Tips for driving in traffic with a manual?

Originally Posted by RayPooley

Nonsense. All the time you have your foot on the foot brake your hydraulic seals are under extreme pressure. That's the master cylinder and caliper piston seals. When you are stationary? Your handbrake is purely mechanical and doesn't use the hydraulic braking system at all. Its a seperate system. Hydraulic brakes are for stopping the vehicle. The handbrake is for holding the vehicle. That's why its called the HOLDING brake. If it wasn't for the traffic lights and holdups it would take me 10 minutes to get to work. As it is it takes me 35 minutes. That's 25 minutes queuing at traffic lights. With my foot on the brake??? And my BRAKE LIGHTS blinding the poor sap behind me? B*llocks to that. Learn to drive dude. Your the type of person I get stuck behind squinting and end up shouting GET YOUR F*CKIN FOOT OFF THE BRAKE D*CKHEAD!!

Yeah, uh, you can hold the car with the regular brakes dude. Americans sit in more traffic than you do every day with automatics stuck in drive spinning the torque converter with feet on the brakes constantly. It DOES NOT hurt them in the slightest. It's also not called a holding brake. It is the parking brake. Most cars don't even have hand brakes anyway. They have a foot actuated parking/emergency brake that works with a ratcheting motion like a hand brake. You push it down. It sticks. Push it again. It comes back up. I think you are the odd man out on your driving habits.

Originally Posted by RayPooley

Nonsense. All the time you have your foot on the foot brake your hydraulic seals are under extreme pressure. That's the master cylinder and caliper piston seals. When you are stationary? Your handbrake is purely mechanical and doesn't use the hydraulic braking system at all. Its a seperate system. Hydraulic brakes are for stopping the vehicle. The handbrake is for holding the vehicle. That's why its called the HOLDING brake. If it wasn't for the traffic lights and holdups it would take me 10 minutes to get to work. As it is it takes me 35 minutes. That's 25 minutes queuing at traffic lights. With my foot on the brake??? And my BRAKE LIGHTS blinding the poor sap behind me? B*llocks to that. Learn to drive dude. Your the type of person I get stuck behind squinting and end up shouting GET YOUR F*CKIN FOOT OFF THE BRAKE D*CKHEAD!!

This might be the most ridiculous thing I've ever read on this forum.

Originally Posted by customisbetter

This might be the most ridiculous thing I've ever read on this forum.

i dont think it is.

Originally Posted by WDE46

Yeah, uh, you can hold the car with the regular brakes dude. Americans sit in more traffic than you do every day with automatics stuck in drive spinning the torque converter with feet on the brakes constantly. It DOES NOT hurt them in the slightest. It's also not called a holding brake. It is the parking brake. Most cars don't even have hand brakes anyway. They have a foot actuated parking/emergency brake that works with a ratcheting motion like a hand brake. You push it down. It sticks. Push it again. It comes back up. I think you are the odd man out on your driving habits.

"Most cars don't even have hand brakes anyway. They have a foot actuated parking/emergency brake that works with a ratcheting motion like a hand brake." Jeez. You sure you are not talking about dodgem cars?

So its a handbrake that you activate with your foot?

The topic is manual gears not automatic. But the last time I drove an auto, which was many years ago, I recall there being a P position that would lock the vehicle when in traffic. It was one up from N (neutral) and two up from D (drive) . I still had a hand brake though. Again no need to sit with your foot on the brake pedal and your brake lights blinding and annoying the crap out of the driver behind you.

"I think you are the odd man out on your driving habits." Obviously. I'm British. We know how to drive manuals. We have to demonstrate it to the authorities before we are allowed to.

Most trucks, SUVs, vans etc. have a foot-actuated "parking brake". Not a "stopping at a traffic light" brake.

Originally Posted by lsteg

I still don't understand why parallel parking is so difficult for some people. It really isn't that hard to do....is it?

Not if you passed geometry in high school.

Originally Posted by RayPooley

"Most cars don't even have hand brakes anyway. They have a foot actuated parking/emergency brake that works with a ratcheting motion like a hand brake." Jeez. You sure you are not talking about dodgem cars?

So its a handbrake that you activate with your foot?

The topic is manual gears not automatic. But the last time I drove an auto, which was many years ago, I recall there being a P position that would lock the vehicle when in traffic. It was one up from N (neutral) and two up from D (drive) . I still had a hand brake though. Again no need to sit with your foot on the brake pedal and your brake lights blinding and annoying the crap out of the driver behind you.

"I think you are the odd man out on your driving habits." Obviously. I'm British. We know how to drive manuals. We have to demonstrate it to the authorities before we are allowed to.

P position is not for sitting in traffic.
Actually, technically a cop could cite you for putting it in p on the road.

P means park.

If you're blinded by brake lights then...well...I don't know.

Are you a vampire?

Ok i had a 1986 mercedes 300e 5 speed manual with a foot "emergency brake", and idk how you could possibly apply that in traffic without a major inconvenience. It is not anymore dangerous IMO to leave your foot on the clutch and brake and roll over to the throttle with your right foot. I'm from San Francisco which has more hills than where your from and its got more traffic and more terrible asian drivers (not that there genetically predisposed). My clutch never failed through 178k and my brakes didn't prematurely wear. Anecdotal yes, valid yes. I wasn't tested for parallel parking, only that I can pull up to a curb and reverse 5 feet.

