Making progress now! Vroom Vroom!

pandamoanium

Hey everyone!

Well I've been lurking here for a while now and thought it about time to leave some feedback.. also anxious to here how everyone else is getting on, think a few others on here started learning to drive around the same time as me - how you all doin' ?

Ok, first things first.. I must admit, I got a bit lax in taking lessons, I had my first one about a month ago and after that between sickness and study and general business didn't get around to do another lesson til last Tuesday.

It's not all bad though - I have been practising since then and well, I think it's been paying off!

My first lesson consisted of me learning to start (lots of stalling!) and stop, learning about the basics of a car etc.. wasn't very exciting at all, I was driving round in circles around a housing estate, and well.. not much else really!

So since then I've been practising in my parents car which is a diesel - which I've since learned thanks to all the helpful knowledgeable folk on here that diesels are much harder to stall and are easier to learn in than petrols, so I was a lil nervous that I was going to make a balls of my second lesson in my instructors car (a petrol) by stalling non-stop etc..

Well it wasn't so bad.. pretty good in fact! When I met him he asked me if I had done any driving since and I told him I had so he asked if I would like to drive from my house to which I absolutely jumped at! Ok, so the fear was in the back of my mind that I was gonna screw up the first attempt at taking off, but no, it went perfect so that gave me confidence for the rest of the lesson!

Up from my road there's a very steep hill at a junction so he asked me how my hill starts were; "well no better time to find out than now I guess" I said. I'm pleased to say the hill start went brilliantly, so another lil confidence boost there!

So after driving around my local area for a few minutes he brought me out onto the main road, through lots of junctions, roundabouts and generally lots of busy roads which I wasn't sure I'd be ready for.. but it all went great! My gear changes are coming along a lot now also, everything just feels so natural now.

When we finished the lesson he told me that I had come on leaps and bounds (no stalls! yay!) and that it was an excellent drive.. So I'm making progress!

Of course on saying this, I'll probably suffer from the dreaded third lesson melt down which so many report of on here, whereby everything will go to pot! But ah well, I've come on loads since 4 weeks ago so that's the main thing.

Since my second lesson my confidence in my ability has really improved - went on a 20 mile round trip today - which I loved, I absolutely love driving now! I'm pleased to say that everything is finally clicking into place now - at a junction I don't panic and have to think of 20 things at once to get into the right gear, slow down, stop, start again etc.. it's all a fluid movement now.. It's definitely coming naturally to me now.

I also went on a long drive last night into the countryside, so I'm getting a bit of variety in between stop-go city traffic, and small, twisty, narrow country roads.. not sure which I prefer yet..

The best bit of all of this though I think, is the fact that my parents are actually relaxing a bit now in the car with me, and seem pretty comfortable as passengers - no more "quick, reach for the handbrake" or white knuckle rides! lol

Oh yeah - I've got a new car to learn in now - been learning in 3 so far - first one was my instructors 1.0 Corsa, then my parents 2.0 Rover 75, and now they've just bought a new motor - a 2.0 Landrover Freelander, so I feel as though I'm driving a bloody bus now! I'm hoping that the fact I'll be doing 90% of my practising in a big car will stand to me in the future..

Anyways, that's pretty much me.. how about all the rest of you? I'm dying to hear how you're all getting on?

Safe motoring guys! :cool:

Permabear

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kaimera

win all around so panda

my lessons are going fine, got another @ 1pm today. Test is Monday and right now I've a different instructor to before and the car is set up differently - clutch is heavy and gearbox isn't as easy as the previous car so I'm trying to get up to speed really quick with it cos I'll be using it on Monday

Hill starts are fine - turnabout is fine - reverse corner...not bad, haven't hit/mounted a kerb! - general driving can be a bit hit and miss particularly when starting from first gear but not all the time.

kaimera

...a friend let me out and about in his laguna there for 2 hours around sandyford. if anybody copped a laguna trying to start in 3rd from a set of lights and burning the **** out the clutch that was me

MissIT

Well done Pandamoanium sounds like you are doing really well keep it up !!
I wish i was doing as well.. in the last few months i have spent a fortune on driving lessons and i have been told i am not doing too badly but i am so nervous behind the wheel that i really feel i will never be confident enough to do the test.

I got in a huge fight with my mam a while ago because she made me drive home in the dark.. i actually thought i was going to be sick.. tears the whole lot:(

I know too much confidence is a bad thing on the roads but how do i get rid of my fear?? My car is sitting outside my frontdoor for the last 9 months taxed and insured! such a waste:mad:!!

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

sillyputty

For the last 2 months i have been regularly taking lessons, however, the whole driving thing never clicked with me that is until today - driving lesson number 9. Finally, it was like a light switched on in my head.
I think the main reason up until now was that i felt like i would never understand. Everytime i went out with the instructor i got beeped at traffic lights which made me panic and then i would conk out the car which made me panic even more and then get embarrassed. This morning I just decided to concentrate and stay focused - so what if it takes me an extra 2 seconds to take off from the traffic lights some people can just be impatient. Also anyone any tips on how to speed up my take off?
Anyway i'm on a high because i managed to do a clean hill start in heavy traffic woohoo!

betterdrive.net

sillyputty wrote: »

For the last 2 months i have been regularly taking lessons, however, the whole driving thing never clicked with me that is until today - driving lesson number 9. Finally, it was like a light switched on in my head.
I think the main reason up until now was that i felt like i would never understand. Everytime i went out with the instructor i got beeped at traffic lights which made me panic and then i would conk out the car which made me panic even more and then get embarrassed. This morning I just decided to concentrate and stay focused - so what if it takes me an extra 2 seconds to take off from the traffic lights some people can just be impatient. Also anyone any tips on how to speed up my take off?
Anyway i'm on a high because i managed to do a clean hill start in heavy traffic woohoo!

