All I ask is for the brakes to work and a star to drive by.

[FrontLine]

I'm starting to think this is a put-on myself. Learning to drive isn't that difficult even with stick shift.

It's very easy to say something like that when you have had 20 or 30 years experience. But when your just starting out at the bottom of the ladder. Putting in the first stone in the pyramid. It's very very hard.

Sorry but I'm not buying it. A lot of us in the US learned when we were 15/16. The experiences we are relating are from then, not now. We learned the terminology in a day. We had been talking to our parents over the years. Its not that complicated unless you have some sort of disability. That we could understand, but so far you haven't indicated anything like that.

Personally I'm going to stay away as far has possible form Driving Schools. While they do teach you properly it doesn't make up for how much they rip you off. So far I can drive around my "block" (is that correct?) in Gear 1. I know not to go into Gear 2 when I'm near Houses or schools or anywhere were pedestrians and vulnerable people like Oldies and kids are common.

Look, if this is what you've been told, then you're plainly not being taught very well. I don't know what driving schools are like in the UK, but here in Ontario they're all regulated by the government and, as such, are not a "rip off", expensive or not. I would guess that British driving schools are similarly regulated, which means that you're getting good value for your money—in other words, you're being taught how to properly and safely operate a very powerful and potentially dangerous piece of machinery.

Now, maybe this is all a put-on, but if not then you should seriously consider driving school. You plainly don't have a grip on the basics of driving, things that you should know even before getting behind the wheel. Right now it sounds like you're just creating a dangerous situation for yourself and the people around you.

QFT.

 

[Bluesteel]

I don't see how I'm creating a dangerous situation. I haven't gone into the open road with my foot pressed firmly on the gas. Two lessons in so far I know more then those who have gone to driving schools.

All right the terminology bit i should probably work on. But that's no excuse to go to a driving school.

I think I'm doing good so far. I could probably ease up on the clutch but I'm ok.

 

[Captain Ice]

Whether you are on the road or not, it's still a dangerous situation. If you do something wrong, you have the potential to damge or destroy anything in that parking lot, including both your car and yourself. For example, if your foot lands on the gas instead of the brake you can wind up about anywhere.

Most of us here remember what it was like to get behind the wheel of a car for the first time. So we know what you are going through. In fact, we may have been even more scared. Most parents over here don't let you anywhere near a driver's seat without educating you on how dangerous an automobile really is.

 

[Trekker4747]

How am I supposed to know they are called Gauge?

Because it's a common term for a device that gauges something?

 

[SilentP]

Personally I'm going to stay away as far has possible form Driving Schools. While they do teach you properly it doesn't make up for how much they rip you off.

Actually, it does. While I'm not saying go for the most expensive teacher around, you should have a legally qualified instructor at least take you for a few lessons. You may think you're doing all honkey-dorey in your lessons, but take your test and you may find yourself completely set in bad habits that your uncle wouldn't have picked up upon.

So far I can drive around my "block" (is that correct?) in Gear 1. I know not to go into Gear 2 when I'm near Houses or schools or anywhere were pedestrians and vulnerable people like Oldies and kids are common. A mate of mine has had 5 lessons and He can't do that. He knows what a biting point is but he doesn't know how to get it or what ever you do to reach that point.

You don't necessarily have to drive in Gear 1 around those areas, chugging lightly around on 2nd gear can be perfectly fine, it's really speed you should be watching, the gear will just change how quickly the car responds (i.e. how fast it accelerates) at different speeds.

As for your friend, I'm truly stumped

I've met countless of people who had spent a lot in lessons and don't have much to show for.

Countless? I'm not sure it can be that bad. It may be true that some people take a long time to get the hang of it. Some may just need to switch to a different teacher, who teaches you can make a lot of difference. In some cases, it may simply be that they need to switch from learning manual to automatic, I guess there are people who really can't get the hang of manual.

Or the possibility they're all going to the same instructor whose terrible. *shrug*

It's very easy to say something like that when you have had 20 or 30 years experience. But when your just starting out at the bottom of the ladder. Putting in the first stone in the pyramid. It's very very hard.

For your reference, I've had my liscence for about 3 years now.

 

[Bluesteel]

Whether you are on the road or not, it's still a dangerous situation. If you do something wrong, you have the potential to damge or destroy anything in that parking lot, including both your car and yourself. For example, if your foot lands on the gas instead of the brake you can wind up about anywhere.

Yeah that's something even I knew not to do in before i started the lesson.

Most of us here remember what it was like to get behind the wheel of a car for the first time. So we know what you are going through. In fact, we may have been even more scared. Most parents over here don't let you anywhere near a driver's seat without educating you on how dangerous an automobile really is.

I got that lecture. Just to hammer in the point clearly I was also shown the picture of a girl who got decapitated after she crashed her Porsche because she was speeding. That is something I don't ever want to see again nor happen to me.

