Bumper, you were lucky.

My examiner would take points off of any driver that even touched the yellow line on the right of a curve.

 

I tested (unexpectedly) in an automatic.. it nearly freaked me out. I kept reaching for midair.
:roll:

 

testing in an automatic? :shock: what in the world?

was that Michigan?

 

Portland Maine (one of the school rigs). I got lucky or unlucky--depends on how you want to look at it. I would have preferred to shift. All is well that ends well. I passed :wink:

 

Around here an automatic for the test will get you an automatic restriction on your license.

Birken

 

Yeah, I think that is the same for New Hampshire (from class).
I would have refused the truck or tested again with a stick if need be.

 

When coming to a stop,I use the engine brake & I always downshift thru the gears at least to the lowest gear in hi range.

If you just use the service brakes to stop without downshifting thru the gears, then it's pointless to have an engine brake, cause it ain't helping.

A little helpful tip: I place my right foot half on the brake, and half on the throttle, this way I brake and work the throttle to downshift at the same time. When you get practiced in this technique you can work your way down thru the gears as smooth as an automatic. No wild "jabbing" of the throttle, just a smooth flowing motion while feeling the gears come together. You can feel it in the stick, no jamming, just smooth shifting.

 

I'm not trying to take you to task, but if I am coming up to a stop sign or something on level ground, I often will not downshift, or downshift only once or twice, or lazily skip downshift, rather than rowing all the gears backwards.

I usually anticipate the stop far enough so that I don't have to do a lot of reverse rowing, and can just sort of glide up, and still only make the final brake application very lightly and for a short time. The 4 wheelers may not like it but that's tough.

If I am coming to a downhill stop sign loaded then I do downshift agressively. However I do let up on the brake when I kick the throttle. Like anything I just work it into my "schedule" and the brake application starts a little earlier on account of the time I spend off the brake and on the throttle.

Of course my truck is geared such that low side is not good for much more than 13 mph anyway so no need to go down that far

Birken

 

I was surprised recently to find out that many companies are changing to automatics. Why, I have no idea. I've always driven stick. Would there be any benefits for the driver by driving auto?? :-/

 

I would imagine that some are doing it to attract more drivers that dont want to learn a stick.