Which gear?

angeldelight

I'm learning to drive at the min and was doing really well with my instructor so last night I went out with my dad and everything I did was wrong (aparently). So to settle an argument... if you were going from a main road, where you weren't driving that fast in 4th gear and you want to turn into an estate on the right side of the road, you know you don't have to stop completely cos there's nothing coming either on the main road or from the estate.... which gear would you turn into the estate in? Thanks

Downtime

2nd

$Leon$

u could prob do it in 3rd but i failed da test for that before so 2nd is the correct answer

declanoneill

I was taught to always turn corners or roundabouts (assuming you didn't have to stop going onto one) in 2nd.

So who was right, you or your dad. I'm putting money on your dad cause I know two people that've done lessons and neither were taught to drop to second when turning.

angeldelight

Yeah my dad, damn. Don't think I'll let him know though lol. My instructor told me 3rd for roundabouts where I don't have to stop and 3rd for turns where I don't have to stop. Oh well

kenmc

yeah 2nd is the way to go. when you pass your test though you're allowed to around corners in 3rd, drive with one hand on the gearstick and not use your mirrors. It's a sort of graduation present I'm joking of course.

edmund_f

all things being equal (i.e. you are driving a standard car) i would say second..

but you always have the option of driving an automatic..

declanoneill

Who was the instructor out of curiosity? (I presume mentioning his name is not libel as this is something angeldelight was told to do)

I go with Mini Driver (www.minidriver.ie) and I've found the two I've had with them (one was the owner) to be great. Tell them I sent you. Won't get you any money off, but sure tell them anyway

Tobias Greeshman

Yep! 2nd gear would be best.

The way I used to judge it when I was learning was:

• 0-10 - 1st
• 10-20 - 2nd
• 20-30 - 3rd
• 30-45 - 4th
• 45-60 - 5th

Using this ya cant go wrong, also if the engine is reving too low, drop a gear!

angeldelight

ISM guy in Maynooth. I'll ask him at my next lesson! I hate when my dad's right

declanoneill

angeldelight wrote:

ISM guy in Maynooth. I'll ask him at my next lesson! I hate when my dad's right

You'd hate it a lot more if you'd failed your test because of it, even oldies get it right once in a while

irlirishkev

angeldelight wrote:

ISM guy in Maynooth. I'll ask him at my next lesson! I hate when my dad's right

Dad's are generally right.. That is till a certain age anyway..

Peace

2nd, unless you were taking the corner at more than 30mph.... then there's a different discussion to be had.

If you came to a complete stop. 1st... (just sayin')

Seth Brundle

Generally to maintain control in case of the need for a sudden change in speed or direction 2nd would be the best. you cannot always be sure that the way is going to be clear!

declanoneill wrote:

I go with Mini Driver

I'd go with Minnie Driver myself!

TheMonster

Def second - struggling to think of a reason for 3rd(offiically that is

Kersh

My auto 300zx drops to 2nd, so 2nd must be right,
But really it is 2nd.

funkyniff

Actually While We Are On The Subject Of Turns...
I Heard You Shouldnt Change Gears In The Middle Of A Turn.. But Where I Live There Is A Junction At The Bottom Of A Hill (well Slope)
So If You Wer In Your Test And You Went From 1st To 2nd Whilst Turning Due To The Hill Would You Fail???
Or Should You Ignore The Nasty Noise From Your Car Till Turning Is Complete?

AlisonB

if you have a rev counter anything between 2000 and 3000 would be sufficient enough.. it's probably going to be a 90 right or left so i reckon second...

ambro25

funkyniff wrote:

So If You Wer In Your Test And You Went From 1st To 2nd Whilst Turning Due To The Hill Would You Fail???

Why would you change 1st to 2nd because of a hill?

Generally, don't change until the turn is completed - but then again, don't accelerate up to 100,000 rpm in 1st while you're turning either :rolleyes:

Tobias Greeshman

funkyniff wrote:

I Heard You Shouldnt Change Gears In The Middle Of A Turn

You should never change down a gear in the middle of a turn, but its perfectly acceptable to go to a higher gear around the bend. It makes sense, dropping a gear takes longer as you have to brake.

