My husband just bought an 01 X with manual shift. However, it doesnt have a hand brake, only an emergency brake and he is having a lot of trouble on hills. Does anyone have any tips on how to use the emergency brake correctly.

dont rely on the parking brake (correct term) for holding the vehicle while on a hill. tell him to go out later in the evening on a sunday night and learn to drive the truck by practicing on hills. that is the only true way to do it.

Tim

As he takes his foot off the brake he should start releasing the clutch and giving it gas. The only way to learn is to practice.

Standard manual shift driving is that all hill stops should be performed using an emergency brake (they used to test you on just such a thing if you took road test with a manual shift car). This way you don't burn out your clutch. It allows you to be releasing the brake while you are applying power to the wheels instead of the jerky/rollback/ride your clutch method of jumping off the brake and hitting the gas. In this case though, your options are really limited. So, practicing the ride your clutch method is soemthing to consider. You can still accomplish the emergency brake hill stop using the brake release. It's just not as smooth as using the hand brake version of the E-Brake. Up to you. Personally, I like to take it easy on my clutch.

Learn a technique called 'heel and toe'. In reality you use one side of your right foot on the brake and the other side on the gas(when you are stopped). Pivot or twist your foot to release the brake and give the engine some gas, let up on the clutch at the same time. Takes timing, coordination and practice. Master this skill and you'll never roll-back or stall.

dave and xtoy - then go on to double-clutch downshifts

You really want to have some fun on hills, come out to Cali and take a drive thru San Francisco. I've been driving a stick all my life but some of those hills will make my cheeks pucker up a little..

Has your husband driven a manual transmission vehicle before? All the ones I've had prior the the X work the same way (funny the've all been Nissan's).
I learned to drive MT on a steep parking lot on weekends so I wasn't a threat to anyone. Like the others say... it takes practice. Rely on the brake only when you don't feel comfortable with the steepness of a hill.
Good luck!

Start-up on hills is tricky without a proper emergency brake. This reminded me of a nice feature of my 92 Subaru Legacy, which had a "hill holder" where the brakes were automatically applied while stopped until the clutch was released. My manual 01 Outback lost this feature, so I'm back to the hand-brake.

It's just gonna take practice. Good luck!

Take a trip to San Francisco and drive around the area of Fisherman's Warf for a day and you will find hills in any other town to be a snap. Some of those streets can make the most seasoned heal and toe people sweat.

Tom

I wouldn't say Never. Never say Never. I've driven manual trans since I could learn to drive, when I came to the US I actually had to learn how to drive Auto! lol. I use the Heal / Toe technique, but when you get a new pair of shoes it can sometimes all go wrong. Best to over-rev a little while practising to make sure you don't stall out.

In the UK they make you do a hill start during your driving test, along with reversing around a corner (Something you never actually do in real life) and a bunch of other crap, I actually feel that it prepares you tho alot better than the test here, which any idiot realistically could pass. I drive to work 18 miles each way here in Arizona and see at least 3 or 4 accidents per week, I drove the same distance to work every day on wet roads in England and maybe saw 3 or 4 accidents total in 2 years! No wonder insurance here is expensive.

No offense, but I think you just need more practice with your manual! I've never used a hand brake for starting on hills. You just need to learn how to do the brake-to-gas-let-out-clutch combo better!

Also, a hand brake is just a type of emergency brake. The only difference is whether you use your foot or hand to activate it!

I'm trying not to be offended, but you've assumed quite a bit. Don't mistake sympathy for ignorance/inability. :rolleyes:

I've driven manuals all my life (the X is my first auto). I'd say that for normal everyday driving, the only real "challenge" is starting up on a hill. I was being supportive. I'd also say that in these situations a "hand-brake" is a convenient alternative to the heel-toe maneuver. There is absolutely nothing amateur about using the parking brake in these situations. It provides an extra measure of security against rolling back into someone in traffic. I too can do the heel-toe thing (most trucks don't have the hand-actuated parking brake), but if the option is there I prefer the hand-brake.

So again, to the thread originator... Good luck!

I don't know how people can use the parking brake. To me that's just one more thing to think about. Option 1 is coordinate your clutch foot with your acellerator/brake foot, or option 2 is coordinate the clutch foot with the acellerator/brake foot, and with the hand? WTF? For some reason to me it's like trying to rub your tummy and pat your head. Starting normally it's just a matter of letting out the clutch until it just starts to grab (when you're ready to roll of course), then quickly move your right foot from brake to acellerator and push it down while engaging the clutch right away. Even on the steepest of hills you shouldn't get more than maybe a couple inches of roll back. I've been driving manuals for 26 years and have never owned an automatic (can't stand them!), but I don't remember ever having trouble getting a start on a hill?

The way I do it is to watch my tachometer. Keep your foot on the brake while slowly letting out the clutch. Keep watching the tach needle. The instant the needle starts to drop below its idle position take your foot off the brake, step on the gas a little, and let the clutch out the rest of the way. By watching the tach you'll know when the clutch starts to engage, so you don't have to guess about when to step on the gas.

take your truck out and learn when the clutch engages. if you learn the right place you can pull the clutch out far enough so when you put your foot on the gas the truck wont roll back enough... it comes with getting to know how your truck handles... basics of driving. and if you really cant handle it, then buy an automatic... save the poor sap behind you some money and a bumper.

I just noticed the 05 Xterra and Frontier hold the brakes for you until the clutch engages (Hill Start Assist).

I know it is old news (I never noticed the details)... but I wanted to post it since I got some crap for mentioning the same feature in a subaru (and recommending the hand-brake, which is apparently not popular).

And no, I don't let things bother me.

No LIE!!

The streets around Coit Tower are scary. At some places the sidewalk stops and they replace them with stairs - thats when you KNOW that its freakin steep!!!



Not the best photo I could find - but it sorta gets the idea across