Driving Test - Moving Down Gears

copacetic

md99 wrote:

You're worse for keeping it up.

Best solution is always to ignore.

best of luck with the test so, I'm sure rolling to a stop in 6th
will be grand for you.

oleras

md99 wrote:

You're worse for keeping it up.

Best solution is always to ignore.

I agree, but i honestly think he is not trolling....:eek:

J_R

Hi,


OK, once again

At the bottom of my 1st post I said

Test examiners are quite happy with above.

My pupils DO NOT receive a mark for stopping in 6th.

So, should I inform the testers they are wrong ????

And I totally disagree with your statement you are not in control of the car when stopping in a high gear. You are actually more in control. By not changing down, you have your two hands on the wheel at all times, braking smoothly and regressively to come a gentle controlled stop.

I have read a defense of going down through the gears, that if anything happens you will be able to drive out of trouble. But drive where ?? You are remember approaching a STOP sign, at which you MUST stop. Better to deal with whatever the emergency is, that drive out into a new road where you could get T-boned. And if your observations are good you will see the trouble developing and deal with it before it gets serious.


Best thing:- Go out and try it.

Mitch Connor

what should you do in very slow moving traffic? Or coming up to somewhere you may, or may not have to stop (traffic stopped in front of you, but it is starting to move as you get to it)

Should you always come to a stop, select 1st then move on again, or can you select first while moving slowly and stay in first til second is ok to go in to?

I find my car chugs a lot if i try to move very slowly in second, so i find i need to do my slow driving in first. Sometimes this means i have to select 1st without actually having stopped.

Wishbone Ash

Tauren wrote:

I find my car chugs a lot if i try to move very slowly in second, so i find i need to do my slow driving in first. Sometimes this means i have to select 1st without actually having stopped.

I think that this may be a problem with your car. One shouldn't have to select 1st while the car is moving (unless in exceptional circumstances - e.g. moving slowly up a very steep incline).

Mitch Connor

Wishbone Ash wrote:

I think that this may be a problem with your car. One shouldn't have to select 1st while the car is moving (unless in exceptional circumstances - e.g. moving slowly up a very steep incline).

If i clutch in a bit, i can stay in second, but i thought i should not be doing that either, cause basically it puts me out of gear.

Pherekydes

J_R wrote:

Hi,


OK, once again

At the bottom of my 1st post I said


My pupils DO NOT receive a mark for stopping in 6th.

So, should I inform the testers they are wrong ????

And I totally disagree with your statement you are not in control of the car when stopping in a high gear. You are actually more in control. By not changing down, you have your two hands on the wheel at all times, braking smoothly and regressively to come a gentle controlled stop.

They need to brake progressively! Remember, you may not be first in line at a stop sign. If the line of cars in front moves off before you stop, you'll be in the wrong gear (6th). Best practice: always have your car in the correct gear for the traffic conditions and speed of your vehicle.

J_R

Slow coach wrote:

They need to brake progressively! Remember, you may not be first in line at a stop sign. If the line of cars in front moves off before you stop, you'll be in the wrong gear (6th). Best practice: always have your car in the correct gear for the traffic conditions and speed of your vehicle.

If you wish to slow down progressively, you brake regressively. The slower the car is going the less braking required.

If you brake progressively, you are increasing braking pressure, so by time you stop you will have maximum pressure on the brakes. Should be other way 'round.

If you are in a high gear and 100% certain you are going to stop then see no reason whatsoever to change down. If there is a possibliity the obstruction may clear then go down through the gears as you approach.

unkel

J_R wrote:

If you are in a high gear and 100% certain you are going to stop then see no reason whatsoever to change down. If there is a possibliity the obstruction may clear then go down through the gears as you approach.

I agree. There's very little benefit in going down through the gears in that situation. As you said, an inexperienced driver is better off paying attention to traffic

Pherekydes

unkel wrote:

I agree. There's very little benefit in going down through the gears in that situation. As you said, an inexperienced driver is better off paying attention to traffic

A driver who can't change down while paying attention to traffic has no place on the road.

galah

what's wrong with coasting????

I hardly ever use the 3rd gear - only when shifting up, hardly ever when shifting down...Go straight from 4th to 2nd (after travelling with the clutch depressed for a while, and braking when coming up to a stop sign) - that's what I was taught in driving school...

Only use 1st gear when starting the car, you should not need it otherwise, really...

md99

galah wrote:

what's wrong with coasting????

A lot less grip/control with it...

