Advice for New and Learner Drivers

[uNi]

I thought that it would be confusing to get it all working together, gears and clutch, but after a few hours it just works naturally, I've wasted more hours trying to properly park the damn car than actually driving and learning gear shifting.

[Cudwieser]

Parallel or end on? Truth be that parallel is odd as hell unless you live somewhere with no off street parking. You need nearly twice the length of your car to properly parallel park otherwise you will be faffing to edge a car in without bump parking.

[sivispacem]

You really don't. Just a reasonably decent understanding of physics. You can usually get a car into a space that's about 2-3ft longer front and rear (so 4-6ft total) than the length of the car without too much difficulty. It really isn't hard unless you're trying to drive into parallel spaces forwards. And that's just silly.

[Cudwieser]

You really don't. Just a reasonably recent understanding of physics. You can usually get a car into a space that's about 2-3ft longer front and rear (so 4-6ft total) than the length of the car without too much difficulty. It really isn't hard unless you're trying to drive into parallel spaces forwards. And that's just silly.

Silly: Yes

 

but rarely is reversing an option. Ideally the guy behind should wait, but there are too many expletives that will nose in to force you to move off (might seem cliched but believe me it does happen (skip to P.S for a needed rant). All I'll say is be prepared to walk. Quite often there are overspill car parks only a number of metres away from the main areas. I recommend parking on the outskirts of an area and walking. Only those with mobility issues should be parking closer to a location where as if you can walk then for god sake walk.

 

What I'm going to say is counter intuitive to my topic but there is logic. If you can use Public Transport when you should. If the buses routes are decent and the fares reasonable then think of getting a bus (or taxi) on a day/night out. Nothing is worse than driving angry, tired or pissed (the last one being illegal. I can only guess driving is an impossibility as walking pissed is a challenge). Also having a car to worry about when you don't need it is just wasting your time and energy. In saying all that if you are going shopping, to somewhere remote or urgently then use the car. If more people used public transport for commuting and general getting about and their cars for utilities and dicking about, the roads won't be as bunged and potentially less dangerous (not to mention the ecological impact and the drop in expense of owning a car).

 

 

P.s

If anyone thinks you can simple reverse into spaces (parallel or otherwise) then take heed. I was about to reverse into an end on space in a local car park. I checked the mirrors before stopping and positioned the car across the lane and past the space I was going to reverse into. Now stationary with the car in reverse and mirrors clear I begin to reverse. As I begin to creep I hear a horn blast. A cheeky bitch in a big black merc had started to nose into the space I was backing into. I gesticulated for her to back off as my bumper was ahead of hers (effectively blocking her attempt) and with little choice she backed off I went into the space and she drove off. Moral of the story open the eyes in the back of your head. There's always some bastard waiting to take you from behind

[sivispacem]

I can't say I've ever been in a position where I've been forced to drive into a parallel parking space forwards by the behaviour of another road user. And I've been driving for almost 15 years now.

[Cudwieser]

I can't say I've ever been in a position where I've been forced to drive into a parallel parking space forwards by the behaviour of another road user. And I've been driving for almost 15 years now.

Sorry I wasn't clear. What I meant was forced out of a space by the cheek and impatience of a driver behind. Quite often someone will nose in forward to take the space not paying attention or giving a damn about someone being sensible. This has forced a general habit of nose in or move on. It is hateful to say the least but there are too many assholes around. As a bit of advice don't get flustered and let them faff about and maybe get a ticket as if they are to impatient or cheeky to let someone back into a space then they'll be too stupid to park properly.

[Hyperglide]

The trick is finding the biting point. You feel it when easing up on the clutch (clutches will vary and will be the heaviest pedal, so practice is key) with the parking brake on. The front of the car will rise. Once it does ease of the brake and the car will creep. start giving a little gas and it will accelerate. Keep accelerating smoothly while easing of the clutch. Changing up the gear is pretty routing, just being easy on the clutch and balancing the power, but down changing can be trickier, but quick enough to master (you'll not stall going into lower gears, but you can stall if you are too slow in a higher gear).

 

Once you learn the biting point and practice it using the parking brake, take time on an open and level area to find the bite with the parking brake off. This will help with negotiating traffic. In terms of hill starts I'd recommend always using the parking brake unless you are extremely confident and proficient holding a car on the clutch (even then it is still wiser to use the parking brake if you have to wait more than 10 seconds on an uphill junction).

