How to drive a car how to drive a car
How to drive a car how to drive a car
How to Drive a Car
Learning to drive a car is a process most of us go through at some stage. Some learners love every moment of it, whilst others dread every second of being behind the wheel.
Regardless of opinions, there’s two things that are for certain; learning to drive a car is expensive and time consuming. Utilising resources such as this tutorial on how to drive a car can reduce the overall time it takes to reach test standard, therefore reducing costs.
This tutorial covers the basics in terms of the legal and safety aspects and the process involved for driving a car with a manual transmission.
Driving Legally
In order to drive on UK public roads, a driver must be at least 17 years of age and to have physically received their provisional driving licence. To ensure you receive your licence in time for your 17th birthday, you may apply for it up to 3 months before the day you turn 17. See learning to drive for further details.
There are no age restrictions or licence requirements for individuals who have access to driving a car on private land. Certain driving schools who have access to off-public road facilities offer driving courses for individuals under 17. See driving at 16 for information.
Before learning how to drive a car, run through the DSSSM safety procedure
Setting up the Car
Before we begin covering how to drive a car, you’ll need to get the car set up for you. We are all different sizes and heights, so setting up the car in order to easily reach all the controls is important in terms of safety. This procedure is called the cockpit drill and what we need to do can be remembered by DSSSM. That is:
The cockpit drill tutorial covers all of these safety procedures in much more detail. Once you have the car set up, you can begin learning how to drive a car.
Before You Drive
The following instructions are for how to drive a manual car and are for beginners with little or zero experience. If it is your first time behind the wheel:
What we are going to do is to drive the car from a stationary position for a short distance and then pull up on the left, secure and park the car. Ideally you are confident with vehicle setup (DSSSM) and the main controls detailed within the cockpit drill tutorial.
Finally, ensure your seat belt is secured, the handbrake is applied and the gear stick is in neutral (see how to change gears for further information if necessary). Now, before you drive, take a look into your left door mirror; look at how parallel the car looks with the kerb and how far away the car is from the kerb. Take a mental photo of that as you’ll need to recall it later. Right, let’s drive.
How to Drive a Car
This tutorial explains how to drive a car:
Follow this guide and learn how to drive a car
That’s the basics for learning how to drive a car by moving it off at its simplest. Don’t worry if you stall, most learners do, just start again until you get the hang of it. For further information, see how to stop stalling the car.
Clutch Wear
Finding and using the clutch bite point is an excellent method for new drivers to move off and minimise the potential of stalling. This method does however increase clutch wear. As you progress and gain confidence in clutch control, try releasing the handbrake, increasing the accelerator and bringing up the clutch from the floor simultaneously without holding it on the bite point.
To avoid stalling, you’ll need to slow lifting the clutch pedal at the bite point area, but can lift it quickly once the car has gained momentum. This takes a little more practice, but is easier long-term and reduces clutch wear.
Driving Safety Procedures
Part of the process of learning how to drive a car are safety observations and procedures. Your supervising passenger will help you initially with safety observations, but as you progress with moving off, you should include these observations:
As you move off, steer half-turn of the wheel to the right and once you reach the centre of your side of the road, straighten the wheel once again. Keep the car very slow (5 – 10 mph) in 1st gear and cancel the signal (if applied) if it didn’t automatically do so.
Stopping the car
We need to stop the car and park up on the left, similar to how it was before we had a drive, ensuring it is a safe, convenient and legal position. Remember the left door mirror mental photo? That’s where we’re heading. Before moving back over to the left:
It’s often difficult for new drivers to judge where the kerb is in relation to the vehicle. The kerb parking / pulling up on the left tutorial offers information and reference points.
Making Progress
That is essentially the first lesson for learning how to drive a car. Keep practicing and as you gain in confidence, increase your speed. To do this, you’ll need to change gears. See the changing gears tutorial for help. You will of course need to progress from there but it’s important to learn step by step and to not rush it. Below continues from the basics by pointing you to tutorials that will prove beneficial.
Driving School or Private Lessons
If you decide to use a driving school from the start, the instructor will start off by covering the cockpit drill on your first driving lesson. They will also use many routines which are covered on this site. Learning these and their meanings will help to reduce time and costs. The following routines are:
Manoeuvres
Once you have a reasonable ability for driving a car and if you are planning on taking the UK driving test, learn the driving test manoeuvres as soon as possible. They are used in the driving test to demonstrate to the examiner that you have a good level of control of the car. They require excellent observations, technique, vehicle control and clutch control. The tutorials can be found in the driving test manoeuvres section.
Pedestrian Crossings
When learning how to drive a car, an essential part of training is how to deal with pedestrians on pedestrian crossings from a drivers perspective. Read our pedestrian crossing tutorials to gain an understanding on how they should be dealt with as a driver. See pedestrian crossings for tutorials.
