I come bearing news.

[TheInsanity1234]

Not much time wasted there then. Well done that man. Good score?

Have you had your first on road lesson yet? What car does the instructor have? Are you imsuresd for practice in the Yeti?

48 out of 50 for multiple choice.

56 out of 75 for hazard perception.

Happy with them!

I've just had my first on-road lesson! It went well

The instructor has a K12 Micra.

Yes, I am

[waremark]

All good. Well done. Was it more or less difficult than you expected? The on road lesson, that is.

How long before you pratice without dual controls? Which parent is going to accompany you?

[TheInsanity1234]

All good. Well done. Was it more or less difficult than you expected? The on road lesson, that is.

If I'm honest, my only difficulty was getting used to the throttle response of the car, and the braking feel.
I'm used to go-karts, so the throttle and brakes are very instantaneous and very obvious in their response, whereas the Micra has quite a lazy response. There's a good half second between pushing down the throttle and the car actually speeding up.
Almost like:
Me: (pushes throttle down)
Car: "Are you sure? Hmm... Oh alright then. (vroooooooom)

The brakes are a different thing entirely! On a go-kart, you press them, and immediately, the kart slows down. The car, you push them. Not much happens. So you push a bit more. still nothing happens, so you push a bit more and WHOA THE BRAKES ARE WORKING!

How long before you pratice without dual controls?

Not long! I've already driven the Yeti twice today!

Which parent is going to accompany you?

Either of them will. It won't be a case of aimless driving around just to drive, my parents will let me drive whenever there's a journey to be done which won't take in motorways, and doesn't need to be done in a hurry.

They're going to let me drive the first leg of the journey up to Liverpool tomorrow, so that means going on a dual carriageway and doing 70

[TheInsanity1234]

And thanks, everyone else, for the congratulation messages!

[TheInsanity1234]

Oh yeah, and I just wanted to mention, I've noticed myself actually subconsciously rev-matching - not very accurately, but I'm still doing the whole 'push up some revs before connecting the clutch' thing.

[WhoseGeneration]

Apology for my belated reply to also offer congratulations, just back from a holiday to one of the last supposed self proclaimed socialist countries. An interesting experience which has raised many questions in my and my wife's minds

However, back to you and your journey towards licenced driving. Go Karts?, hmm, designed for competitive driving, something you said you were not interested in and here you reference them in terms of control response.

The K12 Micra, my wife has one, the hot one and it's a modern ECU controlled car which means you have to be on it to boss it. Your instructor will not allow that.

Ask your instructor to let you have the owners manual to read and then you'll come to a greater understanding of the systems, although the manual doesn't explain some of the braking systems, EBD and NBAS and your learner Micra will not have the ESP my wife's does.
There's a point to the old AD way with brakes, pedal push before moving to ensure there's some and then the running brake test, to get a feel for the particular vehicle and that braking is balanced. There's also an argument, even in these days of split braking systems, for a running test of the emergency brake.

Remember, modern stuff is set up for the average driver and emissions stuff.
That's why modern performance cars have selectable modes.
My basic rule is, lack of a cable from pedal to throttle means there's going to be a programmed input involved.

Have fun finding out which is what those here do, although always in a responsible manner.

[TheInsanity1234]

However, back to you and your journey towards licenced driving. Go Karts?, hmm, designed for competitive driving, something you said you were not interested in and here you reference them in terms of control response.

I often drove them when I was younger, as I was part of an organisation that organised days out for deaf children, so I have plenty of experience of them. However, I'm still not keen on competitive driving as a hobby. It was more just a bit of fun between friends.

The K12 Micra, my wife has one, the hot one and it's a modern ECU controlled car which means you have to be on it to boss it. Your instructor will not allow that.

Eh?

Ask your instructor to let you have the owners manual to read and then you'll come to a greater understanding of the systems, although the manual doesn't explain some of the braking systems, EBD and NBAS and your learner Micra will not have the ESP my wife's does.

Nah, it's a Micra. I'd be impressed if it even had disk brakes anywhere!

There's a point to the old AD way with brakes, pedal push before moving to ensure there's some and then the running brake test, to get a feel for the particular vehicle and that braking is balanced. There's also an argument, even in these days of split braking systems, for a running test of the emergency brake.

I do prod the brakes when starting, but the instructor certainly didn't mention anything about running brake tests.

Remember, modern stuff is set up for the average driver and emissions stuff.
That's why modern performance cars have selectable modes.
My basic rule is, lack of a cable from pedal to throttle means there's going to be a programmed input involved.

Indeed.

Have fun finding out which is what those here do, although always in a responsible manner.

Already have come to conflict with my parents over how I drive!

I drove on the A419 on Saturday and Sunday on the way to and from Liverpool (Was only a part of the journey, obviously!) and I was doing a GPS 70/71 (indicated 75), and my parents were moaning at me for doing 71, despite the fact they completely failed to notice that I'd taken into account my inexperience, and thus, was leaving a following gap of 3 to 4 seconds.

