The Hills Are Alive
This might seem a bit sneaky, but
we’ve been holding something back
about learning to drive a stick shift.
It’s hills, or specifically, starting out on
a hill, such as at a stop sign or traffic
light. Even experienced stick drivers
will tell you hills take a bit more
practice than other maneuvers.
Here goes.
In a stick shift car, if you’re at a stop
while heading uphill, starting out
takes some quick footwork. If you’re
getting ready to move away, you’re
right foot is already on the brake and
the shifter is likely in neutral. Push in
the clutch and shift into first. Keep
the clutch down! When the light
turns green, you’ll pull away as you
would from any stop, but your clutch
release and movement of right foot
from brake to gas pedal needs to
be super-coordinated and quick. Be
prepared: no matter how good you
are, the car is going to roll back a bit.
Here’s a hint: it will feel like it’s rolling
back more than it actually is, so don’t
let that frighten you. However, if you
drive a manual F-TYPE, you’re lucky
enough to have a helpful little feature
called Hill Assist that will momentarily
prevent the vehicle from rolling back
on hills.
Ideally, you’d practice the hill start in
a quiet part of town with little traffic.
Maybe you can find an empty parking
lot that has an incline for the exit.
The footwork needed for this
maneuver will, like other stick shift
maneuvers, become second nature
to you. And you will most definitively
feel a great sense of accomplishment
when you master it. What sense of
accomplishment did you get from an
automatic transmission today?
SOMETHING IS NOT
QUITE RIGHT.
It’s nothing to be embarrassed
about. It happens to all stick shift
drivers once in a while, especially
beginners: stalling. It happens
when you’re pulling away from
a stop and either (1) release the
clutch pedal too quickly or (2)
don’t put enough pressure on the
accelerator