How to develop confidence for driving in the hills?

My father allegedly taught my mother to do zero-inch-fallback hill starts by telling her he had put her favourite hat just behind the wheel

If and when you decide to do it, i'd like to follow you

Unless I follow you.

Umm, I tested my son for one inch after he had got his driving licence

Umm again, the thread is about confidence while driving in the hills, so dunno what the fuss is about. Relying on handbrakes, which can wear out with one bad use, is a bad idea.

Since brakes and clutches can wear out too, sometimes without warning, I suppose it's a bad idea to rely on them as well.

Wrong point of view, although ultimately true.

Take a moment to compare handbrakes with the main braking system. Handbrakes are usually operated by a cable: it is a direct mechanical action from the lever to the back-wheel brakes. There is not much failsafe stuff built in. The main braking system, on the other hand, has lots. For starters, it is often a dual circuit system that will not leave you without brakes if one circuit fails. It depends on engine power (servo-assist) to stop the car with the foot pressure we are used to, but will work even if that fails, just you have to stand on the pedal.

Hand brakes are often neglected. They may not be adjusted to work properly at all.

Sir, no fuss but individual views about saving the 'fuselage' in hills.

People who neglect hand-brakes shouldn't be driving in the hills.

That is what the hand brake is for

Request mods to change the thread title to "Alternate to Handbrakes: Relevant or not"

Well said @rajatsurey :-)

I would like to thank all the Mikers who have contributed to this thread. With the technical knowledge present in this forum, I would like to implement it during my trip to Darj this month.

Practice hill starts as much as you can...and you should know how to hold a car to a stand still with clutch and accelerator....
Don't use neutral while going down hill as it will minimise the engine braking,choose high gear if possible that will not overheat the engine do vice versa when going uphill(choose low gear)....lots of patience and alertness is required so stock up some energy drink if you like....

I recently drove my car and completed a trip from Delhi to Manali. Prior to this the only hill driving trips I had done were from Delhi to Kasauli and from Delhi to Nainital - both many years back.

So this was my first and major driving trip in the hills after many years. During this trip I drove not only through major roads (national highways) but also through narrow roads (from Ner chowk to Rewalsar and second from from Kullu to Bijli Mahadeo) - which are typically wide enough for only one vehicle.

I followed simple rules during the drive through the hills:

• Do not overspeed
• Do not overtake on bends/ curves
• Stick to your side of the road - especially on bend/ curves
• Give way to vehicles coming up-hill (when you are going downhill)

Following these rules made the drive enjoyable and incident free. Now I feel many times more confident of driving in the hills.