[viXit]

I very recently got my Learner's license and wanted to make the most of my 30 days before the driving test.
I have driven a little here and there and learned to understand the dynamics of the car, how clutches work, what is slipping, when to shift, lugging, rev-matching, throttle-blipping etc. etc. on private roads such as in my grandfather's farms or inside a closed campus like an Air Force station.

My fascination and passion made me extra eager and I could not believe that many of my friends did not even bother trying to apply for learner's license.
I did not let a single moment I could spend driving go to waste, and so booked my slot for the day after my birthday itself

I had to submit documents as follows: - (xerox copies) but needed originals for verification.

1. Aadhar Card
2. 10th Marks Memo (for D.O.B)
3. Address proof as Aadhar card or passport

I had a fair bit of running around since the documentation instructions were not very clear but managed to get the stuff done since there are a few shops offering photocopying/printing services right next to the Somajiguda RTO office.

This is right across the KUN Exclusive BMW showroom,
I saw a G12 LWB 7er (730i) there and TBH, the humongous grilles do not look all that bad in real life, it grows on you in a matter of seconds. The magnificent beast makes no sound except for that of it’s weight on the mud that it’s wheels roll on.

[viXit]

Since it’s pouring like crazy since the past few days,
I didn’t get any extra chances at driving except for the usual “parking the car” or “start it up so it’s warmed up by the time we get there”.
I believed that I could drive pretty well. I spend a lot of time on the Road Safety forum trying to learn various things I should be careful of, and try to learn from the mistakes of others on the accidents thread. My colony’s basement has a slope going down into it and a 90° turn as soon as you enter. I practiced engine braking on this slope+turn. There are a couple of longer straights and I practiced downshifting + rev-matching on these, I’ve driven up slopes, started on them from standstill. I always park in reverse and can comfortably park the Safari without turning around at all, the mirrors are more than enough. I ride shotgun and continuously discuss cars and driving with my father and it’s always a good experience.

All these things made me feel skilled enough for a beginner and confident. But today humbled me a lil’ bit.
We had a lot of running around to do today. And I was excited as I could be driving since I have a permit now. I spent all of 30-40Kms on the road driving today and it was quite the experience.

START UP

Like all the times before, I started out with checking neutral, starting up the car and trying to set my seat position properly with what knowledge I had gained from the “Optimum driving position” thread.
I’m about six feet tall and my legs are quite long. I couldn’t get my knees and bums to be at the same level no matter what. The steering wheel in it’s lowest position was very comfortable and convenient but my long torso meant only one thing, Hidden instrument cluster. I could do without the Tachometer since I had gotten a feel of when to change gears without it and wouldn’t be too fast since I had supervision who would anyway tell me to slow down no matter how slow I am, hehe. But decided that I needed to see the cluster and it wasn’t that inconvenient anyway so I moved the steering back up. I made one mistake, I forgot to adjust the ORVMs properly. They were a little towards the outside of the car, and didn’t give me an idea as to how close someone is to me, but I could see clearly what was happening near me, just no relative positioning w.r.t my car’s body.

My father’s thumb rule for mirrors is as follows
On faster drives, you should be able to see a part of your door and the periphery so you could relatively position traffic around you with your car. And for slower, congested ones, your wheels too. We Have a convex mirror on the left ORVM so that took care of both.

Know your car…… and it’s blind spots.
Driving out in the morning was fairly simple. It was raining a little bit, an occasional drizzle but totally manageable. There was a fair bit of flooding here and there but nothing the car couldn’t handle. Although I hate the shift towards cSUVs from sedans, today made me realise that the decision is as much about practicality as it is about the looks and size of your car.
Driving was peaceful and straightforward, just doing what I kept practising till now. But while I was learning, there was never any traffic. And that hit me big time. The very first turn outside our colony gave me my first lesson.
Learnt about blind spots and restless drivers. a grey car ( maybe an alto or an eon) was in my blind spot approaching from my right and I had to turn left. I saw the car for a second and slowed down, but the next second, the car was around 65% hidden behind the A pillar. Since I stopped for the turning, it was fine, but the thought of maybe missing a car like that scared me. I’m extra careful on turns now.

