Aygo stalling when going uphill?

[ayfrgo11]

I've had this problem 2 times now, and both times with a passenger.

Yesterday, i was driving out of a parking garage in 2nd gear, though i was in a bit too high of a gear, as the motor was making a weird noise, while i was almost at the end of the uphill, the motor stalled. While i was stuck on the uphill slope, every time my car stalled.

What i did was: Turn the car on, and release the clutch as slowly as possible, while tapping the brake very lightly, as to not roll down back into the cars behind me, however every time i managed to release the clutch, the car would just stall again. After about 5 attempts, i finally managed to get it going. But i'm wondering, what is the correct thing to do in these cases? If my car stops on an uphill slope, am i not supposed to be able to start the car from first gear and go up? I wanted to use the gas pedal, but seeing as i had one foot on the clutch, and one foot on the brake to not roll down, i'm not sure how i could do that?

 

And in general, should i take steep uphill slopes, like those in parking garages, in 1st or 2nd gear? It's not always that i can maintain a high speed going up them, as there might be cars in front of me or similar, both times were a bit scary since i keep turning the car on and off, hoping it will not stall as soon as i release the clutch.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

This is in a 2019 X-clusiv Aygo

[johnny_c-l]

1st gear, use the handbrake, right foot on the throttle to give enough power to move away.

[Puglet]

Our early Mk2 has hill start assist, hopefully your Mk2 also has it, which may prove helpful, but as above our Mk1 has to use the old fashioned method of 1st gear and handbrake, which always worked for me, then again being old fashoned I stiil use neutral/handbrake when stationary when get to use our Mk2.

[TonyHSD]

Aygo and all other low power 3 cylinder engines cars needs higher rpm to pull away when loaded or when going uphill. Clutch control also needs more precise operations, but not always. My test Aygo x had superb clutch feel, excellent hill start assist and was pure pleasure to drive it and start steep uphills. The numbers you are looking at rpm when cruising at 60 mph or starting at incline will be close 3000rpm, these are equivalent of 1400 rpm in bigger 4 cylinder engines. 

[Cyker]

Ack this is really basic stuff your driving instructor should have taught you.

The main mistake is using the brake pedal to hold the car - Unless you are using e.g. hill start assist function, you should stop the car on the foot brake, but hold the car with the hand brake - That gives you the extra 'limb' you need to operate the accelerator and clutch for the hill start!

Holding it with the hand brake, 1st gear, clutch down, you rev the engine up with the accelerator (2000-2500rpm is a good place to start until you get a better feel for it), then gently bring the clutch in until you feel it take the weight off the handbrake, then carefully release the handbrake as you continue to bring the clutch up, adding more accelerator if the engine revs start to drop too much.

It is worth to practise this, as the Aygo is Hard difficulty level for this manoeuvre due to its low low-end torque and high clutch biting point (vs Turbo diesels, which are Easy mode difficulty by comparison  ). Take your time and don't rush until you get a feel for it and soon you'll be flying off up them hills!  

 

As for the hill gear, you should be able to feel what the appropriate gear is by how the car responds to the accelerator, but if unsure stick to 1st gear and don't be afraid to use all the revs to get to a speed where you can think about 2nd gear. At 30mph especially there are not many hills that are so steep you can't use 2nd gear (Well, maybe a different story in Wales  )