View Single Post
Old 07-17-2009, 10:04 AM   #49 (permalink)
PonyPotato
Soaring
 
PonyPotato's Avatar
 
Location: Ohio!
Baraka: You are correct about coming to a stop (especially a fast one): engage the clutch and press the brake to come to a stop.

Now, if you're in true stop and go traffic, you won't necessarily want to put yourself in neutral as you come to a stop. You will keep the clutch engaged and put the shifter into first so you are ready to move again once you've come to a dead stop. You CAN move to neutral, but if you're going to be stop-GO traffic, you might as well save yourself the few seconds.

Also, if you're in traffic that is rapidly decelerating but doesn't quite stop, make sure you engage the clutch and brake long enough to slow yourself down to match traffic, but then check your speed before choosing a gear to pop back into to accelerate again.

If you were in the states, I'd totally give you lessons.

---------- Post added at 02:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:01 PM ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by guccilvr View Post
I always downshift to help come to a stop. if you're in neutral there's no reason to be holding the clutch in.. if you're touching it, you're using it.
When you are a beginner, it's best to keep the clutch in while you're in neutral (unless parked) to avoid habitually trying to shift into a gear and forgetting to engage the clutch. Once you know what you're doing, it's easier to do.
__________________
"Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark."
— Henri-Frédéric Amiel
PonyPotato is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360