Day 59: Stage 2 Practical Lesson 2.07 Driving on Slopes

I managed to get a cancelled slot today. Today's lesson is on driving on slope. In the beginning, I did some practices on the circuit's slope before moving out to the streets. Most of the time we were at Teck Whye. There are several up slopes there - One has a T junction right at the top. The other one has a pedestrian crossing at the top. The instructor said that the one with the traffic light is a killer test route. Pray hard that I'll not get it. If I really get it, pray that there is nobody crossing the zebra crossing or the traffic light is green when I reach there so that I don't need to stop...

To go up these slopes, it is fine to use gear 2. The tough part about the up slope is when I need to stop and move off from it. To stop on an up slope, step on foot brake then full clutch before coming to complete halt. Once fully stopped, pull hand brake and release foot brake. To move off, half clutch to biting point while at the same time press on accelerator until about 3000rpm. You'll observe that the car bonnet will raise slightly once you reach the biting point. (Note that the accelerator need to be stepped harder as it requires more force to move the vehicle up slope than on level ground). Once clear to go (check rear mirror and blind spot), fully release hand brake and move off. If you're doing a right turn at the same time, make sure to turn to the right most lane, change to gear 2 and maintain lane discipline (change to leftmost lane).

The tough part of the up slope T junction is that I need to check left and right for incoming traffic, at the same time my left foot must maintain biting point, right foot controlling the acceleration, left hand release hand brake and right hand turn the steering wheel (the ultimate multi-tasking octopus in the making). In addition, there is a thick bush blocking the view of the right traffic making it difficult to judge if the road is clear. I stalled several times at the junction but managed to move off after several tries. Perhaps it is a good idea to cut down the bush the day before my test  (just kidding)


Things to take note

• When moving off, maintain biting point for 3 seconds. I tend to release clutch too fast especially when I am doing a turn at the same.
• I tend to rush when changing gear up or down. Relax and don't be a 'kan cheong spider'
• My driving performance is not consistent. Sometimes I am fine, other times I will go back and repeat the same old mistakes again.

Expenditure

Practical              $77.04
Total cost so far:  $1246.87