Their moaning was done whilst my father proceeds to drive at 69 mph on the motorway, and following so closely to the car in front that I didn't even manage to reach "a" in that phrase "only a fool breaks the two second rule"

Also, the fact I was slowing down for corners off the dual carriageway (on the twisties) using acceleration sense, and only touching the brakes every now and then, seemed to go straight over their heads.

Along with the fact I barely cracked 20 mph through our village because it has plenty of narrow roads and blind bends.

*facepalm*

Parents, huh?

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

Commendable traits if you're getting them right all the time. Try not to get over-confident. Remember in a Yeti four up, at 70 mph that's a lot of car to stop and it's going to take a while to do so. Whilst not encouraging you to hold anybody up, do take account of the length of time you've been driving and allow for all kinds of potential disruptive outside influences (have you been exposed to a sudden strong sidewind yet, for example, such as you may get when crossing the big bridge just North of Cirencester on the road you mentioned?).

[onlinegenie]

Congratulations and belated happy birthday (I too was on holiday last week and am still catching up).

Why were you visiting Liverpool? Is it a regular thing? If you come back this time next year I could meet you for a beer (I assume it was your 17th birthday last week!).

[akirk]

worth also remembering that part of AD is giving others confidence in you - i.e. you drive not just your car - but the situation... if that includes parents in the car, then you need to consider them in how you drive... I live just off the A419 and there are times when 70 / 71 is very slow but other times when it is fast - depends on the traffic and weather - there are places where the wind really pushes the car around / places where the road camber is all wrong and throws you into the central reservation / places where there is a sudden change of road surface... A road like that is not simply a NSL dual carriageway it has a number of other things you should consider...

enjoy the driving step by step, don't worry about having to be perfect immediately - but enjoy the journey as well

Alasdair

[TheInsanity1234]

Commendable traits if you're getting them right all the time. Try not to get over-confident. Remember in a Yeti four up, at 70 mph that's a lot of car to stop and it's going to take a while to do so. Whilst not encouraging you to hold anybody up, do take account of the length of time you've been driving and allow for all kinds of potential disruptive outside influences (have you been exposed to a sudden strong sidewind yet, for example, such as you may get when crossing the big bridge just North of Cirencester on the road you mentioned?).

Only 3-up, but indeed, and I was aware of that, which is why I was making sure of the huge following distance.

I've not yet experienced a sidewind whilst driving, but I do know what bridge you're talking about.
But I have experienced change in camber, there's a road that goes along the bottom of my valley, and there's one part where the camber is very gentle, and suddenly gets very steep, just before a right-hand corner (if you're travelling west), which is an ideal combination to throw you off the road if you're not paying attention.

Congratulations and belated happy birthday (I too was on holiday last week and am still catching up).

Ta very much!

Why were you visiting Liverpool? Is it a regular thing? If you come back this time next year I could meet you for a beer (I assume it was your 17th birthday last week!).

Visiting my sister and her boyfriend at Liverpool university!
I'll pass on the beer and just have coca cola
And yes it was my 17th birthday

worth also remembering that part of AD is giving others confidence in you - i.e. you drive not just your car - but the situation... if that includes parents in the car, then you need to consider them in how you drive... I live just off the A419 and there are times when 70 / 71 is very slow but other times when it is fast - depends on the traffic and weather - there are places where the wind really pushes the car around / places where the road camber is all wrong and throws you into the central reservation / places where there is a sudden change of road surface... A road like that is not simply a NSL dual carriageway it has a number of other things you should consider...

enjoy the driving step by step, don't worry about having to be perfect immediately - but enjoy the journey as well

Alasdair

When I was driving on it, it was at 11 am on Saturday so very quiet, and it was about 10:30 pm on the way back on Sunday, so very quiet again.
But I was actually staying at a GPS 70, the only times I crept up to 71 was because I was going on a downhill gradient and hadn't lifted quite enough to maintain my speed.

[Ancient]

Many happy returns.

I'd taken into account my inexperience, and thus, was leaving a following gap of 3 to 4 seconds.

Only 3-up, but indeed, and I was aware of that, which is why I was making sure of the huge following distance.

Whilst the '2-second rule' is often quoted, remember that the reason that "only a fool" breaks it is that it is a minimum practical distance (and only then in the dry, good conditions). Three to four seconds is not a "huge following distance" by any means.

[TripleS]

I'll pass on the beer and just have coca cola

OK, get me an invitation, and I'll have the beer, then.

Oh, hang on, it's Liverpool. On second thought I prefer the wheels to remain on my car.

[onlinegenie]

I'll pass on the beer and just have coca cola

OK, get me an invitation, and I'll have the beer, then.

Oh, hang on, it's Liverpool. On second thought I prefer the wheels to remain on my car.

That stereotype is completely out of date! They won't take the wheels off your car (provided you keep your speed above 40mph at all times) .

[TripleS]

I'll pass on the beer and just have coca cola

OK, get me an invitation, and I'll have the beer, then.

Oh, hang on, it's Liverpool. On second thought I prefer the wheels to remain on my car.

That stereotype is completely out of date! They won't take the wheels off your car (provided you keep your speed above 40mph at all times) .

That sounds a tall order for a doddery old git.