Choxor ur always good for a laugh.

I feel bad now...I use my brake when I'm at a light. Ironically, I hardly ever use the brake when I'm driving...go figure.

Also, the brake light is red so it doesn't affect night blindness...that's why submarines have a red light...it's not because they have hookers on board (though maybe they do...IDK).

Originally Posted by RayPooley

"Most cars don't even have hand brakes anyway. They have a foot actuated parking/emergency brake that works with a ratcheting motion like a hand brake." Jeez. You sure you are not talking about dodgem cars?

So its a handbrake that you activate with your foot?

The topic is manual gears not automatic. But the last time I drove an auto, which was many years ago, I recall there being a P position that would lock the vehicle when in traffic. It was one up from N (neutral) and two up from D (drive) . I still had a hand brake though. Again no need to sit with your foot on the brake pedal and your brake lights blinding and annoying the crap out of the driver behind you.

"I think you are the odd man out on your driving habits." Obviously. I'm British. We know how to drive manuals. We have to demonstrate it to the authorities before we are allowed to.

What's ridiculous is your claim that it's somehow bad for the car to be stopped with the brakes engaged. That is absolutely false. I cannot believe that you would fail the driver's test for not using the hand brake unnecessarily. If you don't roll back a significant amount, then there is no practical difference at all.

You are also wrong about putting it in "P" while in traffic. That is even worse for the transmission because you go through reverse to get there. Torque converters are designed to be able to stay in drive while stopped. Sure, you can pop it in neutral and it'll maybe make your fluid last a bit longer, but it doesn't help that much.

It's not really any different on a manual. You just put it in neutral and lightly hold the brakes. That's how it's done. You don't pull the hand brake up every time you stop for any extended period of time. Sure, if you're stuck, not moving at all, you might put the brake on just to rest your foot. That's about it.

Seems to me the two most important things to save your manual in traffic are to keep your foot off the clutch pedal as much as possible, which means coasting to a stop in neutral, and engage it as quickly as you can without popping it.

Originally Posted by peytonracer4

P position is not for sitting in traffic.
Actually, technically a cop could cite you for putting it in p on the road.

P means park.

I know. That's what the hand brake is for.

Originally Posted by sgoetz628

Seems to me the two most important things to save your manual in traffic are to keep your foot off the clutch pedal as much as possible, which means coasting to a stop in neutral, and engage it as quickly as you can without popping it.

Nooooo. Good Lord. It gets worse.

I feel that the phrase "drive with common sense" could go a long way.

One thing I will do, if my brakes are hot from say, going down a steep hill...when I stop, I'll let my car roll a few inches so the pads don't sit on one place on the rotor too long. Supposedly, this helps minimize the chances that the pads will lay down material on the rotors--which then creates an effect most would call a 'warped rotor' incorrectly.

Also, I believe it is the law here to have the brakes on when stopped, and it's not such a bad idea anyway...just in the off chance you're hit from the rear, that would prevent you from being pushed into the car ahead or into an intersection...g-d forbid.

But, I'll also say that if the ground is level and I don't need brakes, I won't always use them when stopped. Anyway, lay off our UK Fanatic...even though he thought one of my posts was the stupidest he'd ever read, I'm sure he's read stupider ones by now...I sure I know I have.

My favorites: the guy that wanted to remove his brake pads because they were squeaking...and thought that would be a way to eliminate the squeak.

Another, the guy that wanted to remove the brake booster because it was hissing...and again, he wanted to eliminate the hiss.

My all time favorite, though, is that guy that painted his tires green...and stupider, the guys that asked him how to do it properly.

And another thing... We do things a little differently than in the UK. Not better or worse. Just different. And even though they have the steering wheel on the wrong side, the fact that they never acquired a taste for automatics is a great thing. I'm sure most here with automatics do a superb job of driving. But the average American driver is an idiot behind the wheel and, in my opinion, much of that comes from isolation, or lack of driver involvement. And the number one item that allows for this lack of involvement is the gd automatic transmission. So kudos to the Brits for their manuals, and who cares whether you call it a parking brake, emergency brake, or hand brake.

Originally Posted by lsteg

I feel that the phrase "drive with common sense" could go a long way.

I feel the phrase "sell your car and walk" would go further!

Originally Posted by dmax

I feel the phrase "sell your car and walk" would go further!

well played sir

Originally Posted by sgoetz628

Seems to me the two most important things to save your manual in traffic are to keep your foot off the clutch pedal as much as possible, which means coasting to a stop in neutral, and engage it as quickly as you can without popping it.

Try just letting off the gas. You can keep it in gear, whatever gear you're in, and you'll be better off. Usually, if I have the room, I'll just engine brake and just use the brake if absolutely necessary.

You can stay in gear and go to neutral just before you brake.

My wife learned to drive a manual and would go into neutral and coast very far away from a light...I stopped bothering to tell her not to do that...now she has an automatic, so no issue.

Also, don't worry about Ray's comment. Many have picked up habits from wherever and always thought they were correct...they're not always.

Anyway, the engine itself is a great brake, and ironically, not only does it save you a shift, but you use less gas. The car idles in neutral...in gear, engine braking, none at all.