Quote:
Originally Posted by wodin
On my las driving test, the examiner had me stop on a hill. Then he said "There's a Mercedes stopped an inch behind you, start going without rolling back and hitting it."
Since I was driving a manual transmission Mazda, I pulled the hand brake (parking brake or emergency brake, your choice), slipped the clutch, and rolled off without rolling back the imaginary inch. He just nodded and raised his eyebrows. I passed!
So; they're good for something after all! But I've never been able to figure out what those ones than many American cars have; the ones with the fourth (third for automatic transmissions) pedal on the left (right for Brits, Aussies, and Japanese) side are good for. After all, I only have two feet; can't very well manipulate the accelerator, clutch, and parking brake at the same time!
Now, If I was the Librarian, it would be different.
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Yes, you can, and it doesn't involve the parking/emergency brake.
Professional drivers and car engineers/designers use something called heel-toe shifting. One foot (the left, here in the States) operates the clutch, the other operates both the brake and accelerator: the ball of your foot is on the brake and you rock the edge of that same foot over to goose the throttle at the same time. This technique is primarily used in performance driving/racing wherein you have to match revs when downshifting so the car doesn't lurch all over the place--a bad thing to happen if you're in a turn, moreso if the weather's bad. Many car magazines will extol the virtues of a car that has good pedal placement to facilitate this technique.
Most automotive journalists will admit it's inaccurately-named, but if you can pull it off successfully while in the company of a professional they will be suitably impressed.