Driving Tips From Gurus To Beginners Like Me

[baker]

I had taken the liscence 12 years back and now i am going to driving class to learn again .
I do have some very basic doubts.
1: while stopping the car from ruuning , my instructor insisting me to apply clutch first and then on brake. he suggests it will help the car not to stall.

2: while turning in corners , he wants me to be in half clutch.

But many of my friends suggests opposite , now i am kind of confused when to use the clutch and when not

 

[GrandRk]

I had taken the liscence 12 years back and now i am going to driving class to learn again .
I do have some very basic doubts.
1: while stopping the car from ruuning , my instructor insisting me to apply clutch first and then on brake. he suggests it will help the car not to stall.

2: while turning in corners , he wants me to be in half clutch.

But many of my friends suggests opposite , now i am kind of confused when to use the clutch and when not

Clutch is used for below
1) Changing gears
2) Applied when your speed comes lower than the gear in which the car is moving (avoid stalling)
3) When you are in 1st gear and still need to move your car for less than 10KmpH speed (based on situation like bumper to bumper traffic, moving out from congested parking or markets)

Brakes are used to lower the car speed. Hence while stopping the car first apply brake and when speed becomes less (than the gear it is in) then apply full clutch until it stops.
While you are approaching corners do make your car speed lower before hitting the corner. You need to increase it back when moving out of corner (in simple, take corners in controlled speed)

 

[Sidd7hartha]

So, is the half-clutch accelerator combo on uphill is the only mechanism for moving a Petrol vehicle?

MDS must have taught the use of hand break technique on a slope. I think it is safer on a steep slope.

 

[GauthamK]

What is the correct method to be followed to slow down a car suddenly?

Suppose I am driving in 100 kmph in a highway and suddenly out of nowhere I see a speed breaker. What is the correct method to follow to quickly reduce my speed and pass the speed breaker smoothly?

 

[chevrolet]

@gauthamk,
There wont be speed breakers on an highway,but can be found on state highways and village roads.

1. If your car has 'abs' just step over it fully,the car will slow down perfectly without fishtailing. But make sure no one is tail gating you.

2. Next dont climb the speed breaker in a straight line. When climbing move the steering to right or left ,this will reduce the bumpiness to a great extent .Do this only if the car has come to slow speeds or else car may go off the road.

ABS is important, if not it is better to do normal breaking with gear braking to cross the hump. SUV/muv/tall cars need careful handling. What car do you drive?

 

[bhvm]

Suppose I am driving in 100 kmph in a highway and suddenly out of nowhere I see a speed breaker. What is the correct method to follow to quickly reduce my speed and pass the speed breaker smoothly?

@gauthamk,
There wont be speed breakers on an highway,but can be found on state highways and village roads.

the hump. SUV/muv/tall cars need careful handling. What car do you drive?

You'd be surprised to find that many National Highways come with speedbreakers! Think about Malegaon to Nashik and some parts to Nashik to Bombay Expressway! Its Criminal but its true thanks to our dear goverments. Anyways here a few tips I use for sudden Speedbreakers-

1. If you find that expressway has speedbreakers, SLOW DOWN your average speeds. Its not the road that can do 150+ safely.
2. If your car as ABS, Do as chervolet suggested, slam the brakes. BUT! Take a short peak in the Rearview mirror if there's something very close to you. Then brake accordingly. This is something that can be improved only by practice and is not easy to do.
3. Press the brakes firmly UNTIL you come close to the speedbreakers. Then release the brakes as you go over them. Believe me, Going over speedbreakers with Foot on brake is much more stressful on the car than going neutral.
4. Get an SUV. They're far more going over than this Mountains than any Sedans, Hatchbacks. Tall tyres and high GC always helps.

A hatchback has far more chances of scraping the speedbreaker, not due to just low GC, but also the fact that cars rebound (Spring effect) after the front tyres are over the breakers. Which means the middle of your car could hit the breaker sharply. SUVs have very less rebound due to stronger suspension and tall wheels.

Hope it helps.

 

[GrandRk]

I would suggest to press brake until the car has achieved safe speed to cross over speed breaker. Then press clutch and downshift and take speed breaker as you usually do it on other roads.

