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I just got a manual 2002 honda civic and am currently learning how to drive it, but one thing i'm deathly afraid of is driving it around in my city. I know that driving manual cars can be tough on hills and in cities, but I live in a city that's filled will hills. would anybody have any recommendations to survive that, such as what to do when driving up/down hill, what to do at a stop sign/light that is up/down hill and other suggestions. Thank you.

 
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Just practice as much as possible. Once you develop the muscle memory of the clutch biting point then hill starts are no big deal.

Also if you are driving uphill and the vehicle starts to lug and not accelerate down shift to a lower gear.

 
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Practice the basics of it somewhere flat. When you can stop/start comfortably then add using your ebrake from a stop on hill starts. So ebrake on as your lifting on the clutch... as it bites and your on the gas release the brake.

 
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There are a few really steep hills where I live and sometimes people leave you no roll back space.

Two things help, a good set of tires especially in the rain.

and

If you really have to you can use the hand brake to aid in not rolling back; I used that a lot while learning, now I only use it if some one is really on my tail.

Basically if you're sitting on a hill at a stop with no roll back room, you have your foot on the brake and clutch while in 1st gear; you also have to ebrake up. When it is time to go move your foot from the brake to the accelerator, slowly let of the clutch as normal an where you think it grabs slowly take the hand brake off.

Practice before you use that around traffic, first. Obviously.

 
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Practice with one of these guys on your bumper



If you roll backwards down the hill while trying to take off, the crash is entirely your fault.


When my ex was learning to drive a clutch.....(in a 1976 Chevette that was bought for all of $40 American dollars)
Her dad parked the car on the hill (and parked his car right behind it) and told her if she wanted to leave the house in a car, she's gonna have to learn how to get that Chevette up the hill from where it is parked on her own.

She did.