FOR learn to drive a car there are driving schools, although it is worth understanding the basic principles before getting your license. Therefore, in this article we are going to make clear the fundamentals of driving a car. Without that you should be emboldened to take one if you have not received the relevant classes. It's one thing to know how use the pedals or gear and quite another is to know how to circulate with it safely.
The first thing to have etched in your memory is that it is a machine of one or two tons of metal. An idea that is rarely made clear to students when they get their driving license. This characteristic, together with the enormous speed that it can reach, makes it a very dangerous device if not used responsibly.
Once it is clear that learning to drive a car it's not a game. You can start to delve into use of each of its elements. These are the pedals, the change, the steering wheel, the signaling elements, the rear-view mirrors and the handbrake. All of them essential pieces for use the vehicle well.
pedals and gear
manual car
Let's start with the part that usually brings more complications, but which is essential to move the vehicle. in a car with manual shift you will see three pedals: on the right is the accelerator, in the center the brake and on the left the clutch. With the accelerator and the brake you will have no problem understanding its operation. One moves the car and the other slows it down. But things are a bit more complex with the third pedal.
What is the clutch for?
This is the part that usually causes the most headaches for neophytes who want to learn to drive a car. Without stopping at clutch operation, as a driver you just need to know that it is necessary to engage the gears. The car does not move if it is not in gear, that is, if it is in neutral.
- To use the clutch well and start moving with the car, first you must step on it and, as long as you have the foot pressing it to the bottom, put the first gear.
- Once you've done that, you should go releasing the clutch little by little. You will see that much of the pedal travel does nothing and it is only near the end that the car starts to move.
Notice: there are many cars where it is needed slightly press the accelerator, at the same time you release the clutch pedal. This is so because to start moving they need extra power. This is what usually happens with gasoline engines. Although it is recommended in any car if you want to get out quickly.
The most common mistake with the clutch
As we have told you, much of the clutch travel does nothing, only near the end do you notice that the engine starts to move the wheels. Well, the most common mistake of newbies is throttle when they're still on that part of the clutch that doesn't engage the engine. Hence the great accelerations without the car moving or moving very little.
To avoid this, it should be throttled only when you get to that part of the clutch travel that engages the engine, and not very much. Just enough for the car to move properly. To give you an idea, when done right, you only get to about 1.200 rpm to move the car. If you reach 2.000, you are doing it wrong, with the consequent wear on the clutch. Of course, these basic instructions are for when you are on the flat. You will have to rev the car more if you want to move the car on an uphill.
Well, we have already put first and the car can move. But Now it's time to know how to put the rest to learn to drive a real car. Just like on a bicycle with gears, you will have to change to reach higher speeds by pedaling fewer times. Imagine that you want to race with it only in the lowest gear. You will only be able to pedal very fast while moving very slowly and, by the way, you will be making a fool of yourself.
After gaining speed with the first, it's time to put the second gear. You can do it for example when the car reaches 2.000 rpm. To do this, you will have to:
- stop speeding,
- push the clutch all the way down,
- put the gear lever in number two,
- and release the clutch gently
The most common mistake when changing gears
Here you can see if someone has a long way to go to learn how to drive a proper car. As we have told you, you must stop accelerating and step on the clutch. So what happens is that the engine will lose revs quickly. This is good because we are going to put a higher gear, which therefore moves the car with less revolutions. ANDThe mistake is being too slow and letting the revs drop too low.. A lot of newbies take so long that the revs drop to a crawl and when they shift into the next gear the revs have to pick back up to where it was right.
Example of a poor gear change
Simona is driving her car to 40 km/h y 3.000 rpm. He already thinks that's too many revolutions, so he wants to put in the next one. He stops accelerating, hits the clutch, and shifts, but slows down so the revs drop to 1.000 and notices that when he releases the clutch again, the car brakes hard for a moment and then keeps going. What happened?
To answer this you need to understand only one thing: with that gear, Simona's car goes at 3.000 rpm, with the next one the car will go at 2.000 rpm. But she has let them fall to 1.000. So when you release the clutch, the car will have to recover the 2.000 rpm it has at that speed. The consequence is that the car brakes with the well-known Engine brake and clutch wears out needlessly.
Example of a gear change well done
Simona has already learned her lesson, so this time it takes less time to change. It is circulating at 40 km/h and at 3.000 rpm, but you already know that with the next gear it will go to 2.000 rpm. So when he hits the clutch and puts it in, just let the revs drop to that point. The car does not brake hard in the process and the clutch does not wear more than necessary. You just made a perfect gear change.
The relationship between gears and speed
In case you got lost, we explain a concept that you must be clear about in order to learn how to drive a car. If you go for example at 30 km/h, you can do it with several gears and therefore at different revolutions. In first you will go to 3.000 rpm, in second you will go to 2.000 rpm and in third to 1.500 rpm. It's like on the bike, at the same speed you can pedal a few times or many times, it just depends on which gear you use.
automatic car
If what you want is to learn to drive a car with automatic, all the complications that we have mentioned before disappear. You'll find two pedals: throttle to the right and brake to the left. This cars they only drive with the right foot, so put the left one on the footrest, which is usually on the far left, or pick it up backwards to prevent it from escaping when you brake.
You will see that the gear lever has letters instead of numbers. We quickly tell you what each one means:
- P: it means Parking. The car will not move. It is like the dead center, but it will also be blocked in such a way that it will not be possible to push.
- N: it means Neutral. The car will not move. It is the equivalent of dead center, so it is possible to push it and it will fall if it is on a slope.
- D: it means Drive. It is used to go forward. If it is on, the car will slowly move forward even if you don't press the throttle.