Correctly said by bhvm, now a days National Highways have these speed breakers. There are nasty speed breakers painted in blue on NH65 as well. Also there is a big pot hole on left side of NH48 at Nira River bridge while going from Pune towards Khambatki Ghat.

 

[harishankar]

Invisible speed breakers are nasty, even for the most experienced of us. Like others said, hit the brakes hard and hope the car doesn't get scraped or hit at the bottom. The worst are the non-graduated speed breakers which are just humps. Can be nasty.

 

[GauthamK]

Thank you everyone for your valuable information!
I drive Tata Tiago and it has ABS. Whenever I am in higher gears and slow down for the speed breakers, the car begin to vibrate before I downshift. What causes the vibration and how to avoid it?

 

[Akash1886]

I drive Tata Tiago and it has ABS. Whenever I am in higher gears and slow down for the speed breakers, the car begin to vibrate before I downshift. What causes the vibration and how to avoid it?

Well, to avoid the vibrations the method I follow is that, when I apply brakes to slow down at breaker I shift the gear to neutral and once I pass over the breaker, then I slot in the required gear.

Regards

Akash

 

[Sidd7hartha]

Well, to avoid the vibrations the method I follow is that, when I apply brakes to slow down at breaker I shift the gear to neutral and once I pass over the breaker, then I slot in the required gear.

Regards

Akash

The same result can be achieved by applying full clutch depressed. What is most comfortable gear over a thick and high speed breaker? I think 1st is the best. Only problem is coming from 2nd to 1st takes some more force than usual in my Ritz.

 

[GrandRk]

The same result can be achieved by applying full clutch depressed. What is most comfortable gear over a thick and high speed breaker? I think 1st is the best. Only problem is coming from 2nd to 1st takes some more force than usual in my Ritz.

Yeah... some speed breakers or a group of speed breakers needs 1st gear to cross them. I have came across few speed breakers which are located on ascent , they also needs to be taken in first gear.

 

[chevrolet]

@Gautham
Vibration from brake pedal means abs is activated.

 

[navnit013]

Vibrations. That is due to the engine rpm dropping below the idle rpm. Usually idle rpm is 800-1000 rpm. If you go below that lets say 700 rpm, there will be a tendency to stall. But since you are carrying momentum, the engine will tick over leading to jerks which you call vibration (correct me here, i deduced this from your post).

Now how to get rid of it. Lets say you are driving at 80 kmph and you spot a speedbreaker. You apply the brake. Steady pressure for gradual deceleration or more pressure for quick deceleration. When the rpm nears idle rpm, press the clutch and change the gear to 2nd and release the clutch and modulate throttle to clear the speedbreaker. Almost all the speedbreaker, if you are not stationary, 2nd gear is enough to clear it.



FOR ALL THE DRIVERS HERE: Never let your car coast in neutral or in clutch. Always in gear. This is the best way to control your car. In neutral you are not in control of it. Also when you ride depressed clutch, you are not in control of the cars speed. Even in emergency braking, the clutch should be the last thing you should operate, just to change the gear to keep engine speed and car speed matched.

 

[Prabhagar]

Vibrations. That is due to the engine rpm dropping below the idle rpm. Usually idle rpm is 800-1000 rpm. If you go below that lets say 700 rpm, there will be a tendency to stall. But since you are carrying momentum, the engine will tick over leading to jerks which you call vibration (correct me here, i deduced this from your post).

I am sure this is the case with the OP.

Almost all the speedbreaker, if you are not stationary, 2nd gear is enough to clear it.

Unfortunately not the case with Tiago Petrol unless the speed breaker is reasonably well designed. Most often we have to slot to first gear or ride the clutch in second when speeds drop below 10 kph.

FOR ALL THE DRIVERS HERE: Never let your car coast in neutral or in clutch. Always in gear. This is the best way to control your car. In neutral you are not in control of it. Also when you ride depressed clutch, you are not in control of the cars speed. Even in emergency braking, the clutch should be the last thing you should operate, just to change the gear to keep engine speed and car speed matched.