Inappropriate learners

[MikeR]

being a stick insect build of a youngster driving a Triumph 2000  with no power steering , heavy clutch and notchy gearbox was my learning car !!!

[SiC]

Switch one off and restart a few times in short succession when hot and you will find they flood very easily when hot too.

 

I did that loads of times with mine and never had a problem. Only problem is when the engine is cold as the clearences are too wide until the insides have heated up and expanded. If it floods when hot then either the start or coil pack are knackered, or the engine isn't sealing properly (apex seals chocked up with crap).

 

The RAC procedure for dealing with these is to remove the fuel pump relay or fuse and crank it till clear and if it still wont go they summon a second patrol (because they dont trust a customer to not fuck it up) and do a tow-start.

I think it was one of the breakdown guys on here I saw had a fly-lead with a switch in it that they used to bypass the fuse and feather the fuel pump off and on while trying to get them to re-start.

That maybe but as I said, it's completely unnecessary to remove the fuel pump relay or fuse. As the RX8 manual says, you can put your foot to the floor to cut fuel.

 

I did this a number of times to clear mine. Only had to call the breakdown recovery out twice. Mostly as I became blaze about it and pushed my luck further and further with it. Until I flooded it and the battery was too weak to get it going. The second time with recovery I had to get them to pull it off the drive and I bumped started it down the hill. Also didn't help that I parked it on a hill with the nose pointing down, making it harder to clear as the fuel couldn't easily run out the exhaust. As it was still under warranty I didn't care too much if it buggered it up.

[DodgeRover]

My instructors car was a Mk 3 Escort 5 door with tow bar.My uncle was the instructor,he used to cover the L plates up & tow his scramble bike at the weekend.

t.

I didn't realise learners weren't allowed to tow so was out with trials bikes on the trailer most weeks and towed the horsebox a couple of times.

Good job for my Mum or Dad we never got stopped

[Jerzy Woking]

My wife learnt to drive in the Saab 9000 I had at the time, complete with a (too) big turbo which did suffer from a "bit" of lag, an engine producing over 300 bhp, competion clutch, custom built exhaust that was a "bit" loud, brakes that were somewhat wooden until hot, and a roll cage. 

 

She did have a couple of lessons with a driving school and passed her test in their Micra. Only had two minors faults on her pass sheet too, which was amazing as she was a shite driver. She ruined the two Clio's I got for her in quick sucession, wrecking the gearboxes in both.

[omegod]

I "taught" my mate to drive in a 2.0 Capri ghia.

When i say taught i mean encouraged him to drive to the only Mcds in the area only 10 miles away during lunch break in the upper sixth.

We may have hit 1000 mph on the Coast road back from Southport. A road that some 33 years later has speed limits of 30, 40 and 50 but at the time was NSL.

Legalised joy riding. it was his dad's company car and his parents were on holiday.

He may have also practiced hand brake turns down the beach car park.

My 15 yr old brother took my dads brand new Primera for a drive and took out 12 fence posts on the coast road, dad had to have him charged with twoc to get it repaired 

 

[iainrcz]

I "learnt" with my dad in my £100 fiat panda that liked snapping clutch cables.

Good fun.

Taught me how to change the cables!

I'm sure I should be owed shares in Quinton Hazell.

 

Sent from my VFD 710 using Tapatalk

[UltraWomble]

Both me and my mum took some lessons in this Lotus...

 

(Dads mid life crisis).

[brownnova]

A mate of mine learnt in a Series 1 Landy... it was a bugger to drive.. and he had to learn to double de clutch!

 

another mate bought a Series 3 to learn in... neither did their tests in them though.

[Stanky]

Re the 'posh' learner cars, I too was confused by this until a youth we know said that it was a marketing gimmick. You know how years ago taxis and driving instructors and stuff used to 'SEO' themselves in the phonebook by naming themselves AAA taxis or 1st premier driving school so they were top of the listings in the yellow pages? Since this isn't a thing any more, and youths today are basically magpies, the instructors have cottoned on that if they have a posh learner car, the kids all want to learn to drive in it. And probably pay a premium for the lessons.

 

Round here there are various S-Line Audi A3 learner cars, Mercedes A-Classes, BMW X1s, that sort of thing as its desirable to be seen in, and be able to take pictures of to put on your instagram feed or whatever.

 

Incidentally, near work there is a heroic chap who runs a driving school, the steed of choice is an R-reg bubble Rover 214 in swamp green. He's always out and about so clearly has plenty of business. Perhaps people like it in an ironic way? Never seen it in a cloud of steam at the side of the road either. 

 

I learned to drive in a Peugeot 306 Meridian, it was actually pretty decent as a learner car.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

....visibility out the back is rather shit.

Is that not a problem with most modern cars, though, thanks to, er, improved* safety* standards which mandate thicker pillars and reduced effective glass area all round?

