This myTake is intended for manual cars only.
Let's start from the basics.
The Steering Angle.
Most of the roads are naturally like a slope starting from the divider to the corner of the road. Kind of banking.
No matter if it is a turning point or a straight road. Many are built in such a fashion that they are banking towards the corners.
What happens here is, if the driver is not paying attention, the vehicle naturally and automatically skews towards the corners. Which may result in something drastic or fatal.
What you can do is, keep you hands on the steering wheel and adjust it for the car to stay on the desired course/lane accordingly. These are small adjustments, nothing more. This is the very first step to learn in driving.
The Biting Point aka Half Clutch.
The biting point is the position of the clutch(in the process of complete release) from where the vehicle starts moving from its initial position, starts moving from its stationary position, on a level road, in the 1st gear only. The car will jump and the engine will stop running if you are not in the 1st gear. We will talk about slopes later on.
How to understand/find your vehicle's Biting Point.
It is quite easy to understand/find your vehicle's biting point.
- Put the vehicle in 1st gear. Engine ON.
- Apply both brakes and clutch. And start releasing the clutch, with brakes still applied.
- The moment you feel your car vibrating, more than normal vibration; it is the clutch position at this moment that is the biting point for your car.
Remember the 3rd step as it is very crucial in any given condition, practically speaking. You need to practice extensively on biting point. Vehicles jump just because of this point.
When to accelerate.
The full released clutch alone can get your car up to 10kmph of speed. When you reach this speed(usually people do not wait for this), you need to very gently press on the Acceleration pedal.
You need to be very careful with the acceleration, as in the first gear, only the clutch is expected to function. You need to press the Acceleration pedal very smoothly, till you reach 20kmph.
How to change gears and when to change gears.
You need to keep pressing the clutch pedal till you change gears from the previous to the required gear, definitely not pressing the acceleration pedal in the process as it will be fruitless, damaging the engine.
The speed of clutch release depends on the gear at the moment. The smaller the gear number, the more time you need to take in releasing the gear. This time gets reduced with increase in gears. You will take your sweet time in releasing the clutch for the 1st gear. Of course, not too much of it.
You get it when practicing. Whenever you shift gears, the release time period for the clutch needs to be monitored by you, accordingly.
In India, these are the speeds at which the change in gears is expected. At least somewhere around them. Not too low, and not too high.
20kmph-1st gear to 2nd gear.
30kmph-2nd gear to 3rd gear.
40kmph-3rd gear to 4th gear.
50kmph-4th gear to 5th gear.
60kmph-5th gear to 6th gear.
And following this logic, the maximum speed I can go in our car is 70kmph, for a healthy, smooth run, and with a good mileage.
Common mistakes I have noticed people making.
- Accelerating when reversing.
Most of the cars have only one reverse gear. And it only requires the clutch to function. It is just like the first forward gear, but in reverse.
You can barely use the accelerator in the first gear, unless you want a sudden push. The same logic needs to be applied in the reverse too.
No accelerator please. Since you have not released the clutch completely, it will only rev the engine, wasting fuel, and damage the engine, internally. - Not following safety protocols.
Believe me. They are very very very important.
Right from the seat belt, to the door locking, to the infotainment system, to the regular maintenance of your vehicle.
And you should also be at least knowledgeable in changing the tires. That is very important. - Confusing Accelerator, Brake and Clutch pedals.
Each one is of different shape, with the clutch pedal pressing down a bit, before actually getting applied.
The brake pedal is the highest and the shortest in shape.
The acceleration pedal is the longest and quite a bit below the position of the brake pedal.
People really need to understand this, as many mishaps happen just because the driver gets confused in these pedals. - Not learning driving from driving school, or under a good mentor/guide.
Since there are plethora of people driving road vehicles, students often consider it to be an easy task. They could not be further away from the truth. Although it is actually quite easy, but the difficult part is gauging the car and the practical conditions. Getting habitual with your car and the road is extremely important. Guidance is required.
IMP-
a) When on a slope, many people tend to be on the neutral gear and turn off the engine to save the fuel. Major mistake.
If you look closely, disk brakes are there in the front wheels and drum brakes brakes are there in the rear wheels, in most cars. Manufacturers use hydraulic systems to help you apply disk brakes effortlessly. But people do not seem to notice that the hydraulic system only works when the engine is up and running, no matter the gear or anything else.
When the engine is not running, the brakes are of no use. Its as if they just don't exist.
Hence, always keep the engine ON when going down a slope.
A truck collided with 48 vehicles on a bridge in India, and this was the main cause. The engine was turned off and the truck was on neutral. The driver could not apply brakes as the engine was turned off.
Although the example is of a truck, I hope you get the point of the example.
Now the gear part. What I personally do is, adjust the gears according to the speed of the car. It is much healthier to change the gears according to the speed of the car rather than being on the neutral gear. You need to have full active control on the brakes, the gear shift stick and the steering wheel here.
b) Going from point A to point B, from a lower to higher elevation, comparatively.
Remember the Biting Point I discussed at the start?
That biting point is going to be a crucial part of this activity.
A biting point helps you move your car at first. But this is on a level road. Not on a slope.
On any given slope, your car will not be able to move forward simply with clutch as its weight will be moving it in the downward direction.
This is what you need to do-
- Clutch and brakes on hold.
- Release the clutch till the biting point.
- As soon as the clutch reaches the biting point, release a teeny-tiny bit more.
- Now release the brakes and quickly accelerate, but carefully.
- You will slowly start going in the intended direction, upward direction.
This section requires lots and lots of practice.
And that's it! At least from my end.
I hope I made your time worthwhile. Thanks for reading!
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Please tell me where I am may be incorrect and the correction accordingly.
Feel free to write whatever you wish! Thanks for reading!
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