What is half clutch driving?
Half clutch driving technique is used to control vehicle in bumper to bumper traffic or to prevent the vehicle from rolling back in hilly condition.
Assume you are driving up an inclined road in heavy traffic that moves & halts frequently. When you have to halt, what will you do? You engage the break, go neutral and wait while letting the engine run. When the traffic moves, you engage (gear and) clutch, release break and push in throttle.
Video – NATIONAL DRIVING INSTITUTE
This is the usual procedure that works well on a plain level road but is a big hassle on an inclined road – your car tends to slide down a bit before responding to your throttle. The pain is, you can not finish the procedure quickly enough to prevent a slight roll back, hitting the vehicle behind is a real risk. At the least, you will invite angry horns. Here, half-clutch can save you trouble.
For half-clutch technique, you manipulate the clutch pedal and break pedal together.
Half-clutch is when the clutch engages not fully but enough to let the car move if you release the break pedal. It means, there is enough power in ready supply that prevents the car to roll back.
Say, you press down the clutch pedal and the break pedal fully. When you slowly release the clutch pedal only, at one point you feel the clutch engaging (engine to the gears system), the car will feel like slightly straining like a dog on leash trying to run. But the car doesn’t move since break is pressed down. Now, when want to move, you release the break first, fully release the clutch pedal too while almost immediately pressing accelerator to pump in more power (else the car will stall and/or slide back due to lack of power).
I suggest you safely try with your car and get a hang of it.
