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Having driving lessons!

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large_ghostman

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I have been driving on private land etc for a long time now, started with a large ride on mower aged roughly 6 or 7, progressed to small tractor aged 8. progressed to large tractor aged 9.
Landrover and cars i was probably 10 or 11. So the other week had my first official driving lesson on the main road.

had a two hour lesson, driving instructor knows nothing of my history etc, lesson went ok and when we got back to the house she says to me.....

You did really well, most new driver stall the car or miss gears blah blah blah. She said she was amazed I had done so well and she hadnt had to use the dual driving controls, BUT she turns to me and says....

The only thing that worries me a little is your cornering, dont be offended but you drive a car like a tractor. So i look her dead in the eye and say, i have to disagree with you, if i was driving it like a tractor i would have been facing the other way. So she asks why would I do that?? So again dead straight faced i looked at her and said, because I like my plough lines straight and I cant stand cut rows that are hard to bale after cutting.

She looked really confused, so I ask her if she has a bit of time before her next customer, she says she has twenty mins. So we get out the car and i dissapere.
the look on her face was priceless when suddenly i came from behind the barn in a huge Massey Ferguson, i have it on loan from a neighbor for a couple of weeks to sort our large field out.

She actually agreed to get in (its a twin seat), and I took her across the small paddock in it. We get back to the barn after ten mins and she looks at me and says.... why didnt you drive like that in the car!! WOMEN!!!!

One minuet she says i drive a car like a tractor then she is asking why i didnt drive the car like a tractor!! She couldnt see the irony in that at all. I asked if I could use the landrover for the next lesson, but she refused because it dosnt have dual control. I should explain everything I have driven so far, including my mums car etc, have all been fairly large. The car i am learning in is a tiny Corsa!! I am not used to driving something with steering so light, it turns just by looking at the steering wheel!! Actually its horrible to drive, feels like it would blow over in the wind.

Anyway first lesson done!! 2 hours and £85 spent!! I better pass the driving test pretty quick, extortionate costs learning to drive.
 
Well done LG.

i came from behind the barn in a huge Massey Ferguson
Is that what passes for a "Chick Magnet" in your area?

The car i am learning in is a tiny Corsa!! I am not used to driving something with steering so light, it turns just by looking at the steering wheel!! Actually its horrible to drive, feels like it would blow over in the wind
The last time I hired a car in the UK, it was a Vauxhall Astra if I remember correctly. I thought that was horrible. No feeling to the steering, lacking in power, I seemed to have a hell of a job to make it do more than 50MPH, yet in town I seemed to have a hard job to keep it below 30MPH, it felt weird.

JimB
 
I've spent about 12 hours a day every day for the last 12+ days driving semi (early 2000's Volvo with 40' trailer and scales out at 80 - 85,000#'s) for sugar beet harvest. Dang near forget how to drive a normal vehicle after that.

BTW, Believe me I know very well how city drivers Vs farmer driver mentalities does not mesh. :p
 
One minuet she says i drive a car like a tractor then she is asking why i didnt drive the car like a tractor!! She couldnt see the irony in that at all. I asked if I could use the landrover for the next lesson, but she refused because it dosnt have dual control...

With some women the physical dual control may be missing but they still like to tell you how to drive or turn here or say why didn't you go this way or that way.

But to help you with the ladies in your neck of the woods. A little video to help you out.


 
Anyway first lesson done!! 2 hours and £85 spent!! I better pass the driving test pretty quick, extortionate costs learning to drive.
Now that is a bit steep, here a complete course (theory and 28 driving lessons 45min. each) costs rougly £300
Maybe you should come to Prague and get your course here, might be cheaper even with the accomodation and plane tickets :D
 
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Now that is a bit steep, here a complete course (theory and 28 driving lessons 45min. each) costs rougly £300
Maybe you should come to Prague and get your course here, might be cheaper even with the accomodation and plane tickets :D
How hard is the test?
Honestly that dosnt sound like a bad idea to me.
 
Well done LG.


Is that what passes for a "Chick Magnet" in your area?


The last time I hired a car in the UK, it was a Vauxhall Astra if I remember correctly. I thought that was horrible. No feeling to the steering, lacking in power, I seemed to have a hell of a job to make it do more than 50MPH, yet in town I seemed to have a hard job to keep it below 30MPH, it felt weird.