Restless drivers
The very same alto(I guess), was in front of me now, but slowed down on this slight slope of a road. Because some fool on his active thought that stopping to talk on the phone in the middle of the road was okay since the side of the road has a puddle of water.
The alto passed but I couldn’t go since there was opposing traffic and not enough gap for me. This was my second lesson. “On the streets, Nobody cares about others”
I need to take a call??, To Heck with the others, I’ll take my call. Right here, Right now!
A little honking and patience solved this problem and we were off.
Squids
Since it was raining, there was not a lot of two wheeler traffic. But those who dared the rain, are truly daredevils in their own sense.
We were on telugutalli flyover and this is near the Secretariat, so there is a fair bit of VIP movement every now and then. We were stuck on the flyover and this was my first experience with bumper to bumper traffic. Kept crawling in 1st gear with one foot on the clutch, and the other on the brake.
I kept a good amount of distance between me and the car in front to account for any leap resulting from sudden clutch release
The flyover is wide enough for three cars with a little leeway but is two-laned. I was trying to maintain my lane and be peaceful, but these daredevils kept zooming past me through these gaps. Every time someone came close while I was moving, I would get anxious.
I left some space on my left and in front of me so that the bikes could get past me. But no amount of space I’d make would ever be enough. Since there would always be two bikers hiding somewhere who leap out of nowhere and fill the gap.
I don’t want anyone to get hurt, or hurt my car. More so because it would be my fault if someone got hurt. Don’t you know?? It’s always the bigger vehicles fault!

On the other hand, the cars behind me were maintaining good lane discipline and distance, this made me somewhat happy and peaceful on the inside.
Slow crawling cannot be good for the clutch, since I have to slip it to get ONLY the speed required. If I release it fully, I’ll be too fast. This kept running through my head. “ What if I burn the clutch ?!?“


We were off the flyover and I downshifted on the slope every time instead of braking.
And it’s a beautifully forgiving experience on the safari. The sheer weight and bulk of the car immediately bring the engine rpm upto speed without any jerking back and forth associated with downshifting in lighter cars.. I hope I am articulating correctly.
The down shifts are SMOOODH and I enjoyed every single one of them. If I felt I would waste brake pad, or that I’m in a gear faster than safe for this slope, I’d drop a gear and enjoy the subtle engine braking and smooth climb of the revs, no matter how abruptly I release the clutch. Loved it!
A U-turn towards mint road is required as soon as you’re off the flyover and no one wants to respect lanes here. I needed to be in the right most lane to be able to make a U-turn.
But no one wants to let me slide into the lane, NOT EVEN the person who wanted to go left. He was okay with getting ahead of me and going left, but not with me being in front of him. EGO is such a painfully real thing. I had nothing to lose so I stopped and let him go, then took my space in the right lane.

My next lesson: Patience, nothing like it. Let the other person do whatever his hurry or ego demands. As long as you’re in no hurry, it’s always nicer to be the calm and peaceful person.
All in all, driving in traffic wasn’t all that stressful. But I think I wouldn’t love it if I did it everyday either. Calm music helps. Try it.
A lot of people talk about cars like the Safari, Thar, Fortuner etc and how they command space and respect on the street. It definitely has presence, but no one was moving out of my way. I asked my old man and he said, I’m driving too defensively for someone to think it’s a bad idea to come into my lane. I wanted to take it like a challenge to see how many people I can shoo out of my way, but I took it as a compliment and continued driving safely.
An Innova behind me kept getting restless once the roads freed up. I had to either floor it, or move to the side. The road was narrow, and it was wet with a turn coming up. I went faster and he stopped honking, once the roads were free, I gave way and he overtook me. He was later driving slowly and steadily blocking lanes as and when he liked.
Another thing, “people always want to be ahead of others, they’d rather do 20kmph and be ahead of you, but they’d not do a hundred and eighty behind you” PURE EGO.
Navigating while driving is another task that doesn’t sound so difficult. But it is.

