Moving off with just the clutch and no accleration?

Shantih

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone here moves off their car using just the clutch and only accelerating when the clutch is pretty much up?

Both my new and last instructor recommend this, explaining that it's the clutch that moves that car, but I keep cutting out and it's very frustrating and I'm generally trying to bring the clutch up as slow as possible. It's not the handbrake either.

In my previous instructor's car this method was fine but I eventually learnt that with my own car that I need to accelerate quite a bit to not cut out when moving off at lights, roundabouts etc. But after the first lesson with the new instructor and trying to practise this I'm cutting out again.

However other drivers and people on Boards seem to recommend having some gas before getting the bite.

Experienced drivers have said that the bite point on my car is hard to judge, even by sound and the front of the car moving, as it's so high up so maybe this is part of the problem. Can you cut out bringing the clutch up too slow to the bite? I know it's usually because you're bringing it up too fast but I'm sure sometimes it's not that (but maybe I just can't tell).

Has anyone else encountered this method off moving off? The instructor even showed me how to do a hill start without acceleration so they have a point and I can do it but when in traffic it's a completely different story.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks a million,

Karina

mahoganygas

A family member was taught by an instructor to clutch first without acceleration. To this day he still cuts out regularly despite having a licence for 4 years!

I think it's a bad habit to get into. My advice is to use a bit of acceleration before reaching the biting point. Every car is different, and in certain cars you will move off easily without needing accelerating.
But I think its a good habit to learn from the beginning. A bit of acceleration does no harm, and certainly is needed on hills, or with a car full of heavy passengers.

sKeith

The cars that your instructors use are probably diesel or have an anti-stall mechanism which gives juice when idle too low. You should be applying enough acc pedal as to get your car moving, but keep revs above stalling. With experience you get better and better at judging this. Clutch only might be a good clutch control learning technique to learn, but is not something you do with everyday driving.

Michael D Not Higgins

sKeith wrote: »

The cars that your instructors use are probably diesel or have an anti-stall mechanism which gives juice when idle too low. You should be applying enough acc pedal as to get your car moving, but keep revs above stalling. With experience you get better and better at judging this. Clutch only might be a good clutch control learning technique to learn, but is not something you do with everyday driving.

My girlfriend was learning in an instructor's diesel car and had to relearn how to start in a petrol car. Poor teaching in my opinion.

Lia_lia

I don't think my car would even move off without pressing on the accelerator. Well, I guess I would. But would be extremely likely to stall. Could do it on my Mother's car alright. When I bought my car both myself and my Mother (who has been driving for 20+ years) kept stalling my car as you must put a lot more acceleration on it. It all depends on the car I guess!

jimbis

Your clutch may also be on the tail end of its life which would make a clutch only move off difficult even for experienced drivers.
A little bit of acc should help you out.