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Stalling the engine
With some revs, use your left foot to hold the clutch only halfway up until the car is moving nicely. Make sure you gently increase your revs to compensate for the power the car needs to get moving.
In your very first driving lesson, you were shown how to "set your gas" and "find your bite". Remember how you were gently squeezing the gas pedal (accelerator), listening for a gentle hum from the engine, and bringing the clutch up to the bite - which in most cars is about 5cm from the floor. Then, as you held the handbrake up with the button pressed in, you made your observations - including your shoulder check, and took the handbrake off. You gently brought the clutch up about halfway until the car started to move. You kept your left foot still, and when the car was moving nicely, you gently released the clutch with a little more gas. Do you remember it now?
Often a stalling problem can easily be resolved by lifting your whole foot with the clutch instead of trying to pivot your ankle on the mat. Go ahead, try it! Or, you may just be sitting too close to, or too far from, the controls. Get your instructor to check your seating position.
Why does the engine stall if I don't get this right?
Think about this, you have a heavy box on the floor and you want to move it. Either you run up to it, arms outstretched and expect it to move straight away, ending up breaking your wrists; or, you walk up to it, take the weight, and then slowly ease your muscles into it. It's the same with your car, it’s heavy, and it has inertia. It needs a slow build up of power, and easing up of the clutch, to make it move. So when you bring the clutch up too quickly, you don’t allow the car to gently build up some momentum. And if you don’t get some revs up, you’re not giving the engine any power to work with.
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