Driving lessons

[Immenseman]

How many lessons did it take until it became like instinctive and you could just jump in and know what to do? I know you're not a great driver for years and years and you're still learning once you've passed really I'm just curios to how quick you picked it up.

[scottish]

Depends really

Cause if youre in a car like every day like most people you pick up things, but if you've never been in a car you dont.

[leah]

dw Jake im sure you'll pick it up quickly :)

[Immenseman]

yeah im not nervous at all like my friends are/were i know the basics because i hate watched my parents for the last amount of years and a few things that i have asked over the years :D

[scottish]

Then he'll run someone over :rolleyes:

I ain't killed anyone yet!!

I hate driving lessons though, hate being told what to do.

[Immenseman]

I bet you're crap Scott :D Today is only off road just like a taster lesson thing in this outdoor centre close to us with fake roundabouts etc. I don't even know how to start a bloody car but I suppose that's what the guy will teach me:D

[scottish]

You put the key in and turn it..........................................

Do you know order of cluth n stuff?

I thought you aint 17 yet?

[MissAlice]

I bet you're crap Scott :D Today is only off road just like a taster lesson thing in this outdoor centre close to us with fake roundabouts etc. I don't even know how to start a bloody car but I suppose that's what the guy will teach me:D

Just remember your alphabet, a b and c, accelerator, brake and clutch :P

I had over 20 lessons, and it's probably best not being to over confident, I've been driving 2 years now and I feel very confident and feel I could jump in any car and just drive.

[myke]

If you're not sure of something, just ask the instructor; you'll do fine, there's only one thing I think I'll get lost on.. and that's finding the gears bahahahhaa

but idm, cus i've been driving round in cars and vans every night for the past 5 years... watching. so yeah.
you'll do fine :)

[Immenseman]

Yeah I know acc brake and clutch what I don't get is changing gear lol like you have to put your foot on the clutch and wait for the biting point or something. Also, I'm still most nervous about starting the car I know you put the key in the ignition but then what lol

[myke]

Make sure the cars not in gear, put the key in turn it away from you until you hear it start up and obv make sure handbrakes on xD

[Immenseman]

yeah but then how do you start moving lol

[scottish]

No when you start driving you need to wait for biting point ONLY on 1st gear tho

[Yoshimitsui]

The gears is what i fear lol! It's like okay, when, why and then my mum says if you don't it will stall! That makes me nervous as i don't want to be doing that in the raod!

As for starting thats the easy part, done that a few times! Aswell as doing it all time time in planes.

[scottish]

When your in the car you put clutch down then put into first gear then put the accelatator down and put the clutch to biting point then go, then put clutch right down into second gear speed up. to 20/30 depending on road (most of time you start car it'll be on 20/30 no doubt :P)

[N!ck]

If you're not sure of something, just ask the instructor; you'll do fine, there's only one thing I think I'll get lost on.. and that's finding the gears bahahahhaa

but idm, cus i've been driving round in cars and vans every night for the past 5 years... watching. so yeah.
you'll do fine :)

Finding the gears is easy. As long as you know that when you're not in gear the stick sits between 3rd and 4th and it's springiness will take it back to there in neutral. To get first just push left and up, second is left and down. 3rd is easiest as you just push either straight up or down. When going from 2nd to 3rd you don't even need to think about it having to come right a bit. You just push it up and the spring naturally brings it across as it is by default between 3rd and 4th. If you're not careful when going from 1st to 2nd you could end up in 4th lol.


Yeah I know acc brake and clutch what I don't get is changing gear lol like you have to put your foot on the clutch and wait for the biting point or something. Also, I'm still most nervous about starting the car I know you put the key in the ignition but then what lol

What i do is sort of see-saw with the accelerator and clutch when i'm taking it out of gear and introduce a little power just before it hits biting point as i bring the clutch up to go into the next gear.

The key has a few different positions. At first the engine is off. Then you turn it to the first point and the car's electrics come one. you can leave it like that and you can adjust electric mirrors, electric windows and use all of the rest of the car's electrics without having the engine on. If you keep turning you will get to the second point where the engine will start. The key will stay in that position until you want the engine off in which case you turn it back.


yeah but then how do you start moving lol

As a learner you will be taught to press the clutch to the floor, stick it in first, give it a little gas, slowly lift the clutch until you fill a little resistance and it vibrates slightly. You may also see the engine revs drop a little. Then drop the handbrake and you should slowly move forwards. As you start moving gently come all the way off the clutch while introducing a little more gas.