[Pillock]

There was a local driving school who, when the Mini Cooper was a new thing, advertised themselves as "Come and learn in a new Mini Cooper"

 

Bill Plant uses premium cars - BMW 1 Series or Audi A3 - presumably because the resale prices are better and essentially they're all franchised drivers with leased cars.

[Captain Furious]

I learned to drive in my dads Ford Orion 1.4L. I had lessons with both my Dad and an instructor and took my test in it. My dad figured learning how to manoeuvre in a car with a boot would better prepare me for driving in the real world, or some such nonsense. Never really did get the hang of parallel parking even now.

 

Deferred success the first time...passed 2nd.

 

Kids these days, with their power steering and ABS...don’t know they’re born etc..

[Tadhg Tiogar]

There was a local driving school who, when the Mini Cooper was a new thing, advertised themselves as "Come and learn in a new Mini Cooper"...

We had a local instructor who offered lessons in a Mk.1 Mazda MX-5.

 

I've always thought that there is logic in learning to drive in a big car - if you can handle the size of it and get used to the proportions, then you should not have a problem in a small car.

[MorrisItalSLX]

My mate had a driving lesson in a Range Rover Classic because the instructor's Corolla broke down ealier in the day so he brought his personal car. Best of all, he had only driven said Corolla and a Mazda 121 prior!

[DSdriver]

...Kids these days, with their power steering and ABS...don’t know they’re born etc..

Kids these days with synchromesh on all gears and power brakes

I learned in a bubble car and passed in a Triumph Herald.

[Guest Hooli]

I learned to drive in the driving shool's Nova 1.4SR, dad's Nova 1.2 Merit & mum's Prairie 1.8SGL.

 

I've never liked Novas since, by what logic is fitting the driver's pedals behind the gearstick a good idea?

[Lord Sterling]

Lol, K11 Micras have always been a part of my life. The first car I started taking lessons in was a late K11 Micra in that Purple colour they did. This would've been way back in 2001/2. Then around 2003/4 I started taking lessons a Fiesta then a Fiat Grande Punto.

 

Sis_Sterling is currently learning in the K11 roffle Micra. I teach her every now and again when I've got time. She has now started taking lessons with a proper instructor who praised her on her clutch control and praised me for my teaching!

 

Some years ago, I also taught a mate to pass his test in his Mk4 Fiesta Ghia.

 

The first car I actually ever drove was a LHD (I was living in Belgium at the time) 1989 Toyota Corolla hatchback that belonged to my Dad.

 

I agree that some of the learner cars these days are a bit inappropriate as a vehicle to learn in. There are still new cars these days that are still pretty small and basic like the Toyota Aygo and its counterparts, at the higher-end of choice an A1 or A3 is still a pretty good for real life experience but an X1 isn't a car I'd recommend as a learner car. Yes, most cars these days have sensors/road correction type facilities but still, not everyone who learns in an X1 is going to get straight into an equivalent. Imagine learning and getting used to an X1 and once passed, having to get used to 1998 Focus, very different worlds.

 

There is a sign in a loxal shop window advertising 'Come and learn to drive in a BMW X1'. For me, personally, it's a shame that we have reached a point where premium brands are being used to entice the idea of learning a skill.

 

I agree that at some point soon, all cars will be very high spec things with every sensor going, but for now I think some down to earth cars are a little more realistic and can certainly raise road awareness when driving without having to rely on electronic car sensors. Sadly, with all these sensors these days, I can see a lot more accidents happening because people aren't aware that they are supposed to be paying attention to whats going on around them.

[OwdChina]

In 1979 I learnt to drive in Dads 1968 Morris Oxford, which was a bit embarrassing at the time as it was falling apart, slower than slow, a shade of bottle green and the paint had gone matt due to neglect.......not cool at all.

 

Anyways....off topic......but,

 

 

A couple of years later Dad remarried and started rocking around in a mustard yellow Marina Coupe, a great improvement on the Oxford but still crap. Forward to 1990ish..........Boxing day having lunch at his wifes brothers farm and having a nosey in one of the barns....... and........ surprise........in a corner it's the old Oxford, covered in all sorts of shite and with just about every creature known to man having lived in it at some point.

After not much negotiation it was mine and promptly removed to the lockup, to emerge a few weeks later after some welding, strengthening, door plates and H frame, destined for Hednesford Civil War........where it actually did rather well......a fitting send off I thought. 

