Is it safe to only use the clutch?

Question

I always thought when parking/moving off you had to use the clutch and the accelerator together, and failing to use the accelerator would result in the car stalling. However I was told that I could just use the clucth on its own, I tried it and it worked fine. My question is, is it safe to do so?

Answer 1

i agree with .. er.. bardacad..dacaddada.. sorry dude. and if u can get the car off without steppin up the gas or stalling it, ur good

Answer 2

two problems with stalling. The first one is obvious. If you stall on a hill, the car might start rolling backwards, if you don't get on the handbrake fast enough. Other problem is when a car stalls you get unburnt fuel in the exhaust (same with bump starting). If the car has a catalytic converter then this unburnt fuel can cause the catalytic converter to overheat. It's probably OK if the vehicle doesn't stall too often, but if you're doing it everyday then your cat wont last as long as it should, and they are fairly pricey to replace.

Having your foot ready on the accelerator, can help you react when you sense a stall about to happen. You get a tiny bit of warning of the stall in a petrol, but in a diesel you've got a second or two to react and avoid the stall (I tend to stall petrols the first few times I try pulling away, as I'm so used to driving diesels!)

If the car doesn't stall you'll be causing less wear and tear on the clutch/drive-train. Clutch wear is only caused when it slips. The clutch ALWAYS slips a little while it's closing(ie you're releasing the clutch pedal), and  less torque WHILE it's re-engaging means less slip/wear.

Only other potential problem I can see, is oil pressure to engine loading (the torque asked of the engine). The oil pump is driven by the engine, and so the oil pressure is related to the engine's RPM. If the engine is highly loaded at low RPM, there is a little more wear on the big-end bearings (for the uninitiated/those who have been bamboozled by mechanics --The big end is the end of the piston rod which connects to the crankshaft, the little end connects to the piston).

May not seem to be relevant as you're not pressing the accelerator, but what happens is if the engine's RPM drops below the idle speed the engine's governor/ECU tries to increase the fuel going into the engine in an attempt to maintain RPM. This causes an increased loading on the bearings.

Answer 3

sound like you want to take years off the life of your clutch plate,

Answer 4

Safe in what respect? Safe for the clutch? Yes. Safe on the road? Yes, providing you don't cause a hazard to other road users.

Answer 5

It won't damage anything. The reasdon paople say to use the accellerator at the same time is because most beginners with clutches try to go full bore with no gas at all, this they stall out. If you have the right touch where you don't have to touch the accelerator... have at it, you won't hurt anything.

Answer 6

Sound like your vehicle has real good torque (pulling power). Providing the engine RPM's and not under or over while cruising at this speed ( if in traffic, looking for a parking space, etc) then it should be safe.

Answer 7

Yes,of course it is.

Answer 8

Safe?  Yes.  Should you do it?  NO

If you do not combine clutch with accelerator every time you tried to pull away on anything of an incline the engine will stall. Without use of the throttle pedal your engine is on tickover (which can be as low as 600rpm and rarely over 1100rpm) and is not producing much power.

Answer 9

Depends on the car you are using. It used to be diesels could move easily under clutch control without accelerating but now all engines are built differently.

Some cars will stall unless you use the clutch very carefully and gently without gas - others won't have a problem.

I prefer to say to my pupils (I am a driving instructor) that the idle is just enough to keep the car ticking over whilst not being asked to move the car. If you want the car to move you must offer the engine more fuel and air to allow it to take on the extra load. Just as your muscles need extra oxygen and adrenaline to do more work than sitting idle.

Imagine trying to push a car on the flat - great energy is required at first and once the car is rolling it gets easier.

If you want the car to work well for you - feed it with the gas pedal!!

Answer 10

OK i guess you mean when parking in a tight spot, parking bay or similar?

When you move off you really should use the gas otherwise you won't be moving off very quickly and someone is going to catch up with you pretty quick!

When you are trying to manoeuvre the car slowly and accurately then you can quite happily (depending on the car) use just the clutch.

The reason why I teach all my pupils to use the the gas with the clutch when doing manoeuvres, is to develop their ability to hold the car still on the bite, so that when they come to the end of the road at the top of a hill they can hold it still for a second while looking for a safe gap without stalling, or having to ALWAYS use the handbrake.

Just make sure you put enough gas on for the situation - ie if you're going uphill put that little bit extra on just in case :)

Answer 11

Yes, when you have the clutch pushed in, you do not need to push the accelerator.  The engine will idle fine with only the clutch.

Answer 12

as long as you don't buck or repeatedly stall the car it's OK.

smooth engagement is what you want,bucking or jerking will damage the drive train.

in my opinion as long as you're comfortable doing it you shouldn't be hurting anything or doing anything unsafe

Answer 13

yes its safe i driven all my cars this way, more so when crawling along motorways if you release your clutch so you are rolling you can then leave go completely and it will just just keep rolling at a idle speed with out touching the gas. :-)

Answer 14

proberly lol

who cares !

as long as it sounds ok and isnt ******* up the engine then go 4 it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!