Driving

Former Member

Ill be able to take my test in 2 years but does anyone know a place on the internet that gives info like what gears you should use for which speed and a simulation perhaps?

Thanks in advance

Former Member

Re: Driving

Originally posted by Jazza Bing
Ill be able to take my test in 2 years

Working in advance eh!?

Former Member

Well it seems pretty hard

I wanna drive really badly though.

Theres a story about driving but ill tell another time

Former Member

it's not that hard.

it's all a matter of practice.

i always thought i would be an appalling driver, but i'm ok...

Former Member

you know what's actually good practice? Those Rally arcade games where you sit in them. There's one where it's extremely realistic, you see young kids going on it and they hate it cos its too hard but adults love it.

Not that that helps you at all. Ho hum.

Former Member

Yeah, sitting and leaning gears at this stage probably won't amount to much. You'll be taught everything you need to know about it anyway, and I think a lot of instructors have different ideas of gear changes, and what gear you should be in and when.

For example, my instructor (BSM) says I need to be in 2nd gear at a roundabout, unless I'm stopping where I need to be in 1st.

General stuff:
* Pull away in 1st
* Try to keep your revs between 1 and 3. If it goes above, up a gear, and if it oes below, down one.

You'll figure it out at the time

Former Member

Just started learning myself (finally - I'm 22 now!). You can go on simulations all you want but they wont tell you much about being in a real car.

You have to be able to sense the reactions of the car when the clutch bites and the revs are at the appropriate level to change gear (not all cars have revvometers). Also, much of learning to drive is literally that - learning how to physically drive the car ( clutch control is an utter slag :mad: )

There are pleanty of books out there if you want to start but bear in mind it is better to have your lessons as close together as possible. I've only been out four times now, but I can already do a 3 point turn as I have been out four days running and feel more in control of the car.

Once you have natural instinctive control of the car, you can think more about the hazards and things going on around you.

Former Member

the best way i learned about gears was by having a really old car.

in my car, you KNOW if you're in the wrong gear, and in time you learn exactly what you can and can't do in each gear. newer cars are a lot quieter, so you have to rely more on knowledge than what the car's actually doing.

and different cars have different gears. like my car only has 4 gears, so you can go a lot faster in each gear. i can do 40 quite happily in 3rd in my car, whereas in a 5 gear car it would be better off in 4th.

you will learn.

Former Member

You would get more out of sitting in the passenger seat of someone else's car and having them explain what they are doing when and why than from trying to learn stuff from a chart or something. (Assuming the someone else is a good driver that is.)

There is no one specific right gear for any given speed. Realistically, it depends on the situation at the time, and other things such as the weather condition, type of road, incline, and such.

For example, you will under most circumstances start the car and move away in first gear, but, say if it was snowy or you were pointed down on a steep hill, you might want to move off in second or third, depending on your car and the type of engine.

All of this will come from experience though, it's not something you need to bother yourself about right now. Better would be to concentrate on picking out possible hazards and thinking what you might do to avoid them if you were driving the car. Next time you are on the motorway with someone else see if you can look a few hundred yards down the road and anticipate what the other drivers might do next and what you would have to do in order to avoid them.

Former Member

I found the driving the car was not the hard bit.. i got that within about 8 hours and was ok with gears (you have the few hairy moments). its the situations on the roads where you need to know what your going to do that got me on my tests.. (yes tests ) - if you could read up on the theory for driving and the rules of the road you'd probably get more out of that (although nothing prepares you for the real thing) then learning what gear and when..

good luck to you when it comes around!