Because it's a common term for a device that gauges something?

I call them meter. I knew one of them was a speedometer but the other ones I had no idea what they were called. One is for engine temperature and the other one is for the level of fuel a car has.

Actually, it does. While I'm not saying go for the most expensive teacher around, you should have a legally qualified instructor at least take you for a few lessons. You may think you're doing all honkey-dorey in your lessons, but take your test and you may find yourself completely set in bad habits that your uncle wouldn't have picked up upon.

I was planning on learning how to drive and then go for a one driving lesson to see how the experts were doing it. Obviously bad habits are picked up. My sister used to lean on the car window while holding the steering wheel with a single arm. But the instructor pointed that out and she fixed her self. Passed on her first go.

I'm only emulating whats gone before me.

You don't necessarily have to drive in Gear 1 around those areas, chugging lightly around on 2nd gear can be perfectly fine, it's really speed you should be watching, the gear will just change how quickly the car responds (i.e. how fast it accelerates) at different speeds.

As for your friend, I'm truly stumped

I don't really feel safe driving around in Gear 2 at the moment. I don't want to risk killing someone or hurting them since I'm only going 10 mph before I even learn to drive properly. I can't have that on my head at the moment. I don't want to end up like Hannah Saaf.

Countless? I'm not sure it can be that bad. It may be true that some people take a long time to get the hang of it. Some may just need to switch to a different teacher, who teaches you can make a lot of difference. In some cases, it may simply be that they need to switch from learning manual to automatic, I guess there are people who really can't get the hang of manual.

Or the possibility they're all going to the same instructor whose terrible. *shrug*

Ok countless may have been exaggerating it's only 5 of them. All of them spend most of their lessons watching how to drive instead of actually learning it. There is no point of knowing what the biting point is if you have to fight to move the gears.

For your reference, I've had my liscence for about 3 years now.

I'm aiming this more generally at Trekker. Who once posted her that he wanted to beat a woman up because her SUV was to close to his car.

 

[Pingfah]

Why-o-why does anyone who isn't racing bother with stick shifts? What's the advantage?

Well, he's English. I don't know a single English person who drives an automatic. They are rather looked down on and considered only for people who would be too timid to drive a manual. Although in this guy's case, he should probably consider it.

 

[Trekker4747]

Seriously, when people go thorugh Drivers Education or Defensive Driving courses they don't do it to learn the basics and fundamentals of driving a car they do it to understand how to best, and safely, interact in traffic.

If the OP is STILL struggling to just operate his car's transmission after several days of "training"; so then I'm still saying that he has no business anywhere near a steering wheel.

 

[JustKate]

I see people dissing me. Well you know people. I've never ever had any interest in cars. Nor have I had any experience. How am I supposed to know they are called Gauge? I've only had 90 minutes of experience on Cars.

For the record, I am not dissing you. I am, however, concerned for you, and the reason is the way you're describing your driving experience. Having trouble shifting doesn't bother me - everybody has trouble shifting at first. Not knowing what stuff is called doesn't bother me - it's just vocabulary, you know?

What bothers me is that you seem to be doing things - such as pushing in the clutch, such as using one foot for certain pedals and the other for the other pedal - without actually knowing why you're doing them.

I could be absolutely wrong of course, but that's kind of how it sounds, and it worries me, OK? I don't want you to hurt yourself, your car or anybody else.

The question is though. How do I know when enough is enough? When it comes to accelerating I know because the car is moving. How ever when I'm told vague terms like press the clutch or get off the clutch slowly to get the car moving. It doesn't help. Anything I should look out for like engine noise?

Exactly how much you push the clutch in varies a bit from car to car. But on most cars, you basically push the clutch until it's fairly close to the floorboard. You shouldn't have to bear down really hard on the pedal, but you should press it nearly all the way down.

There is a very easy and obvious way to tell if you have the clutch fully engaged: That's if your gearshift slips easily from one gear to the next. If it won't go from first to second, for example, it's easy - just push the clutch down farther until it will let you shift. It's really that easy. You can actually slip the car out of gear without pressing in the clutch, though that's not the best way, but you can't shift it back into gear unless the clutch is fully engaged.

As for how slowly to let up on the clutch, that is something that can't be described with mere text on a screen, you know? That's what you're going to have to learn there in the parking lot or driving around the block. Basically, you let up on the clutch at the same time you give the car gas. When you do it correctly - and this will simply take practice - the car changes gears smoothly. When you do it incorrectly, either the car judders and complains and sometimes the engine dies (this means you didn't give it enough gas); or the engine winds out and the car gives a leap forward and also sometimes the engine dies (this means you gave it too much gas).

But no matter how awful that feels, it isn't the end of the world, I promise. The car can't take this treatment indefinitely, but it can take it for a while. You're just going to have to get a feel for it.

