Hiya,
As a Petrol/Diesel head and a driver of Manual and Autos, right hand drive and left hand drive, driving almost 20 years, including some 'road trips' in the USA - there is no 'better' transmission type than another.
When you pHiya,
As a Petrol/Diesel head and a driver of Manual and Autos, right hand drive and left hand drive, driving almost 20 years, including some 'road trips' in the USA - there is no 'better' transmission type than another.
When you pass your test is when you 'really' start to learn to drive - if you can drive a manual, you'll soon learn to shift up and down the gearbox without a second thought - it'll just flow nicely - You really won't be constantly thinking 'ah let me change up the 3rd now as I've just joined a dual carriageway off a side road and the traffic is clear' or 'ahh im approching a junction let me check my speed, 35, yep, brake, let me change down to 2nd on the cusp of the corner ready to engage the clutch for drive once I've straightend up' etc etc - all that will just simply flow. So I tend to disagree with 'driving an auto is like being in a coma' !!
Having said that - I of course can understand that it can be a kinda more plain experience !
To the OP - As already discussed, the 'trick' to learning a manual, is 'Clutch Control' - that takes experience, patience and skill. I would also recommend getting your head around the basic engineering and scientific principles of a car's basic elements - Engine, gearbox, drivetrain so that when you put that experience, patience and skill into physical practice you'll have a greater background knowledge.
Although it's almost been 20 years since I took my test, I do remember speaking to my intructor on my first lesson and him saying the following
"Clutch is THE Control" and "Gas/Accelerator is the GO pedal, but YOU control it with the Clutch" (although its much easier to speak the following, I'll try explaining it in words as it picks up on the engineering principles I mentioned above
I think ex jersey girls step by step approach description is very good, however just a couple of error's in it. The 'trick' is to 'balance' the clutch, the amount of 'gas' you give and releasing the handbrake at the right time when it comes to learning clutch control. The incline bit is right as it's a great indicator as into whats actually happening as you do those things correctly or not. If you're car rolls backwards - you are getting it wrong, if the car stays stationary and then moves forward as you 'control' the power delivery into forward motion - you are getting it right!
The correct term as no ones pointed it out yet is Clutch 'biting point' - this is where you'll feel the point at which by 'controlling' the clutch pedal and bring it slowly upwards, where the 'drive' from the engines power output is being transferred to the drivetrain. It's that 'biting point' which will 'control' the car the way you want it. You should always bring the clutch pedal up and find the biting point, and then slowly feed a little more gas with the right foot to prevent stalling, and then release the handbrake. Get that balance right, you're car will be stationary, and as you then slowly bring the clutch up and 'NO Extra gas' the car will begin to inch forward. Keep practicing the above and that's 80% of your 'clutch control' learnt! the remaining 20% being when do engage and disengage the clutch to select a gear for what the car is doing on the different roads and conditions (i.e when to change gear if approaching a left hand turn which doesn't require you to stop for instance)
Make sure you practice the above first on a level road to start yourself getting used to the pedals, biting point etc and then move to slight inclines and then onto a good gradient or 'hill' to practice your Hill Start! . Also, you'll then learn that a manual car will also move forward without ANY of your feet touching the pedals! - Try it, once you do the above, and the car starts to move forward slowly, you can then take you foot OFF the clutch completely, and then take your foot OFF the accelerator - the car will still move forward slowly! if you then, press the accelerator/gas a little bit the car will increase in speed!
Finally, related back to 'control' again, I remember my instructor showing me the following
During the above procedure, instead of giving just that 'little' bit of gas - he told me to push the pedal about half way - of course the engine 'Revs' to about 3000 rpm, but he said look, although you've pressed it halfway the GO pedal thinks the car is travelling forward at say 30mph, but you know it's not - now if you find the biting point (and I did) he said very very slowly keep the rpm/gas as it is, and really slowly release the clutch till the car moves forward. and of course it did, he then said right, keep that there dont bring the clutch up anymore - so, that taught me, that you can press the accelerator flat to the metal if you want - it doesnt meant you'll start to go fast - in that instant, I still had the car 'slowly inching along' becuase I was using the clutch to 'control how much of the engines drive was being transmitted to forward motion'
Sorry for the long paragraphs ! really, all of that is much easier to say that to type! - there is some more elements to it all as well, such as when to depress the clutch to take the car 'out of drive' and stopping etc etc. Any good instructor will teach you those elements in conjuction with the above very early on in your lessons.
Hope also that anyone else finding out about this topic reads it !
As for the recent Auto's Vs Manual postings - I shall now throw in some new elements and that's Semi Automatic and Manual gearboxes! where you have the choice of a 'form' of both in the same gearbox! and to really frazzle you, 'Clutchless Manual' gearboxes!
I won't even mention sports automatic boxes, re-mapped automatic boxes to sharpen their responses up, the whole kickdown function and forcing a autobox to change gear so you 'control' it, dogleg manual gearboxes (those will really send your senses throwing a bit of a wobbly!!!) and a proper close ratio gearbox and to top it all off, a straight cut gears gearbox - the double de-clutching' action some cars need and of course the holy grail of , Heel n Toe !
Hope the above helps a bit!
Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!
