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Hello I'm Chris. This road is steep, tight and windy. 1st gear is best here as it
delivers slow speed but high power for this hill. I need to drive slowly and
ready for other road users such as pedestrians in the road and oncoming
vehicles. Of course there's plenty of more open and wider roads that go uphill
than this one, where you can accelerate and change gear. In this video we're going to
drive up and down some steep hills and have a look at which gear to choose and
when to change gear.
If you're driving uphill and change up a gear too early before building up speed
this happens. I'll change up to 2nd.
The car struggles and could even stall.
What happens if I change up to 3rd?
It's really struggling now, I'd better change back down to 2nd. It feels a
bit better. I change down to 1st and it feels like I've got much more power to
accelerate. So when is the best time to change up a gear?
Well the low gears are best when driving up a steep hill. Before you change up a
gear make sure that you accelerate first, a bit more than you would on a flat road.
Give the car more of a push, increase momentum or otherwise as you go through
the process of changing gear, the car will slow down quickly meaning that you
won't need that higher gear anymore and you'll have to change back down again to
avoid stalling or a struggling car. I'm currently in 2nd gear. Careful of
this oncoming van which is over the centre line. Now I can accelerate and up
to 3rd. Bend to the left ahead and the hill is getting steeper. Gravity will
slow me down, no brake needed. Select 2nd gear before the bend for better
control.
Tricky to see ahead, I'll keep at this speed in 2nd. Can't see over the
hill. Okay, see a bit further but a road is still tight. And made it to the top of
And made it to the top of the hill.
Well it's time to drive back down the hill now and if you are driving down a steep hill then driving in a low gear will help keep the car slower than
if you was in a higher gear. This increases the effect of what is known as
engine braking. More information on this can be found in the description below,
but the advantage of engine braking is that you'll have better control and you
won't need to brake as much which reduces the risk of brake fade or in
plain English overheating the brakes. Remember that the steeper the hill the
lower the gear you'll need. I've just passed a sign warning me of a steep
downhill. I'm prepared in 2nd gear, braking lightly. If I was in third did I
If I was in 3rd then I'd have to brake even more as the car would try and speed up.
Not only is this hill steep but the road is also quite narrow with oncoming
vehicles. It would definitely be unsafe to drive any faster than this.
The road will be a bit clearer ahead and it will give me a great chance to show
you what happens when I change up to 3rd, just so you can see how quickly the car
increases speed. I'm not going to use the footbrake or accelerator.
The car speeds up so quickly down this steep hill. Braking and back down to 2nd.
Well that's the end of our video. Thanks a lot for watching. Really hope you found
it helpful, if you did then please subscribe for our latest videos. A big
thanks to everyone that's bought us virtual coffees, it's really, really
appreciated. As usual keep safe on the road and bye
for now!
you