[cutdcrap]

Originally Posted by 1100D

However a very effective method, employs a brick, to be attached to the rear of the front wheel (so that when the car moves forward you can pick up the brick from underneath the open drivers door). The brick can also come in handy at various other situations.

..Lolz..that was funny, 1100D. In cars like Innova/Tavera, etc. you can permanently mount the brick on the side skirting.

[Thad E Ginathom]

My father taught my mother to do hill starts by placing one of her favourite hats just behind the back wheel. Dropping back just an inch or two would ruin the hat!

She never let the car drop back even an inch.

Years later he let on that he'd actually hidden the hat, not placed it anywhere near the wheel.

He was a very clever teacher who taught my mum to drive superbly, and, although I didn't actually get my licence until years after leaving home, was my first teacher. Many of his basic lessons I never forgot.

[manziee_crusier]

Hmm well Handbrake is the best tech as BHPians pointed out....But never forget to remove your handbrake...else you have to swipe your credit card equvalent to you clutch cost soon

[ank1477]

I am new driver (with a new car). I have kept a driving instructor to sit with me while I am driving. The other day he taught me the technique of driving up an incline. First I am supposed to press both the clutch and the brake. Then release clutch slowly till there is slight vibration ( biting point) and then release the brake. The car moves forward. I tried it and it worked. I did not have to press on the accelerator. My question is will this technique always work and is it right?

[lordofgondor]

Originally Posted by ank1477

... My question is will this technique always work and is it right?

No, this technique won't always work. It's fine for flat surfaces or low inclines but your car will definitely stall at higher inclines (unless there's monster torque available ).

Regarding the correctness of the technique, I feel something's not right in doing so but can't be sure.

[speedsatya]

when driving uphill ,i always switch off the AC no matter which car i am in -the Zen,lancer or the ANHC.

I use the half clutch method always .Its very rarely that I use the handbrake as i have been used to the poor handbrakes of the Zen.Actually i dont trust hadnbrakes at all .If i have to park on an incline ,i always keep a big stone under the front tires

[libranof1987]

While driving uphill in a Zen, the first thing I do is switch the A/c off; that itself is like a NOS action!

For my Corsa or ANHC, I do not find the need to switch the a/c off; I just drop to a lower gear and maybe reduce the fan speed.

I don't have the clutch pressed but have my foot ready to press it for downshifting. Once heard of my dad's colleague driving half-clutch on the Mumbai-Pune highway (the days when it took up to 12 hours) which resulted in total failure of the clutch.

If I end up stalling on the incline, I engage the 1st gear and have the handbrake engaged.

Originally Posted by ank1477

I am new driver (with a new car). I have kept a driving instructor to sit with me while I am driving. The other day he taught me the technique of driving up an incline. First I am supposed to press both the clutch and the brake. Then release clutch slowly till there is slight vibration ( biting point) and then release the brake. The car moves forward. I tried it and it worked. I did not have to press on the accelerator. My question is will this technique always work and is it right?

This technique is wrong! The car moves forward because the engine RPM at idle is controlled by the ECU. So, once you start releasing the clutch, the engine will try to sustain for a while and eventually die. What you should do is -

1) engage the handbrake, press the clutch and shift to 1st gear
2) start pressing the accelerator and releasing the clutch slightly.
3) once you feel the car is jerking forward, release the handbrake.

[AltoHoncho]

All I do is make sure I am in right gear all the time, a little higher would end up in a stall and a lower would be heavy on fuel consumption.
Least or preferably no clutching, AC on or off doesnt make much of a difference. I do it on a daily basis as my company's Multi level parking is too steep all the way upto 7th floor. So far the clutch plates are all fine. It gets worse during rains as the water gushes down the climb.

If stalled, then handbrake is the best way to counter the slide. Tricky situation is when you've to move again and release the hand brake, heavy footing would result in excess wheel spin, that would be damaging for the tread. This is where KYC norm comes into picture (Know Your Car).