Learn the driving test routes
As you progress in your driving, start incorporating the driving test routes for the driving test centre of your choice. The sooner you become familiar with these routes, the better as this will increase your chances of passing the driving test.
Not only are they easier (and more relaxing) to drive than a manual, in some cases they can be better on fuel and can cost less to maintain.
If you haven’t driven an automatic car before, however, it can be all too easy to get behind the wheel and be totally perplexed by the lack of a clutch pedal and the array of options provided by the shifter.
Before you start
Most automatic gearboxes will let you select between ‘P’ (for park), ‘R’ (reverse), ‘N’ (neutral) and ‘D’ (drive).
Some automatic gearboxes will also give you the option to select first or second gear.
Having this option also helps to keep the revs down and stop the wheels from spinning when pulling away in certain situations.
You can read more about driving in adverse conditions on our driving in snow page.
The fact that a lever or selector takes the place of a gearstick in an automatic means that there are only 2 pedals: the accelerator and the brake. No clutch pedal to be found here.
Be careful not to instinctively press down on the brake pedal the way you would the clutch pedal in a manual! This will lead to an improptu emergency stop.
How to drive an automatic car
Although automatic gearboxes are generally very easy to use, the confusion comes when starting and stopping.
When you get into a car with an automatic gearbox, it should have been left in ‘park’.
How to start an automatic car
How to stop an automatic car
In the image above, you will notice two other letters on the gear shifter.
The ‘S’ stands for Sports Mode. This will often lower a car’s suspension, increase the level of sensitivity to the throttle, and increase the speed of the vehicle’s acceleration. The car will often stay in a gear longer to maximise the level of speed.
The ‘L’ refers to Low Mode. This will tell the car to remain in a lower gear for more power and less speed. This will help with towing and steep slopes.
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The different types of automatic gearboxes
Although any car which changes gears itself without the driver having to use a clutch pedal is generally considered to be an automatic, there are in fact a number of different types of automatic gearboxes.
Conventional automatic gearboxes
These use a ‘torque-converter’ to do the job of the clutch, and are more refined than other automatic ’boxes, but will use more fuel than manuals.
Continuously variable transmissions (CVT)
CVTs are popular in hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius, as they do away with cogs in favour of a belt which acts as a single gear ratio.
As well as being more efficient and more reliable, they also make for a smoother drive as the car doesn’t have to skip between gears.
A downside is slower acceleration than other automatic gearboxes, and a loud, strained engine sound can occur if you attempt to make rapid progress.
Dual-clutch automatics
These types of gearboxes are similar to a conventional automatic gearbox, but two clutches (operated automatically) replace the torque converter.
They line up alternating gears, meaning the next ratio is prepared and allowing rapid gear changes.
Automated manual gearboxes
These aren’t as popular as they used to be, but are still used in cheaper cars such as the Skoda Citigo.
These act like a normal manual, but select gears automatically and operat the clutch by computer rather than using a pedal.
What are the advantages of automatic gearboxes?
Although automatic gearboxes traditionally have a reputation for being high maintenance, they are more reliable than they used to be.
As well as being easier to drive, in some cases automatic versions of cars can actually be more efficient than their manual counterparts.
Automatic cars are, however, usually more expensive to buy, which will not help your cause if you’re a new driver already facing high insurance premiums.
If you are looking to save money on car insurance as a new driver, you might want to look into black box car insurance. Or you might want to consider temporary car insurance to cover you for borrowing a car.
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Can I drive a manual with an automatic licence?
No. If you have an automatic driving licence, you can only drive an automatic.
While it restricts the range of cars you can drive, some people find it easier to learn and subsequently pass their test in an automatic as it takes away a lot of the aspects of learning to drive some people struggle with, like clutch control and using the gears.
If, however, you have a manual licence, you can drive both manuals and automatics.
For more information on learning to drive, visit our learning to drive section.
Once you’ve passed your test, make sure that you purchase RAC breakdown cover to make sure that you’re covered in the event that your vehicle breaks down.
Do you prefer driving a manual or an automatic car?
More learning to drive guides
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If you want to learn how to drive a manual car read through our easy guide and find out how to do it in just a few steps.
Before you start
Typically, manual cars will have three pedals: clutch, brake and accelerator (in that order, left to right).
The clutch pedal is the one that makes driving a manual car more difficult than an auto.
Without going into too much detail, the clutch is essentially two metal plates that connect the engine to the drive wheels.
So by pressing down on the clutch pedal, you’re disconnecting the engine from the wheels.
How to drive a manual car
If you stall, apply the brakes, turn the engine off, return the gear stick to neutral and begin the process again.
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How to drive a manual car on a hill
To drive uphill in a manual car you’ll often need to change to a lower gear otherwise you’ll lose power. Depending on your speed, just change down a gear or two, and drive as normal.
