Neutral
Neutral on a gear lever as shown by the green line.
Is the position selected before starting a car.
we do this so that when the engine is started the car will not move in any direction.
When the gears are in neutral it means that no gear has been selected, therefore no drive can be made between the engine to the gearbox to the wheels.
This is the safest way to start a car to avoid any unnecessary movement .
It is very easy to know whether Neutral is selected, by moving the lever from left to right.
If there is lots of sideways movement you will be in Neutral.
If a gear is selected there is hardly any movement from side to side.
When the Gear lever is in Neutral and not held onto, the lever will naturally sit in between 3rd and fourth gear along the neutral line. This means that to select 1st or second gear you must move the lever to the left, and then either forwards toward the front of the car for 1st gear, or backwards toward the rear of the car for 2nd gear.
3rd gear would be forward from the neutral position
4th gear would be backward from the neutral position
5th gear would be right and forward from the neutral position
6th gear would be right and backward from the neutral position.
Reverse gear is shown by the use of the letter R and may be in different locations depending on what gearbox has been fitted. This tends to change from manufacturer to manufacturer.
When selecting ANY gear the Clutch MUST be fully pressed to the floor. By not pressing the Clutch you risk either jumping into gear and the car will jolt in the direction of the gear selected with a possible stall outcome or you risk damaging the gearbox and you will get a nasty grinding noise as the gears crunch against each other.
If at any time a gear is selected prior to starting the engine and your foot is off the clutch the car will want to move, this is why it is so important before starting the car that is in Neutral or the clutch is fully depressed before turning the engine on.
When changing gear, ease off the gas pedal, depress the Clutch to the floor, select the gear you need, slowly raise the Clutch and finally re-apply the gas.
By using this method every time you change gear, the transition between each gear will be smooth and controlled.
Use of the correct gear and effective use of the clutch will allow for smooth transitions between each gear.
In 1st gear from stationary the clutch MUST be raised gently to allow the car to gain some momentum before releasing the clutch fully. From 1st to 2nd gear the time to release the clutch is still controlled but nowhere near as slow as it will need to be from moving off in 1st, all the other gear changes do not necessarily need to be slow releasing the clutch pedal as the car has enough momentum to not cause any issues with stalling or jumpiness.
