I don't know if its a rule enforced in the drivers exams in Ontario but in alberta make sure you come to a complete stop before the sidewalk while leaving the parking lot. Its an automatic fail in Alberta because its treated as a stop sign.

I also don't know if they test for them, or if they exist in Ontario, i have never noticed them, nor do people really follow it in Alberta other then during their test, but make sure that you slow down at uncontrolled intersections (two small roads meet, and there are no yields/stop signs), to give the right of way (even at a uncontrolled T intersection if you are going straight).

Oh and make sure that the parking brake is disengaged when you start you test, I know many people who have had their tests and the instructor tries to trip you up by having it engaged before hand.

Originally Posted by JeffB

I don't know if its a rule enforced in the drivers exams in Ontario but in alberta make sure you come to a complete stop before the sidewalk while leaving the parking lot. Its an automatic fail in Alberta because its treated as a stop sign.

I also don't know if they test for them, or if they exist in Ontario, i have never noticed them, nor do people really follow it in Alberta other then during their test, but make sure that you slow down at uncontrolled intersections (two small roads meet, and there are no yields/stop signs), to give the right of way (even at a uncontrolled T intersection if you are going straight).

Oh and make sure that the parking brake is disengaged when you start you test, I know many people who have had their tests and the instructor tries to trip you up by having it engaged before hand.

I think here there's stop signs at all the parking lots entrances/exits, as well as at every intersection (even up in the boonies I don't think I've ever seen an intersection with no stop/yield sign on at least one of the roads)

Now to be nit-picky, you should always park with the parking brake on, even in an automatic, just in case something fails - that's what the parking brake is there for. So it should be habit to disengage it before you start driving

Make sure you literally shoulder check everything. The only tick i got bad on mine was that I didn't shoulder check one turn into a left turn lane where there was a median before it (so the only person who could have been there would have had to hop the median and drive up the sidewalked area :S)

And I concur, downshifting while slowing down is important. It keeps you in gear in case of emergencies and when you do have to put it back in gear before completely stopping your are aware of your engine/transmission/road speed so you won't wear your synchros or clutch as much by feeling around to get the right engagement speed. The only acception I generally make to this is sometiems shifting into first when stopping can be a pain in the butt and in my car its not always easy to keep your foot on the brake the whole time while shifting down and rev matching with the gas because of the idiotic pedal placements, but I digress...

Originally Posted by 19841984

Make sure you literally shoulder check everything. The only tick i got bad on mine was that I didn't shoulder check one turn into a left turn lane where there was a median before it (so the only person who could have been there would have had to hop the median and drive up the sidewalked area :S)

And I concur, downshifting while slowing down is important. It keeps you in gear in case of emergencies and when you do have to put it back in gear before completely stopping your are aware of your engine/transmission/road speed so you won't wear your synchros or clutch as much by feeling around to get the right engagement speed. The only acception I generally make to this is sometiems shifting into first when stopping can be a pain in the butt and in my car its not always easy to keep your foot on the brake the whole time while shifting down and rev matching with the gas because of the idiotic pedal placements, but I digress...

If anything, downshifting all the time wears your clutch out more.

And if you forget what gear you're on, then pay attention. Otherwise I'll consider you an idiot driver. EVEN THEN, I can start back up in 3rd going up a hill (just for lulz), I'm sure other people can do it in 2nd.

If someone's coming up at you full speed and the only reason why it's good to downshift is so you can speed up so he doesn't rail you, then learn to shift. I can't imagine how long it could possibly take you to downshift back to 2 just to speed up. I think that would take a total of 1.5 seconds.

(by you, I don't mean YOU. just people in general. just clarifying )

The example I was presenting in terms of searching for the proper engagement speed is this. You are coasting from say 50kmph, you were in 4th and the engine and transmission input shaft were rotating at say 1500 RPM. You put it in neutral, your transmission input shaft goes to near zero since its decoupled from the transaxle and the engine. You go to put it back into gear by simply holding down the clutch and putting it into now say 3rd. You just forced the synchros to bring the input shaft speed up to the equivalent transaxle speed (taking the gear ratio into consideration), now you go to apply the gas but your transmission is going a different speed than the engine so you are now slipping the clutch to engage. That wears the clutch down and the synchros.

As opposed to: you are slowing down fully engaged and in gear. You push the clutch, shift to neutral, tap the gas to bring the engine to the speed that the input shaft of the transmission will be turning at the next gear, push the clutch again and shift into the next lower gear, rinse and repeat. There is a smooth engagement and the engine and transmission are already going the same speed so no (or very very little) clutch wear occurs. If you are just pulling the shifter into each gear and letting the synchros and the clutch take all the abuse as your car lurches down in speed from one gear to the next then yes that would be stupid.

