just drove for the first time :D

iBot · 8 Jun 2007 at 18:55

I was quite surprised at how little pressure you had to apply to the accelrator

Gaygle · 8 Jun 2007 at 18:56

Yeah and the brakes! I let me ex-gf drive my car a couple of times slowly (she can't drive yet) and boy she liked stamping on the brakes!

Berger · 8 Jun 2007 at 18:57

Depends on the car and what you have to compare to.

Vibez · 8 Jun 2007 at 18:58

Gaygle said:
Yeah and the brakes! I let me ex-gf drive my car a couple of times slowly (she can't drive yet) and boy she liked stamping on the brakes!

Ever tried braking with your left foot? Your used to pushing so hard on the clutch pedal that people often emergency stop lol

kip02 · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:00

iBot said:
I was quite surprised at how little pressure you had to apply to the accelrator

Some people don't apply enough if you ask me

Have fun

Larnica · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:02

Cool iBot, was it a driving lesson?

InvaderGIR · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:05

Berger said:
Depends on the car and what you have to compare to.

Deffinatly!

My 205's accelerator is very twitchy and the brakes are not sudden stoping ones.

InvG

iBot · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:13

Larnica said:
Cool iBot, was it a driving lesson?

Nah, I was on private land.

I did stall it twice though, it's just getting use to it all.

Anyway, what ive found best is

1. clutch down, choose gear 1/r
2. keep clutch down and start engine
3. slowly release clutch while depressing the accelerator
4. drive off

as for changing gears i havent had much joy

but i assume its keep foot on the gas, clutch hard, choose gear, release clutch gently

timbob · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:15

iBot said:
but i assume its keep foot on the gas, clutch hard, choose gear, release clutch gently

Please don't do that!

Release gas and press clutch straight after, change gear, clutch up smoothly and quickly, back on the gas again.

MadMacs · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:16

Also take foot off the gas when clutch goes in!

Lol, you only drove in 1st

Beaten to it

saitrix · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:17

Vibez said:
Ever tried braking with your left foot? Your used to pushing so hard on the clutch pedal that people often emergency stop lol

And that is what it is like when I goto driving a modern car now.

The brake pedals on modern cars are so light compared to my Dolomite.

All this talk of gas would make me think we were american...

ZG002 · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:19

i know that feeling lol.. ive just been given a 05 plate works van.. used to driving a mk3 golf.. i nearly went through the windscreen lol

timbob · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:20

saitrix said:
All this talk of gas would make me think we were american...

My old school, very much English driving instructor called it the "gas" as it was much quicker to say than "accelerator". When he used to have to say it dozens of times every lesson, I could see his point.

Tommy B · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:22

iBot said:
but i assume its keep foot on the gas, clutch hard, choose gear, release clutch gently

If you want to rape your car then yes, it's fine.

iBot · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:23

so i should release my foot from the movement pedal while I'm using the clutch?

iBot · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:26

frakker said:
Seems a bit of a strange way of doing things? I suppose everybody has their own way, but I start the engine before selecting 1st.

How do you do it?

Check neutral , start engine, clutch down choose gear?

Larnica · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:27

frakker said:
Seems a bit of a strange way of doing things? I suppose everybody has their own way, but I start the engine before selecting 1st.

Aye, same

timbob · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:27

iBot said:
so i should release my foot from the movement pedal while I'm using the clutch?

Yes, else when you press the clutch (and release the engine from the wheels) there is no load on the engine - it is spinning freely, and not trying to move the car. It will instantly rev really high, and you'll quickly go "ack, best not do that again".

Try it, see what happens...

Tommy B · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:28

I start the engine, then put it in gear. Lift the clutch to the biting point, then apply gas and release the clutch simultaneously. After practice this takes about a quarter of a second so you don't wear the clutch as much.

Oh, and when you've been driving longer, please please god-damn please don't coast. This is when noob learners think it "saves petrol" by putting the car in neutral (or just foot down on the clutch) when going down a hill, because "the rev counter drops to 1,000 revs." Absolute rubbish. You use far more petrol when you're coasting than when you're in gear. /rant

.:MBK:. · 8 Jun 2007 at 19:31

indeed and most engines dont sound to happy freespinning at the red line

and i imagine the ops method of starting is due a lack of knowledge of what the clutch and gears do