BitingPoint
The position of the clutch pedal where the engine just starts to try to turn the driving wheels is called the "biting point."
"show me, tell me" questions
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Questions about lessons
Fri, 31/07/2009 - 11:50
Hi, sorry for lengthy post, I am learning to drive again after my first set of lessons 16 years ago...
My first instructor taught me that after braking to a stop (so your feet are on the clutch and brake), in order to move off again you find the biting point by:
1) Into first gear
3) Foot off the brake and depress the accelerator a little, then...
4) Release the clutch gently to find the biting point, then continue to accelerate while releasing clutch completely (obviously releasing the handbrake if you have applied it).
SO...finding the biting point with your foot on the ACCELERATOR.
My current instructor is teaching me that when I've come to a stop and gone into first (i.e. with my feet still on the clutch and brake) to then release the clutch with my foot still on the brake to find the biting point. When I find it, he tells me to take my foot off the brake completely (so that the car is moving slowly and I'm turning right/left) and then depress the accelerator...
SO...finding the biting point with your foot on the BRAKE.
In other words, I'm confused, and want to make sure that I do whatever is correct in line with driving test standards.
The reason I query it is that I'm being supervised outside of my lessons by a couple of people (one of which drives police cars!) and they both say that my original instructor was right...even though I'm not travelling for very long with the clutch down only, this is actually "coasting" and I might be failed for it (I read it in the highway code too). They said that finding the biting point with the brake is incorrect and not safe as you do not have enough control of the car, even though I'm putting my foot on the accelerator only a couple of seconds after taking it off the brake.
Also, there are other things my instructor does that make me distrust him...he's late for every lesson, takes lengthy phone calls and raises his voice when I do something wrong rather than telling me what I did wrong and how to correct it. I've had four 1.5hr lessons with him and the only time I've used my handbrake is when I stop and turn the engine off (i.e. not at junctions/roundabouts) which I'm not sure is right and sometimes he tells me to completely take my feet off all the pedals when turning a corner (i.e. after braking and changing down into first) which I never did with my first instructor.
Have the methods changed over the years? Or is it my instructor? If there are instructors out there that can shed some light, that would be GREAT!
Hi, an interesting post. I'll do my best to comment:
I'm with your first instructor. I don't like finding the bite with my foot on the brake pedal. It's not totally wrong, but in a petrol car you are much more likely to stall (are you driving a diesel??). If your foot is on the gas, getting bite and moving off are much more positive. Use the handbrake if you're worried about rolling back.
On the other hand, on a test, you won't fail for the second method unless it leads to other problems - eg rolling back or stalling.
I don't want to put down your ADI but it is unprofessional to be late, use the phone for ages (illegal if not stopped somewhere safe), shout and so on. So going only on what you say, it might be time to have a word with them, or get someone new.
Does this help?? I hope so.
Good luck!! Let us know how you get on.
Hi aflower69 your first instructor told you the correct way to find the bite.
You can get away with a diesel engine doing what your second instructor told you but it's not the correct way to use the controls.
I had a pupil do that on a test once who was being tested by a senior examiner, the examiner extended the test time to make sure the lad could do hill starts the correct way.
When the examiner came back from the test he had a word with myself and gave me a polite telling off for allowing the pupil to find the bite using the foot brake instead of adding accelerator.
Hope this helps ...Roy
Driving Instructor
http://www.tickettodrive.net
Hello aflower69
I hope you sorted this out easily and quickly and that you either passed your test or got your confidence back after the long period of not driving (wasn't sure whether you passed your test after your first set of lessons 16 years ago).
I was very interested to read your post because I've found myself in almost exactly the same situation. I learned to drive 18 years ago and passed my test first attempt. But after a very short period of driving my partner's car I stopped and didn't drive for the best part of 17 years - so, when I decided I wanted to drvie again recently, I needed some refresher lessons.
My instructor told me exactly the same thing about using the brake, not the accelerator, to find biting point. He said that this was because best practice in this area had changed since I initially learnt to drive. I found this really tricky and it took me a long time (not to mention the cost of lessons) to over-ride my brain's residual impulse to use clutch/aceelerator. It felt like I had to un-learn what I had grasped previously and re-learn a core technique from scratch.
He also cancelled four lessons on the same day they were due to take place and eventually I decided to find an alternative.
So I had a lesson with a different instructor who told me that using the brake to find biting point was a really bad idea and potentially dangerous. So now I feel pretty frustrated and confused.
Would you mind letting me know aflower69 where abouts you were when you had lessons from the brake-biting-point instructor? I'm trying to establish if it might even be the same instructor.
And if any instructors could clarify the business about best practice changing in this area I'd be grateful.
Thanks
James