[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Mechy_74

Hello, my two pence, some cars have tendency to stall owing to their low torque at low revs ...

No they don't! Some drivers have a tendency to stall (and it happens to all of us occasionally).

OK, OK, I know what you mean. As the driver of a diesel car, I might say that all petrol-driven cars have that tendency. It's quite difficult to stall a diesel.

But all cars have their required techniques and... that's driving!

Edit: Sorry, I missed the preceding threads, the back story.

Originally Posted by warmachine428

I've been facing a problem with the Duster that I drive (Manual 85PS 2013 RXL) , It seems to stop at turns or Speed bumps because of low revs at 1st gear , I dont know if it is me that is letting go of the clutch too quickly or the car on its own decides that I am not giving it much power or acceleration and decided to shut itself of .

What I just said is true, but not much help to a beginner.

In an nutshell, I think you need a good teacher. At least get someone experienced to show you how they do it. You may find it hard to believe how much revs your car needs to not as you release the clutch. Maybe you learned on a different car with a different feel?

Did you learn how to hold the car at the "biting point?" How to do a hill start? In the first place, one should be properly taught, and after that, it is a matter of practice.

Do try to get some help. And find a safe empty road where you can try, try, and try again. Get it right often enough and it becomes instinctive, and you will even adjust to other cars easily.

Welcome to Team-BHP, and Happy Driving

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

In an nutshell, I think you need a good teacher. At least get someone experienced to show you how they do it. You may find it hard to believe how much revs your car needs to not as you release the clutch. Maybe you learned on a different car with a different feel?

Did you learn how to hold the car at the "biting point?" How to do a hill start? In the first place, one should be properly taught, and after that, it is a matter of practice.

Do try to get some help. And find a safe empty road where you can try, try, and try again. Get it right often enough and it becomes instinctive, and you will even adjust to other cars easily.

Welcome to Team-BHP, and Happy Driving

I think clutch control is one things that I found most challenging at the beginning, and then when I got it, one of the most fun aspect of driving a manual. I am a late learner so I think some things are just a bit more difficult as you age. Here is an exercise that I think
improves the clutch control by leaps and bounds.

1. Find an inclined patch of road which is hardly used. It should be long enough for practice.

2. Try the following. Bring the car to a point of stop and then move out. Ensure that your car does not go back even by a bit. Once you have moved out and the incline is not too long you can just depress the clutch and move backwards.

3. You should learn to hold a car by burning the clutch but should not use this in actual driving. It is obviously bad for the clutch and if you are in a hilly terrain will lead to frequent clutch replacements. But learning to hold the car by burning the clutch gives you a good feel of the biting point.

4. The next major technique to learn is to use the hand brake in conjunction with the clutch, brake (foot brake), and the accelerator. If you master this you can move out of an incline with zero backward movement and almost no additional revving. This is the technique that you should use in real driving and not the clutch burning.

An unrelated point. If you have mostly driven in plains and are planning a trip to the ghats then make sure to understand the concept of engine braking and use it exclusively on descent. Even many of the "professional" drivers who have spent their time in the plains (particularly northern India) do not know this.

[warmachine428]

Originally Posted by Mechy_74

Hello, my two pence, some cars have tendency to stall owing to their low torque at low revs (for the weight of the car) and not to forget while turning, the hydraulic power for steering is also drawn from the same already meagre supply, if I am not wrong.

Since I posted this message , I went on to practice a lot on open roads , in traffic and one channel which really helped me was Conquer Driving , Watching those videos really helped me find the biting point which in turn help me to start from standstills on inclined roads .

One thing as I mentioned above was the accelerator pedal had sinked in a lot ,After getting it checked by a local mechanic , he did say that the wire that goes from the pedal to the engine needs to be replaced , that would be done at a later stage .

One more thing I noticed with my duster is that as it is 85HP , generally shifts at about 1.5k to 2k revs which makes it hard to shift from first gear , but once you get the hang of it a really fun car to drive

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

No they don't! Some drivers have a tendency to stall (and it happens to all of us occasionally).

Thanks for the warm welcome. Cheering:

I started practicing more frequently after this post , and started watching YouTube to help me learn more and it is safe to say I've almost figured out clutch control.

The main problem is that the revs drop way too quickly sometimes which leads to me stalling. This happens mostly at low speeds and I can't for the life of me figure out why this happens. I try 2-3 times in traffic and then the car proceeds to move as usual. turning the ignition on and off adds to the pressure of moving. But I think with more experience, I can get this sorted cause I can easily make turns on 1st gear, but these random stops make me worry about why the revs drop so quickly

Originally Posted by electric_eel

I think clutch control is one things that I found most challenging at the beginning, and then when I got it, one of the most fun aspect of driving a manual.

Discussing the 4th point, I was instructed by my teacher to do this, but I have found that letting a bit of the clutch go at the bite point when the traffic starts to move is more helpful, in the way that the car starts to move a bit and from there you can take to shifting towards higher gears.

Mod note - Please use the MultiQuote feature and proofread before posting. Quote only relevant portion while replying

[Thad E Ginathom]

Gear/clutch control and steering: the two core skills of car control, which is just one facet of driving.

They have to become intuitive, as car control, for most of the time, is a small percentage of driving skill! The rest is understanding traffic, roads, learning to read and work with the situations around and in front of you.

All the skills need practice to learn. And they need a refresh, sometimes too. I've been driving for decades, but, a couple of years ago. I realised that I didn't do much reversing (even though I reverse out of my drive every time) and had become pretty rough at it. So I did some practice!