[fordperv]

I first learned clutch control in a cortina mk4 v6, didn't drive properly until my dad taught me to drive in his sierra 1.6L when I was 12 he used to take me to off road locations so I could drive around, he used to let me drive it around the carparks while him and mum were shopping, I learnt to initiate and control overseer in that car at 13 on grass in a flat field he said it would be a useful thing to master, I think that progressed into me being a bit of a loonatic though as I mastered j turns etc as well, at 17 I got some lessons bought for me by mum and dad I got a purple micra as a learner car, I didn't let on about having had a bit of practice in a car, I drove my modified orion 1.6i ghia around on L plates with my dad in as well, how cool I must've looked my dad turning up at college in my shiney black orion with L plates on and me driving away in it shades on

[Rave]

I learned to drive when I was 13 in my mum's 2CV, round the field behind my Grandad's house. We still had it 4 years later so I was added to the insurance, and on the morning of my 17th birthday I drove us all to school . Only had 9 proper lessons in a (crap) Corsa B 1.2, though I did fail my first test- by not knowing the rules of the road properly.

[Bren]

I passed my test in my first SD1. Lack of power steering meant the three point turn nearly brought on a stroke.

[UltraWomble]

 

 

The first car I actually ever drove was a LHD (I was living in Belgium at the time) 1989 Toyota Corolla hatchback that belonged to my Dad.

 

My mate Daz learned in a LHD Sherpa van, twas his dads works van, later on became Daz's own van bedecked with beds, a stove and additional side windows from the rear doors of an escort van.

[forddeliveryboy]

My test was on the hottest early September day ever, in a twenty year old brown P6 2200 which had heat sink to fry an egg even in mildly warm summer weather.

 

I'd learnt to drive (on public roads) in this, with its decent handling, good brakes and soft power. And crap handbrake, not well-suuited to 3 point turns on a heavily cambered road. The examiner mopped his brow again, and suggested I start to apply it a few seconds before the wheels hit the kerb. I was told off for stopping too rapidly in the emergency stop and was convinced, given zero lessons, I'd failed.

[New POD]

My 15 yr old brother took my dads brand new Primera for a drive and took out 12 fence posts on the coast road, dad had to have him charged with twoc to get it repaired

 

On the Southbound dual carriage way bit just leaving Southport. I came off the roundabout in the rain in my Dad's 1.6 sierra estate and spun it. Backwards over the central reservation and ended up facing the wrong way on the Northbound side.

I drove straight to a scrap yard and replaced the damaged wheel.

The dent in the floor was pointed out to my dad by the Ford dealer and he never knew why it was their.

[cros]

I learned and took my first test at 16 on one of these in 1970.

It was an earlier model without indicators so you had to waggle your arm out of the window.

Two wheeler one was done on a borrowed Suzuki Stinger 125 twin as my own bike was an Ariel 350 and the biggest size allowed for taking the test on then was 250. You don't see many Stingers about any more, not surprising as it weighed about the same as a quiet fart.

 

 

The last test was passed on the second attempt in one of these;

 

 

It was old and horrible to drive; gear selection was a lucky dip due to the sloppy linkage. The examiner observed that I didn't really know how many gears there were. He wasn't wrong, but later I found the answer to be 6.

[UltraWomble]

^^^

I think I have mentioned before that Mrs Womble grew up on a farm in Inskip - first driving experience from the tender age of 14 was a LHD ex army( not sure whos army)  Unimog 404.

Probably why she has no qualms about driving anything big nor her frankly amazing ability to reverse trailers into narrow gaps.

[AMC Rebel]

I loved those Dodges (probably cos I never had to/got to drive one).  They seem to have been available with a bewildering variety of engines - is that a Perkins badge on that one?

[Junkman]

Granted, I made my licence in a country where one has to make a proper licence, instead of one mediocre driver teaching an unsuspecting novice his bad driving habits. I then went to buy a car, but came back on a 750 Mach IV H2. My first car I bought a year later, it was a '60 Buick Le Sabre floppytop with the 325hp 401.

No idea how I survived, but I did. In fact, the first little shunt in traffic I had after more than ten years of driving.

[sierraman]

I've read somewhere that people salute you and move out of your way if you drive an Audi Q3. Therefore I'll learn to drive in one. Then when I pass my test I'll spend roughly 60% ofy disposable income on borrowing one for 2 years. I expect I'll probably spend time in my kitchen window looking out at it wondering what the other people on the Barrett estate think about my Audi.

[cros]

I loved those Dodges (probably cos I never had to/got to drive one). They seem to have been available with a bewildering variety of engines - is that a Perkins badge on that one?

The one I took my test in had the V8 Perkins; they weren't greatly liked. My firm had a few SWB 4 wheelers left with this cab, 6354 turbos and very light alloy tippers. Empty they were very fast by modern standards. The company had about 25 later Commando cabbed ones, these were intercooled and seemed like a good vehicle to me, but I mainly drove plant so am no expert. Though it was quite a decent size company (part of Weetabix then) these are the only photos I can find. I remember the ERF, it was relegated to yard and local duties by then and replaced by Barreiros Dodges, which, I think, were not much liked either. There was also a very early appearance of a Japanese 8 wheeler (Hino?) which was quickly rejected. How times have changed.

 

 

Looking at the cars parked behind it I'm guessing the ERF was still in use after I left as the Cortina was current during my time.