From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On 01/08/2026 03:35 PM, ARW wrote:

On 28/07/2026 09:42, Scott wrote:

I recently undertook a mature driver review with IAM Roadsmart, which
I found both informative and reassuring. Manual vehicle - Nissan Micra
2008. The main topic of discussion was about use of clutch and gears.

1. I have over the years acquired a habit of going into neutral in
advance of a stop at low speed and relying on the brakes to control
the vehicle. The assessor considered this to be bad practice as (a)
loss of control and (b) losing the benefit of engine braking. He
recommends staying in gear for as long as possible then using the
clutch at the last moment. My dad used to say that engines are
expensive and brake pads are cheap and therefore you should protect
the engine from risk of labouring by disengaging the clutch earlier.

OMG. This takes me back to the year 2000 when my wife was learning to
drive. I was taught to use the gears to control the car back in 1987.
The wife was taught to use the brakes and drop into neutral as a new
gearbox is expensive to replace.

2. The assessor thought I was over-cautious in gear selection - that I
could be in 4th year or 5th gear at lower speeds for fuel economy.
Again, I always believed (especially with an older and relatively
low-powered vehicle) that it was important to avoid straining the
engine. My self-created rule of thumb is that there should always be a
bit of power in reserve as evidenced that at any time it should be
possible to tap the accelerator and get a small amount of
acceleration. The assessor felt there was no need for this and if you
need acceleration, you should make a quick gear change.

Sounds like he was been a little picky.

Recognising that it is very difficult to comment without being a front
or a back seat driver, I would be interested in comments of the group
and a bit of discussion on the subject

I drove from Manchester airport back to Barnsley a few years ago with a broken clutch cable (snapped as I dropped my parents off). It wasnrCOt difficult.

It's a long time ago, but in 1975, driving from London to Liverpool via Western Avenue one evening, the car's clutch cable snapped at the
Brewmaster traffic lights. My companions headed for the pub while I rang
the AA. The patrolman turned up, confirmed the broken cable and
immediately fitted a new one, with the parts costing me about -u3.50. I
gave him a fiver and we were soon on our way.

The car was a Mk1 Escort 1100, 1973 L-reg.

I didn't fancy driving north through Oxfordshire and Warwickshire having
to double declutch.
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From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On 07/08/2026 13:21, JNugent wrote:

It's a long time ago, but in 1975, driving from London to Liverpool via Western Avenue one evening, the car's clutch cable snapped at the
Brewmaster traffic lights. My companions headed for the pub while I rang
the AA. The patrolman turned up, confirmed the broken cable and
immediately fitted a new one, with the parts costing me about -u3.50. I
gave him a fiver and we were soon on our way.

The car was a Mk1 Escort 1100, 1973 L-reg.

I didn't fancy driving north through Oxfordshire and Warwickshire having
to double declutch.

Having never driven a car (the oldest was my mum's 1975 Renault 6) which
had dodgy/no synchromesh on any forward gear, I've never been taught how
to double declutch and so I've never built up the muscle memory to blip
the throttle to exactly the right speed during the brief clutch-up phase between the two clutch-down movements, such that the gear will engage.

I can do clutchless gearchanges - more easily on my old Peugeot than on
my wife's newer Honda - in which you come off the power, push the gear
lever into neutral and let the engine revs increase or decrease until
gentle pressure on the gear lever allows it to slip into the new gear.
But that is different: you have instant feedback as to when it works,
rather than having to do it "offline" and get it right first time rather
than being able to gradually change the revs until the gear engages.

I would have thought that the harder part of driving any distance
without being able to disengage the clutch is how handle coming to a
complete halt: you need to go into neutral just before the car stops, to
avoid stalling in gear, and then hope that you can get it into first
with the engine off, and then start the car in-gear. Or else hope that
you can manage without ever coming to a complete halt...
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