[viXit]

Take it easy

On the way back from this certain location after a rather uneventful ride(which imo is an amazing thing), there is a steep slope for a metre or two, to climb onto the main road, from a side street. I kept failing. I thought that the slope was so steep that I needed more revs. Mindlessly revved and touched redline while trying to find where my clutch engages properly, all while trying to prevent roll back by using the handbrake. The hand brake on the safari is the worst thing about the car. Unreliable and unsafe. I strained my hand because I pulled so hard on it a couple of times, out of fear that I’ll roll back. After two failed attempts, my father asked me whether I’d like him to climb the slope. I told him I’m going to do it. This was fairly challenging. Since it wasn’t just a steep slope. It was a steep slope joining fast moving traffic, I had to accelerate just enough to climb up, and then brake just late enough to prevent rollback but quickly enough not to merge with traffic when it wasn’t suitable.

The car has LOADS of torque. The newer safari had 400 twisty newtons! All the car needed was proper clutch and brake modulation. The slope was a piece of cake for the storme. The only thing missing in this was a calm driver. I overcompensated for roll back with revs and it would force me to brake early so I don’t merge with traffic. A catch 22, if you may.
I tried to make a catch 22 in a 2.2 pun but I think I’m not smart enough. ((GEDDIT??))

Moving on, I smiled, took a deep breath and started letting go of the clutch slowly and steadily until I could feel vibrations on the brake pedal and a slight drop in revs telling me the car is waiting for me to let go of it, so it can lurch ahead and conquer the slope with a gracefully slow speed. Slowly I climbed and checked my mirrors and merged. This was my next learning. There’s no hurry, take a deep breath and calmly execute your manoeuvres. You’ll save everyone some bursting veins. Don’t let the honks and shouts of others get to you. They can go love themselves. You focus on not crashing.
Needless to say, I was extremely happy but also sad at this. My mother always kept telling me that the hardest part would be clutching on steep slopes. After all my practise in the basement parking academy, I was ashamed yet happy that I got over it.
*years of academy training, wasted”
I think the maximum speed I touched was 60kmph which felt like a lot, after crawling in traffic for quite a bit.
Another uneventful drive followed back home. And in 15 minutes we were back on the road. Certain irresponsible actions of mine like forgetting some documents etc, led me to forfeit my driver’s seat. Come on, father, I was just excited to drive!

Driving back home at night was a beautiful experience…..

Except for the times it wasn’t. Please keep your headlights on low beam, people. I really think there should be a timer for high beams. Which switches it off every two minutes and you have to toggle it again when you need it. Keeps you alert at night and prevents mindlessly leaving it on when not needed.

It was raining heavily at this point. Certain turns and roads were flooded on one side, so the low slung public flocked to one side of the road, while the deep end was left for me to conquer. The relatively new shoes on the car (YOKOHAMA GEOLANDAR A/T) had deeeep treads and kept any and every worry of hydro-planing out of my mind, and I was only doing like 40max in some ankle deep, occasionally deeper water. But even crawling through that would get me ahead of the rush and it was beautiful. I’d splash a fair amount of water all around me. But I deserved some fun after a painful few kilometres in some bad traffic. The grip the car has is astounding! And I loved how the brakes felt. I could very easily modulate braking force based on how much I would require. But if the situation demands…. It will stop right in it’s tracks.
If you’re anywhere below 40Kmph, you don’t need more than a metre or two to stop.
I once braked hard while doing 20. The wheels stayed right there in the exact same spot, with the whole cabin swaying forward and nose diving until it whiplashed and came back.
Another thing I learnt,
don’t ever wear slippers while driving, they slip and slide and get stuck weirdly and end up putting you in bad situations. *touchwood* it hasn’t happened to me. I wore some tight sandals today, but I know how bad slippers are from once before.
A relatively empty stretch saw me doing 60kmph while driving into the rain.
The raindrops were coming dart straight at my windshield. Whenever I’ve seen things hurtling towards me, I close my eyes because reflex, but today I could keep them open and it was weirdly satisfying to watch.
I really need a good water repelling solution for the rear view mirrors, the water would stay and render the ORVMs useless when the car behind me had his headlights ON.
I was extremely happy.
Among the happiest few hours of this year were spend behind the wheel today.
I hope to learn much much more and promise to keep the streets safe for everyone !

