Stick shift stop uphill

Reminds me of a school friend’s mom who use to hold the car on hills with the clutch… we all winced even as kids I think his Dad just accepted the repair bills and kept Mom away from his car…

Funny thing is my wife is prone to doing this in my car when she rarely drives it. not holding on hills, just always being “ready” at the friction point…

I associate this with pensioners in Toyota Starlets / yaris / Nissan Micra’s who really should be made drive automatics…

Newton’s first law of motion is often stated as an object at rest stays at rest.

BMWs are no exception to this law, even on a hill. There is very small period of time when you let your right foot off of the brake, and put it on the gas as you let out the clutch with your left foot, when the car is not moving. Practice, practice, practice.

Trouble is, an object at rest stays at rest only until acted upon by an external force. Gravity is acting the whole time you hold the car still with the brake. If you are facing uphill, the car starts accelerating backwards immediately on releasing the brake. That is why cars should have the throttle and brake pedals positioned properly in relation to each other. On a steep hill, it really helps, although it is easier to use the handbrake, but then, I’ve run across quite a few cars that didn’t have a strong enough handbrake to hold it on a steep hill.

I live in a Mexican mountain village with steep hills. Very steep hills. Most cars here do not hold, and so they have rocks laying along the street. They stop, someone jumps out and puts one of the rocks behind one or more wheels. My 2002 Sienna, with PARK and good parking brake holds solid, I think partly because I use it all the time and so it does not get corroded and stuck.

Just kidding-Kevin