What car did you learn to drive in?

[staffslad]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

My test date was also memorable...Valentine's Day 1980. My wife also passed her test on Valentine's Day but in 1993, and we also had the same examiner. My instructor placed a piece of black tape on the bottom of the car's rear window right at the centre. He said that when reversing around a corner to keep that tape on the kerb edge and it would help keep the car reversing straight. Was that something other instructors did?

[Zincubus]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

My test date was also memorable...Valentine's Day 1980. My wife also passed her test on Valentine's Day but in 1993, and we also had the same examiner. My instructor placed a piece of black tape on the bottom of the car's rear window right at the centre. He said that when reversing around a corner to keep that tape on the kerb edge and it would help keep the car reversing straight. Was that something other instructors did?

Sounds like an interesting idea m my reversing is still dodgy !

Can you explain it another way ??

[staffslad]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

On the inside of the back car windscreen he stuck a small piece of black tape. It was halfway along the windscreen, right at the bottom. One of the tasks to be performed on the test is reversing around a corner. He told me many pupils had trouble keeping the car straight when reversing, particularly around a corner while being half-turned in their seats looking through the back window. He said that while reversing, to ensure that the car reverses straight and parallel with the kerb, then just move the steering wheel until the piece of tape on the back window is on the edge of the kerb. If you make sure that the tape remains just touching the kerb edge as you reverse then the car's path will remain parallel to the kerb and should not veer off. It really worked for me when I was learning to drive in that car, though I must admit that I haven't used it since learning to drive. I wasn't sure if it was a trick all instructors showed their pupils or unique to my instructor.

[Richard1978]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

I've heard of sticking tape to the rear side windows to help when reversing into parking spaces.

[Zincubus]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

Interesting .

I've seen the idea of a tennis ball on a piece of string hanging from the garage ceiling so the ball taps on the rear windscreen who it nears the back wall ...

[Aidanagain]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

My instructor taught me to drive in a new Mitsubishi Lancer in '92 and my first car was a Subaru Mini Jumbo 700.

[staffslad]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

Hi Richard, My instructor put the tape on the back window, not side windows. I found it really useful when reversing around a corner.

[Arran]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

This beautiful beast



Toyota MR2 Mk1.

A very agile and easy to handle car.

[Zincubus]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

This beautiful beast



Toyota MR2 Mk1.

A very agile and easy to handle car.

Great choice !!

My driving instructor was a rather ‘big’ guy ..so he needed a car .
It was a either a Vauxhall Carlton or Ford Granada ..



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Mulletino]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

My driving instructor was also a very tall guy, and his car was comically small (I think it was a Mk3 Fiesta) for such an oversized fella, his seat was so far back it was like he was sitting on the back seat, like High Tower.

I remember once being sat at the lights and I took a bit too long to pull away and the car behind honked me, he told me to let them overtake on the next straight and to get behind them at the lights, then as soon as the lights changed he let them have it on the hooter. XD It was Essex after all.

I had a few lessons in my dad's company van, a MK1 Astra Van, it was brown. The inside was carpeted and had welding gear in including welding blankets so smelled of lanolin and metal. Us three kids used to sit in the back of that when we went shopping as a family, back when it was allowed and you didn't need seat belts.

[Arran]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

Great choice !!

That was a fantastic and unique car. It's a shame that they stopped making them. The Mk2 is more of a sports car but it's oversized and overweight and reminds me of hairdressers from Essex. The Mk3 is just another convertible - give me a T-bar anyday over this.

It feels a bit strange at first having the engine behind you instead of in front of you, and it is RWD, but you soon get used to it.

How I ended up learning to drive in an MR2 is an interesting story. My driving instructor offered his services to members of a certain organisation I was a member of, so I wasn't the only person from my area to learn to drive in it, but he generally didn't offer his services on the open market. A Toyota MR2 might appear at first to be a rather strange choice of car but it's very easy to handle and feels like a proper drivers car due to its proportions. There is no way I would have wanted to learn to drive in a supermini powered by a diesel engine. They are harder to learn to drive in.

I passed my driving test first time.

[Zincubus]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

That was a fantastic and unique car. It's a shame that they stopped making them. The Mk2 is more of a sports car but it's oversized and overweight and reminds me of hairdressers from Essex. The Mk3 is just another convertible - give me a T-bar anyday over this.

It feels a bit strange at first having the engine behind you instead of in front of you, and it is RWD, but you soon get used to it.

How I ended up learning to drive in an MR2 is an interesting story. My driving instructor offered his services to members of a certain organisation I was a member of, so I wasn't the only person from my area to learn to drive in it, but he generally didn't offer his services on the open market. A Toyota MR2 might appear at first to be a rather strange choice of car but it's very easy to handle and feels like a proper drivers car due to its proportions. There is no way I would have wanted to learn to drive in a supermini powered by a diesel engine. They are harder to learn to drive in.

I passed my driving test first time.

Same .. I thought I’d failed soon into the test as I could only turn the car round in FIVE turns as the car was huge and the side road was narrow .. turned out it didn’t matter as long as you did it safely ..

The funny part was that I had a warm up lesson immediately before the actual test and he had me practicing my dodgy reversing ( still is ) in a cobbled back street .. anyway minutes before the test I managed to reverse around a corner in a little back street and crashed into some old style metal dustbins !!

Great confidence boost .. thanks mate !!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Arran]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

At the same time I was driving an E30 BMW 320i but it had automatic transmission.

[Pussywillow]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

A dreadful piece of **** called a Simca 1000. For those of you who haven't a clue what that looked like, here it is :

[Richard1978]

Re: What car did you learn to drive in?

I don't think Simcas ever sold well over here, they didn't seem to have the presence of the other French brands in spite of having 1-2 innovative designs, & poor rust proofing didn't help either.