And, yes... you should be able to hold the car at biting point, but should do so only for moments: clutches are not cheap! Do not slip the clutch more than absolutely necessary.

Two more hints for beginners:

1. Don't keep your foot resting on the clutch pedal. Sometimes, in city traffic, it seems to need to be there all the time. But even a small amount of weight on the pedal affects the clutch.

1a. Don't keep your hand on the gear knob. Same thing. Even though it is no longer a direct link, as it was when I learnt, I'm told that there is still some stress passed through the mechanics.

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by warmachine428

Discussing the 4th point, I was instructed by my teacher to do this, but I have found that letting a bit of the clutch go at the bite point when the traffic starts to move is more helpful, in the way that the car starts to move a bit and from there you can take to shifting towards higher gears.

I am not sure what you mean by let the clutch go; let the car roll due to insufficient clutch engagement and then use the lower resistance of the moving car to move on ? Works okey if you are on a slight down hill but if you are uphill (car rolls backwards a complete no no) or if you are on a steep down hill (car moves too fast forward) not recommended at all. Often it is very difficult to tell whether you are uphill or down hill even for cyclist (See ghost climb) let alone for some one inside a car. So that technique is risky

[Mechy_74]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

They have to become intuitive, as car control, for most of the time, is a small percentage of driving skill! The rest is understanding traffic, roads, learning to read and work with the situations around and in front of you.

Fully agreeing, I understand, guessing what drivers and other road users around you are upto, is the most important part of this intuitiveness.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

1a. Don't keep your hand on the gear knob. Same thing. Even though it is no longer a direct link, as it was when I learnt, I'm told that there is still some stress passed through the mechanics.

I do agree, but have felt that my hand on gear knob anchors me with the machine, giving better control over steering.

[saisree]

What is the best practice given the scenario below. The two parallel roads are hardly 25 mts apart, a length of three gates/houses. Should we take Option A or B and what is considered the right way and a practical solution? The main road is really a busy road all the day

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by saisree

What is the best practice given the scenario below. The two parallel roads are hardly 25 mts apart, a length of three gates/houses. Should we take Option A or B and what is considered the right way and a practical solution? The main road is really a busy road all the day

The option B is plain wrong even if 25 meters but then even option A is problematic. You need to take the turns close to 90 degrees not "merge to a right turn". If you find it really difficult in the busy traffic I am not even sure how you can do option B.

But I understand your predicament. If you can go around take only left turns and get going. You will have to drive a bit more but that is still better.

[Mechy_74]

Originally Posted by saisree

Should we take Option A or B and what is considered the right way and a practical solution? The main road is really a busy road all the day

If we can know the purpose of your traverse, we might come up with ideas like avoiding driving and instead simply taking a walk. Or if we are aware of the road network to the south of the map, we might suggest taking the southern street (if one exists), instead of the busy road in the north.

[saisree]

Originally Posted by electric_eel

But I understand your predicament. If you can go around take only left turns and get going. You will have to drive a bit more but that is still better.

Originally Posted by Mechy_74

we might suggest taking the southern street (if one exists), instead of the busy road in the north.

The problem is both the parallel roads are dead ends and are connected to the main road only. Main road is a median less road, so taking a left, doing a 'U' turn is not there. People tend to drive on the shoulders, but it becomes dangerous when there are vehicles parked for a shop.

Option A, though seems to be the right way, you tend to take an arc and getting into the opposite lane and immediately turning right is also equally becoming dangerous.

I see people doing both and getting into awkward positions.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Mechy_74

I do agree, but have felt that my hand on gear knob anchors me with the machine, giving better control over steering.

Only your hands on the steering wheel give you better control over the steering!

Disclosure: I am a one-hand steerer, although the other is always ready. And I take turns always with both hands.

Originally Posted by saisree

What is the best practice given the scenario below. The two parallel roads are hardly 25 mts apart, a length of three gates/houses. Should we take Option A or B and what is considered the right way and a practical solution? The main road is really a busy road all the day

Do each turn "properly." However close.

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by saisree

Option A, though seems to be the right way, you tend to take an arc and getting into the opposite lane and immediately turning right is also equally becoming dangerous.

No it is not. In many ways it is worse than option B. Here are my reasons.

1. Most people know that option B is illegal (but do it any way) where as many think option A is legal.

2. When you take option A on the first turn you are "merging" into a busy lane, So your visibility on the lane which you are merging into is worse than when you are doing option B (head on traffic is easier because it is right in front of you).

3. In a normal merging you only need to keep track of traffic in the lane you are merging into. Here you also have to keep track of head on traffic.

4. In option B you are wrong but predictable to others on the road where as In option A you are less predictable. This makes chances of an incident much more.

Please do not take it as I am endorsing option B. I am not.

[rajivr1612]

Motto of Indian drivers / riders:

Real men (and women) don't brake, they honk and swerve.

See this all day, everywhere. Why can't they just hit the damn brakes?

[saisree]

Originally Posted by rajivr1612

Real men (and women) don't brake, they honk and swerve.

One who is not ready to brake is NOT considered as DRIVER. They are Aliens

Originally Posted by electric_eel

No it is not. In many ways it is worse than option B. Here are my reasons.

You are spot on and correct in many ways. Option A creates more chaos and it’s prone to raise yours and others BP.

At times it makes sense to take the wrong way

[Mechy_74]

Originally Posted by saisree

What is the best practice given the scenario below.

Take a left turn, drive a few hundred meters or so to locate a good spot/situation for a safe and easy u-turn. Come back and turn right.