My driving lessons thread

in my first lesson got up 2 70 in 5th gear on the dual carriageway ;)
only stalled once ever and im on my 7th lesson now and that was when i was doing 3 point turns. unfortunately i cant drive the parents car but oh well seem to be doing alrite
 
When I had problems with stalling, my instructor lead me to this hill, and I practiced my clutch control by letting the car role back, and catching it with the clutch. This helped me get to know where the biting point was, so I knew where to drop the clutch when moving off, instead if releasing it to biting point slowly or releasing it too far (stalling).

That helped a lot as there's this steep hill with a roundabout at the top, and instead of using the handbrake, I'd just hold it at biting point whilst waiting for a gap to emerge (yes I know this is bad, but it was my instructors car, I won't be doing this in my own car).
 
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The clutch thing just clicks, you just seem to be able to do it without thinking, it comes pretty quick as well. :)

I was thinking today that "My god where on earth did I learn to do that?" as I downshifted into a winding hill whilst balancing the clutch perfectly and evading an oncoming woman in a Land Rover discovery. It becomes second nature so fast. :)
 
Also, once you get the hang of it, you'd love to rev-match on downshifts. I was doing this around my 15th lesson, and I also done it on my driving test to avoid that jerk. :)
 
Im in greater london, area of streatham bordering norbury(croydon borough). I like the guy im being instructed by, he taught my sister and some other people i know and i get along with him.
 
triggerthat said:
Cancel with AA, now. Where abouts are you in london?
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Any reason for that? If he is happy with the instructor I can't think of any reason. I went with some private instructors who were complete idiots, piggybacking students etc. The AA instructors aren't allowed to get away with crap like that.
 
Make sure he doesn't milk you. I was initally with AA and spent loads. Changed to a private teaching school and passed half the time and half the price.
 
Kamerad said:
Any reason for that? If he is happy with the instructor I can't think of any reason. I went with some private instructors who were complete idiots, piggybacking students etc. The AA instructors aren't allowed to get away with crap like that.
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You can certainly say that with the AA. I don't want to open a can of worms, however the instructor I had with the AA wasn't all that. Firstly I could only book 2 hour appointments which cost around £45 each go. Majority of the time was driving to places far away. So I was just wasting time and money getting there. The private company was much cheaper (£19) and taught very well and I passed very early. I found that the guy with the AA was just wasting time. I suppose that it depends on the instructor, rather than the company.

If you are happy with who are you with, then by all means stay. Have fun learning.
 
This guy just drives around my area, he is very good he lets me take over the car from the start and leaves all the waffle out. He lets me book to my convenience as well :). I know its costly, but i like the quality of teaching so far, plus you get to learn in a nice car 05 where as if you went with a private little firm on the high street you may have to use a 2 year old car or something .:)
 
gam3r said:
you get to learn in a nice car 05 where as if you went with a private little firm on the high street you may have to use a 2 year old car or something .:)
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A whole 2 years old? :eek:

That would be sheer hell.
 
gam3r said:
This guy just drives around my area, he is very good he lets me take over the car from the start and leaves all the waffle out. He lets me book to my convenience as well :). I know its costly, but i like the quality of teaching so far, plus you get to learn in a nice car 05 where as if you went with a private little firm on the high street you may have to use a 2 year old car or something .:)
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i learnt in a 53 reg yaris and a W reg vectra, oh the horror :eek:

i would rather have a decent instructor and a slightly older car, wouldnt you?
 
here we go again - Today, 23/03/06 Another lesson

This lesson i did pretty much the same as in the previous lesson, getting to grips with main roads (London road in particular). At the start of the lesson i must have screwed up so bad and stalled like 3 times in a row while braking around a corner and starting off again due to traffic. The instructor got kinda frustrated but he was ok, he took me into a side road and showed me a better method for clutch control, we went through it and since then i didn't stall once! YAY, im getting to terms with the clutch nicely now i think i've almost mastered it :D. Also im getting much more used to traffic, shifting in 3 etc. Im happy that the clutch has finally clicked into place. I still need more practice of course with it, but after the first 15 mins of the lesson when i was talked through the clutch by the instructer, i never made the car jerk at all afterwards. :D :D


Didn't go into gear 4. Is that normally used on normal roads, or is it for dual carriagways or something?

This was my 4th lesson :)

Peace out
 
gam3r said:
here we go again - Today, 23/03/06 Another lesson

This lesson i did pretty much the same as in the previous lesson, getting to grips with main roads (London road in particular). At the start of the lesson i must have screwed up so bad and stalled like 3 times in a row while braking around a corner and starting off again due to traffic. The instructor got kinda frustrated but he was ok, he took me into a side road and showed me a better method for clutch control, we went through it and since then i didn't stall once! YAY, im getting to terms with the clutch nicely now i think i've almost mastered it :D. Also im getting much more used to traffic, shifting in 3 etc. Im happy that the clutch has finally clicked into place. I still need more practice of course with it, but after the first 15 mins of the lesson when i was talked through the clutch by the instructer, i never made the car jerk at all afterwards. :D :D


Didn't go into gear 4. Is that normally used on normal roads, or is it for dual carriagways or something?

This was my 4th lesson :)

Peace out
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i use 4th through the town ;) makes more sense crusing at 30 in 4th than 3rd

just wait til you get on to manuevers and stuff...booooring
 
Manuvers as in 3 point turns, parralel parking? That does sound drab...Worst thing is i think ill probably suck at it. But hey, practice makes perfect ;)
 
your maneuvers aint all that bad tbh.. turn in the road started to get boring as it was ssoo simple to do.. reverse around a corner wasnt too bad as there is more than one type of corner out there lol.. and my parallel parking never really did click until i got into my own car. so had to concentrate on that one more.

you left foot/shin still hurting from the clutch? mine used to when i first started learning.. it was because id always have my foot covering the clutch pedal not sure why.. but i got out of that habbit quickly.. if i do loads of clutch work now tho.. it doesnt bother me like it did then.. guess ya get used to it in someway :)

good luck with the lesson.. enjoy them.. once ya get into it properly should do by lesson 10ish you will be wanting to be out in the car driving constantly.. :p
 
hi ZG. I do the same thing! I rest my foot on the clutch! It doesn't hurt anymore that much, just sometimes when in traffic maybe. I need to get out of that habbit of keeping my foot over the clutch. I discovered that my left foot was too tense so i loosened it up a lil and was more smoth with the clutch. :D
 
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