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To drive safely, you must combine the skill of knowing how to change gear with knowing when to change gear, as well as which gear to select. These are skills which take time – and practice – to acquire.
You need to know the various positions of the gear lever without having to look down.
You can practise and get to know the gear position with the clutch disengaged and the engine switched off. A light but firm touch should be all you need to move from one gear to another. Never force the gear lever.
On some gearboxes you might require slight pressure to select some gears.
You might need to put a little pressure to the left on the gear lever when you change up from first to second gear. This is to prevent the lever slipping into fourth while passing through neutral.
You may need to put slight pressure to the left when you change down from third or second gear to first.
You’ll need to put pressure to the right when you change up to fifth or sixth gear.
If you feel resistance, don’t force the gear lever into any position.
You need to change gear in order to match the engine speed and load to the speed of the vehicle. This will vary with the vehicle you’re driving and whether you’re moving on the level, uphill or downhill. As a general rule, change up as the road speed increases.
Listening to the engine helps to determine when to change up. You’ll become more familiar with this as you practise, and will soon learn to recognise the appropriate level of sound at which to change gear.
To change up
Releasing the accelerator when changing up lets the engine speed drop to match the higher gear to give you a smooth gear change.
Being able to judge when it’s time to change up comes with experience.
You’ll need to change down to a lower gear
Driving in a high gear at low speed makes engine performance sluggish, and is bad driving practice.
Unless you intend to stop, you’ll need to change to a lower gear once you’ve slowed down.
As a general rule, use the brakes to reduce speed before changing down to the most suitable gear for the lower speed.
In the early stages of learning to drive, it may help you to become familiar with the gearbox if you change down through each of the gears in turn. Be guided by your instructor.
When changing down, you might need to
To change down
How much pressure is needed on the accelerator or footbrake when changing down will depend on
The sound of the engine will help you judge this.
To change gear, you need to anticipate and assess the situation well in advance. Ask yourself if the gear you’re in is correct for that particular situation.
You should consider changing to a lower gear to overtake. A lower gear can give you the extra acceleration to pass safely.
Try to avoid changing gear while you’re actually overtaking. It’s preferable to keep both hands on the wheel during the manoeuvre.
Your engine is more responsive in a lower gear and will therefore give you better vehicle control.
When descending a steep hill a lower gear gives more engine braking and control, particularly on a bend.
You should change down
The flexibility of modern engines and the efficiency of braking systems and gearboxes often makes it unnecessary to change into every gear when changing up and down the gearbox.
Missing out gears at the appropriate time will give you more time to concentrate on the road ahead and allow you to keep both hands on the steering wheel for longer.
As a general rule, it’s preferable and safer to brake to the desired speed and then change down into the appropriate gear. It might be necessary to maintain a light pressure on the footbrake while changing down.
There are many occasions when missing out gears while changing up is desirable; however, don’t accelerate too fiercely or for too long in the lower gears.
This
It depends on the individual vehicle and the road and traffic conditions.
It’s possible to miss out various gears but the most common examples when changing down are
The most common examples when
changing up are
See also section 17 on ecosafe driving.
Coasting means that, although the vehicle is moving, it’s not being driven by the engine. This occurs either when the clutch pedal is held down or when the gear lever is in the neutral position.
Coasting for any distance is wrong because
Each time you change gear you coast a little; this is unavoidable, but it should be kept to a minimum.
If there’s only light pressure on the accelerator pedal when the vehicle is travelling at speed, the engine may not appear to be ‘driving’ the vehicle.
This is known as travelling on the over-run and shouldn’t be confused with coasting. There’s no loss of control, because the vehicle is still in gear and either engine braking or acceleration are available immediately.
This is holding the clutch pedal partially down so that the clutch isn’t fully engaged. This allows the engine to spin faster than if it were fully engaged and is often necessary when manoeuvring at slow speeds.
Slipping the clutch to compensate for being in too high a gear at a low speed is bad driving practice and should be avoided. This can result in excessive wear of the clutch.
As you become more proficient, you’ll be able to judge exactly the gear you need for the speed you intend and the manoeuvre you’re planning.