Hills help.
Hello, hope everyone is having a good start to the holidays after the summer break up from schools.
I am posting my question in Learning to drive, however I have already passed my driving test 4 weeks ago. There are just a few things I struggle with still in my own car, which I've been using for just over a year while I've been learning to drive.
I had 45 hours of driving lessons with a professional which had allowed me to pass my test, and my instructor taught me in a 2022 Volkswagen Polo (Not really sure of the specs, all I really know is that it was a Diesel engine) which I had absolutely no problems with when learning. However, driving my car this is a totally different story especially with hill starts which are what I still struggle with the most.
My car is a Suzuki Swift 1.3L petrol, so very different to my instructors diesel engine. Its also a 59 plate, so manufactured in 2009, whereas my instructors was March 2022. This is where the problem lies, as I was taught the way of hill starts using a diesel engine, where the engine does a lot of the work and not a lot of clutch control is required. The way I was taught, was to lift the clutch to the bite, then add gas just before moving off and to keep my feet still until about 5mph or so before releasing the clutch. The problem is this does not work in my petrol engine car, as holding it at the bite like I was taught tends to either hold me there, or it makes me roll backwards. As well as this, releasing the clutch drops the revs lower whereas this doesn't happen in my instructors vehicle. I know the solution is simply lift the clutch higher while adding more gas, but how can I get into this habit? It takes me such a long time to move off on hills, granted I don't have years of experience like many others and I can move off on hills, but it's already starting to pester me as I've had people beep horns at me which tends to startle me so I do things wrong.
I do know how to drive, it is just the major differences between a brand new diesel engine car vs an almost 14 year old petrol engine car which requires a lot more footwork.
Any tips and advice on how to approach this would be amazing, thanks all!
I am posting my question in Learning to drive, however I have already passed my driving test 4 weeks ago. There are just a few things I struggle with still in my own car, which I've been using for just over a year while I've been learning to drive.
I had 45 hours of driving lessons with a professional which had allowed me to pass my test, and my instructor taught me in a 2022 Volkswagen Polo (Not really sure of the specs, all I really know is that it was a Diesel engine) which I had absolutely no problems with when learning. However, driving my car this is a totally different story especially with hill starts which are what I still struggle with the most.
My car is a Suzuki Swift 1.3L petrol, so very different to my instructors diesel engine. Its also a 59 plate, so manufactured in 2009, whereas my instructors was March 2022. This is where the problem lies, as I was taught the way of hill starts using a diesel engine, where the engine does a lot of the work and not a lot of clutch control is required. The way I was taught, was to lift the clutch to the bite, then add gas just before moving off and to keep my feet still until about 5mph or so before releasing the clutch. The problem is this does not work in my petrol engine car, as holding it at the bite like I was taught tends to either hold me there, or it makes me roll backwards. As well as this, releasing the clutch drops the revs lower whereas this doesn't happen in my instructors vehicle. I know the solution is simply lift the clutch higher while adding more gas, but how can I get into this habit? It takes me such a long time to move off on hills, granted I don't have years of experience like many others and I can move off on hills, but it's already starting to pester me as I've had people beep horns at me which tends to startle me so I do things wrong.
I do know how to drive, it is just the major differences between a brand new diesel engine car vs an almost 14 year old petrol engine car which requires a lot more footwork.
Any tips and advice on how to approach this would be amazing, thanks all!
yeah this is a common problem with the way instructors teach especially in diesel cars that dont require much gas to get going.
What you have to do is stop doing the "biting point first then gas" method, SET your gas and then go to the biting point, over time you'll be really quick at it and wont need handbrake, but for now always use your handbrake
What you have to do is stop doing the "biting point first then gas" method, SET your gas and then go to the biting point, over time you'll be really quick at it and wont need handbrake, but for now always use your handbrake
Original post by AQAscaresme
The way I was taught, was to lift the clutch to the bite, then add gas just before moving off and to keep my feet still until about 5mph or so before releasing the clutch.
Yes it's as Mo says, unfortunately like many, your instructor has taught you a basically incorrect procedure. You always 'set the gas' first with a steady amount before bringing the clutch up to bite - in any car!
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