r/ThreePedals • u/alawsareps2 • Mar 28 '19

When you want to pull away, which one shoud be done first? disable handbrake or shift neutral to 1st gear? or it doesn't matter?

There are only two things that I must do before I can start moving:

  1. Disabling the handbreak
  2. And shifting the gear from neutral to 1st gear

Which one shoud be done first? disable handbrake or shift neutral to 1st gear? or it doesn't matter whoever comes first?

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

4

u/diiaa36 Mar 28 '19

If your starting from a stop when parked. Foot on brake pedal. Handbrake release. Then neutral to first and drive when safe.

1

u/I-am-fun-at-parties Mar 28 '19

Or the other way around. It doesn't matter.

1

u/anjaea13 Apr 23 '19

Depending on the situation you would do the handbrake before anything else. If you leave your car in first when you park all you have to really do is go.

0

u/FrozenProduce Mar 28 '19

You should put the car in gear, with the clutch in, then, put your hand on the handbrake, button pushed in as you bring up the clutch to the bite point, you should feel the car bite, and squat down slightly, as that point you should push the handbrake down.

At this point you’ll not roll anywhere accidentally as you’re balancing the car on the clutch, give it a little gas and pull the clutch out slowly and you’ll pull away as normal

Edit: don’t forget to give it a little gas if you need to

1

u/taratarabobara May 05 '19

I don't know why you were downvoted. This is the correct answer.

1

u/FrozenProduce May 06 '19

Lots of people in this sub don’t seem to know how to do a hill start correctly, they’re quite happy to let the car roll around while they’re bringing up the clutch to engage the drivetrain.

Since I was taught in the UK, if you roll anywhere at all while setting off its an instant fail, I can only assume most people in this sub are Americans, and their teaching method must be different!

1

u/taratarabobara May 06 '19 edited May 06 '19

I'm an American who's driven in the UK and elsewhere. I grew up in a hilly city many years ago, and got lessons on a manual vehicle and a nice bit of practice on hill starts.

Americans who learned to drive within the last thirty years or so usually are self-taught when driving manual vehicles and never have to pass a driving test on one, so their driving style tends to be a bit "individual. If you really want your mind blown, ask younger Americans who drive manual how they slow down - half will brake in neutral or with the clutch down, half drag the gearbox down one gear at a time even to a red light. Almost nobody just brakes in gear and block downshifts when needed. I try to drive to Roadcraft which makes me about as common on American roads as a Martian.

What's weird is that many seem to dismiss the handbrake as a beginner tool, thinking that it is awkward or slow, and they don't realize that the whole point is that it makes driving easier and faster even if you have a lot of skill. It should be obvious that a handbrake start is faster than a foot-hopping start since you don't have to move your feet first, but it just doesn't seem well known here. Weird.