I suck going up slopes in traffic, HELP!

[Kaiju]

I've been driving on the road for three months now, but i'm still dreading having to drive up a slope during rush hour and when i'm always having to stop and start in traffic.

At the moment I just use the handbrake all the time, but is it better to find your biting point all the way up? Surely this can cause a strain on your feet? Finding the biting point on a flat slope is fine, but on a hill I end up revving up like mad trying to find it and eventually have to pull my handbrake up in frustration.

I then find it hard to come off the handbrake on a hill as i'm worried i'll stall.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[volospian]

but is it better to find your biting point all the way up? Surely this can cause a strain on your feet?

Not to mention your clutch!

Don't worry about stalling, just practice your hill starts and you'll be fine. It can be a pain, but one trick is to try not to worry too much about "nose to tail" and wait on the brakes for the cars in front to pull off quite a way before you bother moving off.

There's no point in moving forward half a car length and then stopping again. Wait until there's a few car lengths to go. That will reduce starts from several to a couple, which are more managible, and no-one will really get the arse as the traffic isn't going anywhere anyway.

 

[kippermitten]

Go and practice somehwere with no cares and no pressure from other people.
You will get ti the point that your throttle and clutch balence are smooth as a badgers shaved puckered bit.

Find a shallow slope that the car rolls back on but that you can stop easily with the handbrake or the foot brake and just practice mate. All cars can be different so difficult to offer explicit advice other than chill out, practice and make sure you seating and foot to pedal distances are comfy.

 

[InsomniaCalls]

I have similar issues (been driving about the same length of time).
I just make sure I keep the revs above 1500, bring the clutch up until I feel the car pull a bit and then dip the clutch slightly.
Someone who's not an awful driver will probably give you better advice though!

 

[Siliconslave]

your best bet is take an hour or two out of your day and go and find a hill to practice on

The trick is just practice more than anything. Start off with the hand brake on and get your biteing point sorted then let the hand brake off and try and hold the car in place using the clutch and a few revs, once you get better at that you can start trying to pull off from a foot brake:

Hold the car (facing up the hill) on the brake with the clutch down and in first. Then quickly take your foot off the cluch and onto the accelerator, giving it some revs as you come off the clutch, moving the car forward

 

[Phal]

Get a diesel :E that extra low end power makes it a lot easier to pull away without revvin the balls off it


Can probably pully away up a hill without even touching the accelerator on mine :|

 

[Phate]

I apologise in advance but some of that in my opinion is bad advice

your best bet is take an hour or two out of your day and go and find a hill to practice on The trick is just practice more than anything.

Couldn't agree more

Start off with the hand brake on and get your biteing point sorted then let the hand brake off and try and hold the car in place using the clutch and a few revs

That will burn his clutch out.

once you get better at that you can start trying to pull off from a foot brake:

Hold the car (facing up the hill) on the brake with the clutch down and in first. Then quickly take your foot off the cluch and onto the accelerator, giving it some revs as you come off the clutch, moving the car forward

That in my opinion is a silly thing to do, if you got someone right up your rear end and don't catch the throttle in time or stall it doing this your going to roll into them.

I'll probably get flamed by someone but I thought it was a bad bit of advice. But just my opinion, and everyone has different driving styles.

--------------

For a hill start I hold the car in place with the handbrake, then when its right to move forward I put the car in 1st and start to bring the clutch up and put the throttle down just as if you were pulling away normally, but slower on the clutch and a few more than normal revs, then as the car starts to move forward, handbrake off and your away.

 

[Firestar_3x]

That will burn his clutch out.

Erm, no it won't, only if you do it thousands of times or hold it for like 5mins on the clutch, its not made out of jelly......

That in my opinion is a silly thing to do, if you got someone right up your rear end and don't catch the throttle in time or stall it doing this your going to roll into them.

Yes, thats why Sam said practice on a slope no-one else is using, once your good then you can do it in the real world, if you have been driving a few years and can't do the above your clutch control must suck.......

 

[Andr3w]

if i have the handbrake on i do more or less the same as i do on a flat road.

On a flat road i usually don't have the handbrake on (unless theres a slight hill and the car roll's slowly).

