Learning to drive - auto or manual

CliveOfIndia

Grumpy_chap said:

Car_54 said:

baser999 said:

And a manual will teach more about what driving is all about - the changing of gears for accelerating and braking, holding the car on the clutch etc. Automatic is just stop, start, steering.

The use of gears for slowing/braking is bad practice, and hasn't been taught for about the last 50 years.

I was taught (by my Driving Instructor - not by Dad) to use the gears and engine braking for slowing down.  That was a lot more recently than 50 years ago.

I understand the latest training is to just use the brake until the car is at the point of stalling and then to change down to 1st or neutral and stop.

There was rationale at the time I was taught as to why the change down through the gears and use of engine braking was a good thing:
1. Slowing on the gears meant you were less reliant on the brakes, so if the brakes failed the impact was less severe.
2. Changing down gears as you slow means you are always in the correct gear to pull away again if the traffic ahead clears.

Part of the problem many years ago was that most cars had drum brakes all round, which are prone to overheating, leading to brake fade.  So using a combination of brakes and gears (especially on a long downhill stretch) helped prevent that, as you're not using the brakes quite as much.  It tends to be less of an issue these days when most cars have disc brakes.

But living in rural Scotland it's very common in winter to have to drive on icy/snowy, un-gritted roads, often with fairly steep inclines.  When going downhill in those kind of conditions, I use the engine-braking almost exclusively - the tiniest dab on the brakes and your wheels lock up, meaning no steering.  Or even if you've got anti-lock brakes, that's still not much help as there's almost zero grip anyway.  It's pretty scary the first time you're faced with a long, twisty, downhill road that's covered in sheet ice, but - touch wood - I've not come a cropper yet.

lemondrops69

theoretica said:

Car_54 said:

baser999 said:

And a manual will teach more about what driving is all about - the changing of gears for accelerating and braking, holding the car on the clutch etc. Automatic is just stop, start, steering.

The use of gears for slowing/braking is bad practice, and hasn't been taught for about the last 50 years.

You must be thinking of something other than the signs on hills 'low gear now'?

We have some signs saying that where I live, maybe they're all over 50 years old?

cymruchris

I've driven autos out of choice for probably 15 years plus. I can still easily drive a manual when I hire a van. No doubt - learn and pass in manual - then drive whatever you want down the line. The time when ALL cars and vans will be auto is a long, long way off yet.

saajan_12

Would he be driving straight after passing his test, and if so what sort of car? Starting in an auto can make sense sometimes, as below. 

My example.. my parents only had automatic cars, and living in a city I anticipated mostly commuting by public transport, just wanted to have a licence to have the option to drive when needed, weekends etc. That would be in my parents' automatic cars for the first few years while at uni, and by the time I was ready to buy a car, I may forget how to drive a manual anyway if only used to an auto. If not, autos were already easily available in UK, and often for rentals when abroad too, so in 5-10 years they would only be more so available. 
Overall passed in about half the lessons my friends took, so a significant saving in lesson costs. 

Sister's example.. She's much more nervous about driving, and a stranger instructor was only stressing her out when starting out. So I've been teaching her the basics. When there's road users, steering, etc being all new to think about, adding in gears, biting points, potential stalls into the mix at the same time would have been impossible. Meanwhile, learning in an auto has been much smoother and I expect once she's confident in maneuvering and what speed to expect at different points, then adding in the manual gears will be easier if she wants. 

CliveOfIndia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80026707#Comment_80026707

There's certainly one on the motorway near me, it's a 2-mile long downhill stretch. Admittedly it does say "HGVs keep in low gear for 2 miles" - I can well imagine that the brakes on a heavy vehicle take a much harder battering than an ordinary family car.

Car_54

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80025028#Comment_80025028

The signs don't tell you to use your gears to slow down.

maxmycardagain

Id suggest getting a manual licence as with just an auto licence the driver is restricted to automatic cars, having said that, before long, with the demise of IC engined cars all cars will be automatics…

im an aoto-fan, had rovers/jags/fords back in the days of proper autos, PRNDL… (if you know, yoy know), modern "DSG" types are manuals shifted by motors…

Brie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80024893#Comment_80024893

Only if you don't engage your mind when driving. My automatic still has to work it's way through the gears and you get a better driving experience if you are aware of the points & the sound of the gear changes.

Which I agree means it's better to learn at first in a manual car so you can hear how things work.

The other big advantage of learning manual and taking your test in one is for those times you have an accident and need a replacement car. Insurance companies don't think about these things and will immediately provide a manual car (& usually a sub compact) and if you only have an automatic licence you have to push for something you can actually use. My OH is quite tall and has only driven automatics and he had quite an argument when the insurance company decided he should use a tiddly toy car that he couldn't fit in to and with a transmission he wasn't allowed to drive.

DullGreyGuy

Surprised everyone is saying "learn manual" without condition… as I said previously, in principle I agree but if the only vehicles in the household are auto/electric there are extra challenges in learning to drive manual.

I'm not sure its such a no brainer to learn manual if it means having to either buy an additional vehicle and/or only learn in the instructor's vehicle with no practice between.

Bonniepurple

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80028046#Comment_80028046

and this is the reason why I'm keeping my husband's car. We have 3 cars- a wheelchair accessible vehicle (automatic) which is van sized, a Honda Jazz (automatic) for short hops and a Peugeot Partner (manual). I can drive the Partner- painfully- for about a mile. Having the manual means that my daughters can try a manual. In fact, I'd love them to prefer the manual as that way I don't need to share my Jazz!