Any driving instructors on here

Any driving instructors on here

Author
Discussion

robwilk

Original Poster:

818 posts

181 months

Wednesday 19th May 2021
quotequote all
Anyone help settle a dispute between my son and his girlfriend.
He is sitting in with her as a qualified driver and a dispute has occurred between them and i thought I would ask for opinions.
They pulled up to a stop junction and she declutched and coasted up to the stop line and stopped , he said you should go though your gears and use engine braking.
She said her instructor said it causes unnecessary wear on the drive train and its better to coast to a a stop.
This is totally against what we we were taught many years ago.
So has the the methods changed or is her instructor out on his own thing or are we being old fashioned.
any thoughts ?

Rockets7

378 posts

131 months

Wednesday 19th May 2021
quotequote all
Im an ADI amongst other quals. The clue is she is going to have to stop. I teach approach in gear with brake ‘covered’ until the car is just short of labouring, Brakes gently on and clutch down to a Stop. Pref handbrake then usual righ/ left/ straight ahead procedure obs etc etc. That way it’s not coasting as she has 1 x pedal that’s active in that situation.

Going down through the gears on approach to a stop could earn her a minor for unnecessary use of gears on the DL25 checksheet report. Turning L&R different stance etc

Haltamer

2,456 posts

81 months

Wednesday 19th May 2021
quotequote all
Officially, Gears to go, brakes to stop.

Should stop solely with brakes, clutch to prevent stall and only return to neutral once at a complete stop. - As per system really.

In the real world, I prefer making my way down the box for a bit of flourish / heel & toe practice / ease of resuming progress if the approach to the hazard has been nicely timed.

R0G

4,986 posts

156 months

Thursday 20th May 2021
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If going to stop then stay in current gear and start to depress clutch enough to prevent stalling

Depressing clutch to early is coasting and will get a mark for not being in control

Dixy

2,923 posts

206 months

Thursday 20th May 2021
quotequote all
Good opportunity to suggest son joins IAM or Roada.
May I just check that son has held his licence for 3 years. Amazing how many 19 year olds think they can teach their whench to drive.

ScoobyChris

1,693 posts

203 months

Thursday 20th May 2021
quotequote all
robwilk said:
Anyone help settle a dispute between my son and his girlfriend.
He is sitting in with her as a qualified driver and a dispute has occurred between them and i thought I would ask for opinions.
They pulled up to a stop junction and she declutched and coasted up to the stop line and stopped , he said you should go though your gears and use engine braking.
She said her instructor said it causes unnecessary wear on the drive train and its better to coast to a a stop.
This is totally against what we we were taught many years ago.
So has the the methods changed or is her instructor out on his own thing or are we being old fashioned.
any thoughts ?
I'm not an ADI, but I'm going to suggest neither is "correct". The approach should be to use the brakes/engine to slow in the current gear and then declutch when the revs drop low enough the car will stall. Select 1st when the car is stopped and go when it's safe to do so.

How old is your son? I learnt to drive in the late 90s and I don't recall changing down through the gears being taught then either.

Chris

HustleRussell

24,724 posts

161 months

Thursday 20th May 2021
quotequote all
Dixy said:
Amazing how many 19 year olds think they can teach their whench to drive.
Their what?

robwilk

Original Poster:

818 posts

181 months

Thursday 20th May 2021
quotequote all
Dixy said:
Good opportunity to suggest son joins IAM or Roada.
May I just check that son has held his licence for 3 years. Amazing how many 19 year olds think they can teach their whench to drive.
He has held a full licence for 10 years.

robwilk

Original Poster:

818 posts

181 months

Thursday 20th May 2021
quotequote all
Cheers for the replies,.

vonhosen

40,243 posts

218 months

Thursday 20th May 2021
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Foot on brake, clutch depressed is not coasting.
Coasting is clutch depressed & foot not on brake.

Tony1963

4,786 posts

163 months

Tuesday 25th May 2021
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Changing down through the gears dates from when cars had pathetic braking systems. The assistance from engine braking helped keep the brakes cool as well as slow the car.
Very rarely needed now.

In a car with a manual gearbox, taking one hand of the steering wheel multiple times isn’t as safe as having both hands on the steering wheel.

Bweber

70 posts

62 months

Friday 18th June 2021
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This will date me. We were taught to approach a stop in current gear and to block change into second just before the stall speed and then de-clutch again just before the stop. Handbrake on and into neutral. Can anyone guess the period?

PhilAsia

3,823 posts

76 months

Monday 28th June 2021
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Bweber said:
This will date me. We were taught to approach a stop in current gear and to block change into second just before the stall speed and then de-clutch again just before the stop. Handbrake on and into neutral. Can anyone guess the period?
August 1887 to February1888. Seems obvious to me...

Tye Green

660 posts

110 months

Monday 28th June 2021
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HustleRussell said:
Dixy said:
Amazing how many 19 year olds think they can teach their whench to drive.
Their what?
typo - i think he meant wench