You may find you need to put your foot down on the accelerator a little further than usual to acheive a normal level of speed when going uphill. Just be careful when you return to level ground, and be ready to ease off the accelerator and change to a higher gear.
To do a hill start, follow the instructions above, but you may want to engage the handbrake, rather than use the footbrake. This is so that you can use one foot for the clutch, and the other one for the accelerator as soon as possible, which will help you to avoid rolling backwards.
It’s even more important to get the strongest bite possible when you’re using the clutch on a hill start. Follow our full hill start guide here for more advice.
How to avoid damaging the clutch
Over time, you’ll get used to a car’s clutch and have a good understanding of where its bite point is, as well as how many revs you need to give it to move off.
It sounds complicated but you’ll develop a natural feel for it with practice.
If you’re not careful, though, it can be easy to wear the clutch out prematurely – and that’s likely to cost at least £300, rising well into four figures for some cars. Follow these tips and your clutch should easily last for well over 100,000 miles:
Don’t use the clutch to hold the car on hills or creep forward at junction
If you’re waiting at a junction, in traffic or at a roundabout, it’s tempting to hold the car at the clutch’s bite point, allowing you a quick getaway when you can move. But this can cause unnecessary wear, especially if you do it often.
Stop, put the handbrake on, and only use the clutch when you’re ready to pull away.
Don’t hold the clutch down when you’re stopped
Again, it’s tempting to leave your car in gear and keep your foot on the clutch when you’re stopped in traffic.
This puts a lot of pressure on the clutch release bearing, however, which could wear out quickly if you do it regularly.
Keep the revs to a minimum
To avoid stalling, especially during hilly manoeuvres, many drivers are too heavy with the accelerator.
This can cause unnecessary wear on the clutch plates.
You need a minimum amount of revs to get the car to move – and if you’re gentle enough, most cars can move without using the accelerator at all.
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How many gears do manual cars have?
Years ago, was normal for manual cars to have just four gears.
In theory, this would make them easier to drive than the cars of today, but back then you’d also have to learn old-fashioned techniques such as double declutching as they didn’t have synchromesh gearboxes.
Gearboxes were also much vaguer than today, making it more difficult to find gears.
Today, most cars have at least five gears, although six gears are becoming increasingly common.
By having an extra-high sixth gear, the engine can run at little more than tickover during motorway cruising, helping reduce fuel consumption.
Seven-speed manual gearboxes are rare but they do exist – you can get one in supercars such as the Porsche 911 and Chevrolet Corvette.
For more information on learning to drive, visit our learing to drive section.
What are the advantages of manual gearboxes?
Whether you prefer manual or automatic gearboxes will come down to personal preference, but there are some clear advantages to driving a manual.
For a start, they’re generally cheaper to buy and better on fuel than automatics.
There are a number of reasons for this – automatic gearboxes are usually heavier than manuals, and traditional torque-converter auto ’boxes would waste energy building the resistance of hydraulic fluid to transfer drive from the engine to the wheels.
Manual gearboxes are generally better for those who like to feel in control, too.
If you’re planning an overtake, for example, in a manual you can drop down a gear in advance for a quick reaction when you need the acceleration.
In an automatic, there might be slight hesitation when you floor the accelerator.
Today, many automatics come with manual or sport modes for this situation, however.
The same applies in poor conditions such as driving across a muddy field or in the snow.
An automatic gearbox might get confused and select the wrong gear, spinning the wheels or struggling to maintain momentum.
In a manual, you can select a higher gear to increase torque, or slow down using the gears rather than the brakes, helping the driver remain in control.
How to ‘heel-and-toe’
When you get used to driving a manual, you may wish to learn more advanced driving techniques such as how to “heel-and-toe”.
The name of this is actually a bit misleading – the pedal setup of cars used to mean you could increase the revs of the engine by toe-ing the brake pedal and blipping the throttle with your heel.
Today, it’s easier to rest the left of your right foot on the brake and blip the accelerator with the right half of your foot.
The benefit of this, when slowing down, is to enable you to rev match as you work down through the gearbox as you brake.
In truth, it’s a little unnecessary – during normal road driving, there’s little to be gained by doing this rather than slowing down using the brake before disengaging the clutch and selecting an appropriate gear, rather than overlapping braking and changing gear.
Once you’ve learned how to do it, however, it’s a satisfying skill – and if you ever take your car on a track day, it could shave seconds from your lap times.
If you’re thinking about doing it for the first time, it’s best to try it on private land without any other cars about and also read our step by step guide to attending your first track day.
After you’ve learned to drive a manual, it’s worth looking at the RAC’s breakdown cover product, which will give you complete peace of mind when you start driving in your own vehicle.
