Teaching my brother how to drive?

[rahulsingh007]

Hi Bhpians,
Recently my brother is requesting me that I teach him how to drive a car, and at the moment the only 'available' car is the Aveo which I think is not a good car to learn driving on .

I asked some people and got mixed reactions.

• So I would like you to clear some of the doubts :
  
• According to me the best car to learn driving is the Maruti 800 and the professional driving school would be better of teaching driving , unlike me.
  
• Also I've heard that after learning to drive on M800 one can easily adapt to any car, but learning on some Sedan/ SUV may hinder the capability of he person to drive other cars as a PS is far easier than a Non-PS car (PS: Power Steering)

Are the above statements true in any sense ?

[aka_iitd]

If your brother has driven any two wheeler then he would be having fair idea of clutch, gear,accelerator etc then i think learning driving is not a big problem.
You should have a patience and should be ready for some scratches if you are using your Aveo. But i don't think 800 is the best car. I learned on Santro and after learning i drove Getz and it was perfect. yes you need time to adjust but not more than 1/2 hr or so

[Eddy]

If your brother has no prior experience of driving any vehicle (including 2 wheelers), I would suggest taking lessons from a driving school simply because he would have to get used to "being on the road".

In fact, I would suggest a driving school even otherwise. Its the safest option to start.

[DDDHRUV]

Originally Posted by aka_iitd

If your brother has driven any two wheeler then he would be having fair idea of clutch, gear,accelerator etc then i think learning driving is not a big problem.
You should have a patience and should be ready for some scratches if you are using your Aveo. But i don't think 800 is the best car. I learned on Santro and after learning i drove Getz and it was perfect. yes you need time to adjust but not more than 1/2 hr or so

I will second what aka_iitd had to say. Any car in good mechanical condition is fine for learning driving. Basic criterion to teach driving is to select a relatively open space preferably an open ground where there are no pedestrians or deserted roads where there is hardly any vehicle movement at least in the initial stages till the student gets the feel and picks up the basics of vehicle control.
However it is much safer to learn the basics in the driving school where the instructor has parallel controls at his disposal.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by rahulsingh007

• According to me the best car to learn driving is the Maruti 800 and the professional driving school would be better of teaching driving , unlike me.
• Also I've heard that after learning to drive on M800 one can easily adapt to any car, but learning on some Sedan/ SUV may hinder the capability of he person to drive other cars as a PS is far easier than a Non-PS car (PS: Power Steering)

Are the above statements true in any sense ?

I would suggest an Ambassidor w/o PS. Once you learn to drive that, you can drive pretty much anything else

[akshay1234]

i think you can learn driving on pretty much any car. it dosent really make a difference. just make sure there is a lot of open space. infact you teaching might be a better option since driving schools sometimes teach crap.

i had this friend who learnt driving in camry. he can drive as well as anyone else. only problem was the bill when he fried the clutch while learning. haha

[dushmish]

Hi Rahul, there are three things to learn in driving any vehicle:

1. road presence (with respect to other vehicles and markers on road)
2. controlling the gear, clutch, accelarator, steering, etc.
3. learning to know you vehicle

The first one can come from knowing how to ride a two wheeler (if your bro) knows that. Needs some practice for a car. And it changes from car to car. Due to the change in size of car, driving position, height, etc. One thing that helps is learning to drive on a large vehicle (As Jaguar mentioned Amby, better even a Mahindra or any sedan or say a Qualis). If one can manage a large car, smaller cars are easier to manage.

On learning the controls, my take is again it should be learnt on a basic (couldn't find a better word) vehicle like Amby, Mahindra Jeep. More refined controls are easier to learn. I have seen many people moving from 800 to Amby and feeling like a fish out of water.

Learning to know one's vehicle is the most important thing. I remember when my cousin was learning driving from a govt driver, this driver made her change the wheel of the 800 right in the middle traffic in a busy market in Ganganagar. She was very uncomfortable doing it but the elderly driver prevailed like any guru would and got her to do it all on her own. The lesson was to know the car and how to manage situations. He very rightly said, if one cannot manage the basics, one doesn't deserve to venture out driving. By the way, the car didn't have a flat tyre, it was a dress rehersal!

Knowing what is what under the bonnet helps in many situations. All this is best taught at a driving school. So get your bro pick a good driving school and a large vehicle to learn. Other cars will be much easier to manage thereafter.

All the best!

[alpha1]

M800 is not the best platform.

In fact the bigger your learning car - the better sense of space you develop, which is a must especially while parking.

[bigron]

He can start with a 800 and once he has the clutch accelaration gear movemet in place and a little more confidence shift to a bigger car.That should do it.And you teach him. No need to go to a driving school.Kids today are real fast learners.

[Switch]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

I would suggest an Ambassidor w/o PS. Once you learn to drive that, you can drive pretty much anything else

Going by your logic one should straight away start studying from Class X.

The the safest and preferred option would be a driving school. If you don't want to spend money there then start from a small car(Preferably Santro,800,Zen) and in the early hours of morning. It would be great if he can practice in open grounds in the very beginning.

Also do ask him to get his Learners License made before he starts driving. It will motivate him to learn driving within a month and also will avoid any hassles with cops any time in the future. And do fit you car with a big red "L" on the front and the back.

[Zahir]

actually man, try getting him to learn on an esteem. It'll give him a much better idea of judgement on the sides. Bigger cars are always better because once hes used to a bigger car, driving cars like Aveo, Swifts, Santros will be a breeze.

[rahulsingh007]

Originally Posted by Zahir

actually man, try getting him to learn on an esteem. It'll give him a much better idea of judgement on the sides. Bigger cars are always better because once hes used to a bigger car, driving cars like Aveo, Swifts, Santros will be a breeze.

I think Aveo is as big as an Esteem, or even larger.
So now I have decided to make him learn on the Aveo.
Thanks for helping me guys.

Can anyone please post link / text about learning car driving , tips etc, so that he can read them along while learning the car

[rahulsingh007]

Today was a first day of teaching.
taught him basic controls, and let him behind the wheel he did pretty good.

But he could not see the 2 corners of the car so I let him make the width judgment by the A-Pillars.

Also he was very jittery with the 1st gear, I would like to ask what is the ideal RPM of accelerator before releasing the clutch ?

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by rahulsingh007

Also he was very jittery with the 1st gear, I would like to ask what is the ideal RPM of accelerator before releasing the clutch ?

Most cars will start off in first gear without gas pedal input, but this needs smooth operation of the clutch.
It would be fine for him to rev just about 300 or 400 rpm over the idling rpm.

[vinaydas]

try to get him to learn on a bigger car.
i learnt to drive on my Qualis and now i dont have problems driving any long car/suv etc.
Nowadays driving schools have complete packages including issuing of license.