tips for driving?

[Gravija]

hey all, im a new driver with a permit and a 92 legacy LS

i drive pretty well (according to my dad), but are there any tips you can give me on driving better?

i tend not to be able to curb approacph all that well (mostly at night are my problems cause i have no idea where im supposed to look to tell if my car is near enough) and probably parallel parking (going to learn it this weekend)

i also can't seem to stay in my lane (drift to right) and don't pay attention except to what's in front of me

also, will i eventually get a feel of where the speeds in mph are when i press down on the gas pedal?

and what's the hand position you use to turn, because at night i don't seem to turn as well as i do in the day


thanks

[Yukonart]

My best advice:


PRACTICE


. . . and lots of it. Really, it's the best way to get a "feel" for where you car is in the lane, near the curb, or in a turn.

[ciper]

Make sure your alignment is good and your tires are pumped up.

Since you are just starting out read about the correct seating position. That way you will get used to driving the right way.

[EJ22TGC8]

To avoid drifting out of your lane focus on the exit of you turn, or if you are going straight, the horizon. Looking at the exit of the turn lets your periferal vision do alot of the work. Worked great for me when I was first learning.

[Kelly]

My dad told me to imagine that there was a stack of crates, filled with eggs, in the passenger seat.

[LaureltheQueen]

my mom drives like a grandma, and when i got my first car (91 crx Si) i drove it crazy(bad move) at any rate, my mom would push down on the passenger floor, like there was a brake there, as we came to a corner or stop.

[evolutionmovement]

Excellent first car.

Don't look at the guy ahead of you, he may drive in to a ditch and you probably wouldn't want to follow him . Look to where you want to go and practice dividing your attention so that you develop using your peripheral vision to spot the sides of the road and down at bad pavement (in New England anyway). Always keep most of your attention on the straight ahead, of course.

Dirt roads are good to get a feel for your car's footprints. You can practice seeing how close you can get to small rocks or depressions without actually hitting them with the tires. Try turning around them after you get the straight line sense. Eventually you'll be able to place half of your tire tread into a pot hole while leaving the other half on good pavement. Try avoiding dirt obstacles while looking ahead, not at the road. This will help develop your lower peripheral vision so you can sense and avoid road hazards without staring at the ground and losing your ability to anticipate the road and other drivers ahead. It will also help you get a feel for how suspension reacts do changing surfaces.

Don't try to drive fast to start! That's most important. Driving fast is not like driving slow with faster reactions. Its more like the difference between driving on dry pavement versus snow. I can drive well today because my first driveable car was a 73HP wagon. I lucked out by having to develop skills that weren't dependent on power, but more important (braking, cornering, left-foot braking, thinking ahead). These are safety skills that will also help you later on if you want to drive quickly. Good luck.

Next lesson: J-turns and high speed parallel parking...

Steve

[THAWA]

turn the middle side topwise

(hope someone gets that)

anyways 9-3 gives the best control of the wheel. You can make a pretty large turn with your hands in this position. The seating thing is something like wrist on top of the wheel when you are sitting up straight how you normally drive, I dont feel lie expaing it. You should be checking your rear view once every 2-5 seconds, I usually check the sides less than rear. It's easy to speed in our cars, I've noticed this, compared to other cars. I'm still learning to drive properly so don't think everything I'm saying is correct. Just advice I've picked up from others. Like someone said before, Practice. Only way to improve really. Just go around town not really going anywhere. until your body starts to hurt.

[THAWA]

ah yes looking ahead is good too, try to look 10-15 secs ahead of you

[QuickDrive]

turn the middle side topwise

I just take the stickers off...

[entirelyturbo]

#1 rule that Steve said: Don't try to drive too fast too early! I consider myself to be a pretty good driver in the daily grind. I have made a few booboos, but those were valuable lessons more than anything. My record has been spotless for over a year, and I plan on continuing it.

My limitations are this: I know exactly what to do with a car that isn't skidding! I understand weight transfer, going for the apex, on the gas out of the turn, etc. etc. But if my tail were to suddenly break loose or I would hit a oil spot and start plowing forward, I'm not really sure I could save myself. I haven't had much practice with sliding, nor do I have many opportunities for it. If and when I get a beater, I will probably make sure the parking brake works , find an old abandoned lot at 2am, and go hog wild!

And don't get tunnel-vision as you are describing. Always look around you, even just for an instant. Check your mirrors, scan the whole windshield area, and don't follow too close!

Good luck!

[czo79]

I think everyone should take a vehicle that is new to them out and find a wet or snowy parking lot....or a nice flat dirt or gravel one...anything with reduced traction really, and spend a whole bunch of time skidding, sliding, drifting, braking, turning, etc. See what happens when you throw the wheel hard trying to dodge a deer at thirty when its slick...flat wet grassy feilds work too...Only by practice and experience and confidence with handling under those conditions, will you really be safer when it happens. I think its really important with all wheel drive cars. My grandma can drive them to 90%...but when you get too hot, and start getting nervous, you are going to let off the gas hard and/or hit the brake...and its going to unload the rear and the rear end of your car is going to start coming around and trying to pass the front...Now are cars are tuned from the factory to not do this as bad as they can when you start modding...but if you aren't expecting it, it will bite you in the ass and knock you off the road. I've seen it happen to a lot of new awd drivers. When you get comfortable with this, you can use it to your advantage, doing it on purpose to drift through a turn.

