Driving Test - Gear and Clutch (Churchtown)

Grad2015

Hi all,

I failed my driving test due to mainly gears and clutch control.

Q 1 When I am in 3rd/4th gear and I am approaching a red traffic light,

Is it okay to brake slowly and put my foot down on the clutch just before the junction and not change gear when I am still in 4th? (change to 1st/2nd when I stop)

Or should I change into 2nd gear approaching the junction?

If I do that do I need to take my foot off the clutch to go into 2nd gear or can I leave my foot on the clutch?

Thanks:)

BaRcOe

Grad2015 wrote: »

Hi all,

I failed my driving test due to mainly gears and clutch control.

Q 1 When I am in 3rd/4th gear and I am approaching a red traffic light,

Is it okay to brake slowly and put my foot down on the clutch just before the junction and not change gear when I am still in 4th? (change to 1st/2nd when I stop)

Or should I change into 2nd gear approaching the junction?

If I do that do I need to take my foot off the clutch to go into 2nd gear or can I leave my foot on the clutch?

Thanks:)

- If you spot the red light in good time, slowly go down the gears 4,3,2 and stop in 2. This will be easy if you are prepared for the red light.

- If the light is about to turn red but you have little time to react and you are in 3rd or 4th, simply slow down and go to 2nd gear to stop. You are allowed go from 4th to 2nd to stop. I asked my RSA Instructor and he said its fine. Its called block changing.

I am doing my test tomorrow in Churchtown

Dravokivich

My instructor told me "You can stop in any gear," when he noticed I went down through all of'em when coming to stop.

You may want to seek advice from someone who's witnessed you driving, but what you should be considering is, not stopping abruptly. If you were to do so, they'd be thinking about your awareness and anticipation.


But if you are looking for what others are at, here's what I do...

if in 5th, I'll start applying brake, shift down to 4th, allow engine breaking, apply break more, shift to 2nd allow further engine breaking and come to a stop in 2nd.

if in 4th, I just apply break, shift to 2nd allow engine breaking and come to a stop in 2nd.

BaRcOe

Dravokivich wrote: »

My instructor told me "You can stop in any gear," when he noticed I went down through all of'em when coming to stop.

You may want to seek advice from someone who's witnessed you driving, but what you should be considering is, not stopping abruptly. If you were to do so, they'd be thinking about your awareness and anticipation.


But if you are looking for what others are at, here's what I do...

if in 5th, I'll start applying brake, shift down to 4th, allow engine breaking, apply break more, shift to 2nd allow further engine breaking and come to a stop in 2nd.

if in 4th, I just apply break, shift to 2nd allow engine breaking and come to a stop in 2nd.

Hi Dravo, I have a question. When moving out onto a T Junction L or R, or any R or L Turn, do you do the whole turn in 1st gear? I find it very jumpy, but then again I don't want to change into 2nd mid turn, that means one hand is off the wheel. Should I do it in 1st but take it slower so it doesn't jump as much?

Alanstrainor

Grad2015 wrote: »

Hi all,

I failed my driving test due to mainly gears and clutch control.

Q 1 When I am in 3rd/4th gear and I am approaching a red traffic light,

Is it okay to brake slowly and put my foot down on the clutch just before the junction and not change gear when I am still in 4th? (change to 1st/2nd when I stop)

Or should I change into 2nd gear approaching the junction?

If I do that do I need to take my foot off the clutch to go into 2nd gear or can I leave my foot on the clutch?

Thanks:)

There is absolutely no issue stopping in 4th gear at a red light. No need to change down through all of the gears while stopping. Simply slow, and clutch in before you stop. If you think the light might change to green then I would recommend to block change from 4th to 2nd so you can continue if need be.

You also ask if you need to take your foot off the clutch if changing down to 2nd. Yes you must take your foot off the clutch, otherwise you will be coasting unnecessarily. In a case where you are in 4th gear and slowing, without a definite need to stop the process should be:

Driving in 4th.
Slow.
Clutch in and change to 2nd.
Release clutch smoothly.
Stop, if necessary, or accelerate away.

Dravokivich

BaRcOe wrote: »

Hi Dravo, I have a question. When moving out onto a T Junction L or R, or any R or L Turn, do you do the whole turn in 1st gear? I find it very jumpy, but then again I don't want to change into 2nd mid turn, that means one hand is off the wheel. Should I do it in 1st but take it slower so it doesn't jump as much?

I'm no instructor, so don't take this as gospel.