[rahuldeodhar]

Agree with libranof1987. The right technique is using hand-brake. However, in case there is a hand-brake failure or problem, then paddling or heel-toe method can be used. Such method is strenuous on the ankle joint and you should practise it before using.

The usual problem is the guy behind who honks away to glory as soon as the vehicle in front moves. The resulting adrenalin rush makes it difficult to move the vehicle which often stalls.

In case of stopping on hilly incline, it is better to slow down earlier - keeping lot of distance between you and the car ahead. Bring the speed down to a crawl. The car behind usually stops by this time. Then cover some distance and stop keeping safe margin in front and behind you.

[Mr.Boss]

Depends on the situation.
If the gradient is more and there is a vehicle / obstacle behind my car, I will use hand brakes.

[speedsatya]

Driving in the right gear and maintaining sufficient distance from the vehicle ahead is the trick. If I have to stop to give way to someone on a narrow hairpin bend or to stop for an impatient moron overtaking in the front its brake,first gear and half clutch. I don't remember using the hand brakes of late. In the zen,attempting hand brakes mean you have to stand on the brake pedal as well.

Even in the other cars,I usually switch off the ac depending on the incline.

[shankar.balan]

some more additions

while descending an incline always use the same gear which you would use to ascend the same incline
while ascending, ensure you have sufficient momentum in the correct lower gear so as not to stall when taking a steeper incline
always downshift as necessary before you enter a steeper curve or hairpin bend where you need more torque/power - this is better for your vehicle and much better from the "control" perspective than if you downshift while actually taking the curve or later when the vehicle begins to lose revs. It is better to take anticipatory corrective action than otherwise.
always maintain the right sort of distance between your vehicle and anyone who may be in front of you. a good distance to maintain is 25-30 metres.
In other words dont tailgate others while driving in the hills - you may end up in an accident in case of sudden braking by the car in front.

[hellboy999]

Well friends,
When I started taking off my driving lessons the driver first taught me the handbrake method.

This method involved pulling the handbrake on the incline to stop.While taking off again he first advised me to rev up the engine to 2K rpm and then release the handbrake completely till the car started moving further.
However this method involes a lot of movement amongst the hands and the legs which made it a bit painful.

The second method that he taught me; completely bypasses the handbrake method and just focuses on the clucth brake and accelerator.

He advised holding onto to a half clutch and brake and then quickly putting some gas which would get the vehicle moving. After this we can quickly change to second gear and get going.

I agree at steep inclines this method revs the engine hard and has an impact on the wheel spinning a bit too hard and damaging the tyre tread.However I havent come across a better method as compared.Hope this piece of information helps.

[richie4u]

Well I always wondered how do you climb a steep incline in an automatic, well obviously you cannot use the half clutch method so using the handbrake+ accelerator the only option? I have never got the opportunity to use an automatic on a steep incline so how do you do it?

[cranky]

I am new driver (with a new car). I have kept a driving instructor to sit with me while I am driving. The other day he taught me the technique of driving up an incline. First I am supposed to press both the clutch and the brake. Then release clutch slowly till there is slight vibration ( biting point) and then release the brake. The car moves forward. I tried it and it worked. I did not have to press on the accelerator. My question is will this technique always work and is it right?

Yes it does.

Except that depending on the slope you will have to apply power. For very slight incline it may be fine without, but remember that power output of the car at idle may not enough to conquer anything more than a 1-2 degree slope.

And that the movement between brake and gas is almost instant. Think 0.1-0.2 seconds, and not too much of gas either or you spin the wheel (unless that's what you want, fine - I've driven an Amby back in the 80s using this technique and got it to generate serious wheelspin, the only time it would do that sort of stuff).

Works fine on most slopes when you know the wait time is short (e.g. gradually moving traffic on a bridge - Mumbaikars will be familiar if they do the Western Express run homeward).

If you know the car well, it does not slip back more than an inch or so. If you don't understand the clutch and gas pedal interaction, don't even try it.

If waiting for more than 10 seconds I use the handbrake technique, it's just much more comfortable on my legs.