KB :: Stalling moving away

Why do I stall when I move away?

We've all been there as learners (and many of us long after we finished learning to drive...).

I think every driver will have had that slight feeling of panic and embarrassment as the engines cuts out on you just as the traffic light goes green, or the gap on the busy roundabout is right in front of you.

Then of course you often get the reaction from the drivers behind. That helps doesn't it?

Stalls when you move away are caused either by an error in technique, or because you rush due to the pressure of the situation. Or often, a combination of both come into play.

So why does a car stall?
Manual cars stall when the engine isn't producing enough power to push the car along the road. If the current engine power isn't enough to move the car, the engine cycle can't complete, so further cycles can't start and the engine cuts out.
What happens mechanically when you find the biting point?
This is the underlying reason for stalls as you move away, so what is happening? In simple terms, you are beginning to connect the engine to the driving wheels of the car. That means that the engine is gradually having to deal with the weight of the car which acts as a force the engine has to overcome. This causes the engine to slow down, producing less power. If that power isn't enough to move the car along and the engine stops turning, you will stall.

So what's the best technique for moving away?

We have just seen how bringing the clutch up through the biting point increasingly adds load onto the engine as it has to deal with moving the weight of the car. This in turn slows the engine which can lead to a stall. In order for the engine to easily cope as you move away, you need to speed the engine up ahead of the weight of the car acting against the engine, to counteract the slowing effect.

We do this in two phases. Firstly, before bringing the clutch up to the biting point, add a little gas. Aim to do this by sound, but for the first few goes look at the rev counter to tune your ears in. You only need a few hundred extra revs (each rev counter is labelled differently, so you will have to get used to the units displayed), typically raising them from somewhere between 700rpm and 900rpm with the engine idling, to around 1200-1500rpm before finding the bite. You don't have to be brilliantly precise, just a little pick up in engine sound is fine.

Once you begin to move, keep your feet still for a moment to let the engine settle and stabilise. We now need to continue bringing the clutch up slowly, but that will add more load to the engine, slowing it down. So the correct thing is to gradually add more gas first, then once you hear the engine picking up, start to slowly bring the clutch up as well until you have brought it up fully and removed your foot from the pedal.

We mentioned earlier that errors in technique can often be source of many stalling issues when moving away. So let's look at some of the common problems that are often seen with new drivers.

I can just use the clutch to move away, that way it's simpler right?
Many learners have either been taught to move away just by bringing the clutch up, or sometimes gradually switch to doing this because their brain is trying to simplify the process, and are then not corrected.
First things first. This makes it much more likely you will stall. When you just bring the clutch up without using the gas pedal, you are not giving the engine any assistance to deal with the weight of the car. The only reason it works at all is that the electronics on board the car detect the load coming onto the engine and add a little gas for you. The trouble is that it isn't a lot of gas, and it is only applied once the engine begins to slow.
If you are very slow and careful with the clutch this will work, but as soon as you try to move more quickly or perhaps rush things a little under pressure from other cars, the engine will slow down too much and too quickly, and then you have your stall.
I was taught to use the clutch and gas like a seesaw - is that wrong?
Something along these lines is how many people have moving away explained to them, and was probably how I was taught too many years ago to remember. In principle it should be ok, but it relies on perfect timing to ensure the right amount of gas for the current biting point at all times. But what happens is that if you need to move quite briskly, or rush a bit under pressure, the clutch will always tend to come up quicker than you add gas, making a stall very easy. That's why you need to get used to always adding the gas just ahead of using the clutch.
I'm using the gas pedal when I move away but still have problems stalling?
Make sure you really are using the gas pedal. It is very common for new drivers to have their foot on the pedal and to think they are using it, but actually they haven't really added any gas at all. Listen, listen, listen! If you can't hear the engine note picking up, you aren't adding gas.
One of the main reasons you may not really press down on the gas is that subconsciously you are worried about the car shooting off too fast. Remember, the gas controls the speed of the engine, not directly the speed of the car. While you are moving away, it is the clutch coming up through the biting point that controls how much of the engine speed is pushing the car along, and therefore how fast you go - it is like a tap. You could have a mountain of engine revs, but still not shoot away if you are careful with how fast the clutch comes up.

Why do I rush and how do I avoid doing so?

This is the other big contributing factor to stalls, rushing what your feet are doing. Sometimes this is because you feel under pressure from cars behind, perhaps when you are at the front of a queue at traffic lights for example. Or it can because you are anxious at a busy junction or roundabout and rush trying to get into a smallish space.

First and foremost, learn to recognise that feeling of pressure. If you can identify that you are beginning to get that feeling, you can start to force yourself to try and slow everything down (actually you'll just be back to your normal speed, it won't be especially slow, it'll just feel like it). Remember, the drivers behind would much rather you move away, albeit slower than they might, than that you don't move at all!

Preparation is key. If you are at a busy junction, try getting your feet ready when you see a potential space coming, not once it is in front of you. That way you have more time to get everything sounding right. If you're at traffic lights, look for clues you might be about to move so you can start to prepare. Perhaps you can see the lights for another direction? Can you see drivers from another direction slowing to stop? Has the beeping for the pedestrian phase just stopped? If you have stopped to give way to an oncoming vehicle, start to get your feet ready a few seconds before the car gets to you, so you can move without feeling rushed as soon as it passes.

Above all else, don't worry if it sometimes goes wrong. Think about why so that next time you're more likely to do it a little better. We learn far more from getting things wrong than we do from getting things right. And remember, listen, listen, listen. More than anything else, moving away is about the engine staying happy, and the easiest way to do that is by the sound it makes.