The other reason why its always good to doubleclutch downshift during gear changes is around turns and corners. Your car is much more balanced and in control when the driveline is fully engaged. You will not produce as strong an oscillation when you go to accelerate out of a turn, etc.

If you are ONLY talking about coasting in neutral and only putting it back in gear where you are at a complete stop, then this is a moot point and most modern transmissions are built assuming you will be doing this, which is why your 1-2 synchros are often made out of brass, so they will go before the actual gears do.

Btw I hope you're not starting on a hill from a dead stop in 3rd unless you drive something with lots of torque... It can be done (hell 4th can on most cars if you like revving the piss out of the engine and slipping the clutch like heck) but its not good for obvious reasons.

Originally Posted by 19841984

The example I was presenting in terms of searching for the proper engagement speed is this. You are coasting from say 50kmph, you were in 4th and the engine and transmission input shaft were rotating at say 1500 RPM. You put it in neutral, your transmission input shaft goes to near zero since its decoupled from the transaxle and the engine. You go to put it back into gear by simply holding down the clutch and putting it into now say 3rd. You just forced the synchros to bring the input shaft speed up to the equivalent transaxle speed (taking the gear ratio into consideration), now you go to apply the gas but your transmission is going a different speed than the engine so you are now slipping the clutch to engage. That wears the clutch down and the synchros.

As opposed to: you are slowing down fully engaged and in gear. You push the clutch, shift to neutral, tap the gas to bring the engine to the speed that the input shaft of the transmission will be turning at the next gear, push the clutch again and shift into the next lower gear, rinse and repeat. There is a smooth engagement and the engine and transmission are already going the same speed so no (or very very little) clutch wear occurs. If you are just pulling the shifter into each gear and letting the synchros and the clutch take all the abuse as your car lurches down in speed from one gear to the next then yes that would be stupid.

The other reason why its always good to doubleclutch downshift during gear changes is around turns and corners. Your car is much more balanced and in control when the driveline is fully engaged. You will not produce as strong an oscillation when you go to accelerate out of a turn, etc.

If you are ONLY talking about coasting in neutral and only putting it back in gear where you are at a complete stop, then this is a moot point and most modern transmissions are built assuming you will be doing this, which is why your 1-2 synchros are often made out of brass, so they will go before the actual gears do.

Btw I hope you're not starting on a hill from a dead stop in 3rd unless you drive something with lots of torque... It can be done (hell 4th can on most cars if you like revving the piss out of the engine and slipping the clutch like heck) but its not good for obvious reasons.

Like I said, only did it for the lulz. Don't do it regularly.

I agree with everything you said. I'm mostly referring to downshifting when you don't know you're gonna have to stop...ie, you're driving a long and a light turns yellow. You have time to stop, but to shift down every gear and slow down to a stop? Definitely not. The ONLY time I downshift is when it's obvious there's a stop/red light ahead or getting off a highway. There's just not that many practical times to downshift.

Note that I'm not arguing downshifting itself, just getting deducted points for it on a driving test. XD

Fair enough. I did my test on an auto but it was many years ago. Unfortunately you don't get brownie points just for the fact of doing it in a manual transmission car :(

Originally Posted by 19841984

Unfortunately you don't get brownie points just for the fact of doing it in a manual transmission car :(

How awesome would it be if you did? lol
Seriously, learning to drive standard in a big old pick up truck was not fun

Originally Posted by Maegs

How awesome would it be if you did? lol
Seriously, learning to drive standard in a big old pick up truck was not fun

WAY back in the day (many decades ago), apparently you got your chauffeur's license if you did your road test with a manual transmission. This evidently meant that you could drive pretty much any vehicle out there (buses, transport trucks, etc.). I think it probably stopped short of planes... but still, pretty sweet

Originally Posted by sniderj

WAY back in the day (many decades ago), apparently you got your chauffeur's license if you did your road test with a manual transmission. This evidently meant that you could drive pretty much any vehicle out there (buses, transport trucks, etc.). I think it probably stopped short of planes... but still, pretty sweet

LOL. Yea, I dunno, I can't imagine my ability to drive stick would make me able to drive something 3 times the length than what I'm used to. XDD

I'll admit I failed my G1 4 times, driving is just not for me.

Originally Posted by Fight0

I'll admit I failed my G1 4 times, driving is just not for me.

O_______O

You don't even have to drive, it's just a written test...

:O

Originally Posted by lawleypop

O_______O

You don't even have to drive, it's just a written test...

:O

It was hard. Harder then McMaster tests for sure.

I leafed through the book the night before and got perfect...

I got one wrong on the G1... question was, what is the first thing you check before making a U turn...

Proper answer: check if there are any U-turn prohibited signs

My answer: check the turning radius of your car.

My logic is that even if you are allowed to make a U-turn, you won't be making one if your car doesn't fit! I don't see why I got that wrong... Shady ministry logic, I say!