- R: it means Reverse. Reverse. If it's on, the car will slowly move backwards even if you don't press the throttle.
- S: it means Sport. Move forward in sport mode. Not all cars have it, but it's essentially the same as the 'D', but the car responds more sportily.
- M: it means Manual. It is the position in which the automatic transmission allows the driver to change gears manually. One touch backwards is a lower gear and one touch forward is a higher gear.
The steering wheel
You will be happy to know that within what it is to learn to drive a car, the handling of the steering wheel is one of the simplest. However, even some drivers with several years of experience do it poorly. The recommended way to handle it is with both hands on it and never crossing them. Experienced drivers do cross them, but in a controlled and agile way. Since we are in the lessons for beginners, you should not mess with it.
how to catch it
Imagine that the steering wheel is a clock and hold it with your right hand at 2 o'clock and with your left hand at minus 10. A quarter to 3 will also work. Don't just catch it with one hand and don't rest your arm on the edge of the window. A common vice among novices is to take it with the left hand while leaving the right hand on the gear lever.
how to turn
As we have already said, the way to turn that is normally recommended when learning to drive a car is avoiding crossing hands. That is to say, if we draw an imaginary and vertical line that divides the steering wheel in two, each hand will take care of its half and will never cross that line. However, this is not always possible, so it is better to take it as a flexible rule that can be slightly violated. If you exceed that line with your hands a little, nothing happens.
You should never put your hand inside the steering wheel. Something that many people do because it is more comfortable for them. The problem is that if there is an unforeseen event in which they have to change direction abruptly, they will be in a very difficult position to do so and probably end up crashing into something.
lights and signage
When learning to drive a car you also have to internalize from the beginning the use of lights and signaling elements. If you don't get into the habit from the beginning, you can end up like those drivers who forget their turn signals forever.
Flashing
When we're going to turn to take the next street it's not just about slowing down earlier and cornering correctly. Already before you have to signal it with the intermittent towards that side. is the lever located behind the steering wheel on the left loop. If you move it up you will be turning on the right intermittent and if you move it down you will be doing it with the left one.
You have to use them when we change lanes, when we overtake, when we are going to turn at an intersection or when we are going to stop on the side of the road. It is not necessary to use it in curves or if we are going to turn on a street in which it is the only possible direction. That is, if it is mandatory to turn left and it is not possible to go forward or to the right, you will not need to put on the left turn signal. Although if you do it out of habit nothing happens either.
Emergency or Warning lights
Is button with a red triangle which is usually in the center console or near the gear lever. If you press it you will be turning on both indicators at the same time and you will be warning other drivers that you are stopped there and to be careful. They are also often used to indicate that you are going slowly, so they should slow down. Finally, although it is not specified as such in the regulations, most drivers turn them on when they double park, so that the rest of the people can see that they are stopped and that they do not make the mistake of getting behind waiting for they will be out soon.
Position, dipped or long lights
The use of lighting is paramount when learning to drive a car. The Position lights they serve only in some circumstances, to be seen, but they are not normally used by themselves. Its symbol is two headlights pointing one to each side. Normally, when there is not enough natural light, you have to turn on the dipped headlights (at night, in rain or fog, indoors, in tunnels). The button or thread to turn them on is usually on the dashboard behind the steering wheel, to the left and below, or on the turn signal lever itself. The symbol is that of a headlamp illuminating with the light beams pointing diagonally downwards.
The long lights they are used only in conditions where another driver cannot be dazzled and greater visibility is required at night. They can also be used with small touches as light signals to indicate to a driver ahead of us that we are going to overtake him. Always on the road and making sure not to dazzle. His symbol is like the one with the dipped headlights, only the light beams point forward instead of diagonally down.
Fog lights
They are used to improve your visibility in adverse weather conditions that make it difficult to see. Not so much to see you better, but so that they see you better. The control is usually on the dashboard, near where you will find the position and dipped lights. The symbol of front fog light it's like the dipped headlights but the light beams are crossed by a wavy line. The symbol of rear fog light It's the same as this one, but pointing the other way. You can deepen the use of fog lights in the article How to use fog lights.
rear view mirrors
If you want to learn to drive a real car, you must remember that it is just as important to see well ahead as it is to see behind. That's why cars have several rear-view mirrors: two lateral and one central. When one is going to start driving, he must regulate them properly. The sides must be placed in such a way the horizon is approximately in the middle of it and aiming in such a way that you just stop seeing the side of your car. If you see the door of your car they are more set. Through the central mirror you have to see everything behind you perfectly through the rear window. If it is small enough you will see all four corners of it.
The parking brake
Finally we come to the handbrake. An element that must not be forgotten when learning to drive a car because it is what will keep it where we left it when we are not in it. There are handbrakes of various types. It can be a hand lever next to the gearbox, it can be a small pedal attached to the left, or it can be a button like in many modern cars.
The parking brake must be used whenever we leave the car parked. It is also advisable to put it on when people get in or out of the car. It is not a good idea to have the gear engaged and the clutch depressed when doing this because if something happens to you, the car can jerk at the wrong time.
It can also be used to start the car on a hill. One of the most feared maneuvers by beginners (and even many who are not). With the parking brake on, you should release the clutch very slowly as you accelerate (remember not to accelerate on the part of the clutch that does not engage the engine). When you notice that the car wants to leave but the handbrake won't let it, remove it little by little and you will see how the car leaves without going back one iota.
With this you will have some basic notions to learn to drive a car. But from Actualidad Motor we strongly recommend that you do not get behind the wheel of one if you do not have a driving license. You are not the only one who would risk his life.