GEARS & FOOT CONTROLS - AUTOMATIC
The image on the right shows a typical automatic gear shifter. Most automatic cars as a minimum have Park, Reverse, Neutral (not in a gear) and Drive. They are almost always in that order. P at the top and D at the bottom.
SuperDriver has a couple of electric cars. Renault Zoe. It does not have a P option. When parked we use Neutral.
To shift between neutral and drive just pull down. To go back to neutral give a gentle push up. To shift between neutral and reverse push up. To go back to neutral give a gentle pull down. The gear shifter always returns to centre. To the right of the gear shifter and within the instrument binnacle it will reassure you that you have selected the correct gear. Check it!
You must have your right foot on the brake pedal when operating the gear shifter.
The image on the right also shows two pedals. Gas and Brake. Your right foot is used for both. Your left foot should stay out of the way. On the foot rest perhaps. The gas pedal makes you go faster when you apply downward pressure, when you ease of the gas pedal it will slow you down. Similar to pedalling a bicycle. The amount of pressure you need could be determined by the speed of the road and the gradient. Similarly if you are going up a gradient and you ease of the gas you will slow quicker dependent on your foot pressure.
The brake pedal slows you down and/or will bring you to a stop. Think about how you brake on your bicycle - you gently squeezed the brakes to slow down and when you had almost stopped you reduced your pressure. The reason for this is that you need less braking force when you are going slower. The same should be applied in the car. But using your foot.
GEARS & FOOT CONTROLS - MANUAL
Manual vehicles have 3 pedals (Accelerator/Gas, Brake, Clutch) and a gear stick that has 5/6 forward gears and reverse. Neutral is when the car is not in a gear, the gear stick is spring loaded and always rests between third and fourth gear. Without turning the engine on practice going between the gears.
On to the pedals. The Gas and Brake work the same way as we said above for automatic cars. There is a third pedal - the clutch. The clutch controls the power from the engine to the wheels. Clutch down (disengaged) means no power gets from the engine to the wheels - effecticely you are in neutral. Clutch around half way up (biting point) means the power is getting to the wheels but not enough to move the car but will stop it rolling backward on hills. When the clutch is all the way up (engaged), all the power from the engine is available.
Practice finding biting point, practice finding biting point with a small amount of pressure on the gas pedal, practice finding the pedals and the gear stick without looking at them. The last thing you want to do is look down at your feet when you are driving!