The gears help control the speed of the car.First gear being the most powefull and the slowest,whilst fith gear being the fastest.For example if you put the car in first gear and put the gas pedal to the floor,the car would do a speed of around 25MPH with very high noise from the engine and possibly blow up.In fifth gear if you floored the gas pedal the car could reach a speed of about 120MPH which is 50 MPH above the legal speed limit.

METHOD OF CHANGING THE GEARS

When the engine noise starts to increase, it is telling you to change up to the next gear.First raise your foot off the gas pedal,and keep it above it.Next gently press the clutch pedal fully to the floor.Take your left hand off the steering wheel and gently move the gear lever to the next highest gear,ie go from first to second.Move the gear lever gently as you do not want to jerk the wheel with your right hand causing the car to steer badly.It is important that you steer the car where you want it to go whilst you are driving along the road.If you have a problem steering whilst changing gears practice on a quiet road steering with only your right hand.When you have changed the gear raise the clutch pedal gently while putting your hand back on the steering wheel.Just as the clutch pedal is fully raise gently apply the gas pedal.The car will now go faster as you have changed up the gear.Remember as you go up the gears the faster the car will go. The pedals need to be applied gently so as the car does not jolt but should travel smoothly along the road.

When you slow down you will need to change the gears down to match the new speed you will be doing.You will need to check mirrors before you slow down,gently brake keeping light pressure on it so when you press the clutch pedal down the car does not speed up.You must have the right speed before you change down else if you change down at too fast a speed and raise the clutch the car will lurch as you are now slowing down on the gear box.

If you are doing 30 MPH in gear 4 and you are going to need to drive at 20 MPH you miss out 3^rd gear and change from 4^th gear straight to 2^nd gear.This is called block changing.Most block changing is done by going down the gears.You can block down from 4^th or 3^rd gear to any of the lower gears.The only block up I do is on a long fast raod.I get the car up to a speed of 50 MPH in 3^rd gear using it as a power gear and block to 5^th gear,missing out 4^th gear.

AVERAGE SPEED RANGE FOR THE GEARS

5 MPH-10MPH First Gear, 10MPH –24 MPH Second Gear, 24 MPH-30MPH Third Gear

30 MPH on a clear road Fourth Gear.This is based on a flat road in toewn driving situations.

When going up hills you will need to use lower gears or the car will not get up the hills.You will need to judge the steepness of the hill to decide what gear to be in.Going up hill the engine will rev more.

On dual carriageways,Motorways etc your speed range will be higher in the gers as you can use third as a power gear.You can get around 50 MPH in Third Gear,and 70MPH in Fourth Gear

To see video on gears click on the box     

contents