Learning to Drive

[mbenz76]

Not me

My wife is learning to drive, and wants to learn in an auto - as she only wants to drive auto once she has passed.

However, I have told her I think she is best learning in a manual, just so she has the option of driving a manual later on if she ever wants to.

What does everyone think? Would you bother learning in manual these days or go for auto and live with not being able to drive manual without another test? I imagine the learning curve in auto only is so much smaller as you don't have to worry about clutch control and changing.

She doesn't need to drive for her work, so that's not an issue, but you never know what job you may be doing later in life. I do wonder whether someone with an auto only licence could say if applying for a job that they have a full licence if it has an auto only restriction on it.

 

[st13phil]

Personally, unless your wife has a disability that would prevent her driving a manual transmission then I'd try to persuade her that going for an auto-only licence is a bad idea.

Quite apart from the obvious restriction it places on her not being able to legally drive the majority of cars in the UK, my view is that learning to drive in a manual transmission car will give her a much better understanding of car control that will stand her in good stead whether she chooses to drive an auto in the future or not.

 

[Stratman]

^^^^^^

What he said.

 

[wemorgan]

Ditto the above.

But ultimately I wouldn't worry too much about it. The important thing is that she's learning to drive. More and more cars are coming with DSG style gearboxes too, so the number of available cars for her to drive once passed is increasing.

 

[mbenz76]

Does anyone know (as I can't find out from my brief look) whether you have to sit the full test to go from auto to manual or whether there is a cut down test for changing over?

 

[PJH]

I teach in an automatic. Many of my pupils have tried manual and switched to auto.

If you wife changed employment to a driving related job, what would it be ? Multi-drop van driver ? Then manual would be better.
Taxi driver/chauffeuf ? Wouldn't matter.

 

[Beetnik]

If you want her to get a full understanding of how cars work then go the whole hog and get her a 30 year old car with a manual choke and no chips on board so if she's about to stall the engine she'll stall it and not have a computer intervene to juice up the rev's a bit.

Otherwise, from what you describe, let her learn in an auto - it's the future

 

[Rayny]

Does anyone know (as I can't find out from my brief look) whether you have to sit the full test to go from auto to manual or whether there is a cut down test for changing over?

You have to take the full practical test, but do not have to take the theory.

In over 20 years of driving on an auto only licence the only time I have regretted not taking the test in a manual was about 10 years ago when I needed to hire a car for a couple of days and had to hunt around for an automatic within budget.

 

[Noodle-Pulp]

Another take on this is that 3 times in the last 10 years I've booked a hire car when on holiday overseas, and each and every time they gave me no choice as the the gearbox..and yes, you guessed it they were all manual.

I've had both types, so not a problem for me..but an auto-only driver would not be happy in the slightest.

 

[st4]

I'd learn the manual, she'll then learn to appreciate an automatic transmission and give her flexability to drive other cars, you never know. I also suspect it will give her a greater car control too.

In saying that, more and more cars are going the self shifting route so if she does struggle with manual cars the auto route only avenue can then be gone down

 

[Dryce]

What does everyone think? Would you bother learning in manual these days or go for auto and live with not being able to drive manual without another test?

I bought an auto prior to passing my test (I had a bike licence for >20 years) and took my test in it.

Frankly I can't see why manual cars exist. They're a stone age abherration.

In UK it's occasionally a bit of a hassle with hire cars. Avis and Hertz non-corporate rates in particular are usually just silly money for an auto.

I do wonder whether someone with an auto only licence could say if applying for a job that they have a full licence if it has an auto only restriction on it.

Depends on the job. If I was applying for a job where a company had a fleet of vehicles I was exepcted to use then I'd flag it up. But the most of the time 'full driving licence' usually just means 'driving licence' and that you can get yourself about unaccompanied.

 

[Doug_]

I do wonder whether someone with an auto only licence could say if applying for a job that they have a full licence if it has an auto only restriction on it.

Anyone can say what they like when applying for a job, the crunch (no pun intended) would come in the event of an accident, regardless of fault, the company insurers would not be amused and rightly refuse to pay out in the event of a claim where the driver was not correctly licensed to drive the vehicle. Result - exit job

 

[Charles Morgan]

Try hiring an auto on much of the continent and you get screwed completely or end up with something horribly underpowered sapped by the auto. That alone would cause me to ensure that a manual was used for a test.

 

[JumboBeef]

OP, how old is your wife? When would she be driving? (home, abroad etc).

Better to have an auto licence than no licence at all........

 

[Will]

To be honest, clutch control and changing gear is probably such a small part of the whole learning experience that unless she has a genuine need to avoid learning this I'd definately opt for a regular licence rather than a 'restricted' auto-only type.

Just gives you a better understanding of what is going on, and makes things less complicated for the future. Say she needed to drive a manual car in an emergency? Hire cars/courtesy cars etc, just a good idea to get it out of the way IMHO.

Will

 

[The Pan Man]

MANUAL every time that way you learn what the gear box does and does not do. Retired instructor on two wheels. How many members use the tip when brik overtaking is required, I always do.

 

[Benzowner]

If you currently have an auto and your wife feels comfortable with auto, I would suggest passing her test in an auto. If then in the future she needs a manual license, she can retake her test, having road awareness from driving the auto she would only need to overcome the extra pedal. But a full license in a manual car would obviously be the better option.

 

[HR17]

Anyone can say what they like when applying for a job, the crunch (no pun intended) would come in the event of an accident, regardless of fault, the company insurers would not be amused and rightly refuse to pay out in the event of a claim where the driver was not correctly licensed to drive the vehicle. Result - exit job

A friend employed a guy who stated he had a full, clean licence, then had to sack him when he actually saw his lecence with so many points that the guy hadn't mentioned. Aside from telling a lie, the company's policy ruled him out.

 

[Charles Morgan]

MANUAL every time that way you learn what the gear box does and does not do. Retired instructor on two wheels. How many members use the tip when brik overtaking is required, I always do.

I was invited to spend a day that AMG hosted at MIRA, and one of the sessions was being coached by a former police driver on the safest use of the car and on using Roadcraft. The most useful skill he imparted was learning to use Tiptronic to ensure that the car was ready to do what you wanted to do, rather than reacting to your inputs as you did it. Cornering, overtaking and car control generally are much improved by understanding the dynamics of the gearbox, and unless the learner has a floppy paddle thingy, a manual is by far the best way to cope. After this winter, I have certainly learned to love engine braking much more.

 

[HR17]

To be honest, clutch control and changing gear is probably such a small part of the whole learning experience that unless she has a genuine need to avoid learning this I'd definately opt for a regular licence rather than a 'restricted' auto-only type.

There are so many people out there driving manuals, that I'd be concerned if somone was incapable of driving one, either through a lack of coordination or confidence. I know a lot of women just dont 'get' the mechanical side of things, but plenty of them do - we all see teenage girls and elderly grannies happily driving manuals. I think the auto test is an easy/lazy way out. Go for the manual everytime - like most other exams, you need to work at it, but only need to pass it once and its yours til your retirement years.

Incidentally, my other half's company can't employ those with auto only licences as their fleet cars are all a standardised manual spec. The only way they'd be able to do it was if someone had a physical disability which meant they couldn't use a clutch or gears, though they wouldn't be able to do their job either then.......