If there is one situation that fills new drivers with dread - it’s needing to stop when driving
up a hill in a town centre. We know that we will need to do a hill start, with plenty
of other drivers all around us to see any mistakes that we make. In this video, we will
show three essential skills to help us when driving a manual car in this situation. Before
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The first essential skill is the ability to drive very slowly. This will allow us to keep
rolling whenever possible and reduce the number of hill starts we need to do.
We’re using this quiet hill in a residential area to practice. Second gear in this car
can only go as slow as 10mph, so we will need to drop to 1st gear to drive any slower. Now
we can use the clutch bite to keep the car rolling at whatever speed we need - similar
to when we manoeuvre the car. Since we are going uphill we are also using the accelerator
to ensure the engine has enough power and doesn’t stall.
Now let’s see the skill in use at a busy roundabout. We keep a few car lengths behind
the car in front to give us time to anticipate the traffic flow and reduce speed smoothly.
We drop to first gear, which allows us to keep rolling at 2mph, spot a safe gap, and
enter the roundabout without stopping. We don’t need to stop before selecting first,
but we do need to wait until the car is at about 5mph before lifting the clutch pedal
back up.
The second skill we will need is to do hill starts with the handbrake.
We’ll do three in a row on the same hill as before. This method of doing hill starts
is recommended for use on steeper hills, and in older cars - as we can use the handbrake
to hold the car whilst pressing the accelerator to increase engine power. This extra power
makes it much easier to move off uphill confidently and reduces the chance of stalling. If we
are only stopping for a moment we keep the button on the handbrake pressed, to make it
easier to put the handbrake back down again. For more detailed instructions on this technique
please click the link above for our separate video.
If we can see that we will be stopping for some time - such as at a red traffic light,
we prefer to use the handbrake to hold the car as we can take our right foot off the
brake pedal whilst we wait. After moving off, we balance the accelerator and clutch bite
to keep the car moving slowly forward whilst anticipating the traffic ahead and completing
our turn.
The third useful skill is to be able to do a hill start without using the handbrake.
This technique is useful when we need to stop for a moment and then go again. It is
much easier to do in newer cars, as the engine computer helps prevent stalling. All we need
to do is keep the brake pressed whilst we find the clutch bite - and then press the
accelerator to drive away. As before, click the link above to watch our full tutorial
on this type of hill start. This method is perfect for use on a gentle
hill, as we won’t need as much engine power to pull away. Perfect when stopping for a
few seconds at a roundabout before moving off. It’s important to only use a little
clutch bite and allow the car to get rolling before engaging the clutch fully.
We are back in the town centre and have 5 extra clips for you to watch.
Here is clip 1. Which skills would you use in this situation? We will be stopping for
a while, so will use the handbrake this time. We get our feet ready to move away as soon
as the traffic light changes. There is no need to rush anything and we complete our
turn to the right.
Clip 2. What would you do here? We are keeping well back from the cyclists in case they stop
suddenly. We have our feet ready to slow our car further, but this time second gear is
slow enough and we can turn left without needing any of our 3 skills.
Clip number 3. There is a red traffic light ahead - what would you do? We slow a little
in case the lights turn green, but eventually stop and apply the handbrake. Once going we
notice the next roundabout looks busy, and slow down gently. Since we are only stopping
for a moment we don’t use the handbrake for this hill start.
Clip 4: This time we are driving downhill - what would you do here? We change down to
first gear and control our speed with the foot brake. There is no need to use any clutch
bite as the hill moves the car for us. There is no need to use the handbrake as we are
only stopping for a second or two. The final clip. There are a few cars ahead
on this uphill - how would you approach them? We choose to slow down well before we catch
them and keep a small gap to act as a buffer zone. 1st gear is needed to keep us moving
this slowly. We use the clutch bite to drive extra slowly, and anticipate the traffic flow
as well as we can. Once more we manage to keep rolling and enter the roundabout safely.
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