 

Why would you use a parking/hand/e brake on anything other then parking the car? This is stupid. You can do a hill start easy enough just by releasing your foot and engaging the clutch to the flywheel when you feel comfortable with the "bite point" each car is different and you glossed over that but I see no reason to use the parking brake in stop and go traffic. Also when at a stop put it in neutral and if you can learn to heel and toe as quickly as possible or at the very least try rev matching when you down shift. Engine braking with your rotors will save you having to swap out new brakes and is easier on the car. If you keep your foot on the clutch to much you can wear out your throwout bearings and flywheel. Also never ever for the love of god ride the clutch. That's what the dead pedal is for. Your foot should only be near the clutch pedal when you are up or down shifting. As long as you keep to this you'll never have to do a expensive clutch or flywheel replacement. Engines and trannies in modern vehicles are so bulletproof now as long as you drive the right way and do regular maintenance you're good.

[iTRiP]

"iTRiP"

Play racing games with manual transmission, ought to help you drive safely and

concentrate on other things simultaneously, I did that and I passed my drivers license

test 100% first time, the examiner had to deduct points to make

it look like I did not cheat she said, that was a long time ago

I now hold a legal license to drive any vehicle ever created.

"iTRiP"

Edited June 10, 2015 by iTRiP

[Dottie]

"iTRiP"

Play racing games with manual transmission, ought to help you drive safely and concentrate on other things.

"iTRiP"

Sure it will

/surrreeee.....

[Flachbau]

Well, Forza Motorsport 4 and Horizon 2 taught me how to really grasp the idea of a manual transmission.. sounds crazy but it's true. I can't wait to test it irl.

[Gutslab]

Some games can actually help with gaining knowledge of vehicle topics. I spent a lot of time on some of the older nascar games made by papyrus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papyrus_Design_Group). They were great sims and to be fair, I did learn some mechanical aspects of vehicles such as operating a manual tranny and adjusting gear ratios and tyre pressures.

 

I have the game manual somewhere of one of those titles (I think it was NR '99) and it was seriously like 200 pages. This sh*t taught you a lot if made the effort.

Edited June 10, 2015 by Gutslab

[sivispacem]

Don't feed the troll

[Cudwieser]

Some games can actually help with gaining knowledge of vehicle topics. I spent a lot of time on some of the older nascar games made by papyrus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papyrus_Design_Group). They were great sims and to be fair, I did learn some mechanical aspects of vehicles such as operating a manual tranny and adjusting gear ratios and tyre pressures.

 

I have the game manual somewhere of one of those titles (I think it was NR '99) and it was seriously like 200 pages. This sh*t taught you a lot if made the effort.

 

 

Well, Forza Motorsport 4 and Horizon 2 taught me how to really grasp the idea of a manual transmission.. sounds crazy but it's true. I can't wait to test it irl.

 

 

"iTRiP"

Play racing games with manual transmission, ought to help you drive safely and

concentrate on other things simultaneously, I did that and I passed my drivers license

test 100% first time, the examiner had to deduct points to make

it look like I did not cheat she said, that was a long time ago

I now hold a legal license to drive any vehicle ever created.

"iTRiP"

 

I'm going against this notion for two simple reasons. Firstly Physics. Simulated physics provide nothing but a poor sense of handling and nothing on the motion of the car when driving across various roads and surfaces. It also tells you little of how to read the car. The care shouts and grumbles when it is hurting. It doesn't always flash and hold up a big neon sign.

 

Secondly I though the same thing once. I was wrong. When you are in control, you control everything, not just gas, gear and braking. You've clutch, observation, listening, feeling, distraction and suicidal assholes coming the other way (racing goes only one way). Trying to do what you do in a racing game when you've ten ton tessie looking to cut pass and johnnie walker staggering the other way when trying to turn across a road into a blind junction, come and tell me how useful the racing game was.

 

 

The trick is finding the biting point. You feel it when easing up on the clutch (clutches will vary and will be the heaviest pedal, so practice is key) with the parking brake on. The front of the car will rise. Once it does ease of the brake and the car will creep. start giving a little gas and it will accelerate. Keep accelerating smoothly while easing of the clutch. Changing up the gear is pretty routing, just being easy on the clutch and balancing the power, but down changing can be trickier, but quick enough to master (you'll not stall going into lower gears, but you can stall if you are too slow in a higher gear).

 

Once you learn the biting point and practice it using the parking brake, take time on an open and level area to find the bite with the parking brake off. This will help with negotiating traffic. In terms of hill starts I'd recommend always using the parking brake unless you are extremely confident and proficient holding a car on the clutch (even then it is still wiser to use the parking brake if you have to wait more than 10 seconds on an uphill junction).

