Brake Light Trap freaks me out
the first thing i do when i get in my car is step on the brake.
shareLoL....the lasting influences of movies. I do, Too!!!
With our thoughts, we make our World.
that's because you're both wimps who drive automatic transmission cars. If you drove a manual transmission you'd know the first pedal you step on is the clutch
lol, Smokey McBongwater. Good to know...thanks for that correction! The only manual car I ever drove was a Volkswagen, while drunk in my 20's, and I did pretty good! haha (Just drove it a coupla blocks, for a drunker boyfriend, to his home.)
With our thoughts, we make our World.
I drove a stick for many years and got really sick of it.
shareMe too, but I kind of miss it sometimes. A long, long time ago I got very good at drinking, eating, clutching, smoking and scanning radio stations simultaneously ... not to mention talking. Never had an accident. There was one thing I could not add into that mix that you might guess if I was driving with my sweetheart. ;-)
shareNo way, if you step on the clutch and you are on a slope you car will start to roll. That's bad practice. Driving or parking in SF, CA learns ya how to drive with a clutch.
shareI still drive a manual. You always step on the brake first, then the clutch when you are getting ready to start the car.
shareYep, unless you like rolling into traffic.
share'sfunny listening to you americans debating the ins and outs of the strange and mysterious "manual transmission" that is second nature to everyone else in the world.
Not that theres any reason to use manual , its not better exept in very rare circumstances, this is a (another) case where the US were right in the first place , and the reset of the world are catching up decades later.
The METRIC system however , other way round , you guys need to get you backward measuring asses into the 20th century.
inches . fractions . lbs . ffs .
:P
" brake first, then the clutch"
but , but , then you've run out of feet.
How do you mash the throttle saying "for gods sake start ya bastard!!" ?
Having done this often in traffic stopped at a light on the steep hills of San Francisco,
where very often you are going uphill and stopped in traffic,
( in danger of rolling back on the car behind you )
you have the gearshift in neutral,
and your your left foot on the brake.
When traffic starts moving, or the light changes,
you quickly take your left foot off the brake,
and move it and depress the clutch,
and carefully engage into first gear,
while simultaneously gunning the engine a bit
so that it does not stall when you put it into first and engage it.
Once your clutch has contact with the with the gears,
you can hit the gas and move forward.
--
Another reason to keep the brake on until the last minute
is in case you are hit from behind, if you do not have the
brake on you will be pushed dangerously into traffic.
--
If you don't mind wearing out your clutch, or you are
just stopping briefly to make a right-turn-on-red,
you can "ride the clutch" to stay in gear and be ready
to move forward and turn right. Riding the clutch is
keeping the clutch engaged enough to be able to push
the car forward, while disengaged enough not to stall
the car because you are essentially at a stop.
It is tricky, and on a hill not really fun, but the bottom
line is that your first and last method of control is the brake.
All that is correct , but not the way I , and the rest of the world do it.
That is what we call a hillstart , I think its on the test in the UK.
What you're forgetting , what ive not seen any mention of in anyones posts is the E brake.
Emergency Brake - right there , the names the problem, Americans never use it becasue the autobox does the job in park.
Its called the handbrake and is to be used in a lot of non emergency situations , like the hills you describe.
I'm not sure how you parked in SF without this , you seem to have just put your stick shift in 1st gear and left it at that?
quickly take your left foot off the brake,
and move it and depress the clutch,
and carefully engage into first gear,
while simultaneously gunning the engine a bit
True dat , especially on heavier vehicles that have more inertai and arnt going to accelerate backwards quickly.
...but just use the handbrake , then you can do that "quickly" bit in your own time and just release the handbrake as the clutch comes up .
"If you don't mind wearing out your clutch"
haha true , i see people doing this , and thay did it in my car thay wouldnt be driving it again.
I see people sitting there on a slight incline , waiting at lights "balancing" on clutch. Animals!
They dont seem to realise *its not a big deal* to put it in neutral and keep foot on brake.
Then do the quick thing you described , with or without handbrake.
no mechanical symapthy these people!
I never like to use the Emergency Brake the way you mention for two reasons,
One is that it is not a real brake, as you know some people can forget the
Emergency Brake is even on and drive for miles sometimes with it on and
not even realize it, and two is that it will wear out.
Also, it is very clumsy and some emergency brakes are in awkward positions.
> I'm not sure how you parked in SF without this , you seem to have just put your stick shift in 1st gear and left it at that?
Not me, besides making good sense it is the law to set your Emergency Brake when you part on any incline.
Everyone in the UK uses handbrake *all the time* you'd probably fail a driving test for not using it when stopped at traffic lights. on the flat!
One is that it is not a real brake - itll hold when stationary tho
it it will wear out. - harldy , its not doing any real braking, ie when car in motion , thats when pads wear.
is even on and drive for miles - not if if iot was put on half decently, you'd just stall
it is very clumsy - id say the 'utilise ebrake' method of setting off on a hill is more elegant
Emergency brakes are in awkward positions - really?
> Everyone in the UK uses handbrake *all the time*
Just saw that.
I bet not.
But there are some cars where I would do that too, like if they
had a convenient and strong Emergency Brake. You don't
really need the Emergency brake if you are not on a slope.
In the general case I still think it is easier to just work the clutch and
gas with the left and right feet, the shift with the right hand, and the
steering with the left hand. Because there are so many cars where
second gear is so close to first you must immediately shift to second
to accelerate confidently and quickly. It just takes away from your
concentration to be fiddling with the hand-brake, especially if it is
down on the floor.
Doing just one universal process for every case keeps one in
practice and moving intuitively and automatically. You don't want to
have to be thinking on a hill in heavy traffic while you are rolling
back into the car behind you! ;-)
> True dat , especially on heavier vehicles that have more inertai and arnt going to accelerate backwards quickly.
By the way, Newton's Laws of Motion say that all things fall, or slide down an incline under the same acceleration, regardless of mass.