I’m practicing for my driving licence and I’m going to driving school, just out of curiosity though I’ve looking on YouTube how to start and run a car and I’ve seen at least 3 different methods, I dunno which one is the correct. Things like the order when you release a pedal or when you need to press the clutch keep switching…
The key is to understand what the controls do instead of memorizing a procedure.
When you start the car, you probably don’t want it to instantly lurch forward. So, you need to decouple the engine from the wheels, which you can do either by putting the transmission in neutral or by pushing in the clutch (or both). Once it’s running, either you can let the clutch out in gear to start moving, or let it out in neutral if you want to remain stopped for a while.
It’s not so much that one procedure is “correct;” it’s that you decide what you want the car to do and manipulate the controls to make that happen. It’s only not correct if it does something you didn’t intend.
Instructions unclear, my engine and wheels are sitting on the lawn now, what should I do?
Ah, like this?
The key there is to double-check that all your lug nuts are tight (let alone installed at all, LOL!) when you swap from your street wheels to your autocross wheels, and vice-versa.
Same goes for your motor mount bolts if your engine fell out, I suppose!
(In all seriousness, though, nothing you can do just trying to drive stick is capable of launching the engine out of the car. The worst-case scenario, aside from losing control and causing a wreck, is a money shift – accidentally downshifting to too low a gear and over-revving the engine – but even if it managed to blow a hole in your engine block, the bulk of the thing would largely stay within the engine compartment.)
In my experience owning old pieces of crap, you start a manual transmission by pushing it until it’s rolling down an incline, and then jump in and quickly pop the clutch.
Seriously though, if you’re just learning how to drive a stick, do NOT take it to test for your license.
My dad’s old 1972 Capri was so light, you could push it on flat road, jump in and pop the clutch.
For safe driving the order in which you do certain tasks isn’t an issue.
For your test, it “may” be ( reading the German poster below). If you live in a country with strict driving tests the only true answer will come from the organization giving the test. The driving school hopefully can also give you that answer.
Wind the window down, stomp the A-pedal and clutch pedal into the floor, turn the key until the engine roars, dump the clutch like it’s last season’s fashion. Savour the heady mixture of tyre smoke and unburnt fuel as you peal out into traffic.
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Make sure it’s in neutral and that the handbrake is on, then start the car.
Just use the clutch while starting the engine and you can be in any gear you want.
In case I’m missing the joke, that’s neutral.
Yes
Confirm the gear selector is in neutral by wiggling it rapidly left to right three times - three is the number - five is right out.
Wiggle the gearschtick, yes.
From ye olde driving manual, when all cars were manual:
“Then, shalt thou count to three. No more. No less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shalt be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then…”
One… Two… Four!
Some cars won’t start unless the clutch is pushed in. Some will. If you are in gear, it will push the car forward.
The most complete and safest way for all cars is.
Foot on brake. Clutch in. Put in neutral. Start car.
That should work and be safe in all manual cars. It is likely the “correct” way for a driving test.
Once you get to know a car, you might just use the brake and clutch and leave it in gear when starting the car.
No. If the clutch is in, there is no need to put in neutral. (You would not pass the driving test in Germany)
The correct steps are:
Right foot press down on the brake
Left foot press down on the clutch
Start the engine
check that the 1. gear is in
Then release the brake, get on the gas just a little, release the clutch carefully, and there you go.
No. If the clutch is in, there is no need to put in neutral.
Disagree.
It is possible for the clutch pedal to fail to disengage a malfunctioning clutch, or for a clutch cable to part while the vehicle is being started. In either case, the vehicle will lurch when in gear and the starter is actuated.
I know it is possible, because I hit the back wall of a barn with a dump truck when it happened to me.
Except for emergency scenarios (roll starting, or trying to use the starter motor to move an otherwise disabled vehicle), the transmission should be in neutral when starting, and not shifted out of neutral until the hand brake is released.
I guess they just don’t use broken cars in the driving test.
Excuse me, Whatthefuck.
Mechanical shit breaks, things go wrong. Standard practice should be to operate in such a manner as to minimize danger to life and property when shit breaks and things go wrong.