 

Why would you use a parking/hand/e brake on anything other then parking the car? This is stupid. You can do a hill start easy enough just by releasing your foot and engaging the clutch to the flywheel when you feel comfortable with the "bite point" each car is different and you glossed over that but I see no reason to use the parking brake in stop and go traffic. Also when at a stop put it in neutral and if you can learn to heel and toe as quickly as possible or at the very least try rev matching when you down shift. Engine braking with your rotors will save you having to swap out new brakes and is easier on the car. If you keep your foot on the clutch to much you can wear out your throwout bearings and flywheel. Also never ever for the love of god ride the clutch. That's what the dead pedal is for. Your foot should only be near the clutch pedal when you are up or down shifting. As long as you keep to this you'll never have to do a expensive clutch or flywheel replacement. Engines and trannies in modern vehicles are so bulletproof now as long as you drive the right way and do regular maintenance you're good.

 

It was taught to me when moving off from stationary to feel the bite of the clutch before disengaging the hand brake. This stopped the car from rolling unexpectedly, especially on a hill. The idea was to be in control of the motion of the car before it moved so there wasn't a chance of being out of control. Ultimately the trick was to disengage the brake so the car would creep or stay still. If it stayed still, perfect otherwise push the clutch in slightly to stop the creep. With practice the bite would be engraved so stop/starting would be more fluent and stalling less likely. I do agree with the most part with what you are saying (I didn't gloss over anything, I overlooked), especially about different biting points and use of clutch in stop/start traffic, but as I am focusing this thread towards new drivers, balancing the clutch is one of the more advanced techniques to be learned and isn't one that is as easy to master. I was trying to provide a work around that was taught to me. Use the parking brake, balance the car and disengage and move off. By all means, once you are more familiar and confident, slow down through the gears and as you stop, ease up the clutch and balance the car. For maintenance I agree about riding the clutch, but when at a junction for prolonged periods it was also taught to me to use the parking brake in case the clutch failed and the car took off. It meant you could ready to move off with less risk of the clutch breaking, the car taking off and you being hurt in the time it takes to get to the foot brake (you need gas to balance on a clutch so you aren't using the foot brake).

[Gutslab]

Yes. Hands on experience is better than any video game or other simulated program. Thought we covered this before. : =)

 

 

What advice would you give to someone starting out as a newly qualified driver (generally or specifically to your country) or someone nervous about driving or learning to drive.

 

I was thinking of saying, try driving in traffic on the interstate but I'm not sure about that for completely new drivers. I will say though, in the few months I've had to suffer in rush hour (twice a day), I've learned more about driving (in specific, driving styles like being passive aggressive and having patience) than I have in all the driving experience I had previously(which is about a decade).

[Cudwieser]

Good point. I was contemplating asking the other day which specific routes in your areas you'd recommend a new driver take to familiarise themselves with the finer points of driving and driving with others.

[hvcciookay]

I wouldn't say video games are bad to learn on, but it's nothing like real life. I will say the hundreds of hours with my G27 on LFS has definitely taught me car control to an extent. Everything else afterwards came with experience. Also in games, you don't have to worry about gas in city driving, so you'd need to learn how to manage your speed and throttle. It made a difference in my cars after I learned to quit stop sign and red light leadfooting it.

[Ai®a©ob®a]

The best advice i think i was ever given was...

 

Just because someone has a turn signal on, Doesn't mean they are going to turn so wait before you pull out in front of them.

 

Don't know how many times i've seen people with turn signals on keep driving stright

[hvcciookay]

The best advice i think i was ever given was...

 

Just because someone has a turn signal on, Doesn't mean they are going to turn so wait before you pull out in front of them.

 

Don't know how many times i've seen people with turn signals on keep driving stright

Same goes for in which direction their signals are on for, which imo, more annoying than people who don't use them at all.

[Cudwieser]

 

The best advice i think i was ever given was...

 

Just because someone has a turn signal on, Doesn't mean they are going to turn so wait before you pull out in front of them.

 

Don't know how many times i've seen people with turn signals on keep driving stright

Same goes for in which direction their signals are on for, which imo, more annoying than people who don't use them at all.

 

Be careful with both those statements. HGV's/Semi's will always turn out before they turn in. Put simply a semi and trailer need to move away from a turn so their trailer clears the corner. In the case of a left turn this gives the foolish the idea that truck is turning right, but in reality they are trying to turn left. Many cyclists have been killed this way and car wrote off.