Safely starting your car up hill – Part3 of how to drive a stick shift

Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:21 pm

There are just two methods of starting your manual car up a hill that I’m aware of. I don’t think other methods exist.

First is the easiest one, but somewhat slow and sloppy. You wait for a green light with your parking brake engaged. As soon as light turns green, you depress the clutch, shift into the first, and release the clutch to engagement start point. Then you simultaneously release parking brake, add gas, and release the clutch. It seems a bit complex on paper, but it is not. Basically you start as usual, you just add parking brake release, simultaneously with clutch engagement. It usually takes just a couple of tries to get it right, providing you already can start on a flat surface without a problem.

Second method is more complex and harder to master, but you don’t have to mess with a parking brake. You wait for a green light as usual, keeping your car from rolling back with normal brakes. When light turns green, you depress the clutch pedal, switch into the first, and start releasing clutch, while still having your right foot pressing the brake pedal. When you release the clutch until it starts engaging, you release the brake pedal and quickly move your foot to gas, and then you follow normal starting sequence.

I usually use the second method, but if I’m on a really steep hill, I go with the first one.

Driver Joined: Sep 25, 2006 Posts: 107

From my experience on this one, I'd recommend simply avoiding big hills until you get used to driving on flat roads. it was a pain in the butt to learn.. especially in the city where you KNOW some guy in a Beamer is gonna pull to a stop 6 inches behind you.

(if you see one pulling up, let off the brake and start rolling backwards at them, they'll stop!)

Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:48 pm

Yea, I definitely agree with taking it easy at first, but it's not always possible. So I think the best thing to do is to get yourself prepared Very Happy

You can practice this somewhere on a quiet street, when you don't have the pressure of a traffic on your back...