When moving off, should you press the gas first and then raise the clutch? Or raise the clutch
and then add gas? It's quite easy to move off in a diesel car by raising the clutch to the
biting point and pull away without any gas and the car won't stall. But try moving off
in a petrol car without any gas, especially one with a small engine and you're likely to stall.
I'm going to give you some demonstrations in a petrol car and a bit later on, I'll show you how
to move off without stalling. I've got parked vehicles blocking my view at this junction and
I just need to creep forward to see. I'll come off the brake and try raising the clutch first.
It's stalled. I'll try it again. Off the brake then clutch to the biting point
and now add gas. I got away with it that time. So it is possible to move off by raising the
clutch to the biting point and then pressing the gas, but there's a higher chance of stalling.
I'll try moving off again by coming off the brake, biting point.
Stalled. I'll try again. Biting point, now gas.
So as you can see, sometimes it works by raising the clutch, then gas, but sometimes it doesn't.
Let's try a small hill start. I'll get the biting point,
make sure it's safe and release the parking brake.
Stalled. I'll try again.
This time I managed it by pressing the gas after but it nearly stalled and moved off very slowly.
Let's try a hill start once more, this time I'm going to set the gas first
and then the biting point. Much better. It moves off more smoothly and because
I pressed the gas first and gave it more gas as I moved off it allowed me to raise
the clutch sooner which meant I could move off quicker without any fear of stalling.
Whether you're driving a diesel or petrol car, I'd always recommend setting the gas first and then
getting the biting point, unless you're moving off downhill and then you might not need any gas.
Off the brake, gas then biting point. Pressing the gas will help the car not
stall then raising the clutch with more gas will make you accelerate.
Even when you want to move off slowly, pressing a little gas and then biting point will help
you move off smoothly with less chance of stalling. If you've got more weight in the
car or you're moving off uphill then you'll have to give it more gas to help it not stall.
Gas then biting point to move off. Pressing the gas when moving off allows
you to raise the clutch quicker which then makes the car accelerate faster.
To move off. Clutch, 1st gear, gas, biting point,
release the parking brake, clutch still, more gas and gently release the clutch.
If you want to learn all about clutch control then watch this video next.
You'll see how to creep slowly in traffic, how to emerge slowly out of a side road and more.
Thanks a lot for watching. Please give it a like if it helped you at all and subscribe
for more how-to-drive videos. In the meantime, keep safe on the road and bye for now. [Music]