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The Clutch
For the car to be driven, there needs to be
a connection from the engine, through the gearbox, to the
wheels. The clutch is the link between the engine and gearbox.
It’s made up of two plates that are held together by a spring
when the clutch is up. Pressing the clutch down forces them
apart. This allows you to:
1.
Select a gear.
2.
Keep the engine running as the car stops.
Where you might get confused:
The reality:
Sometimes, the clutch can stop the car. But
this only happens at very low speeds – below walking
pace, in fact. This is because that break in the connection
between the engine and gearbox means that nothing is pushing the
car anymore. So if the road is level, it’ll roll to a stop.
However, this also means that if the car is going uphill, it will
still
roll to a stop – but then gravity takes over and pulls it
backwards. So it follows that if the car is going downhill,
pushing the clutch down will allow gravity to make the car go
faster. The trick is to learn to recognise what biting point
feels like and keep a mental picture of those clutch plates.
When you move off, there is a strong
possibility that the engine might stall when you lift the
clutch.
But what causes stalling?
It’s anything you do that forces the engine
below its “idling speed”
(see the section on the accelerator).
So that will be either:
·
Lifting the clutch too quickly when you
move off – the car
weights at least a ton and all that resistance being put on the
engine that suddenly will force it to slow down so much that it
won’t run anymore.
·
Being in a gear that’s too high for your speed.
When you slow down and keep the clutch up, yes the engine will
help you slow down. But once the car slows below a certain
speed, the car starts to shake. This means that the engine is
just starting to go below its idling speed. Now unless the
clutch goes down then, that’s when the engine cuts out. You then
need to either select a different gear, or stop the car.
Clutch Control
This is the way to move the car as slowly
as possible and is especially important when:
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Emerging from a junction with limited vision
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Moving forward in very heavy traffic
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Performing any manoeuvre that need a high degree
of accuracy
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Reversing
This is done in first gear and the gas
pedal needs to be held steady. Now, clutch control can be done
without the use of the gas pedal and the engine will run at
idling speed, but if the engine is running a little faster,
you’ll find things easier. You then need to raise the clutch
pedal to the biting point in the usual way. Once the handbrake
has been released, the clutch then needs to be lifted just a
fraction until the car begins to move. Now, if the clutch stays
there, the car will then begin to gather speed. When the car
reaches the desired speed, bring the clutch down just below
biting point to prevent the car from going any faster. The car will
then begin to slow down again, so you’ll then need to repeat the
process of bringing the clutch up and down to nudge the car inch
by inch.
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