Teaching my girlfriend to drive

Dohc-WP

Dohc-WP

Ron Burgundy
Im sitting with a dilemma my girlfriend has been nagging me to tech her to drive but i'v never had the time to actually do it, currently i have 2 cars one car is a fairly small opel but it does not have features like abs, powersteering, parking sensors etc. benefits of it is that its small and front wheel drive. The other car i have is a bmw 3 series and it has abs, powersteering, parking sensors, reverse cam etc. those are advantages but a major disadvantage imo would be that its rear wheel drive and fairly bigger than the opel, this is the first time that she will be behind a steering wheel. both are 1.8l vehicles ! which one would be best
 
Opel! Do not let her drive the 3 series!!! Hahaha

One thing is for sure, good luck you're going to need it!
 
I also vote for the Opel. If she's going to be buying her first car soon, it's probably more similar to what she's likely to get. Plus if she's using an instructor's car for her test, it'll probably be something like that as well. And with all the power steering and park assist and stuff, the car helps you too much and you don't really learn to drive properly. Also, it's safer for the bmw.

With regards instructors and their cars, I've always felt it's best to learn to drive for the year that you have your learners, then have 2-3 lessons with an instructor so they can teach you to pass the test rather than teach you to drive. Then I'm pretty sure the testers themselves are a little more lenient if you do the test in an instructor's car because at least they know you've had lessons, and they might be friends with the instructors as well.

But ya, prepare for some stress and have your hand ready by the handbrake.
 
i would agree, the opel

What i found was with new drivers and newer cars dont mix, the clutches on new cars are VERY sensitive as opposed to the older cars, im assuming its an older car than the BMW? that being said its a smaller car and easier to learn with P Parking etc....the opel is a good start
 
I say opel since it is smaller and will make the parking test easier compared to a big long car especially parallel parking.

I did my driving test in a Mazda Sting which had power steering and ABS, but practised my driving in the instructors car which had same as the opel and hated having no power steering :).

But if she has never driven a car before with powersteering or abs she should get use to the opel quickly.
 
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Agreed the Opel. Better learning to drive a older car without the fancy features in my opinion. The fancy features makes driving easier.
 
Definately teach her in the opel. It will do her a world of good to learn in a car that is more difficult to drive. I learned in an old Mini 1000 and now I can drive pretty much anything. Also, start small move up to big is always a good idea because then if you are trying to teach her to steer around a corner and she moves into the other lane, she will be less likely to cause as much damage because other people might be able to avoid her better.

Make sure she doesn't wear sunglasses or a hat while driving as I have noticed that blonde girls that wear large sunglasses or hats while driving are the worst drivers on the road. Also people driving 4matics :P
 
HoboMincer said:
Definately teach her in the opel. It will do her a world of good to learn in a car that is more difficult to drive. I learned in an old Mini 1000 and now I can drive pretty much anything. Also, start small move up to big is always a good idea because then if you are trying to teach her to steer around a corner and she moves into the other lane, she will be less likely to cause as much damage because other people might be able to avoid her better.

Make sure she doesn't wear sunglasses or a hat while driving as I have noticed that blonde girls that wear large sunglasses or hats while driving are the worst drivers on the road. Also people driving 4matics :P
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Shot Guys ! Opel it is then !
 
What they all said :p

I would only say opel from a point that if you go lazy mans car to start off with, how will she ever learn to drive a car without all the features if push comes to shove...
 
sycogrim said:
What they all said :p

I would only say opel from a point that if you go lazy mans car to start off with, how will she ever learn to drive a car without all the features if push comes to shove...
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she's pretty stubborn at times but i'll see how it goes (I have a mission on my hands i tell ya)
 
From personal experience, if you value your relationship you should NEVER teach your girlfriend how to drive.

Unless you want to break up with her, of course :p
 
Meh. Don't listen to RustBucket :p

Huge open parking lot, old car, boatload of patience.

Drill clutch control & gear selection into her. Never lose your cool. Be supportive without sounding condescending. Get her to evaluate her own driving by redoing everything until she's confident before moving onto the next step.

Good luck. :p
 
Voicy said:
Meh. Don't listen to RustBucket :p

Huge open parking lot, old car, boatload of patience.

Drill clutch control & gear selection into her. Never lose your cool. Be supportive without sounding condescending. Get her to evaluate her own driving by redoing everything until she's confident before moving onto the next step.

Good luck. :p
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I used an open field to learn how to do the clutch,gears and then to stop :p. I was using My Moms Mazda Etude before I got my Mazda Sting.
 
Merenwenrago said:
I used an open field to learn how to do the clutch,gears and then to stop :p. I was using My Moms Mazda Etude before I got my Mazda Sting.
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I learnt to drive in my mom's old Mazda 323. Not a chance my dad would let me drive his BMW
 
I learned to drive in a Tazz but failed my first attempt cause I couldn't alley dock. So glad that ordeal is years behind me =)
 
Hah you lot had easy cars! I started with my mums old kombi! What a nightmare, luckily we where in Langebaan at the time and they had a new development that was just starting. So I learnt to drive the kombi on the dirt roads there. Must admit tho it made smaller cars a dream to drive (my first car was a mini cooper old model - as in VERY old). To this day I dont mind driving big cars but I refuse to learn to drive any automatic car. Half of the fun of driving is changing gears :D
 
Wyvern said:
Hah you lot had easy cars! I started with my mums old kombi! What a nightmare, luckily we where in Langebaan at the time and they had a new development that was just starting. So I learnt to drive the kombi on the dirt roads there. Must admit tho it made smaller cars a dream to drive (my first car was a mini cooper old model - as in VERY old). To this day I dont mind driving big cars but I refuse to learn to drive any automatic car. Half of the fun of driving is changing gears :D
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Best thing I ever did was buy an automatic! :)
 
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