The gears is what i fear lol! It's like okay, when, why and then my mum says if you don't it will stall! That makes me nervous as i don't want to be doing that in the raod!

As for starting thats the easy part, done that a few times! Aswell as doing it all time time in planes.

Gears are easy. They are there for fuel efficiency, acceleration and speed. Lower gears will make you accelerate quicker but you can't go so fast in them. Higher gears accelerate more gently but you can get to a higher speed in them.

I did 18 one and a half hour lessons before i passed and after about 8-10 lessons everything became more natural.

[Immenseman]

the centre i was going to was closed btw so it was postponed...

today i have lost my job and had this cancelled lol

[tdi]

not many tbh, there's a lot of private land that I have access to so I got to know 'the basics' quite easily, basically how to drive a car (and a van, hah!). I first 'drove' when I was about 4 or something, though I couldn't reach the pedals so I sat on my uncle's knee and turned the wheel round a car park haha.

I applied for my provisional when I turned 16 despite not getting a moped, just wanted to be prepared. Booked my insurance so that as soon as I was 17 I could drive straight away, and went out with my dad & uncle a lot. It was a new experience driving with heavy traffic and speeds of over 40mph (compared to what I could get in the industrial estate & farm) but I picked it up fairly quickly.

Went in for my test after 10 hours, managed 2 minors but 1 major, nerves of the test got to me and I stopped too quickly, went 2nd time as soon as I could get it and passed with 3 minors. Since then I've done nearly 20,000 miles haha.

Despite being mad about cars I'm not a stupid driver, I know my limits and when to use them, my mate rolled his car a week after passing his test, a friend of a friend died in a car crash and I've heard too many stories about dangerous driving. My uncle used to be a rally driver so I have learnt alot from him about cornering and more advanced driving. Remember, passing your test doesn't mean you know how to drive, that comes with years of experience.

Good Luck!

[N!ck]

not many tbh, there's a lot of private land that I have access to so I got to know 'the basics' quite easily, basically how to drive a car (and a van, hah!). I first 'drove' when I was about 4 or something, though I couldn't reach the pedals so I sat on my uncle's knee and turned the wheel round a car park haha.

I applied for my provisional when I turned 16 despite not getting a moped, just wanted to be prepared. Booked my insurance so that as soon as I was 17 I could drive straight away, and went out with my dad & uncle a lot. It was a new experience driving with heavy traffic and speeds of over 40mph (compared to what I could get in the industrial estate & farm) but I picked it up fairly quickly.

Went in for my test after 10 hours, managed 2 minors but 1 major, nerves of the test got to me and I stopped too quickly, went 2nd time as soon as I could get it and passed with 3 minors. Since then I've done nearly 20,000 miles haha.

Despite being mad about cars I'm not a stupid driver, I know my limits and when to use them, my mate rolled his car a week after passing his test, a friend of a friend died in a car crash and I've heard too many stories about dangerous driving. My uncle used to be a rally driver so I have learnt alot from him about cornering and more advanced driving. Remember, passing your test doesn't mean you know how to drive, that comes with years of experience.

Good Luck!

Yeah, that last bit really annoys me about one my friends. They think they're awesome at driving but are really just like the average person. Fortunately he drives normally most of the time, but a few times i've been in his car and he's thought he was like Colin McRae or something. Because i know a little about racing and that sort of thing because that's what i'm into, i knew he was making loads of stupid amateurish mistakes with stuff which would probably end up in crash at some point. Didn't say anything though as he would have been like "i'm the one who can drive, not you" and his car's not very powerful anyway so he wouldn't be going that fast if anything did happen.

[Metric1]

They complicate it so bad in the UK! Over here we go, answer a few easy questions (I got one like what color is a stop sign) and you are allowed to drive. Then when you are ready for your real test, you get in the automatic test car and the driving instructor drives with you and if you aren't an idiot, you pass, and trust me, you have to be pretty ******* stupid to fail.

I think all cars should be automatic, and people should be given a choice to learn manual or not.

[Alkaz]

You are ^ you will always learn in a manual but can learn in an auto. Auto = pips so its better imo if you learn with manual as you will know how to do it then and you can still use auto but can still use manual if you ever had manual car.

[J0SH]

They complicate it so bad in the UK! Over here we go, answer a few easy questions (I got one like what color is a stop sign) and you are allowed to drive. Then when you are ready for your real test, you get in the automatic test car and the driving instructor drives with you and if you aren't an idiot, you pass, and trust me, you have to be pretty ******* stupid to fail.

