how long does it take you to get used to a new car?

kev25v6

The honda accord is known for sticky rear brakes and clutch creak. The clutch pedal needs greasing where it goes through the firewall of the car in the footwell, makes a big difference to the clutch feel.

darkmatter101

Well it depends on the type of car. I think most people on this forum wouldn't get use to a rear wheel drive, mid engined car such as the Subaru BRZ or it's sister car the Toyota GT86, quite so quickly, especially if they have never driven a powerful 200hp plus rear wheel car before.

On the other hand you're jumping from an Astra to a Focus, you'd probably just need a few minutes adjusting

tea_break

Funny you should say that, the clutch does creak a bit. Tried wd40 but didn't really do much, so could try some grease instead.

sh0597

Probably about 3 months.

jaydeeuk1

id say 5000 miles / 6 months to truly know a car, like how much you can push it before experiencing oversteer/understeer, knowing exactly how the brakes react at different speeds and knowing your brake distqnces down to the metre, how much speed you can carry, driving with confidence / speed through a gap 10cm wider than your car, and being able to judge this some 20m before you reach it. Sure you can get the basics with a few miles like clutch biting points,and how neqr the kerb you can get without touching it but you can't learn all that in a few mins, otherwise F1 teams wouldn't bother with a friday .

Nilrem

It took me about an hour to get comfortable with my current car (I was happy with it from the first few minutes of a test drive), although it took me a few days to get fully used to the different gearing in use, as it has 6 forward gears.

One of our previous cars I never really got used to in the 3 years we had it, I just could not get a truly comfortable position for the seat that let me reach the gear stick, wheel, and pedals without some measure of contortion or cramping (Astra estate oddly enough, I'm quite tall but could never get to the point where my arms and legs were both comfortable at the same time, it seemed I had to either have my arms out like a zombie to get my legs comfortable on the pedels, or my knees up against the underside of the steering column).

But i'd agree with jaydeeuk1, it can take a long time to know the limits of the car, if only because until you've driven it in all manner of conditions (heavy rain, snow, up/down steep hills) you don't learn how it handles in them.

keith1950

The only thing I need to get used to is the comfort of the seat otherwise any half decent driver should be able to get into any car and be confident to drive it .

InsideInsurance

It depends what we are talking here, basically confident driving it? Absolute confidence in all elements of driving it? Knowing what every dial/ switch etc does and being able to reach them first time without looking?

For basic driving then its a few minutes but its certainly longer than that to get into an absolutely tiny (for the vehicle) space as learning the exact length of the car takes time and you're always more cautious to start off with.

I went from a 5 speed 60bhp FWD to a 6 speed manual 200bhp FWD to a 7 speed auto 430bhp RWD. All were comfortable to drive within a few minutes but I still was occasionally going for the clutch/ gear stick a week or two after switching to an auto

onomatopoeia99

Minutes for something I haven't driven before, no time at all when swapping between any of my own vehicles (which are front-engine 4wd, mid engine RWD, rear engine 4WD and rear engine RWD).

BeenThroughItAll

I don't really ever need to 'get used' to a new vehicle, but I do drive a lot of different makes and models. That applies to cars, vans, minibuses, motorhomes, and vehicles towing trailers/caravans/horseboxes etc.