Learn to Drive in an Automatic Car!

 

One of the biggest hurdles people find when learning to drive is the gear stick. An automatic car - where the car changes gear for you - is the answer.

 

Learning to drive in an automatic means you can concentrate more on actual driving and not having to worry about gears, biting pointing points or clutch control.

 

 

Automatic Lessons

The main thing to remember about driving in a car with automatic transmission is that the licence you will obtain will only cover you to drive automatics. Saying that, most people who've switched from manual to automatic swear they'll never drive a manual gearbox again - it makes life so much easier.

 

Learning to drive in a car with automatic transmission is a lot easier than driving a car with gears because there is no clutch pedal to operate. The left foot should not be used at all and you should use the right foot to operate the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal. This makes it a very popular choice by learners who find it difficult to get used to the gears and clutch when driving a manual car or for older and disabled learner drivers.

 

There are certain situations where you may need to select a specific gear to help control the car or to lock the car in a certain gear stop the car changing up for example when driving down a steep hill. You will also need to use the handbrake and brakes a lot more because of the cars 'creep', this is when the car will start to move after you select a gear.

 

Automatic Gearbox Meanings

Typical layout of a automatic gearbox selector is shown right. Although it looks more complicated, actually it isn't.

The letters and numbers on the selector mean:

P - Park (locks gears)

R - Reverse

N - Neutral (no gears selected)

D - Drive (fully automatic)

3/2/1 - Overrides the automatic to select and stay in the chosen gear. Useful when needing to stay in low gear.

 

 

 

Automatic cars tend to be a bit higher priced than manuals but can actually hold their value better because they are not as common.

 

 

Advantages of an automatic:

Easier to learn

No stalling

No kangaroo hopping!

No biting points to worry about

Lets you concentrate more on the road and other traffic

Suitable for disabled drivers

 

Disadvantages of an automatic:

If you take your test in an automatic, your full licence will only be for an automatic

Cost of automatic cars is a little higher

 

 

Automatic Driving Lessons

Find out more and book your automatic lessons with F1 Driving School (Derby)