If one of the gauges is a tachometer, it will tell you how many RPM (revolutions per minute) the engine is turning at - the higher the number, the faster the engine is going. However, you should be able to tell if the engine is turning fast or slow just by the sound.

I have been driving for a long time, but I remember exactly what it felt like to learn to drive a manual. Exactly. I remember I had to learn in just a couple of days because my mother and I needed to go on a long road trip and I needed to be able to take my turn driving. So I learned to drive her manual. Really, it's not that hard.

But I do think, unless your lessons are going a little more smoothly than you're describing here, that you are picking up some bad habits that you're going to need to unlearn. So really, you might want to consider again a couple of driving lessons. Really.

I mean, you're going to have to get out of second gear pretty darn soon - I am a little concerned that you seem to be spending so much time in first gear, to be honest.

 

[nevermore]

Because they are really fun? Because a manual transmission really is fun to drive.

I like driving, too... but to me the fun comes not from it being a terribly involved process, but from the exhilaration of speed, the wind on my face, the turns, the scenery, the freedom, the tunes... all of which you can get with an automatic. But that's me.

Assuming you're capable of moving a hand and a foot at the same time, it's not a terribly involved process by any stretch of the imagination. Then again, maybe that's because my dad was a complete psycho taskmaster when teaching me to drive and made me practice until the entire process was so subliminated that I have to actually sit on my right hand and move my left foot way away from the pedals when I drive an automatic lest I hit the brake and throw the thing into park. Which I have done.

You also have more control over the car...well, once you're good at it you have more control over the car.

I've never understood this point. Control... what? What gear you're in? Does that make so much difference really? To me it seems not to. With an automatic I can control everything I need to perfectly well - how fast I'm going, when to slow down or stop and how quickly to do so, turning... etc. What more do I need to control?

It really does make an enormous difference. I once owned an automatic, turbo-charged at that, and it felt like the car was driving itself. Awful. I want to decide my rate of acceleration and deceleration, not have pre-set bullshit decide it for me.

No what I wanted to do was to relax my legs for a bit. It gets a bit annoying after a while slowly easing the clutch to get the car to move and then having my foot hover over the brake. It was very hard NOT to put pressure on the breaks while just hovering over it.

Your foot should not be hovering over the brake. Your foot should be on the accelerator unless you are actually braking or slowing down. How are you moving in 1st gear with your foot off the accelerator? In my car, if I take my foot off the accelerator in first gear the car stalls out within seconds unless I throw it into neutral.

Ok I got some questions. Do I always have to push the clutch to the max? My feet hurt after a doing it sometime.

Your feet hurt?! Don't stomp on the things, just push them. And wear shoes.

Also when Do i get off the clutch? If I am at Gear 1 and driving do I always have my feet on the clutch at all times?

No, but then you really shouldn't be driving for any length of time in 1st gear. It's for starting only, maybe inching forward in traffic.

How do you know how much to press the pedals or get off them. If I get off the clutch to fast the car stops. If I don't the car will be still for a few seconds putting me at risk. How can I maintain the same speed while pressing the gas pedal. At the moment I press it kinda hard and then ease up on it to achieve 10 mph.

Practice. You get a feel for it.

I will admit a manual is a hassle in the city, though.

I don't get this. I live in a city, I drive in some of the worst traffic in the country, and have never even thought about the fact that I'm shifting. The only time in the past 17 years it even occurred to me was in a 14-hour traffic jam.

Well, not necessarily. I'll start in second in poor conditions, since it probably doubles the traction your drive wheels have on the road. In snow and ice I find that starting in second can be the difference between skidding sideways and a nice smooth forward motion. Hell, I've even started in third the odd time, though it's always been by accident, and I don't recommend it unless you like accelerating very, VERY slowly.

Ha, one time I got stuck in Friday afternoon Beach traffic on the DC beltway (going from VA to Annapolis, so I was headed in the same direction). About 20 minutes into it my clutch cable broke while I was in 3rd gear. This was before cell phones, so I just said "screw it" and drove the rest of the way, in stop-and-go traffic for oh, and hour and a half, stuck in 3rd gear. That little Rabbit made it all the way to the first stop light in Annapolis, and the conveniently located service station, before starting to steam or smoke or whatever. $12 for a new cable, and I was good to go.

Ok countless may have been exaggerating it's only 5 of them. All of them spend most of their lessons watching how to drive instead of actually learning it. There is no point of knowing what the biting point is if you have to fight to move the gears.

It's called theory. Most people learn how to read music before they play the piano. Most people learn how a car works before they drive one. Everything you've asked here would be covered in a class. You also learn the rules, which you are not being taught. That's the point.

 

[Major Chord]

I see people dissing me. Well you know people. I've never ever had any interest in cars. Nor have I had any experience. How am I supposed to know they are called Gauge? I've only had 90 minutes of experience on Cars.

