Re: Sigh.
A handbrake start is where you demonstrate the skill of accelerating, clutching and releasing the handbrake pretty much at the same time to effect a smooth start on a hill.
A hill start as defined in the test I spoke of did indeed involve juggling the accelerator and clutch to keep the car still, balancing its tendency to roll backwards with the engine's desire to launch it forward, with both hands on the wheel and the handbrake firmly disengaged.
Bad for the clutch, which is why everyone switched to handbrake starts once they had the pass slip in their sweaty hands. But if you couldn't do it, you failed.
I took my test in a Mini, the original sort, which had a fierce clutch akin to the one on a motorbike. It was either out or in, with the width of a gnat's whisker between those two states. I passed first time.
So please don't deride my mad clutch skillz (of 43 years ago).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
