Words of the (Un)Wise (or, How to Turn Corners Properly)

Things never change, do they?

On a forum (frequented by learners and young people), a lot of ridiculous advice is bandied about. The latest has to do with which gear to choose when turning left or right into junctions:

You should only go into 1st if you reach a complete stop. Otherwise 2nd is the correct gear.

Even better, the person who wrote this has got SIX thumbs up for it – even though it is totally wrong, and utterly misleading for new drivers out there. What makes it even more worrying is that judging from some of the replies, a lot of learners are being taught precisely this by their instructors!

It is wrong!

The same genius who wrote the above advice responds like this when it is pointed out that going too slow (but not stopped) in 2nd gear could lead to a stutter or stall, or “runaway” if the brake is released on the turn:

What the hell car do you drive? I’ve never heard of a car with such a high 2nd gear that it can’t handle speeds all the way down to 1mph, unless you’re on the kind of extremely steep incline only found in national parks.

A car that can do 1mph in 2nd? Another poster states clearly:

My car is a 1.4 and it struggles in second if I go below 8mph.

Of course, this factual information is wasted on the genius who thinks he know it all. My Focus will also start to rumble if you pull it below about 10mph in 2nd, and the same applies to most other cars. The genius backs his advice up with the comment:

Anyway, google it. You will find 100 people repeating my advice for everyone who says that 1st is the appropriate gear for rolling through junctions. Or look in a roadcraft manual.

There’s a strange irony going on here. Someone who is so ill-informed that he considers 100 people on a Google search is proof that he is correct also mentions Roadcraft. I’m not sure if “oxymoron” is strictly correct for describing this, but it’s definitely something like that.

It always makes me laugh how there are facts, and then there are people who believe something else. Like The Flat Earth Society, or people who believe in aliens or ghosts or something. Crackpots.

You DO NOT only use 1st gear when you are stopped. You learn the characteristics of the car you’re driving, learn to read the road layout and any gradients, and then choose the appropriate gear for the speed you are doing, and the situation you are in.

For example, when pulling away, you can do it in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. You’d use 2nd if you were starting off downhill, and 2nd or 3rd if you were moving off on sheet ice or snow and were encountering wheel spins. Most of the time, of course, you’d use 1st.

Exactly the same is true of turning left or right into roads. If you can keep moving much above a brisk walking pace then you can get away 2nd gear easily (and sometimes, even 3rd if the turn is a wide one). Any slower and you need to consider something else. Of course, 1st is the obvious choice below 2nd – but is there any other option?

In fact, there is. Imagine driving along a straight road and coming up to a queue of cars – maybe due to traffic lights or someone turning right and causing a temporary tailback. You’d slow down, and you may actually be getting ready to stop – but then the traffic starts moving and you don’t have to. Depending on how slow you were going governs which gear you are in, but it could easily be 2nd gear. Think about what you’d do.

As you aim to come to a stop you’d put the clutch down (you’re going slowly, remember)… but then you change your mind and use gas/bite – yes, in 2nd gear – to start moving again. Another “expert” on the forum I mentioned states:

Who taught you to drive?

You never slip the clutch in a car unless you’re in first gear and in slow moving traffic. The only occasion you’d do what you were suggesting is if you were on a motorbike where it is common practice to slip the clutch.

There’s no limit to their ignorance, it seems! For my part, I am trying hard to imagine the problems that you’d have driving in accordance with these guys’ principles. I mean, imagine only using 1st gear when you’re stopped and never de-clutching/finding the bite while still rolling in 2nd. Imagine, for example, driving along slowly in heavy stop-start traffic during rush hour using their principles. It would be chaos – you’d be forever changing gear and annoying the crap out of cars behind keep stopping dead!

So applying all this to a corner – one that is sharper than most, for example, but not so sharp that you obviously must do it in 1st – you have two options:

  • put it into 1st gear – this means that you’ll have to change up to 2nd quite soon after the turn, or even be tempted to do it during the turn if the car is screaming at you. And, of course, you’ll still be moving – which could involve the car jumping if you change down a little too soon.
  • put it (or keep it) in 2nd gear, slow right down, declutch and adjust the speed as necessary, then slowly raise the clutch as you start to turn. Raise it smoothly throughout so you are ready to accelerate away as necessary once you’ve completed it.

It isn’t coasting, because the engine is driving the car. It is making full use of the gears and the handling characteristics of the car. It isn’t dangerous. And it has advantages over 1st gear in that the gear ratio is such that losing traction in adverse conditions is less likely due to engine surge (either from the EMS or from touching the gas pedal).

Either way works. The second option is much smoother, though.

Remember that if you go round a corner with the clutch all the way down, you will get a fault (at least) on your test. If you use the 2nd gear method I have described… well, it never attracts a fault at either of my test centres.

Just as a final comment, you must use the appropriate gear for the speed you are doing. You can’t just opt for a fixed method for all situations, because all corners are different and road conditions can vary throughout the year.

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