I think all cars should be automatic, and people should be given a choice to learn manual or not.

I was watching "Little People, Big World" and it's about dwarf's in a family and it's a documentary that's filmed for various months, the kid failed the quiz like 20 times (he was a dwarf) then when he passed he could drive straight away lol, I wanna be American minus the size, I wanna drive from age 16.

[tdi]

I disagree that all cars should be automatic, as 'easy' as it is, it doesnt give you the capabilities and control that a manual has, for example, no engine braking, no gear control when cornering (ie lower gear = accelerate hard out of the corner) etc etc

they have their advantages if you do alot of motorway driving but they're not a 'drivers car'

also, learn to drive in a manual = drive auto aswell, learn in auto = have to re-take test if you want to drive a manual.

[JackBuddy]

Took me about 4/5 lessons to get the hang of everything.

[Metric1]

I have gear control, I have D3, 2 & 1.

http://i40.tinypic.com/2du9wrt.jpg

That's the transmission in my moms car, it's got a 6-speed shift-tronic gearbox it can be driven as a manual or an automatic!

[Immenseman]

Automatics sound so much easier but there is no point lol might as well learn in a manual and if I end up in an automatic then it doesn't matter but if I learn in an auto then I can only drive auto

[Metric1]

Automatics sound so much easier but there is no point lol might as well learn in a manual and if I end up in an automatic then it doesn't matter but if I learn in an auto then I can only drive auto


I learned on a Diesel 2005.5 Volkswagen Jetta, it was hard.

[N!ck]

I have gear control, I have D3, 2 & 1.

http://i40.tinypic.com/2du9wrt.jpg

That's the transmission in my moms car, it's got a 6-speed shift-tronic gearbox it can be driven as a manual or an automatic!

It's not though as you don't have a clutch.

[Immenseman]

your car talk has taken over my thread and i dont even understand it :')

[Starburst..x]

Its took me a good 9 or 10 lessons before I started getting used to the clutch, and even then I still made mistakes. Personally the clutch was the worst bit for me but trust me, one day you will get in the car and it will just suddenly click and you will have the hang of it, I know it sounds stupid but its true, quite a few people I know have said that and thats what happened with me =]
Just try not to concentrate too hard on it, as thats when I found mistakes were most easily made!

[Immenseman]

Yeah one day I will be driving around, causing havoc

[Metric1]

It's not though as you don't have a clutch.

It's mint without the clutch, no stalling!

[GommeInc]

Gears are easy. They are there for fuel efficiency, acceleration and speed. Lower gears will make you accelerate quicker but you can't go so fast in them. Higher gears accelerate more gently but you can get to a higher speed in them.
That's not really good advice for now, instructors want you to be in the best possible gear at the right time. Like 3rd for 30mph, 4th for 40mph and 5th for 50mph+.

When you're starting off, you literally have the clutch down, push gently on the accelerator until you get to about 1500rpm (or 1 and a half on usual speedos) and gently lift the clutch and when it starts moving you push down more on the accelerator.

It only took me a few months to get used to it, so about 6 lessons.

And I strongly disagree with you Metric., automatics should be the choice and the manual car should be the standard car you learn in. Plus automatics hate my driveway, really badly. They sort of stall at the bottom, the car can still rev, but it just doesn't move..

[N!ck]

That's not really good advice for now, instructors want you to be in the best possible gear at the right time. Like 3rd for 30mph, 4th for 40mph and 5th for 50mph+.

When you're starting off, you literally have the clutch down, push gently on the accelerator until you get to about 1500rpm (or 1 and a half on usual speedos) and gently lift the clutch and when it starts moving you push down more on the accelerator.

It only took me a few months to get used to it, so about 6 lessons.

And I strongly disagree with you Metric., automatics should be the choice and the manual car should be the standard car you learn in. Plus automatics hate my driveway, really badly. They sort of stall at the bottom, the car can still rev, but it just doesn't move..

All that depends on the car's engine, the gear ratios, the surface you're driving on and how you feel like driving. Gears aren't a one size fits all thing.

[tdi]

It's mint without the clutch, no stalling!

meh its personal preference, personally i think there is more control in a manual and it's a bit more elastic (drive auto if you learn in manual, doesnt apply vice versa)

[Phreedom]

tbh i was good when i started, never had lessons besides my mom riding with me when i had my permit. im just naturally a good driver i guess.