AlisonB

trust_no_one wrote:

You should never change down a gear in the middle of a turn, but its perfectly acceptable to go to a higher gear around the bend. It makes sense, dropping a gear takes longer as you have to brake.

I wouldn't advise it on a race track though .. eh hem.. but that's another thread... :rolleyes:

Seth Brundle

trust_no_one wrote:

You should never change down a gear in the middle of a turn, but its perfectly acceptable to go to a higher gear around the bend. It makes sense, dropping a gear takes longer as you have to brake.

The theory is that if you change gear whilst turning you are not fully in control as you have only one hand on the wheel.

angeldelight

Ok, I think my instructor uses boards lol jut back from a lesson and everytime we were turning or coming to a busy roundabout he said 2nd where normally he would have said 3rd!

declanoneill

angeldelight wrote:

Ok, I think my instructor uses boards lol jut back from a lesson and everytime we were turning or coming to a busy roundabout he said 2nd where normally he would have said 3rd!

Ha! Everyone should have kept quiet until he replied saying 3rd so

camarobill

dads know best,next time u ar turning there,try fifth and pull the hand brake

leeroybrown

funkyniff wrote:

Actually While We Are On The Subject Of Turns...
I Heard You Shouldnt Change Gears In The Middle Of A Turn..

At low speeds you shouldn't need to change gear in a turn anyway. At higher speeds you definitely shouldn't change on a bend/turn. All cars, but particularly front wheel drive cars (which naturally understeer) need to be driven into a bend/turn. Changing gear on a bend lets a car coast and take the path it naturally wants to - against the direction of turn.

You must have a fairly low geared third in whatever car you are using to comfortably make right turns at low speeds.

AMurphy

angeldelight wrote:

I'm learning to drive at the min and was doing really well with my instructor so last night I went out with my dad and everything I did was wrong (aparently). So to settle an argument... .... Thanks

No idea, I was not driving.
However, generally (as my mom taught me), change down before the turn, so you can accelerate through and out out of the turn, whatever the radius of the turn.

Otherwise, you need to keep your rpm above ~1200 and possibly below 5000 and at a point whereif you booted it, the engine would not shudder, stall, ping, and has some acceleration left, etc.

Borzoi

trust_no_one wrote:

Yep! 2nd gear would be best.

The way I used to judge it when I was learning was:

• 0-10 - 1st
• 10-20 - 2nd
• 20-30 - 3rd
• 30-45 - 4th
• 45-60 - 5th

Using this ya cant go wrong, also if the engine is reving too low, drop a gear!

The way I was taught (for test purposes)
Move off in 1st
Manoeuver in 2nd
Drive in 3rd and 4th

bp_me

In the test, the best way is from 4th straight to 2nd then turn in. I find this is horrible though and usually go 4th --> 3rd and then 2nd if i need to. Of course in the test that will be a different story.

funkyniff

Borzoi wrote:

The way I was taught (for test purposes)
Move off in 1st
Manoeuver in 2nd
Drive in 3rd and 4th

okay but if you are stopped in the middle of a junction waiting for a gap in oncomming traffic so you can take a right and the junction is on a slope /hill.
do you wait till you have compleated the turn till you go up to 2nd gear??
it just my car is really noisy (kind of of putting )
and my boyfriend always says you sould get out of 1st as soon as you start moving.

jayok

okay but if you are stopped in the middle of a junction waiting for a gap in oncomming traffic so you can take a right and the junction is on a slope hill.

This came up before:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=229264

The long and short of it is you should always have both hands on the wheel when performing a turn.

Now making that turn right from a junction is a real sticking point. Technically, to complete the turn perfectly you should not have to change gear. The car should either go into 2nd before the turn is started or go into 2nd straight after the turn is completed. Doing this in practice though is tougher than it sounds!

After the discussion thread I tested my gear change in a number of situations (on the stillorgan dual carriage way, N class road turns, etc). And found I could complete the turns successfully without changing gear. Admittely when I stayed in 1st the car would rev to about 3.5k (its a petrol car) before it was straight again. But I don't consider this excessive for my car (not on a redline of 8K) or most family petrol cars. So this fact of drive does take a little more practice but should be achieveable.