A book, damn...sorry. I've been really surprised at what a winter beast my 97 GT is. I thought with the mods it would be tough. Its dropped with eibachs and kyb-gr2s. With tein adjustable strut tops up front and sti group n's in back. Rear sway bar...
Anyways, I love it, its wonderful! It is so controllable, really easing to step the rear out and have perfect control drifting through turns and power out. And really in the snow, a nice drift is the only way to get the car pointed around a turn fast. Only on ice do I find it a little sketcky, you gotta stay on your toes. I'm running the stockers with 205/55/16 Nokian Hakka 1's.
good luck

[ShinobiSilver]

just be glad your not learning to drive where i live... Pothole city... aka Pennsylvania

[MrBean85]

Like many have said it just takes practice! I guess my best advice would be don't drive like you know it all and can't learn anything. I've tried to get in the mindset that every day to learn something new, whether its to be more observant, not follow so close etc. Most of remember that your in control of a 3000 lb machine that can take your life and others. Respect it and you should be ok.

[BAC5.2]

Seating position:

Your wrist needs to be set on top of the steering wheel. Your feet need to be able to touch the floor behind the pedals without locking your knees. Adjust seat position accordingly.

With a manual transmission, you want to be able to fully depress the clutch without having to scoot forward in the seat or lock your leg.

Hand's on the wheel:

During normal road driving, you want to have steady control of the wheel. With a manual transmission, you have to get used to driving and turning with one hand (as the other will be shifting at some points).

The ideal hand position is the 9 and 3 position. This allows your wheel to make a full 90 degree turn before your arms cross over eachother. This is important. In a crash, if your arms cross eachother, they will likely be broken (blown across your body as opposed to being blown out to the sides). The 9 and 3 position also allows for a good neutral position, when your hands are level, the wheel is level, and your wheels are going straight.

The only time I used the 10 and 2 position was during my driving test. After that, I abandoned the position in favor of the 9 and 3. It offers a more stable feel, as well as being more comfortable.

Always keep your thumbs up instead of looped in the wheel.

Staying in lane:

An easy way to judge position on the road are your sideview mirrors. Get the "blind spot" dealies for when you are learning to drive. This way, you can see the ground and check your lane position.

You'll get a feel for the position of the car after you know, physically, where the car is on the road.

A general rule is to line the hood line up with the center of the yellow line. However, occasionally, there will be cars you drive where you cannot see the hood. To get a quick gauge of where you are in the lane, glance at your thumbs.

If your thumbs line up with the white and yellow lines, you are usually in a decent position. Eventually, you get a feel for the size of the car and can adjust accordingly. I never use the thumb method, but I heard it from a few friends. Testing it out on the road, it seemed to work alright. I used the mirrors while learning to drive.

Turning:

Go out to a parking lot with a bunch of cones. See how close you can get to them without smacking into them. Just as someone said with a dirt road. Practice turning around them.

You'll get a feel of how the car turns pretty quickly.

You'll know you've got it nipped when you can drive around an S-curve of cones without knocking any over.

I spent a good number of weekends playing with cones in empty parkinglots and have a pretty good feel for the car now. I am at the point where I can run over the base of the cone at 50mph and not have the body of the cone hit the car.

Final test:

In all honesty, the best place to hone your "car position" skills, is the drivethrough at McDonalds or the bank (any drive through with curbs).

Once you can pilot one of those safely and without concern, you've got a pretty decent location on your car.

The 92 is a good car to start with. Not super expensive. Not to fast. And pretty easy to drive (sight wise. Small blindspots, at least in my 94).

Cheers! Good luck with driving!

[ciper]

DONT press the pedals with your toes. They should be pressed with the ball of your foot.

[LaureltheQueen]

autocross season has just begun. I strongly suggest checking the scca website, and spending the $25 it takes to autocross. You will learn SO much about your car's limits, and abilities, in a safe, sanctioned place.

[Dr Nick]

I agree with Laurel about doing some off-road driving to learn the limits of your vehicle. I started driving in Scotland (I was born there) and used to go out and find really big empty parking lots when the snow was a couple of inches deep. This gave me the opportunity to get my car into skids with very little mechanical strain and nothing to crash into.

If you can't do something like that I highly recommend getting more training. I did an advanced driving course when I was 18 (about time for a refresher!) and it made the biggest difference to my driving! I was trained to "cast your eyes out like a fishing net and then drag back in", so basically you're looking as far ahead as possible to give the most time to prepare for the unexpected, and to read the signs - things like "mud on the road may mean agricultural machinery round the next bend" and so on. It was really fantastic and I want to do it again.

The best thing is that you are clearly aware of your limitations and are obviously sensible enough to want to learn. Welcome to the pleasure that is driving, the enjoyment that is Subaru ownership and the fun that is this forum!

Cheers!