[GommeInc]

All that depends on the car's engine, the gear ratios, the surface you're driving on and how you feel like driving. Gears aren't a one size fits all thing.
Duh, but during driving tests they don't usually let drivers drive in fields or in snow and that's usually the gear ratio for the cars you drive during tests, they don't really allow sports cars :P

[N!ck]

Duh, but during driving tests they don't usually let drivers drive in fields or in snow and that's usually the gear ratio for the cars you drive during tests, they don't really allow sports cars :P

True, but my instructor had a 1.6 Astra, and at home i practised in a 1.2 Clio. The gear ratios were different, especially 5th gear.

[Metric1]

That's not really good advice for now, instructors want you to be in the best possible gear at the right time. Like 3rd for 30mph, 4th for 40mph and 5th for 50mph+.

When you're starting off, you literally have the clutch down, push gently on the accelerator until you get to about 1500rpm (or 1 and a half on usual speedos) and gently lift the clutch and when it starts moving you push down more on the accelerator.

It only took me a few months to get used to it, so about 6 lessons.

And I strongly disagree with you Metric., automatics should be the choice and the manual car should be the standard car you learn in. Plus automatics hate my driveway, really badly. They sort of stall at the bottom, the car can still rev, but it just doesn't move..

You don't have to learn how to drive an automatic.. they're pretty idiot proof, you put the car in P (PARK) when you are stopped and getting out, R (REVERSE) when you want to back-up and D (DRIVE) when you want to go forward. Also, how do you stall an automatic? I stalled my car once and that was because there was something wrong with the transmission.

[Turnip]

took me about 5 lessons
to start driving around and not be so worried..
and used to pulling off etc.

now im just waiting for a test date ;).

[Immenseman]

ooooh good luck ;)

[GommeInc]

True, but my instructor had a 1.6 Astra, and at home i practised in a 1.2 Clio. The gear ratios were different, especially 5th gear.
Ah I see, all cars have a different 5th gear really, well, make. Fords have a strong, loud 5th gear while Hondas don't. Instructors/Examiners tend to want learners to drive in the gear with more control, you lose marks for having the car in the wrong gear (too low or too high). So doing 40mph in 5th for a standard 1.4 is going to get you a minor :P


You don't have to learn how to drive an automatic.. they're pretty idiot proof, you put the car in P (PARK) when you are stopped and getting out, R (REVERSE) when you want to back-up and D (DRIVE) when you want to go forward. Also, how do you stall an automatic? I stalled my car once and that was because there was something wrong with the transmission.
I'm not saying automatics are awful in every shape and form, it's down to opinion. But as far as I am aware, there's less control in an automatic than with a gear car, and the environment hates them and so does the cars fuel tank. Automatic cars use more fuel (because they change gear when they want to, not when you want to, obviously) and you usually rev quite a bit before it changes, especially with these automatic transmissions which don't change gear until you take your foot off for a split second. Handling is usually dreadful too, they're harder to control which is expect in a car that can be left to it's own devices if not put in park, at least a geared car will stall :P I guess in America the driving differences are the main reason they're popular in the US, but not in the UK.

Oh, and I never said it stalls, it just acts like it has. You go down a dip and it just won't move when you put your foot on the accelerator. It's make a noise, but just won't budge.

[Immenseman]

my mate has his test on the 3rd he can take me everywhere :D

[Frodo13.]

Like you, I didn't even know how to start the car on my first lesson but I'm OK with starting off and stuff. I've only had 10 lessons so far so I'm far from the perfect driver at the moment.

Manover wise, I can do a 3 point turn and a reverse around the corner.

[GommeInc]

Like you, I didn't even know how to start the car on my first lesson but I'm OK with starting off and stuff. I've only had 10 lessons so far so I'm far from the perfect driver at the moment.

Manover wise, I can do a 3 point turn and a reverse around the corner.
Have you done bay parking and parallel? That's good fun :D

[Metric1]

Have you done bay parking and parallel? That's good fun :D

I do not parallel park, it gives me anxiety.

[scottish]

I do not parallel park, it gives me anxiety.

http://www.gulker.com/blog/wp-content/2007/05/smart_car.jpg

beat that? :P

[N!ck]

Betterer...

http://gothamist.com/attachments/jen/2008_01_smartcar.jpg

[scottish]

Seen that one aswell but isnt as gd as one i posted :P

[tdi]

http://www.gulker.com/blog/wp-content/2007/05/smart_car.jpg

beat that? :P
easy, the car was in that spot before either the front or the back car, either that or a few people have lfted it up and moved it (it can be done, i know from experience haha)

[Immenseman]

my dad can do better than that

[scottish]

my dad can do better than that

we're talking about not crashing :P