Old man made me practise reversing up a slope standstill from mid slope and driving up a slope from standstill as soon as we got home. I nailed it on the second try, rolled a few inches before gaining momentum the first time around.
The best part was the validation from dear father.
he’s a man with amazing driving skills and lightning fast responses ( his reflexes saved the family from what could’ve been a pretty tragic accident before I was born)
Although he has become more of a sedate driver ever since he started flying commercial. He says he misses the thrills, but as long as it pays the bills……..


So much more to learn.
Please share about your first time driving! I'm pretty sure it must've been fun!

[blackwasp]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm sure its going to help a lot of newbies.

I can still remember my first driving lesson when I turned 18. Since I already had a scooter license, I had some road sense. Applied for my learners on my 18th B'day and got it the same day later in the evening.

Early next morning, dad took me to a relatively empty street and told me to get in the driver's seat. I was told to keep the car only in 1st and 2nd gears and a speed no more than 30 kmph.

Gradually as I got familiar with the car, I was asked to drive the car on errands with dad. After about 3-4 months, felt confident enough to give the test at the RTO. Since we applied ourself (and not via agent), we didn't know that for subsequent class of license, we had to apply on a different form and not the first time form. So got copies of that form (add-on class to license) and gave my test. I passed and was the told the license would reach me in a week.

[gischethans]

I can completely relate myself to your experience. Though I acquired my license seven years ago, I started driving my own car in June 2020.

My current concerns (after some 2000 km of driving experience on non bumper-to-bumper traffic). My rides have been on National and State highways so far. I have been driving on weekends or hours when traffic is expected to be lesser to be on the safer side. Have been limiting my speed to 60-70 kmph even at clear stretches.

1. Negotiating bumper to bumper traffic especially on uphill stretches is my biggest fear - reading about possibility of ruining the clutch worries me further but guess there's no other option than half-clutching. I can't understand how the handbrake option which many keep suggesting would work on moving uphill traffic - IMO, that is suitable when one needs to start from a complete stop.
2. I occasionally end up spinning the wheels in a bid to prevent rollback.
3. In our region (KA20/21, KL14), curvy roads are common. Safe and quick overtaking is something I trying to attain perfection in such stretches. Tailing two-wheelers becomes difficult, when they move slow - even I drive at 20-40 kmph but still. Afraid to overtake in such situations!
4. Have been practising MSM routine before overtakes. In the initial days, used to miss this while overtaking quickly. Back then the focus was on clutch and gear shifting.

But I can add that I am much more confident driver than I was at the beginning. No more vehicle stalling at speed breakers, stop and proceed intersections. In the initial days, I used to practice in the early morning hours. After a week or two, started going out in the evening to get a feel of driving in traffic.

[SID2997]

I started driving around 4 years back at the age of 19. The biggest challenge which I faced as a newbie was to overtake a heavy vehicle on single lane carriageways as well as winding hill road sections. These are the kind of overtakes where after committing to the manoeuver, one can’t abort as they come into line of fire of on-coming traffic. The twist to the tale is that out of all vehicles, it was the humongous turbo-charged Fortuner which helped me overcome my hesitation. Due it being turbo-charged, I developed the habit of spooling up before taking up the line for an overtake and the locomotive like torque delivery at low RPMs helped me being firm in my commitment to overtakes, even while passing 2-3 army trucks in a line on the treacherous roads of Lahaul Spiti.

[viXit]

Originally Posted by SID2997

The twist to the tale is that out of all vehicles, it was the humongous turbo-charged Fortuner which helped me overcome my hesitation. Due it being turbo-charged, I developed the habit of spooling up before taking up the line for an overtake and the locomotive like torque delivery at low RPMs helped me being firm in my commitment to overtakes, even while passing 2-3 army trucks in a line on the treacherous roads of Lahaul Spiti.

Everyone talks about how it's easy to drive a small car and drive on it, but that wasn't what I thought.

I have driven the following cars till date

• Safari storme
• Ford Fiesta
• Ritz
• Grand i10 Auto
• Honda amaze petrol
• City diesel 2016
• Maruti 800

Of all these cars, the easiest was the Safari because of it's amazing torque right from idle. It helps so much in slow moving traffic and inclines where other cars would otherwise stall. The safari climbs out of the basement so easily, the anti stall increases rpm on it's own and gets you to the top of the slope beautifully.

