Hi - just started driving a 5-speed manual c-class... with the foot
"parking brake" (ie no handbrake)
I have to drive a long (>1 mile) uphill section which in rush hour is
stop start every few yards on the uphill section...
My other cars have had a handbrake ... so I can hold the car on the
handbrake... while I get the clutch to biting point, increase the gas,
and move off ... without rolling backwards, or stalling...

Now with the merc .... I'm really struggling ...
putting on the parking brake ... every few yards to hold the car is a
really slow/ clumsy operation....
but without it I risk stalling / rolling back ?

I've tried keeping it in first with clutch down / right foot on the
brake pedal then, when ready to move... get to biting poiint... then
quickly move right foot onto acceleartor before it stalls ... sometime
I stall ... sometime I roll back...

Surely mecedes wouldn't supply a manual transmission, with only a foot
parking brake unless there was a safe way to drive uphill in heavy
traffic ...

What's the correct technique?
thanks AJ

<nospammer999 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

auto braking :-)

Don't know what would be the correct way to drive your car but when I had a
similar one, I think I did what you did, or then applied a bit gas and
released the clutch pedal till it engages sufficiently to keep the car in
place, or even enough to make it move forward, and then just release the
"hand" brake. I'm sure you will learn each option, and apply each one
according to the steepness of the road.

If you hare been driving long enough, you would never need handbrake to keep
car in position. I understand your situation where hill may be steep and you
are worried. I am too.

To overcome this from stand still, you have to learn to slightly partially
engage the clutch. What I meant by this is... do this on flat surface road
to experiment... Let out the clutch slightly until car can engage and hold
it in position... now with accelerator, you can revs alot while car is
barely moving.

That position is what you need to learn how to use. It may seem like it is a
bad thing to do... it can be but as long you are not going like 3000 rpm to
crawl, you won't have problem.

This above technique is to learn how to crawl and release....when you are
ready to drive, then you engage fully.

In article <1177777860.654560.232310 (AT) u30g2000hsc (DOT) googlegroups.com>,
<nospammer999 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote:
Easy as pie with a bit of practice.

cheers, guenter

"Tiger" <tiger0002 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

steep uphil road the engine would not hold the car on idle, I thought this
was the problem OP had.

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 01:22:34 +0000 (UTC), scholz (AT) sciborg (DOT) uwaterloo.ca
(Guenter Scholz) wrote:

It's not as easy as you suggest guenter....

I consider that this foot/handbrake is a design disaster by MB - and I
drive a CLK auto. What possible advantage does is have over the
traditional design, unless someone is partially disabled?

I nearly had a misfortune when my car was new, and I tried to shove
the car (in neutral) a few feet on a slope when outside the car with
the engine off. I went to grab the brake to hold it - and it wasn't
there!

Creeping the car uphill as you are currently doing is going to burn
out your clutch in no time. You will just have to allow a gap to
occur and then move into it. Sad, but true.

David

I agree about the potential clutch burn (although these hill starts are/were
part of the UK driving test).

I have been driving Mercs for 25 years and I really like the floor-operated
parking brake, though I don't recall when how it was when I had a manual
(200E).

My current (auto) 1993 190E has a 'hand' brake because the footwell is too
small for one on the floor. It's ok but I prefer the floor job on my other
car (also a CLK, albeit the Cab version).

Yer pays yer money and takes yer choice.

DAS

For direct replies replace nospam with schmetterling
---
"David J" <david (AT) btelecom (DOT) invalid> wrote

[...]

....... of course it is. Albeit, you will need to practice a bit. It didn't
take me too long until I could start on a 'steep' hill without rolling back
more than a couple inches.... OK, 10 cm but no more. You will, as others
have pointed out, need to be fairly quick about it so as not to burn the
clutch excessively.... but, yes, it is definitely not that hard once you get
the hang of it. Remember the first time you tried a clutch? seemed hard
didn't it.

cheers, guenter

when slowing and attempting to use clucth...
Times have changed, manual box might now give more jerky ride :-)

In article <1177777860.654560.232310 (AT) u30g2000hsc (DOT) googlegroups.com>,
nospammer999 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com wrote:

That sounds like what I used to do and I learned not to stall.
I'm sure you would be a lot happier with an auto trans.