Congratulations on having your first breakthrough in your driving.
Sometimes it can be hard to piece things together.
I think of it like a jigsaw. Your first lessons get the border right and then as get nearer to the middle you can see the full picture. Well Done and keep it up.

pandamoanium

kaimera wrote: »

Test is Monday and right now I've a different instructor to before and the car is set up differently - clutch is heavy and gearbox isn't as easy as the previous car so I'm trying to get up to speed really quick with it cos I'll be using it on Monday

Hey Kaimera!

Sounds like you're doing really well!

Just saw your post now, I see that your test was today.. Hope it went well for you! xx

MissIT wrote: »

in the last few months i have spent a fortune on driving lessons and i have been told i am not doing too badly but i am so nervous behind the wheel that i really feel i will never be confident enough to do the test.

Hi Miss!

Awh, you poor thing! *hugs* That's awful, nerves can be an awful thing and they can get the better of us all.

DonegalFella has given you some great advice there so I'm not too sure what else I can add, all I'll say is though - keep at it, persistence is the key.

As DonegalFella suggested, is there any quiet area you can practice in? Even if you have to get your Mother to drive you there and back - like a carpark, field, any open spaces nearby at all? Or industrial estates which may be quiet after working hours?

I'm sure once you feel that you've mastered the basics and are comfortable in your ability in a safe area where you can come to no harm, it'll boost your self esteem greatly before you go out onto heavy traffic..

One thing for sure is though, keep checking on here for advice and replies, it's a great resource you have at your disposal so use it!

Also, not sure where you live, but perhaps if you live near a <snip> centre (I know they're in Dublin and Galway so far) you could try a lesson or two with them - they have virtual reality cars (think of those rally cars in arcades! lol) where you can learn to practice on, it might improve your hazard perception, help with gear changing, and most of all improve your confidence as you can't come to any harm and can make all the mistakes you like without ever being in danger so should take the stress out of things

Keep it up though and keep us posted! You're in a much better position than a lot of learners - you have access to your own car, can afford tax and insurance, and your lucky enough to have a qualified adult to accompany you, so make the most of it while you can!

Remember, it'll be all worth the tears, stress and trauma in the end and you'll have an invaluable skill for life. I bet you'll find it'll guess easier after each lesson, you mightn't realise it straight away but I'm sure you've come a long way already since your first lesson. Maybe keep a journal/blog so you can record your process and when you look back over it you'll see how much you're improving.

sillyputty wrote: »

For the last 2 months i have been regularly taking lessons, however, the whole driving thing never clicked with me that is until today - driving lesson number 9. Finally, it was like a light switched on in my head.
I think the main reason up until now was that i felt like i would never understand. Everytime i went out with the instructor i got beeped at traffic lights which made me panic and then i would conk out the car which made me panic even more and then get embarrassed. This morning I just decided to concentrate and stay focused - so what if it takes me an extra 2 seconds to take off from the traffic lights some people can just be impatient. Also anyone any tips on how to speed up my take off?
Anyway i'm on a high because i managed to do a clean hill start in heavy traffic woohoo!

Congrats Sillyputty on such a great lesson! You must be on a high now! Well done!!

I bet it won't be long now til your doing everything automatically without even having to bat an eyelid.. that is if you haven't reached that stage already!

Sorry to hear that you were getting beeped at whilst in your instructors car, that's terrible! I presume your instructors car has L plates and is clearly visible as a learners car? Well done on rising above it all though and doing so well!

Re: taking off quicker at traffic lights - I'm far from an expert on here, as I said I've only had 2 lessons thus far, so don't take this as gospel - I'm sure more knowedgeable folk on here can give you much better advice - but what I do at traffic lights now is when I know it's about to go green, get into 1st gear, set some gas, find biting bite, lights go green, handbrake off, give it more gas, ease foot off clutch and wahey off we go!

Keep us posted on how your doing! Got any Test Date in sight yet?

kaimera

heh, failed monday anyway panda; got home from work @ 8.30 after a 24 hour work shift [a simple 6-8 hour job encountered problems ] and I pretty much failed on my observation, everything else was perfect

Actually thought I did fine! Prolly the tiredness :P

be another few months before i'm home enough to take lessons + a test again.

Orla K

I started driving in Jan. I'm getting on fine, just need to get better at revresing and I'll probably need to do more observation for the test.
I bought a car yesterday. Once I got used to the gears(which are very different to the other car I was driving and also in the lower gears it made A LOT of noise-normal for this car). Other than those things I got on fine but I haven't been able to afford another driving lesson, money has just been going out of my pockets, I can't seem to keep a hold of it.

Beau x1

vroom on da yamaha chromed out 1100

sillyputty

Just had lesson number 11 and the instructor has said i am technically ready to take the test. I just need to build up my hours driving to build up my confidence and make things more second nature.

I still feel as though i need a couple more lessons just to cut out my stupid mistakes - i have a terrible habit of cutting out at corners and my observation when driving through traffic lights needs to be greatly improved.

My reversing is spot on and i feel confident about it as well as my turnabouts and hill starts are no longer a big deal. I cannot sit the actual test until june so i think maybe i have plenty of time to polish my skills and apply for my test at the first possible opening.

Quick question - do i have to wait to apply mid June when my permit is 6 months old or can i apply mid May in anticiaption of a 6-8 week waiting time?

emilyj

You can apply in April or May you don't have to wait 6 months to apply for test