Offer a reasonable explanation for why the transmission should be in first gear. If that explanation is some variation of “This authoritarian that said to do it this way”, ignore them with extreme prejudice and do it the right way.
Excuse me
No, I do not excuse foul language, and this will be my last response for you.
If that explanation is some variation of "This authoritarian that said
The question here was about a driving test, not about some mechanical science. Case closed.
I will note that I didn’t ask you to excuse my foul language. I was addressing your condescending horseshit comment.
Assuming you have accurately represented German testing standards (which doesn’t seem likely), the proper course of action here is to either provide the requested explanation, or petition the German government to correct this error.
Lol, I’m not from Germany but I seriously doubt they’d fail you in a driving test because you put the car in neutral before you start it. That’s just ridiculous.
I got a minor error on my test in the UK for “unnecessarily touching the gear stick” so …
That’s insane. Starting in neutral is arguably safer.
It is OK if you put the 1. gear in before you start the engine, but you should not put in neutral.
Warum? War bei mir damals™ nicht so, eher im Gegenteil. Erstmal checken, ob auch ja kein Gang eingelegt ist.
Möglicherweise haben sie die Regeln irgendwann geändert, das weiß ich nicht.
Justify that, please.
I hit a barn with a dump truck because the clutch pedal failed to disengage the clutch, and I was in first gear when I tried to start. In neutral, the truck would not have lurched forward, and I would have discovered the problem when I couldn’t slip the transmission into reverse.
The transmission should be in neutral until the hand brake/parking brake is released, and you are ready for the vehicle to move.
I hit a barn with a dump truck because the clutch pedal failed to disengage the clutch
Then your right foot was not firmly on the brake, see step 1.
It was, indeed, on the brake pedal. “Firm” pressure was, indeed, being applied, and the parking brake was set with enough force to prevent movement.
Without the engine running, there is no vacuum boost on the brakes. “Firm” pressure on the brake pedal is not sufficient to overcome the high torque of a starter motor against first gear, even with an adequately set parking brake as well. If you’re going to insist on having the transmission in gear, the highest gear would be the best alternative to neutral, as it provides the lowest torque fighting the brakes.
The amount of pressure on the brake pedal needed to stop the vehicle without boosted brakes would better be described as “standing on them like your life depended on it”, but you only asked for “firm”. The measure you have put in place to mitigate the observed danger is demonstrably inadequate, and you have yet to offer any sort of reasoning for your “first gear” suggestion.
But, this is all a digression. Your position is that the vehicle should be in first gear. The only explanation you have offered for that is the possibility of failing a German driving test. “Preventing Injury or property damage” is a far higher priority than “appeasing some authoritarian twat”, so I’m going to need a better explanation from you for first gear.
Why would they fail you for putting the car in neutral and pushing the clutch in before you start the car?
What are you supoosed to do if you want to let the car warm up or you’re waiting for someone or any other reason you want to start the car but not immediately start driving? Are you supposed to put it in first, push in the clutch, start the car and then just leave the clutch pushed in for 5 minutes?
What are you supoosed to do if you want to let the car warm up
LOL
Guess what: You are supposed not to do it.
That is explicitly forbidden in Germany, for the sake of the environment.
lol I guess I shouldn’t expect more from a country where the AFD is running away with elections
I guess countries are not made for your expectations…
…how do you demist your cars?
Not sure if I understand. Tell me more details.
It’s a wet morning and the inside of your windshield is fogged up. (Or it’s cold and there’s frost on the inside)
Most people take a rug or a sponge and wipe the windshield. Then after starting, the air condition helps.
Some cars have a heatable windshield. All have a heatable rear window.
Until the engine warms up, I can’t keep the windscreen from misting up in the winter. Especially if it’s frosted on the outside!
You fix your leaky weatherproofing and put a dehumidifier inside overnight to get rid of the leftover moisture. Afterwards your windows will no longer mist up.
Fix the issue instead of treating the symptoms
Modern car engines would need a very long time to warm up in idle anyways, and modern cars usually have electronic defrosters for the windshield
The outside is the easy part (unless there is thick ice): use the water spray with the wipers. In the winter, the water contains a thawing solvent.
