only scenario where I don't put on handbrake is when I am at yield or stop sign or before roundabout (which is obvious I guess, but I am still a learner )

nlgbbbblth

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

If you know you won't be going for a while, or you will have warning before you need to go (e.g. 4th in a queue of traffic waiting at lights), then it makes more sense to put it in neutral, with the handbrake on - it's just easier on your leg apart from anything! Some argue this is safer as if you get rear-ended by a car, you won't be jolted forward as much - if you are sitting with your foot on the clutch without the handbrake on (for example), your foot may slip off the clutch if hit from behind and you could hit the car in front!

Putting the handbrake on and taking your foot off the brake will also stop the driver behind you from bitching on message boards about being dazzled by brake lights.

starlit

Generally you don't have too you can stop on any gear but its recommended to drop down to a lower gear if your speed is getting slower so that you don't stall or careful not to shudder if in too high a gear either.

You can skip gears too not harm in it either, usually it be from 4th to 2nd, 5th to 3rd or 2nd, 3rd to 1st but for a smoother stop is probably best to drop down gears gradually from 4th to 3rd to 2nd. Don't forget to get ready to get back into 1st gear if after stopping at lights or a junction.
You can stop in 1st gear if you are slowing down too much but you always and ever move off in 1st gear, you may stall in 2nd unless you have gathered enough speed to actually pull out in 2nd gear.

For stopping/parking you handbrake neutral then back to 1st gear depending on situation.

You can stop in 4th gear if you haven't time to downshift gears but brake gradually though to make the stop as smooth as possible otherwise you might go a bit rough with the brake and clutch. Brake brake brake, brake progressively and then clutch in just before rolling to a stop as the clutch and brake will automatically stop the car.

Depends on the situation some yield and stop signs, roundabouts and junctions may not be necessary to use the handbrake depends on the scene around you and traffic. If they on a hill/fall of ground best to use the handbrake in that situation.

Generally the only time you use the handbrake is when on a hill/fall of ground and after parking. Other times depends on the situation when in traffic. Nearer the lights not needed but further from lights is recommended but if the lights take ages to change it be best to pull the handbrake up but be ready to move off once flashing amber appears as you may not have enough time to go once its green. Some lights change quickly once turned green.

WOT

In my car the engine begins to labour roughly:
under 5mph in 1st gear
under 10mph in 2nd gear
under 15mph in 3rd gear
under 20mph in 4th gear
under 25mph in 5th gear

If you stop in 4th gear that means you have to clutch at 20mph. Then you do all of the stopping between 20mph to 0mph with no drive connected. With no drive connected you're depending on the ABS to operate correctly and prevent the tyres from skidding in an emergency braking situation.

Also as the car begins to labour at 20mph in 4th gear the engine will compensate and start to add fuel as if it was now on a hill, making the car more difficult to stop. (This may not be the case with newer cars however)

@OP I think you will have far better car control skills if you learn to slow down at a rate appropriate to the traffic, apply the brakes hardest when the car is in gear. Also you should try to get into the habit of being in the lowest gear possible when you actually come to a halt. This way you won't be freewheeling at 20mph rather you'll be driving at somewhere between 10-20mph.

Also the point about clutch wear. When you park in traffic with your foot all the way to the floor the clutch release bearing is getting hotter and hotter. Many town cars end up with a perfect clutch but a knackered clutch release bearing for this reason. Take the car out of gear and take your foot off the clutch at every sensible available opportunity.;)

carbon nanotube

what you need to do is monitor you revs

a 'perfect' slow down, say 40mph to 0mph at lights would see your rev counter gradually decrease (from whatever revs you are at doing 40mph) to just below 1k/revs min

an erratic stop will see it go everywhere...

when you get used to driving and monitoring traffic you can slowly ease your gears from 4th--3rd---2nd---1st

and the rev counter will follow suit, you can also of course slow the car down doing this.

but you cant go from 70mph to suddently putting it into 2nd gear but im sure you know this

it takes years and years driving to master gear changes and driving techniques

arleitiss

Oaky guys, I learned a big thing today in my EDT 9 lesson:
Better off dropping in gear
I didn't understand before that it automatically slows down once you drop down, I was going at like 48 km/h and somehow for no apparent reason traffic light switched straight to red (skipping amber) so I pushed brakes, yet I noticed it takes soo much more force to brake than if I would be in 3rd gear (I was in 4th). So now I always drop into at least 3rd if braking as it seems much easier.

RealExpert

arleitiss wrote: »

Hey, just quick question:
When you are driving say in 4th gear and see red light ahead and you know you gonna have to stop, do I have to downshift before stopping? Or can I stop in 4th gear and once stopped just put it into 1st/Neutral?
Also: Will I get points deducted if I stop and stay in 1st gear rather than neutral? Because I prefer to hold clutch while in traffic and be ready to drive off.

When you say "will I get points deducted" Im presuming you havent passed your test yet or the question is related to your test run.
If you see a red light ahead and you know u have to stop yes you have to go down through the gears dont skip gears as in going from 4th to 2nd etc also dont go from 2nd to 1st stop in 2nd gear then into neutral and handbrake on and foot off the clutch.Look at the traffic lights for the other junction and most of the time you will be able to see when they are changing so when you see orange coming on put your car in gear dont release the handbrake till the traffic lights facing you is green.Ask your driving instructor he/she will put you right after all thats what you are paying for.Dont be shy about asking how to do something right.......on test day common sense wont work (except in emergency) it has to be done by the book and rightly so.

**Timbuk2**

Just to point out, that you don't 'have' to go down through all the gears (it's not a fault if you do, once you actually engage the gears as you slow down, as ADIDriving said) but for test purposes it's certainly not required - you can either stop in the gear you are in (e.g. 4th), or block change (4th to 2nd, even 5th to 2nd if necessary) and engage second before you stop (as doovdela has said).

It used to be case, years ago, that using the gears to help slow you down was the recommended way - this was to do with brakes on cars, which were not as effective as modern day brakes, and therefore using the gears while braking was recommended to help the car slow down. This might be why some drivers who have been on the road for years (e.g. your parents) were probably taught to use every gear while slowing down.