I have stalled the amaze so so many times. It got annoying at a certain level. But the super sweet high-revving i-vtec was loads of fun to redline.

The Ritz was a diesel and would lurch forward beautifully effortlessly, it was a powerful engine in a relatively little car. It would pull effortlessly. Never felt stressed.

The City is a car close to my heart because it was my grandfather's last car but I'm not very fond of how it drives. Needs more skills that I have to offer. Shifts can get jerky and downshifts are difficult to rev match.

The 800 is LOADS of fun!! Rev it away to glory and you have wheelspin and all that kind of drama without compromising anyone's safety on the road. Feels like a hundred while you're doing 40 in second. W-I-D-E grin guaranteed

I expected more BHPians to share their experiences, but I think we have a lot of people who didn't have license when they drove first maybe

[indrasis_gun]

I learnt driving two years ago at a driving school after getting Learner's License in my hometown. The school had 4 vehicles in which we used to drive alternately on different days - a first generation Swift petrol, a first generation Santro, an Eon and a diesel Ambassador. Among all these, the ambassador was the easiest to drive. I have never stalled it. The hardest was the Swift which I stalled frequently, also it had bad visibility due to my short height. Eventually I loved the Swift most and today our own car is also a 3rd gen Swift zxi+.

What I think is that the diesel cars with better low end torque are easier to drive than their petrol counterparts.

After that I have driven around 45000 kms in these two years mostly on outstation trips (Maximum 3500 km round trip). Till today in which I get most nervous is steep uphill with traffic. As BHPian gischethans has mentioned, it is almost impossible to use handbrake in traffic conditions and I also occasionally stall the vehicle in steep uphill roads like the Pankhabari road or Peshoke road to Darjeeling. I think I have to practise more in hills to be a better driver in hills.

[AJ18]

It has been nearly 3 years since I started driving (my 21st Birthday is next month). I learned how to drive in my 2007 Innova in heavy traffic and poor road conditions, Bengaluru residents know what I'm talking about.

The Innova was a very friendly car to start driving with since it has long clutch travel and a relatively light steering wheel. What also helped was the view of the road, an MPV provides.

[pensive_07]

Thank You for this encouraging piece,being a newbie I could relate to the piece at some level. It surely instilled some confidence to go get my license, I have learnt to drive but the confidence is still hidden somewhere,but after reading this I feel like its given a grip to my wavering mind.

[indrasis_gun]

Originally Posted by AJ18

The Innova was a very friendly car to start driving with since it has long clutch travel...

I think a car with long clutch travel will be hard to drive compared to a car having short travel clutch.. at least for me. I want others' view in this respect.

[AJ18]

Originally Posted by indrasis_gun

I think a car with long clutch travel will be hard to drive compared to a car having short travel clutch.. at least for me. I want others' view in this respect.

It was more forgiving in instances where I released the clutch too fast, and it created the perception of having more control over the engine speed.

[Atharva4545]

Originally Posted by viXit

I very recently got my Learner's license and wanted to make the most of my 30 days before the driving test.

We are in the same boat , I got my learners license on 10th October.
The first time a actually drove a car (vento) was in June on an open ground near my house. As of now I drive on streets of Thane with my dad beside me. I think I will be able to pass my Driving License test which I plan to give in December.

Only issue is that I have also filled the form for Motorcycles with gear and till now I have only driven an Activa. We have an RE Thunderbird but it is heavy so I will have to practice a lot to be able to manage its weight.

[scorpio2107]

Originally Posted by viXit

Of all these cars, the easiest was the Safari because of it's amazing torque right from idle. It helps so much in slow moving traffic and inclines where other cars would otherwise stall. The safari climbs out of the basement so easily, the anti stall increases rpm on it's own and gets you to the top of the slope beautifully.

So true. I recently got my learners licence and in the two weeks that I've had it, our humble Maruti Alto has been stalled around 40 times. On the other hand, our diesel Scorpio refuses stall. The extra torque on the Scorpio makes it really easy to climb over steep hills and large potholes, which would require a lot of clutch-accelerator movement on the alto. Thanks for this thread. Really helpful for newbies.

[viXit]

It's beautiful to see so many newbies reply to this thread, truly wholesome in a certain way!