It'd depend on the turn and how comfortable you are with handling the steering wheel and the gear stick while in a manoeuvre.

If you can proceed and get to 2nd before turning, that would be the aim.

But if it's a very tight turn, you'd be better to take it slowly in 1st and then up to 2nd. Don't accelorate rashly through a turn, they want it to be done gently.

You don't want to be doing a lot of hand movement up and down from the steering wheel, because chances are you might not have a steady hold of it while doing so and you could end up wrapping your arms.

Alanstrainor

Dravokivich wrote: »

I'm no instructor, so don't take this as gospel.

It'd depend on the turn and how comfortable you are with handling the steering wheel and the gear stick while in a manoeuvre.

If you can proceed and get to 2nd before turning, that would be the aim.

But if it's a very tight turn, you'd be better to take it slowly in 1st and then up to 2nd. Don't accelorate rashly through a turn, they want it to be done gently.

You don't want to be doing a lot of hand movement up and down from the steering wheel, because chances are you might not have a steady hold of it while doing so and you could end up wrapping your arms.

Yep I agree here. It will be different depending on the junction, but it should be possible to get into 2nd quickly after moving off and that should be the goal. Tight turns will need to be handled differently.

Wheety

I tend to drop down to 3rd at the highest. I find you have to be going quite slow to change down to 2nd so only do it if I have time. I would never change to 1st while still moving, unless I'm about to stall it in crawling traffic.

If you keep your foot on the clutch it is called coasting so avoid that. The gears aren't engaged so there's no point anyway. Only do it just before stopping. Otherwise go down through the gears, releasing the clutch between gears.

Tenigate

I've heard people saying you can stop in any gear. A lot depends on the type of car you drive whether it will comfortable stop in a high gear. I reckon testers want to see aptitude in going through the gears. Also, stopping in a high gear could cause the car to shudder or you to coast (if you clutch too early)..

Personally I'd probably stop in 3rd if I drove up to the red light. If I was in slow moving traffic & approaching a red light, it would make sense to drop to 2nd.

tonkpills

This document outlines all the faults. There might be notes on your email that you got from the RSA.

Your questions, I think it really depends on the car you are driving. I know in the car I did my test in was a 1.5lr diesel car and I wouldn't dare stop in 4th gear as it would start to shutter a good bit before where I intended to stop and I would have to depress the clutch and essentially coast. The 1.25lr petrol car that I'm driving now I could stop in 4th gear without coasting.

If you think you have to depress the clutch a good bit before you have to stop then it would be best to break to an acceptable speed for 2nd gear (not too far away), change to 2nd then come off the clutch slowly, this should get you to your stopping point then break and finally depress the clutch before it shutters.

I dig out my notes on Gears and Clutch from my pretests.

Alanstrainor

tonkpills wrote: »

This document outlines all the faults. There might be notes on your email that you got from the RSA.

Your questions, I think it really depends on the car you are driving. I know in the car I did my test in was a 1.5lr diesel car and I wouldn't dare stop in 4th gear as it would start to shutter a good bit before where I intended to stop and I would have to depress the clutch and essentially coast. The 1.25lr petrol car that I'm driving now I could stop in 4th gear without coasting.

If you think you have to depress the clutch a good bit before you have to stop then it would be best to break to an acceptable speed for 2nd gear (not too far away), change to 2nd then come off the clutch slowly, this should get you to your stopping point then break and finally depress the clutch before it shutters.

I dig out my notes on Gears and Clutch from my pretests.

Stopping in 4th gear would be fine no matter what car you drive. Clutching in to prevent the engine from stalling, even if at a higher speed than a petrol car is perfectly fine. Most marks for coasting are given for people clutching in when rounding corners. Not when coming to a complete stop.

So I wouldn't overly worry about this scenario to be honest.

tonkpills

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Stopping in 4th gear would be fine no matter what car you drive. Clutching in to prevent the engine from stalling, even if at a higher speed than a petrol car is perfectly fine. Most marks for coasting are given for people clutching in when rounding corners. Not when coming to a complete stop.

So I wouldn't overly worry about this scenario to be honest.

Where I was going with this is depressing the clutch too soon before coming to a stop is coasting. Allowing the car to labour in a gear will count as gears. Get a happy medium by judging the engine noises and the distance left to the hazard. You don't need to go down through the gears like old cars, but you can change to a gear appropriate to the speed you are doing. Brake then change gear but continue braking.

I'm not an instructor just speaking from own experience.