Ok a hill, i just do get a bite mark handbrake down and move forward.

 

[Kroegen]

When i do hill start and stops, i just drop into first, hold it with the clutch just below th ebiting point and my right foor on the brake. When traffic starts to move, ill take it off the foot brake and give it a little revs whilst slowly lifting off of the clutch.

 

[Phate]

If you have been driving a few years and can't do the above your clutch control must suck.......

Err...wrong.

If you don't have good clutch control after driving a few years then you suck.

why risk rolling back when you can just use the handbrake?

 

[Firestar_3x]

why risk rolling back when you can just use the handbrake?

Because if i went up a hill in slow moving traffic and i had to stop 10 times, i don't want to be putting on and releasing the handbrake everytime, whats the point, if you have good clutch control you can clutch in foot brake on, take it out of gear and clutch up (if you want), then clutch down in gear off the brake and accel + clutch.

Watch everyone else on hills, if the traffic is stop start moving every 5 - 10 seconds, you will see more ppl on the brake than not....

 

[paradigm]

Watch everyone else on hills, if the traffic is stop start moving every 5 - 10 seconds, you will see more ppl on the brake than not....

Bingo. Can't actually remember the last time I held the car on a hill with the handbrake. Clutch only for me, oh and oddly enough i'm yet to burn out a clutch in 5 years. Strange that.

 

[Cybershot]

dreading having to drive up a slope during rush hour and when i'm always having to stop and start in traffic.

Grapes Hill?

 

[Phate]

Watch everyone else on hills, if the traffic is stop start moving every 5 - 10 seconds, you will see more ppl on the brake than not....

Yes, you also see a lot of these people roll back a few inches.

Plus I'm talking about steep hills, if its for slight slopes then yeah I use the brake, but if its for a proper hill then handbrake every time.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

Hold the handbrake on, then with minimal revs find the biting point, once you've got it, give it a few more revs, release the handbrake, and ease the clutch in. This whole routine should take you no more than a couple of seconds. Ideally under a second.

 

[iCraig]

and no-one will really get the arse as the traffic isn't going anywhere anyway.

Not in my experience.

If traffic is jammed and the car in front of me edges forward a few feet and I don't follow suit, the car behind me usually comes right up my arse and beeps his horn. Even though once I've moved forward he's only a foot or so further closer. That was worth the effort wasn't it, you stupid cluster****?!

 

[Kaiju]

Hold the handbrake on, then with minimal revs find the biting point, once you've got it, give it a few more revs, release the handbrake, and ease the clutch in. This whole routine should take you no more than a couple of seconds. Ideally under a second.

That's what i'm doing at the moment, yet it seems everyone is using clutch control/brake and not once have I seen someone move backwards. I'm guessing as it's the only really steep hill in the center of Norwich and it's rush hour, workers have got used to it.

Thanks everyone for the help! Really can't thank you enough.

edit: Small hills I would just use clutch/brake too in actual fact, it's just that one steep hill. I should've made that more clear in original post.

 

[Durzel]

My previous car had a triple-plate clutch which was basically like a switch, the difference in travel between no bite and fully off was like 1/2 an inch. I used to get cold sweats just going anywhere where I thought I might have to stop on a hill.

In pretty much any modern car though you can just balance the car on the clutch without much effort. If you can't do that you really need to practice more.

As has already been mentioned I don't see the point of putting the handbrake on every few seconds when in slow moving traffic. You don't have to use any revs at all really even if its a steep hill. I'm not sure what sort of hills Phate is talking about but I have no problems holding the car in position on the clutch without burning anything out. I've never burnt out a clutch in any car I've owned or driven.

Obviously if you know you're going to be stationary for a while regardless of the incline then it stands to reason that you should apply the handbrake, but constantly pulling it up and back down again just to move forward a few metres is a waste of time imo.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

I would never hold my car on a hill using the clutch. Thats what brakes are for.

If I wasn't confident enough to use just the foot brake, I would use the handbrake as a safety net.

On a steep hill, I would use the handbrake regardless. However quick your feet are, you will roll back a little bit, or stall the engine.