For the record, I am not dissing you. I am, however, concerned for you, and the reason is the way you're describing your driving experience. Having trouble shifting doesn't bother me - everybody has trouble shifting at first. Not knowing what stuff is called doesn't bother me - it's just vocabulary, you know?

What bothers me is that you seem to be doing things - such as pushing in the clutch, such as using one foot for certain pedals and the other for the other pedal - without actually knowing why you're doing them.

I could be absolutely wrong of course, but that's kind of how it sounds, and it worries me, OK? I don't want you to hurt yourself, your car or anybody else.

This.

You see, as a a relative newbie to driving, I can sympathize in some regards. I've had my permit for over a year now, but I have not been tested for my license yet. I just don't think I'm ready yet. My parents think I am, so I will be soon, but there's still that feeling of uncertainty. It's that feeling that taking a professional course, or having someone who's well qualified teach you the ins and outs of driving helps to soothe. I'm not saying you need to go to a professional, although, at this point, I'd probably recommend it. The point is not to learn, then see how the "experts" are doing it. You should strive to become one of those experts in the first place. I would also recommend against having your uncle teach you further. Nothing against him, but let's just say that just because someone is a licensed driver doesn't mean they should teach others. His lesson plans seem to be flawed. I'm sure he means well, but he might be doing more harm than good. In a professional class, you'd learn all the rules, and the basic operation of a car before you even turned the car on. While it may not be as fun, you definitely learn a lot more.

I read the new drivers' manual the DMV gave me for about a month before I even tested for my permit. The day I got my permit, my dad drove to an empty church parking lot about 2 miles from my house. He gave me a shorter version of what I had already learned through the manual, then showed me what to do. We spent the next hour driving around the parking lot before I was allowed to get on the road. It took me another 2 months to become comfortable on the open road, and it wasn't until this February that I drove on a highway for the first time. I'm still not entirely comfortable with that. No one wants you to be an expert at the beginning, nor dows anyone expect you to feel entirely comfortable with driving yet. But, everyone here, and everyone who may not even know you, but has to share the road with you expects you to take it seriously.

As for driving at 10 mph around your block (or was it kph?), I would actually suggest against this. If you're going to go slow and practice, the open road is not the place to do it. find a parking lot. An empty one preferably, or one big enough to give you a nice buffer zone between you any anyone or anything else there. Driving too slow in traffic can be just as bad as driving too fast, so it's not a good idea to get in the habit.

Also, a question. Do insurance companies in the UK give discounts for taking driver's ed? I know that her in the US, if you take a driving course, you get a rather large discount off your deductible. That's another good reason, and an incentive to take a professional course (assuming it's offered in your area).

Personally I'm going to stay away as far has possible form Driving Schools. While they do teach you properly it doesn't make up for how much they rip you off. So far I can drive around my "block" (is that correct?) in Gear 1. I know not to go into Gear 2 when I'm near Houses or schools or anywhere were pedestrians and vulnerable people like Oldies and kids are common.

Look, if this is what you've been told, then you're plainly not being taught very well. I don't know what driving schools are like in the UK, but here in Ontario they're all regulated by the government and, as such, are not a "rip off", expensive or not. I would guess that British driving schools are similarly regulated, which means that you're getting good value for your money—in other words, you're being taught how to properly and safely operate a very powerful and potentially dangerous piece of machinery.

Now, maybe this is all a put-on, but if not then you should seriously consider driving school. You plainly don't have a grip on the basics of driving, things that you should know even before getting behind the wheel. Right now it sounds like you're just creating a dangerous situation for yourself and the people around you.

I wouldn't say that it's affordable everywhere. I have a friend from Germany who did an exchange in my school last year, and she told me that the entire driver's certification process, form lessons to getting certifies, comes to about 2,000 euros. I don't think all my licensing, pre-licensing course included, along with the permit, could come to over $300.

I couldn't agree more with your last point. Cars are dangerous things, just like firearms. You wouldn't be allowed to handle a gun without the proper instruction, would you? The same should (and does) apply with an automobile.

 

[Canadave]

Because they are really fun? Because a manual transmission really is fun to drive.

I like driving, too... but to me the fun comes not from it being a terribly involved process, but from the exhilaration of speed, the wind on my face, the turns, the scenery, the freedom, the tunes... all of which you can get with an automatic. But that's me.

Assuming you're capable of moving a hand and a foot at the same time, it's not a terribly involved process by any stretch of the imagination. Then again, maybe that's because my dad was a complete psycho taskmaster when teaching me to drive and made me practice until the entire process was so subliminated that I have to actually sit on my right hand and move my left foot way away from the pedals when I drive an automatic lest I hit the brake and throw the thing into park. Which I have done.

Hell, I've tried to feather the brakes before while driving an auto. Doesn't work so well.