Hi,

My new TSX (2007 black/black MT) is my first manual transmission car in years. Most of the shifting has come back to me very easily (it's just like cycling/swimming/eating pizza, etc.).

However, I live in a hilly town in a hilly county, with stop signs and stop lights all over the place.

So, if I'm going uphill, and I'm stopped at a light on a steep slope, getting going again feels chancy.

Are there tips -- other than improving my coordination -- for starting out again in 1st gear without slipping back, downhill, too much? Or without slipping back at all?

Is it just a question of taking my right foot off the brake, pressing instantly with it on the throttle, at the same time my left foot eases off the clutch? (Yes, I've already shifted into 1st gear as I stopped.)

Any and all suggestions appreciated.

 

Use the e-brake to hold the car, then just release as you feel the momentum shift forward.

Otherwise, learn to heel-toe.

 

^ e-brake, definitely.

 

e-brake is for homosexuals

just keep practicing and you'll be back in swing, you explained the correct technique in your post

j/k about e-brake, although never tried it personally



edit: although I do "feather" the gas pedal on a steep hill sometimes rather than try to just hold it down, that way you keep the engine from rev'ing real high.

 

Just give it plenty of gas when you come off the brake. You'll get it in a week or two. Congrats on sacking up and going with the Manual

 

While in 1st gear & brake pressed:
1. let the clutch go slowly until the car starts shaking slightly.
2. Let go of the brake and give gas until 2-3K RPMs
3. Let go of the clutch completely.

Of course this needs to be done fast.

Pretty easy w/o e-brake once you get used to it. No heel-toe necessary (but useful on huge hills or when another car is very close behind you).

MBA

 

Nothing wrong with learning how to use the e-brake for something other than parking... it's just one more tool to help save wear & tear on the clutch. Once you've mastered easing off the brakes (hydraulic & friction) and onto the gas, even the hills in San Francisco can be tackled smoothly.

 

brilliant observation. I wouldn't have commented but I realized your age as 28.

Did this sound clever in your head as you typed it out?

 

Gotta agree with this.

 

Steve has the correct answer. Absolutely!

 

CGTSX2004 writes: "Use the e-brake to hold the car..."

Why "e-brake"? What's the "e" short for? Emergency?

I've known it as a parking brake.

 

I've been driving stick for a while and didn't start using the e-brake until a few weeks ago. I was on a very steep incline, and my uncle was riding my bumper in his car. Not to mention I was in crawling traffic. Anyway, I was taking off but even in that split second my car started rolling back quickly (very steep incline, dumb uncle like 1" behind my bumper) - I panicked and stalled the car for the first time in a loooooong time.

So I decided to finally give the e-brake method a try soon after and realized it was freakin genius lol. I still rarely use it, but am forced to when someone's kissing my bumper.

 

Just to add my on a very steep incline its much easier to break the wheels free with a FWD car such as the TSX if you give it a little too much throttle or release the clutch too quickly while trying to not roll back.

 

The art of hill starting is simply put the car into 1st, then apply the handbrake (once you've stopped moving!).
Once the lights change, feed the clutch out until you feel it bite - simultaneously release handbrake and maintain revs while letting the clutch out, and off you go.....


Tune in next week for "How do I go faster than 15 mph without revving the nuts off the engine?"

 

There's nothing wrong with it (other than the perceived wimp factor).

Think of it as "hand-toe" instead of "heel-toe". What's happening mechanically in your car is almost exactly the same (except the e-brake generally only uses the back brakes instead of both front and back).

 

I have never used the e-brake on a hill (and I'm a guuurrrrllll, not even a girly-man). And no, I don't ride the clutch either. The car won't roll back very quickly if at all; you can use your normal shift-gas-clutch manuevers. Just don't panic and all will be well.

 

did you not read the third line?

 

Especially on wet or slick pavement.

 

I don't use the e-brake on even the steepest of hills. Start with the e-brake method until you gain enough confidence to "graduate" from it. Then heel/toe is the way to go. Without releasing the brake and without rolling back, blip the gas with the right side of your foot. Release the brake while increasing gas (all with the right foot), and releasing the clutch.

 

That's how I taught my gf (now my wife!) and it worked great for her. She's now a pro, and can take off from any hill; she'll resort to the e-brake on very sharp inclines when someone is riding her bumper (i guess that would be my bumper ), but she is doing just fine!

Good luck with that pal, and don't let idiotic comments scare you off using the e-brake. It's much cheaper and easier to do that, than burning your clutch or backing into someone!

 

I did. Reneging your comment about the e-brake doesn't negate your phobic and juvenile response about homosexuals.

Just seems a strange and unlearned comment from a 28 year old.

cheers

 

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/joke

cheers

 

Dude, chill out. He was just joking around. If you think he's bad, you haven't even begun to see the dark side of some of the other members here like joerockt.

And seriously, stop making yourself out to be any more mature than him because you are just as childish for not letting the subject go.

 

E-brake until you get the timing down, meaning you do it without thinking and like you are driving a automagic car.

 

E-brake?

ROTFL!

If youre gonna "sack up" and get the MT, then at least have the SACK to use it properly.

BTW...talk to me about your "sack" after rowing that boat on the Belt for two hours.

 

Well, I am pure evil.

 

Sounds like a nerve was struck. Did it hit too close to home?

 

Uh oh...here we go!

 

I think "homo" is too strong a word.

How about "pu$$y"?

LOLOL....just playing.

But I DO find it ironic that the MT mafia, who LOVES to put down those who chose AT (for whatever reasons they did) need to now have discussions about even the very basics of using an MT. Kind of like dude with a .45 breaking his wrist firing the darned thing three seconds after making fun of someone with a .22.

 

Wait...joerockt has a darkside?


BTW, only pu$$ies drive. Real men haul all their $hit up and down the hills of San Francisco on their back .... when its raining .... one handed, so they can slap around little Acura driving pencil necked wimps with the other hand .... and chew nails for a snack.


^^all in red text

 

Really the only AT'ers that get put down are the ones that post in "Racing and Competition"

 

Launching an MT on a steep grade isn't "basic" for people who aren't used to it, and neither is heel-toe technique.

MT Mafia? Are the same folks asking questions here guilty of bashing AT owners?

 

Well, other than the off-tangent takes on who might be gay or not, thanks for the help on shifting from stop on steep hills.

In my pursuit of more shifting (shifty?) knowledge, I found this forum site, too:

Standard Shift Forum

Many useful threads, as I try to learn more about stick subtleties.

More to come.

Dave, from the valley of the jolly -- ho, ho, ho -- Henry Hudson

 

His passing off bad taste as a joke is a bit weak, but fine, I suppose that I missed the hilarity in his joke.

cheers

 

More juvenile humour...listen: if I were gay, I wouldn't be afraid of it. That said, I'm probably aggrandizing this more than any of my friends who are not straight would.

 

i use the e-brake method and it helps me greatly