For the inside, what I personally do in the winter: before parking my car in the evening, I open all the windows for a few minutes to let the cold air in (also switch off the heating). Cold air is very dry. So it does not mist up (most times) in the morning.
Older (pre 2000) diesel cars needed a few seconds, sometimes a minute to “warm-up” the starter. You had to turn the ignition half way before you actually start the car. That’s the only “warming up” a car might need to function (normal circumstances).
Glow plugs. They needed time to heat the glow plugs, which look like spark plugs, but function like an incandescent light bulb. They would be a nice hot spot in the cylinder to help ignite the fuel and get the engine started.
While the engine doesn’t need to be warmed up anymore, the HVAC system may need the engine to be hot before it can keep the windshield defogged and ensure the driver’s view remains unobstructed.
That’s not warming up the starter, that’s warming up the glow plugs. And turning on the ignition doesn’t require you to be in neutral or press the clutch, since it doesn’t turn the engine
This is the way.
Fun fact, once I brain farted and didn’t put the clutch in and the car was so old it didn’t have a kill switch and it stuttered forward right into a house. That was fun.
Another fun fact: occasionally, that’s a legitimate technique. I have an old manual Toyota 4Runner 4x4 that actually has a “clutch start cancel” button you can use if, say, you stall in a tricky rock-crawling situation. You can crank the starter to crawl forward without risk of rolling backwards, like might happen if you actually started the engine and tried to use the clutch.
I did the same but in reverse!
I gotta find it again, but someone in a race finished his final lap after running out of gas by leaving the clutch engaged and just running the starter lol. It was enough to keep the car rolling until the finish line.
For the sake of teaching good habits, rather than telling you what I do, I would instead say read the manual for the car you’re driving. Not all cars operate the same way.
I don’t have a car, just passed theory
Clutch must be depressed on most modern cars or it won’t start, though it’s technically not required if in neutral. And best to depress the brake pedal as well, again, many modern cars won’t even start if you don’t.
And although it doesn’t matter what gear the shifter is in when the clutch is depressed, put it in neutral, so that if you accidentally let off the clutch after starting it, you don’t move, grind gears, or lurch and stall which puts strain on the gearbox and brakes. I’ve done that many times before I started checking the shifter first. Many people put the shifter in first gear when parked as an engine brake in case the parking brake fails.
just to turn the car on? stick it neutral, push in the break and clutch (my modern requires both) and turn it on.
the break and clutch being pushed is just to trigger their switches as a form of safety control that the ignition requires. once the car is started they dont need to be engaged
I’d be surprised if someone born around or after 1995 would actually have to know this
Only 3.7 percent of CarMax sales nationwide are for manual cars
I’m 1994 manual never own3d an automatic.
Brother s 1999 manual too never owned an automatic.
The whole world isn’t American
Till recently(like 5 years ago), almost all cars in Europe were manuals. Nowadays, automatics are more common, maybe even majority(with all the electric cars coming out).
So you’re looking to undercut the effectiveness of your driving school teachers? I just don’t see your motivation here.
The point flew over your head
Genuine answer is that you need to get a feel for when the clutch begins to bite. The rest of it - when to use the brake, handbrake etc, is going to depend on what you’re doing. Learning to feel the clutch is the critical skill.
The way to learn how to use the clutch is to start on a flat piece of ground with no traffic around, like an empty car park. With the engine running and the brakes off, press the clutch pedal and put the car into 1st gear. Then, slowly release the clutch pedal without using the throttle. Practice this until you can get the car moving without stalling the engine, and you’ll have a feel for it.
When starting normally you’ll gently press the throttle as you do this.
Then all the other skills will fall into place. The key objective is that you should have the brake engaged until the moment the clutch engages and is ready to take control, then the brakes should be smoothly & quickly released.
You can do this with either the handbrake or the foot brake, but if you’re using the foot brake you need to be manipulating the clutch, brake and throttle at the same time.
That requires pressing both throttle and brake with the right foot, which is a more advanced technique, but very useful for smooth driving in a lot of situations. It’s often called “heel-toe”, but that’s misleading. You don’t use heel & toe, you use the two sides of your foot.
Hold clutch + brake, start ignition
think less, practice more
Don’t have a car