JimB

This tractor is a babe magnet in ANY area lol

My mum had an Astra around 4 years ago, it was new and I liked that. But the Corsa is awful. I think most Vauxhals have that funny under powered thing, with the cant stay at 30. I thought in the lesson it was me not being used to the car, but in town I had to keep changing gear to keep it from running off.

they sit fine at 40mph in 4th, 30 in 4th seems like you need 3rd, but then your kind of at the end of the range in 3rd at 3o. Your not but you know what I mean, the revs are a bit high in 3rd at 30 in 3rd. This corsa is a petrol one, but you got to keep it revving high to get anywhere.

Mums got a Mondeo Estate now, i love driving that, but cant drive it on the roads, I cant get insured for it.

The cheapest insurance I can find once I past my test, is for a Corsa. They seem to be about the only car insurance companies will cover at my age, for 3rd party cover only the cost is £1,800 per year with £1,200 excess on it!! Thats for a car with a value of £2,5K

I shopped around on different sites and that was the cheapest deal, i dont have a car, i just tried different scenarios on the web sites. Oh and that price is if I go on my mum insurance cover, they wont have me as a named driver, but they do an affiliated policy.

RIP OFF
 
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How hard is the test?
Honestly that dosnt sound like a bad idea to me.
I am not sure if a course in english costs the same, but the tests are really not hard, just a load of questions. But driving on the right side might not be that useful to you when you get back to UK :D
 
That's quite a feat to go through just for driving then acquiring a vehicle then insurance. And here I just drive with a tag that has two swords crossed under a skull..... :cool:

Remember, just have as much fun as you can. Below is an not so much a sunny day segment. Personal rumination. I'm suddenly reminded of a kid with a golden bent ball bat rolling on golden roller blades with that insidious grin still wearing that red cap :woot:

There is bound to be something out there that's fair. Or some method.

It's all ways about monetary gain when the placement is available, as I learned years ago about a promotional purchase. Kind of upset them tho, once I found out about the sudden interest gain that was not presented in the initial paper work I paid the full amount and cracked their little money parade into a frown before they could hike the interest rate 75% from 14% in 2004, and that really upset their rent a financier service as well. Two goofs, one stoned, on anger. :)

So... brief pause.. It's everywhere, problematic business rulings, some are necessary and many are not. Knowing right now of some one involved in insurance fraud and credit fraud whilst both businesses are covering it up. And the person is living a paranoid life looking over the shoulder all the time.

Ohh, and the majority ruling vs service motto. Some insurance companies here in N.C will assume a low credit rating on determining majority factors on getting any insurance regardless of vehicle cost.... Even if it cost up to 50,000 give/take, and is verified fully paid for, just an example. Still don't know how some do that without having to utilize a bank or finance method to acquire a vehicle in that price range (I know, they pay too much in cash!) and yet I've encountered many here with no license and no proof of ownership and yet have insurance on the very vehicle that are driving at that very moment! wow

So yes, a majoritively rip off game of business can be the favor regardless in many places making it harder to find the businesses that are left that do not cheat based on the ones that do cheat and underhand placing large sums into disrupting the latter. (Decent calm paced businesses are fading out for fast paced in the front door pay, get thrown out the back alley thinking just a moment later (15 seconds) did I just overpay in there or was that a mirage? And what did I pay for? Wait, what is this place? This goes on and on for some time, sigh) .

And also I honestly can not even imagine what it would be like driving a car that even when floored could not out rate 50 mph in outer city conditions.

Cars here brake at the last moment and floor it at green regardless of power output.
 
... i came from behind the barn in a huge Massey Ferguson...
Like this?:
upload_2017-10-14_12-38-8.jpeg

(I want one...)
 
Like this?:


Dialogue between LG and his driving instructor:
LG: Funny, I never noticed a hump in the road there before?
DI: No, because you just ran over the top of the Corsa!

JimB
 
LOL
Glad your back paul. Nah the massey I borrowed at the moment is a little smaller. But its got aircon and heated seats!! Also has GPS field tracking :(
 
This is the same model, well same series. They do this odd thing now where you order a tractor but then pic the spec. So no two are ever really the same

**broken link removed**

For example thats the 8730, there isnt really a 87302 but thats what this particular one is. You would not believe what these things cost. The one i am borrowing is probably around £85K with the hedge pack on it.
 
