GEARS AND HOW THEY FUNCTION
Most new cars nowadays have 5 forward gears an reverse. Their job is to push the car from a stopped position to whichever speed you wish to drive at. The reason you need gears is because the engine isn’t very strong and it needs help to get the car moving.
If you were sat in your car with 3 or 4 friends, your car would be quite heavy and if you wanted to drive it at lets say 40mph, it would be reasonable to assume that it would take time and distance to reach that speed (You would have to build up momentum).
When you start off you use 1st gear, this is a very strong gear, not really fast, but by using the gas gradually, it enables you to get to a speed similar to lets say fast running speed. When you reach this speed you can then change into 2nd gear, when you do this you are changing into a gear that is faster than 1st but it is weaker. The fact that its weaker doesn’t matter that much because with 1st gear having already got the weight moving 2nd gear can tag on to the speed where 1st left off. When you accelerate in 2nd you push your speed up to something like moderate cycling speed lets say 15-18mph. You then change to 3rd which again is now weaker and faster than 2nd, but again it tags onto the speed that 2nd developed. When the speed reaches 25-28mph you can then change to 4th or top gear. This is a very weak gear but also fast and is used in towns or urban areas. If you go onto open roads where you can attain higher speeds, you can use 5th gear which is very weak but also high speed.
USING THE GEARS WITH THE CLUTCH
The diagram show the gear positions of a typical gear lever with 5 forward gears and reverse. When the gear lever is in the neutral position the engine is disconnected from the wheels although the clutch is in the up or out position. The clip art picture at the top of the page shows how gears look when the gear position, say 1st, whereas if one of the gears turns it would turn the other.
When it’s in neutral the gears are separated from each other so if one of the gears is turning it doesn’t turn the other one. When you start the engine it’s important to have the gear lever in neutral, otherwise the car will try to move off straight away.
The diagram below shows the general layout of the engine clutch gearbox and wheels. If the engine is separated from the wheels by either the clutch being held down or the gear lever being in neutral, the car cannot move away. To move off you first of all check that the gear lever is in neutral, and the handbrake is on, make sure the mirrors are set correctly and your seat is in the correct position. You can then start the engine, you then press the clutch down and select 1st gear. You then fetch the clutch to biting point (See how the pedals work), release the handbrake, and then slowly release the clutch further whilst slightly pressing the gas. As you gather momentum, you place your hand on the gear lever, before you reach too much speed, press the clutch down firmly whilst releasing the gas, like a see saw action. You then change into 2nd gear; you then release the clutch completely at a gradual rate at the same time pressing gently on the gas. When you do this there is no biting point, you can simply release the clutch without the problem of stalling. Repeat the process until you reach 4th gear (Conditions permitting).
2 discs pushed apart
SLOWING DOWN—STOPPING AND STARTING
To make a stop, you let go of the gas, with your right foot, which starts the deceleration then press the brake. Just before you stop (running speed) you press the clutch down to stop the engine from stalling. You will have to hold the clutch down then go back to 1st gear again the do the move off slowly with the clutch again as described above. If however you slow down but don’t actually stop, lets say you are in 4th gear doing 30mph and you have to brake your speed down to fast running speed around 10mph for some reason, and you then want to get moving again. Before you press the gas again you will have to change down to a stronger gear, in this case 2nd, to enable the engine to push your speed back up again. This process is called changing down, as a general rule when you lose momentum because you have slowed down you have to change down to a lower gear. You can then accelerate again and eventually change up as before. You can’t change up or down without first pushing the clutch down...