How to Start Your Car on a Hill Quickly

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posted on 19 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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This can be a valuable lesson for when you are first learning to drive a car with manual transmission (or "stick" shift). Hopefully, it will keep you from hitting the car behind you when you're starting on a steep hill. This can be applied to automatics as well.

Steps

With Emergency Brake

Remember that once you have stopped completely, pull up the emergency brake. Remove your foot off of the manual brake when you go to press the accelerator to keep your car from rolling backwards until you start moving.

Press on the accelerator (and remove your other foot from the clutch) just as you would normally. The car will soon feel like it is wanting to move forward.

Feel that the car is just about to move forward, keep accelerating slowly while at the same time removing the emergency brake. By removing the brake at the right time, your car will already have the power it needs from the accelerator to move up the hill without the emergency brake needing to be on to keep it from rolling backwards.

Expert Method

Press the clutch down just enough to allow the engine to return to normal idle speed.

Keep your right toes on the brake pedal, and turn your right foot inward so that your right heel is on the gas. By tilting your right foot in this position, you are able to depress the accelerator with your right heel while keeping the brake pedal engaged with your toes.

Watch as the light changes, then press on the gas with your right heel and slowly let the clutch out. Shortly after beginning this maneuver, remove your right toes from the brake pedal.

The engine will rev, and the vehicle will begin to move forward. Once you have some forward momentum, move your right foot so that it is in a natural position on the gas pedal. You may need to press the clutch back in momentarily at this point. With some practice, you should be able to work all three pedals with just two feet, reduce engine revs to a minimum, and avoid jerking the clutch.

Expert for Steep Slope

Press both the clutch and the brake pedal.

Do not release the brakes. Release the clutch slowly halfway until you feel vibrations (namely, until you feel like the car is trying to move forward). Observe the tachometer rev; it goes somewhere below 1000.

Hold the clutch in the same position. Release the brake pedal (the car does not move anywhere).

Press the accelerator pedal. Release the clutch gradually and you'll be off.