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm sure its going to help a lot of newbies......
Early next morning, dad took me to a relatively empty street and told me to get in the driver's seat.

the moment my dad told me to get into the driver's seat was very very fun haha I still smile out of excitement when I think about it.
[/quote]
Gradually as I got familiar with the car, I was asked to drive the car on errands with dad. After about 3-4 months, felt confident enough to give the test at the RTO. .[/quote]

Although I am now fairly familiar with the car, I wish I could get more practise. CoviD situation has put a tight leash on any outings and joyrides aren't fun for the family in dense traffic due to the rains.

Originally Posted by gischethans

I can completely relate myself to your experience.....

1. Negotiating bumper to bumper traffic especially on uphill stretches is my biggest fear - reading about possibility of ruining the clutch worries me further but guess there's no other option than half-clutching. I can't understand how the handbrake option which many keep suggesting would work on moving uphill traffic - IMO, that is suitable when one needs to start from a complete stop.
2. I occasionally end up spinning the wheels in a bid to prevent rollback.
3. In our region (KA20/21, KL14), curvy roads are common. Safe and quick overtaking is something I trying to attain perfection in such stretches. Tailing two-wheelers becomes difficult, when they move slow - even I drive at 20-40 kmph but still. Afraid to overtake in such situations!
4. Have been practising MSM routine before overtakes. In the initial days, used to miss this while overtaking quickly. Back then the focus was on clutch and gear shifting.

Stalling petrol cars are truly a pain in the wrong place... but diesels stall too, and on steep climbs that are taken at low speeds, sometimes a diesel can't do it and stalls too. In a situation like that, a petrol driver's superior sense of clutching/braking will definitely come in handy.

But I can add that I am much more confident driver than I was at the beginning. No more vehicle stalling at speed breakers, stop and proceed intersections. In the initial days, I used to practice in the early morning hours. After a week or two, started going out in the evening to get a feel of driving in traffic.

SO happy to hear that! I wish I got more time behind the wheel too!

Originally Posted by pensive_07

Thank You for this encouraging piece,being a newbie I could relate to the piece at some level. It surely instilled some confidence to go get my license, I have learnt to drive but the confidence is still hidden somewhere,but after reading this I feel like its given a grip to my wavering mind.

It's only a matter of time before you start driving with confidence imo.
The best part that helped me start driving was a lot of YouTube videos about how power delivery varies, turbos spooling etc.

This amazing video about clutches helped a great deal too!
I'd recommend everyone to give it a watch. Quite informative too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=devo3kdSPQY

Originally Posted by indrasis_gun

I think a car with long clutch travel will be hard to drive compared to a car having short travel clutch.. at least for me. I want others' view in this respect.

IMHO I think a longer clutch travel is better since it allows for more precise inputs . A short and sharp clutch imo would make the ride jerky, Generally, or what I have noticed is, that larger cars and SUVs/MUVs have long clutch travel and have a very heavy flywheel. THis helps reduce jerky movement by a great extent and a longer clutch offers finer control compared to a shorter one. YOu just can't get the same amount of fine tuning with your foot on a shorted travelling clutch. Immensely helpful.

Originally Posted by Atharva4545

We are in the same boat .... We have an RE Thunderbird but it is heavy so I will have to practice a lot to be able to manage its weight.

Same boat indeed. We have a Bullet Electra. Takes time surely. But I haven't found it that hard to handle.
Pro tip: I've seen a lot of idiot reviewers complain about how bullet and thunderbird are heavy and we can't put it on the center stand. Just make sure both the legs of the stand are touching the ground and it's easy as pie, even a weakling can do it. Do it the wrong way and even an activa is difficult to get onto the stand.

The royal enfield is another bike with good torque that prevents staliing.

Originally Posted by scorpio2107

So true. I recently got my learners licence and in the two weeks that I've had it, our humble Maruti Alto has been stalled around 40 times. On the other hand, our diesel Scorpio refuses stall. The extra torque on the Scorpio makes it really easy to climb over steep hills and large potholes, which would require a lot of clutch-accelerator movement on the alto. Thanks for this thread. Really helpful for newbies.

Thank you so much :'') good to know I could help