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 we continue, please subscribe
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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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