How to Drive an Automatic Car
Driving an automatic transmission (AT) car is supposedly easier than driving a manual transmission (MT) or stick shift car. However, a lack of practice or experience driving an automatic car means the driver can make mistakes. This is especially the case if they are used to driving a stick shift already. As the body’s muscle memory has to adapt to a new operating system, it is going to take some getting used to. It will depend on the region in which you live, but automatic cars are becoming the de facto transmission type for new cars.
Whether you have only driven stick or never driven before, we at oneHOWTO explain the basics of how to drive an automatic car. We will provide some tricks and tips which will help you navigate an automatic transmission as well as highlight some common problems drivers can experience.
Before you even open the door of your automatic car, you should take the time to carefully read its instruction manual. This will give you background on the workings of an automatic transmission and help you to become familiar with the theory before you go on to the practice. Not only will it give you general information how to to drive AT’s, it will help you with your specific car. The manufacturer may also give some specific help and tips to control this particular model.
There are different types of automatic transmission which have handling specifications to which you need to adapt. This is not only for your ability to drive an automatic car, but to help prolong the car’s road life. The most important types of automatic car are:
It will depend on the type of automatic car, but the majority will not have a clutch pedal. This is because a clutch is used to facilitate manual gear changing, something you don’t need to do in an automatic. If you are used to driving a manual transmission, this can provide problems in terms of ergonomics. This is especially true for those who drive several times a day. You may find yourself trying to push a pedal which doesn’t exist.
This is why a helpful tip for driving an automatic car is to get comfortable before you start moving. Knowing the type of automatic car is important, so take a look to see if there are any paddle shifters you may need. Set your left foot on the footrest. This will avoid it being restless if you are used to driving stick.
Although you only have two pedals (the accelerator and the brake), you will drive it similarly to how you drive when you have a clutch. This means you only use your right foot for pressing down on the pedals. It is impossible for you to need to used these two pedals at the same time. You also want to avoid any crossover or confusion. When driving an automatic car, the driver’s left foot should always remain at rest.
If you are having trouble with your automatic car and find it stalls regularly, it could be something other than your driving. If this happens with you, then you can take a look at our article on why your automatic car is stalling.
Many first time automatic car drivers find it difficult to let go of the control they feel when driving a manual transmission. An automatic transmission can give the driver a feeling as if the car is self-driven and, by extension, out of your control. Drivers used to driving stick can find the feel of an automatic quite unnerving at first.
This is why it is also important to understand the mindset of driving automatic as well as any practical issues involved. For example, when you use the brake on an automatic car, you will be essentially forcing it to lower gear. You may not be using the clutch to do so, but the same basic principles are at work. Also, automatic cars are better at adapting to different driving styles because they do so automatically.
One of the best ways to get into the mindset of driving an automatic car is to get to grips with its fundamentals. Fortunately, we can help you by providing this article on how to understand automatic car gears.
Low traction situations are those which make it difficult to adhere to the road. This could be when the roads are wet, icy, snowy or even gravelly. Many stick shift drivers are used to using their gears to keep the car under control in such difficult conditions. In an automatic car, they will not have this adaptability, so you may need to be extra careful.
Fortunately, many automatic cars have a winter mode or similar adaptation to drive in low-traction conditions. If you are driving an automatic car for the first time in adverse weather conditions, be extra careful. Drive slower if you have to and always obey traffic guidelines.
You may have seen that your automatic car has a gear shift stick. This is not the same as a stick shift gearbox, but is still necessary for driving automatic cars. The gear selector in an automatic car has the following positions:
You may have other options on the lever of your automatic car gear selector, which will be marked 1, 2 and 3. These options are intended to be used as low gears for special situations. These include very high slopes or cases where you may require faster than usual acceleration. You do not need to use them to move between positions D and P. In general, these options are not required in normal driving conditions. Most automatic cars also have overdrive. You can read with us to know more about how overdrive works in automatic cars.
To start an automatic car, the position of the lever must be kept in P. Some models even block the engine starting mechanism of the engine if the gear selector is not in this position. To start an automatic car:
When making a short stop, like at a traffic light, simply keep the position of the lever on D and the break pedal down. If your battery has suddenly stopped in the middle of the road, you will want to know how to jumpstart an automatic car.
These are our most basic tips on how to drive an automatic car. Of course, the best way to learn to drive any type of car is through careful practice. You will need lessons and to pass your driving test before these tips on driving an automatic car will be helpful. We hope this article helped you understand the basics of AT cars, especially if you’re changing from a manual to an automatic car.
If you’re considering whether you should buy an automatic car or a manual transmission car, knowing the differences between the two types will best help you to make the decision. For some extra help, don’t miss our article on how to move an automatic car with a dead battery.
If you want to read similar articles to How to Drive an Automatic Car, we recommend you visit our Cars category.