Just don't do want the 18 year old girl with the new car mommy bought her 2 days before did to us a week ago. On a mile-long downhill stretch of road with unlimited visibility, I slowed down for the car in front of me to turn left. I had either just let off the gas to slow, or lightly touched the brakes and BAM! This girl, who was almost certainly texting, rear-ended us at between 20 - 25 mph (30 kph - 40 kph) difference in speeds. The seatbelt pyrotectics fired pulling us back into the seats but the air bags did not fire.

Only minor injuries to my partner, and apparent slight damage to our 2002 Mercedes W210 E320 wagon. Sadly damage to the car was more extensive than at first apparent, with the body bent so much the left side rear door wouldn't even open. The car was declared a total lost when repair costs were pegged at 1.5x value and still climbing. The car preformed exactly as designed, protecting the occupants.

The 2 day old Honda Civic left a debris field down the road from the point of impact and was probably totalled as well.

The absolutely galling part? This 18 year old girl didn't think it was that big of a deal, because her sister had totalled 2 new cars already! Geez oh grief parents - teach your kids something!

No texting. Not even a glance to read an incoming message!
 
I've driven a range of vehicles.

Ignoring motorbike, the range covers kerb weights of 400 - 4000 kg, power from 24 - 500 hp, engine capacity from 0.6 - 5 litres, 3 to 6 wheels, 2 - 17 seats, 2 - 8 cylinders, petrol, diesel and hybrids, naturally aspirated, turbocharged and supercharged, manuals with 4 - 6 forward gears and autos with 3 - 9 forward gears, left and right hand drive, front, rear and four wheel drive, some with low ratio boxes, and I've towed trailers.

It's taught me that being familiar with one type of vehicle will still leave me with a lot to learn when I come to a new situation.

I suspect that LG's instructor was looking for some different behaviours when LG was driving the Corsa, but would like to see the confidence he has with a tractor.

I'll bet that the Corsa has power steering which it doesn't really need.
 
I haven't liked any of the Vauxhall's I've driven (and '80's Astra, early 00's Corsa and a more recent Insignia) all only temporarily, mercifully. Horrible things. The Insignia seemed bigger than my van! (which is a Transit Connect). We have a Toyota Aygo as a courtesy car while the Clio is being patched up after someone drove into it (when parked). What a horrible little car! Explains a lot about when you see them on the road though. I think the LWB transit (one of the old ones) I had some years ago had a better turning circle!

Best car ever was the Civic we had! Very fond of that car!

I have to admire anyone who can drive a tractor! I had a go in a friend's Landrover years ago. I'd never driven anything bigger than a smallish car. Found it to be challenging. Parked about a metre away from the kerb!

LG - you probably know this already, don't just go by the comparison sites for insurance. Some companies aren't on them, and you may get a better deal dealing direct with the ones that are.
Anyway, you will find women to be the same in all walks of life (re, you drive it like a tractor, then, why didn't you drive it like a tractor) it may or may not eventually make sense.

Oh and congratulations! I think it's some sort of rite of passage, your first driving lesson... (I'm sure there's a pun in there somewhere)
 
Since turning circle has been mentioned above by Throbscottle, for those who do not know, turning circle is limited (or not) by the location of the driving axle.
Front wheel drive vehicles have a limited range of movement for the front axle, due to the presence of the driveshafts and constant velocity joints.
Rear wheel drive vehicles have no driveshafts and subsequently, constant velocity joints, on the front axle, so there is much less restriction on the angle which the front wheels can be turned for maneuvering.

Regards.
 
Since turning circle has been mentioned above by Throbscottle, for those who do not know, turning circle is limited (or not) by the location of the driving axle.
Front wheel drive vehicles have a limited range of movement for the front axle, due to the presence of the driveshafts and constant velocity joints.
Rear wheel drive vehicles have no driveshafts and subsequently, constant velocity joints, on the front axle, so there is much less restriction on the angle which the front wheels can be turned for maneuvering.

As we're mentioning tractors, it's not uncommon for four wheel steering, or even bending in the middle - so turning circles can be surprisingly small.
 
Some tractors will out turn a car any day now. Then you got things like the old Leyland we had!! $ weeks to turn from lock to lock, its turning circle was measured in nautical miles lol.

My little Kabota turns on a pin in both 2 and 4 wheel drive. This particular massey isnt great turning circle wise, but power steering and the lazy gear box make up for it. I love the Dynashift gears, but then again i like real gears on a tractor as well. This one is back heavy, its got a hug hedger on the back. It could do with more water in the front tires.

I like tractors, alot easier than cars to drive. Funny thing is no one ever tail gates you or refuses to give way.
 
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