It is a lot more comfortorable and easier in many cases though.

gaeilgegrinds

I failed because of coasting. Have cut that out now and am awaiting my second chance!

galah

md99 wrote:

A lot less grip/control with it...

It is a lot more comfortorable and easier in many cases though.

Hm, I don't get that - cause if the road starts to get slippery, I can always get into gear again (that's assuming that I know what I am doing, and have full control over my car at any time, obviously)...?

Can't believe they fail you for that kind of stuff...I mean, that's a minor issue compared to what else is going on on the roads in this country...

J_R

Hi,

Simply demonstration to show effects of coasting. No responsibility accepted for any mishap. etc

Drive to the top of the steepest hill in your area.

Put the car in 1st gear, take your feet off the pedals, let the car drive down the hill, steering nice gentle "S" curves in the road.

Now, drive back up again, start off in 1st gear but this time fully depress the clutch.

Let it gain momentum a little, and now attempt to do a few controlled "S" curves.

Should scare anyone into at least attempting to stop coasting around corners.

But coasting around corners and coasting to a stop are two totally different situations.

craichoe

Your gearing completely depends upon the vehicle your driving and the amount of weight in it. You change down gears to use the braking power of the engine.

In a 1.9 Diesel (Octavia, Golf, Passat or whatever) you can change down into first before your stop doing say 10-15 mph, the car will come down to about 3-5 mph and you clutch in then brake.

in a 1.4 Petrol, say an Astra or something, you can't do this. if you change down into 1st while moving the engine will rev quite high.

It completely depends upon the vehicle imho. You should know from driving your car/bike what its capable of and what braking / accelaration each gear will give you, this is standard on the Norwegian driving test as they have mountains with 45 degree slopes , you'd burn out your brakes if you didn't use your engine to brake.

Oh, to the guy who said drive in snow in 1st ... That is the silliest and most dangerous thing you can do. Think of it this way .. Can you get wheel spin in 3rd gear doing 20 miles and hour (Lads with the M5's shush) no ! ..

Or try driving a Jaguar XK8 Automatic in snow ... its a death trap ! the only thing you can do is stick it in second gear and pray

J_R

Hi,

belated reply, had book on loan.

From the IAM manual, "Pass your advanced Driving Test"

Coming to a Stop
The technique you use when coming to a complete halt after driving along in one of the higher gears often causes problems for candidates during the Advanced Driving Test. What you should do is best illustrated by imagining you are travelling along a suburban road in fifth gear at 40mph and traffic lights ahead turn red.

You slow down your car on the brakes alone, but there comes a point when the engine starts to labour. This is the moment when you de-clutch progressively, in order to prevent the engine straining the transmission and ultimately stalling. Normally it is a rule of advanced driving that you should not 'coast' with the clutch disengaged or the gearbox in neutral, but in this case you have to break this rule briefly by de-clutching so that you come to a halt without stalling the engine

They also say

Changing gears whils braking should be avoided because you reduce control of your car if you take one hand off the steering wheel

From "Roadcraft" - The Police Driver's Handbook.

Sometimes it is helpful to overlap braking with the gear change. do this by braking normally and changing gear towards the end of braking. The advantages of this are that it takes less time, contributes to vehicle stability and is often safer because your progress matches the expectations of other road users.

These advantages have to be weighed against the disadvantage that for part of the braking period both hands are not on the steering wheel, and the possibility that the technique could lead to late, excessive braking and rushed gear changes.

Above reasons why teach unnecessary to change down. Much much easier to simply brake, de-clutch.

Was wrong to use the word "Regressive" in previous post regarding braking. Neither of above manuals uses that word, both say brake "progressively" "

Roadcraft" says, for normal braking

Gently take up the initial free movement of the pedal.

Increase the pressure progressively as required.

Relax pedal pressure as unwanted road speed is lost.

Release the pedal just before stopping to avoid a jerking halt

italics bit where thought warranted the definition regressive.

unkel

Good post, J R

Release the pedal just before stopping to avoid a jerking halt

That's one of the things that took me a bit to master back in the day

peasant

yepp ..takes a bit of getting used to ...

but on the other hand my driving instructor used to say:

"at stop signs you have to bring the vehicle to a halt in such a way, that the head of the examiner slightly nods forward in an appreciative fashion"

In other words ...don't "creep" through them

unkel

peasant wrote:

"at stop signs you have to bring the vehicle to a halt in such a way, that the head of the examiner slightly nods forward in an appreciative fashion"

ROTFL