Hi,

I have been driving stick for nearly 30 years and have driven many makes/models of vehicles. After finally getting over the Getrag 285's no reverse safety blocker (insane), I now find myself having a hard time gassing the car quickly enough when someone stops short in front of me or from a complete stop on an incline to get it to not stall. I have actually stalled once in extreme traffic while on an incline and the car rolls backwards very quickly.

I really find myself revving it hard to avoid stalling (especially with the A/C on) and due to driving patterns I might need to stop and go several times in several seconds.

I feel like a 16 year old again. :(

Not sure that I encountered this with my Focus SVT with the same trans (although that has been down due to a timing belt situation for some time).

Any pointers?

Help!

 

Use parking brake to hold car until you engage clutch.

 

+1
It's a balancing act modulating throttle, clutch and easing off the hand brake. Practice a few times in the driveway. I still smoked the clutch once in Frisco at a stop sign on a hill with a big sedan right on my butt.

 

I've noticed even with my R56 that it doesn't like leaving stops with the AC on, inclines make it worse. I did get a significant improvement though when I went to some lighter wheels, you may find this helps you get past that initial rolling inertia. I have also used the e-brake in some situations when traffic etc calls for it.

 

E-brakes huh? Sounds like a tough technique and I am a slow learner. So I'd be pulling my e-brake up and down every few seconds for what could amount to minutes on end? Again, sounds really hard....but you all seem to be in agreement.

 

I don't drive a stick anymore, but the e brake was one of the first things I learned out of necessity. Actually learned first on a motorcycle on some steep hills to hold the brake, clutch throttle and balance all at the same time. They should make everyone learn how to do that before driving a car. Probably cut down on accidents and keep some people off the road altogether.

Now they have all sorts of things that make manual transmission cars like driving an auto with just an extra pedal. Hill hold, rev matching, not sure what else has been added.

You'll get it pretty easily if you've been driving for 30 years. Best of luck!

 

Hmmmm....I learned to drive stick in Florida....maybe this is why I was never exposed to this.

 

X2 or more, that is how we do it!

 

One of my routes home has me coming up hill from the Port, gaining over 400' elevation in about 3/4 mile. City blocks with poorly timed traffic lights at every intersection.

When I was a kid, I would have mocked anyone who touched an ebrake to hold the hill. Now I'm older, and I do it boldly.

 

Waiting at a traffic light with the clutch pedal down, is a serious mistake. Slipping the clutch for any extended time will trash the clutch in no time. Don' t let pride cost you the big bucks!

 

r53-06m6 -

Give it (the brake handle) chance, the human body can do great things if given the chance, and the mind doesn't fight it..!

Mike


P.s. - Your car rolled "backward", not backwards. Adding the "s", imply's plural. Only one backward..!

 

Thanks for the idea and the grammar check. BTW, It is implies not "imply's". It is also give it "a chance" not "chance".

Finally, backwards is not necessarily considered plural when used as an adverb which it was in this
case. Backward might be preferred in American English, but "backwards" is technically still correct in American English and preferred in British English when used in said context. I have lived in both the US and UK so I think that I am good.

HTH

 

+1. That's the first thing I taught my son when he was leaning to drive a stick. Imagine driving a stick in San Francisco....

 

I, too, use my e-brake on steep hills (easing up on the brake while engaging the clutch) It's a chance to uses all four of your limbs to coordinate the start off procedure. One thing that has helped me is the Sprint Booster which has eased the sluggish engine throttle response. A sense of satisfaction when done right.

 

I use the handbrake when starting on a steep uphill. I've always driven manual transmission cars (32+ years now,) but my immediate previous vehicle was a Forester manual which had a really nifty hill-hold feature I got used to.

 

It sounds like you have a psychological block that has developed. What I would suggest is going out and practicing hill starts during low traffic times to get acclimated to it again and retrain your mind to get over it's instinct. It would take a few sessions, several days apart, but it is a mild thing to get over. I have developed a block over hill starts a few times and went from doing it no problem to having difficulty, but it went away every time once it became instinctual again. The less you think about it consciously, the better you will be.

BTW, it has taken me 1700 miles to become smooth in my MINI with the Getrag 5 speed because the clutch engagement is awkward compared to every other manual trans I have ever driven. If this is your first time driving one of these cars, it may be the weird clutch engagement that is throwing you off.

 

Are you using the parking brake method? I have some sharp inclines on my property that I can try this out on.

It might very well be the clutch engagement that is throwing me off. Although this did happen to me once with a first generation Mazda Protege DX up a sharp hill.

Lots of videos on this topic:

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...+clutch+method

What I can't get over is the idea of using the parking brake for starters.

All...

Is using the parking brake any faster than holding the regular brake down when at a complete stop at a hill? What is the difference between just holding my foot down and holding the parking brake?

I guess it's time to start over for me. It's surprising what kind of training you can miss in your life.

 

Plus one on using the emergency brake on steep hills. Though I use mine mostly for Bat Turns!

 

First thought is the mechanical condition of the car. I am not a mechanic so I can’t provide specific suggestions but when test driving used cars, I found that I stalled some cars in bad shape easily.

When I started driving my MINI in the city, after years of an automatic, I found that I was intimidated by stopping on a hill in heavy traffic, I even put it in reverse in error twice.

Make sure your MINI is in good shape and practice on a steep hill with no traffic in your MINI and build the confidence that you can do it anywhere.

 

I don't use the parking brake method but then I don't have a lot of hill starts here on Florida's Suncoast. There is one, and it used to trip me up, but now I can do it just fine. The thing to remember is that the car won't roll all that far back when switching pedals. What I think I do is to let the clutch up until it barely bites (and is holding the car as a brake) then switch from the brake to the gas. It should take maybe a second or two to do this. Much longer and your clutch will hate you. One good practice for this in most stick cars ( have not tried it on the MINI!) is to go to a flat and level, empty parking lot, bring the car to a complete stop and then get the car going using only the clutch with no gas. This should take 5 to 10 seconds until the car is moving without gas or clutch. I have taught countless people proper clutch feel with this method and it usually works really well. However, it has always been in the Frontier which is not a special snowflake like the MINI and takes the abuse with ease due to a bigger clutch. My MINI has a very low bite point though when compared to my Frontier which comes in towards the top of the pedal travel (recent transmission rebuild, clutch and hydraulics on the Frontier with the MINI being a recent clutch and trans rebuild too) and it doesn't have a point where you can feel it " break over" into easier travel like the Frontier. Most clutches have this point but my MINI does not. It makes it much harder to judge the engagement and drive it smoothly.

 

I started driving in UK in 1965 with a 850 mini. Back then automatic cars were rare. Part of the driving test was to do a smooth hill start, holding the car on the handbrake. Still do it daily with my R53.