Learning to drive in a Diesel car - why not!
The debate about what type of car in learn to drive in came round again this week.
I took a pupil for PassPlus who had learnt to drive and passed their test with a different school and had learnt in a diesel car. Problem was she couldn’t drive my petrol car! and took about 2 hours to get used to it in a way that we could then carry on with the passplus modules.
The problem is that in a diesel car, you don’t need any gas on to be able to move the car off in most situations. In a petrol car you need to apply gas before bringing up the clutch to the biting point, before being able to move off.
Not too much difference but one that caused alot of pain for the young driver trying to get to grips with it.
Maybe only driving tests should be done in petrol cars.
If you learn to drive in a petrol car, it’s easy to pick up the technic for a diesel - but very difficult the other way round!
September 18th, 2008 at 02:08 pm
The correct technique for a diesel OR petrol is exactly the same.
If you learn in a diesel a decent instructor will teach you gas first
then clutch up as this gives the most controlled and smooth pull away.
So it makes no difference if you learn in a diesel and then go on to
buy a petrol once you pass your test.
You comment implies that all diesel instructors teach pupils to bring up
the clutch before applying gas. Not true, and unfair to diesel instructors
as you are seeking to alienate them in one foul swoop!
If you pull away with no gas in a diesel it’s jerky and plainly doesn’t feel
right.
So the issue is as ever…it’s not the car…it’s the instructor you choose.
September 29th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
I see two issues here. Firstly whether you learn in a petrol or diesel I believe that pupils should always be taught to use the gas pedal when pulling away. That will alleviate the differences between petrol and diesel. It will also encourage pupils to pull away faster when the need arises e.g. moving away at abusy roundabout can be dangerous if the pupil doesn’t move of quickly. It can be scary as an instructor to watch a pupil pull away very slowly at a roundabout only then to see a car flying around the corner, more gas from the pupil can save their lives. The second issue is this, I have always conducted pass plus lessons with my own former pupils. They have always been at a good standard before they started pass plus training. However my last pupil for pass plus came from another instructor. I was amazed they even passed their test let alone be allowed to have taken it in the first place. I would not have taken them to test at that standard!!
October 31st, 2008 at 11:14 am
I think the issue is probably not with the car but with the instructor. So one should be more careful about that.