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New driver questions on clutch help please don't want to burn it out..

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Comments

  • kmb500
    kmb500 Posts: 656 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper
    GwylimT wrote: »
    Because you aren't braking properly! You're preventing engine braking which decreases stopping distance compared to coasting.
    What's engine braking?

    bsod wrote: »
    go for a drive with your dad

    the odds of having a poor instructor and a poor tester and a dad that doesn't ask !!!!!! are you doing must be astronomical
    I went out with both my mum and dad a good 50+ hours while learning.
  • GwylimT
    GwylimT Posts: 6,530 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    kmb500 wrote: »
    What's engine braking?



    I went out with both my mum and dad a good 50+ hours while learning.

    How did you pass your theory test? Engine braking is fairly self explanatory, its where the engine slows the vehicle down in the proper and safe way that a vehicle should slow down.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    kmb500 wrote: »
    What's engine braking?
    dukes-pass-trossachs-scotland-uk-10-gradient-road-sign-low-gear-now-F6AKKJ.jpg
  • bsod
    bsod Posts: 1,225 Forumite
    edited 18 October 2016 at 3:23PM
    Unless you are coming to a stop/crawl or going down a steep incline, you shouldn't have to touch the clutch or gears at all once you're in top gear.

    There is no way you'd pass the emergency stop test if you'd plonked both feet to the floor instantaneously.
    Don't you dare criticise what you cannot understand
  • kmb500
    kmb500 Posts: 656 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper
    GwylimT wrote: »
    How did you pass your theory test? Engine braking is fairly self explanatory, its where the engine slows the vehicle down in the proper and safe way that a vehicle should slow down.
    Surely the brakes are what slow the car down...
  • phoenix_w
    phoenix_w Posts: 418 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    kmb500 wrote: »
    this evidently not true given that I passed first time and not once did I do what you guys are telling me to.

    It may have been that your invigilator didn't notice you excessively coasting. There really isn't an excuse - it's dangerous for yourself and other road users.

    Really, though, don't do it. Think about it logically - if you're coasting and something hits you from behind at high speed you'll bear the brunt of their kinetic energy and become a high speed projectile for someone else. If gears are engaged and someone hits you, the braking provided by the engine will slow you down more quickly than brakes alone and possibly save someone else's life.

    You should only be depressing the clutch when changing gear or when slowing to a speed lower than being in first gear with your foot off the accelerator, and even then only for a fraction of a second when deploying your handbrake.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    bsod wrote: »
    Unless you are coming to a stop or going down a steep incline, you shouldn't have to touch the clutch or gears at all once you're in top gear.
    Perhaps on a very long motorway with little traffic, but apart from that...
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    kmb500 wrote: »
    Surely the brakes are what slow the car down...
    They're one of the ways, yes, but they certainly shouldn't be the primary way.
  • GwylimT
    GwylimT Posts: 6,530 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    kmb500 wrote: »
    Surely the brakes are what slow the car down...

    So you're confirming you have never read the highway code and don't actually know what road signs mean. You're style of 'driving' is dangerous.
  • kmb500
    kmb500 Posts: 656 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper
    GwylimT wrote: »
    So you're confirming you have never read the highway code and don't actually know what road signs mean. You're style of 'driving' is dangerous.
    Oh sorry, I hadn't noticed all those road signs that tell me what gear I should be in!


    What on earth are you on about?
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