Hello,
I recently got my license, and since im a uni student I drive my family's old car, a fiat punto 1996. With this car I cannot downshift from any gear to its lower (from 4th->3rd, or 3rd->2nd, or 2nd->1st) till i speed down a lot. For example i hit 1.900 rpm in 3rd and i have to go to neutral, brake a little and after a while when the speed has been dropped, i can downshift into 2nd. When im in neutral and try to downshift before the speed down, i just can't force it, it won't let me. That isn't a problem in general since i just got used to it, and my parents find it normal when talking to them about this behavior. My first question is "how normal is it really?". Is it supposed to be like that?
However recently i found myself in a difficult situation. I had to turn right in a road about 110 degrees which was really uphill. I was approaching with 2nd gear but since i needed to steer the wheel that much, in order to enter it safely, i had to slow down. The uphill however (which was almost illegal uphill, thats how much uphill it was), didn't let my car ride through it with 2nd gear in that speed, so i had to downshift 3-4 meters inside the road. It was fine, but out of curiosity on how to handle this situation i tried to pass through it again today. Since i cannot enter the road with 2nd gear, i tried downshifting to 1st beforehand. This definitely did not work since the car has to be almost stopped in order to change down to 1st, meaning i literally stopped in the middle of the road. So my second question is "how do i handle a similar situation. how can i ride through it normally without stopping before or during the entrance?"
Thanks in advance and excuse my English. It is not my native language.
A.
I recently got my license, and since im a uni student I drive my family's old car, a fiat punto 1996. With this car I cannot downshift from any gear to its lower (from 4th->3rd, or 3rd->2nd, or 2nd->1st) till i speed down a lot. For example i hit 1.900 rpm in 3rd and i have to go to neutral, brake a little and after a while when the speed has been dropped, i can downshift into 2nd. When im in neutral and try to downshift before the speed down, i just can't force it, it won't let me. That isn't a problem in general since i just got used to it, and my parents find it normal when talking to them about this behavior. My first question is "how normal is it really?". Is it supposed to be like that?
However recently i found myself in a difficult situation. I had to turn right in a road about 110 degrees which was really uphill. I was approaching with 2nd gear but since i needed to steer the wheel that much, in order to enter it safely, i had to slow down. The uphill however (which was almost illegal uphill, thats how much uphill it was), didn't let my car ride through it with 2nd gear in that speed, so i had to downshift 3-4 meters inside the road. It was fine, but out of curiosity on how to handle this situation i tried to pass through it again today. Since i cannot enter the road with 2nd gear, i tried downshifting to 1st beforehand. This definitely did not work since the car has to be almost stopped in order to change down to 1st, meaning i literally stopped in the middle of the road. So my second question is "how do i handle a similar situation. how can i ride through it normally without stopping before or during the entrance?"
Thanks in advance and excuse my English. It is not my native language.
A.