Are my driving instructions correct?

lunar

lunar

lunar

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I have been giving my daughter driving lessons using my car. There are three points I indicated that she should do:
1. Avoid changing gear when making a manoeuvre.
2. Change down gears when approaching traffic and let the engine do the braking (to preserve my brakes.)
3. Put the gear in neutral when stationary (to avoid the clutch wearing out.)
However, her instructor told her she can change gear when manoeuvring; slow down and stop without changing gears; go into first gear and keep the clutch engaged when stationary at traffic lights.
 
On point 3, I always told not to keep first gear on and clutch engaged when stationary for too long, as supposedly it wears the clutch out

If the instuctor is telling her to keep it in gear at lights when not moving , she will get in the habit of doing this for long periods of time. Replacing a worn out clutch is damn expensive. Sadly I found out with my first car.
 
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lunar said:
I have been giving my daughter driving lessons using my car. There are three points I indicated that she should do:
1. Avoid changing gear when making a manoeuvre.
2. Change down gears when approaching traffic and let the engine do the braking (to preserve my brakes.)
3. Put the gear in neutral when stationary (to avoid the clutch wearing out.)
However, her instructor told her she can change gear when manoeuvring; slow down and stop without changing gears; go into first gear and keep the clutch engaged when stationary at traffic lights.
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You're wrong - the way you're driving instructor is teaching is the way it is now.

I guess you're a bit older as you are teaching her how we drive and how we were taught. I have to bite my tongue when i take my daughter out driving.

Let the driving instructor teach her as they are teaching her to pass the test.
 
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lunar said:
2. Change down gears when approaching traffic and let the engine do the braking (to preserve my brakes.)
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My father tells me that back in the day it used to be cheaper and easier to re-line or change the clutch so people would rather wear that out over the brakes, these days it is most likely that brakes are cheaper and easier to change, no idea how true that actually is though... on top of which by using engine braking only you wont illuminate the brake lights which can cause accidents, if you are going to use engine braking then you should be also teaching her to lightly use the brakes at the same time to alleviate the issue.
 
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I spoke to the instructor who taught me, and is still teaching:

lunar said:
1. Avoid changing gear when making a manoeuvre.
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In order to pass the test, this is preferable.
You (the driver) should have already set the vehicle up correctly for the manoeuvre, and not be sacrificing control by having a hand off the wheel during the manoeuvre itself. You may also need to suddenly abort the manouvre, at which point you really want to be in the correct gear already.

However, if you have to and you do it safely, it is permissible on the test. Possibly at the examiner's discretion.

lunar said:
2. Change down gears when approaching traffic and let the engine do the braking (to preserve my brakes.)
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Yes, but only with the brakes. Change down for the same reasons as above, but also because some gearboxes dislike going straight from 4th to 1st. Depends somewhat on the car.
Engine braking should add to your footbrake, not replace it.

lunar said:
3. Put the gear in neutral when stationary (to avoid the clutch wearing out.)
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Nope. Hold it in 1st, clutch in, handbrake on.
If someone slams into the back of you, your foot comes off the clutch, 1st gear engages and combines with the handbrake. This is more likely to stop you being cannoned forward into traffic.
 
ttaskmaster said:
Nope. Hold it in 1st, clutch in, handbrake on.
If someone slams into the back of you, your foot comes off the clutch, 1st gear engages and combines with the handbrake. This is more likely to stop you being cannoned forward into traffic.
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Holding the clutch in for long periods of time whilst stationary will just wreck your throw-out bearing.

Plus who the heck wants to sit in traffic holding the clutch pedal down.
 
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I always keep my foot on the clutch when in traffic so I am ready to sprint out and cut everyone up. ;) Unless it is proper traffic then I put it in neutral with the handbrake on.

I also downshift through the gears when coasting to save on using brakes. No different really to the exhaust brake on a truck. Just a different way of slowing down the engine.

My daughter will be learning to drive next September. I told her once she passes in those toys I will take her out in a truck to see what it is really like!
 
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Dano said:
on top of which by using engine braking only you wont illuminate the brake lights which can cause accidents, if you are going to use engine braking then you should be also teaching her to lightly use the brakes at the same time to alleviate the issue.
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Albeit the reality of the world we live in but that is often because of people tail gating and not paying attention. I often bring my speed down into a limit change without touching the brakes and amazing how many people it catches out who it really shouldn't.

There are some situations though where people's attention is genuinely split where illuminated brake lights might get their attention i.e. if they were distracted by someone tail gating them badly.
 
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On 'smart' cars, braking is now sensed by accelerometers. Brake lights are lit, hazard lamps start flashing and the seat ejection system is initiated.
 
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ivrytwr3 said:
You're wrong - the way you're driving instructor is teaching is the way it is now.

I guess you're a bit older as you are teaching her how we drive and how we were taught. I have to bite my tongue when i take my daughter out driving.

Let the driving instructor teach her as they are teaching her to pass the test.
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This ^^^^^
When I chatted to my sons instructor to arrange driving lessons she warned me that they are taught differently now then how I was.
So when he gets to the stage that he can practice in my car I am to leave him to drive the way he has been taught.
Otherwise she will have to keep on undoing what I have told him and it's going to cost more in he long run.
 
Firestar_3x said:
Holding the clutch in for long periods of time whilst stationary will just wreck your throw-out bearing.
Plus who the heck wants to sit in traffic holding the clutch pedal down.
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The OP stated, "when stationary at traffic lights", ie when you'll be moving off and through the junction within the next 20-30 seconds.
If you're stopped in traffic and the vehicle behind has stopped, whack it in neutral and let the clutch out.

dLockers said:
Did you just invent this?
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Nope.
It was taught the same even back when I did my bike lessons, and for the same reasons. When you're hit, you involuntarily release the clutch, which stalls the engine and thus adds engine braking to the hand-brake.
Unfortunately I've actually experienced the difference in being rear-ended with 1st engaged and when in neutral - I'll put it in 1st every time!
 
ttaskmaster said:
It was taught the same even back when I did my bike lessons, and for the same reasons. When you're hit, you involuntarily release the clutch, which stalls the engine and thus adds engine braking to the hand-brake.
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How does a stalled engine add any more engine braking than an engine with the gearbox in neutral? Both have exactly the same level of connection to the wheels, i.e. zero.


All the debate of whether to sit with your foot on the clutch just makes me glad I've been pottering around in automatics for years now :)


Edit: I may have made a muppet of myself with this one. Oh well. Still a valid point made somewhere, sitting with the clutch in defeats the point in stop/start systems (which might be a benefit depending how you feel about them)
 
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G-Man said:
All the debate of whether to sit with your foot on the clutch just makes me glad I've been pottering around in automatics for years now :)
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Everyone just hates you for sitting in the queue with your foot on the brake :p (which to be clear isn't something which can really be avoided in automatics).
 
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