Just tried to stand the wifes car on it's nose.
Discussion
bmw320ci said:
Cant see why you would even start to move your left foot to the centre of the pedals when driving an auto.
You don't go for the middle, you go where the clutch pedal would be, and due to the extended width of the brake you catch it with the ball of your foot.If the brake pedal were the normal size, this would never happen.
I've done the opposite.
Back in 1982 one of my mates bought a 1970 Daimler Sov 4.2 and we were posing around Cardiff centre in it. I was driving and sat at a set of traffic lights blipped the throttle to hear the roar of straight six.
In "drive".
Luckily we were at the front of the queue so peeling off in a huge cloud of tyre smoke didn't have any financial consequences.
Back in 1982 one of my mates bought a 1970 Daimler Sov 4.2 and we were posing around Cardiff centre in it. I was driving and sat at a set of traffic lights blipped the throttle to hear the roar of straight six.
In "drive".
Luckily we were at the front of the queue so peeling off in a huge cloud of tyre smoke didn't have any financial consequences.
cjs racing. said:
You don't go for the middle, you go where the clutch pedal would be, and due to the extended width of the brake you catch it with the ball of your foot.
If the brake pedal were the normal size, this would never happen.
oh not all Auto's have the large sized peddle, my M4 has a standard size brake pedal, thats why I asked if you had work boots on?!If the brake pedal were the normal size, this would never happen.
Ran into the back of a brand new Seat people carrier once. The woman just slammed on the brakes in front of me. I was following at a reasonable distance, but was caught off guard as there was no reason to just stop, and the Seat was about 15 years younger than my then car and the brakes were far superior.
She got out and told me she was test driving the car from the local seat garage and had never driven an automatic before.
She got out and told me she was test driving the car from the local seat garage and had never driven an automatic before.
A few years back and I went to test drive my first Automatic. An Audi TT 3.2 Quattro. This was in the early days of Launch Control and I had persuaded the young salesman for me to have a go. I launched it up this road, hit around 80mph and still accelerating hard when I instinctively went to change gear... Wasn't my finest moment. 
Nothing from me personally, I travel regularly & drive anything and everything, so don't give it a second thought, be it LHD, RHD, Manual or Auto. I also don't have to think about the rules of the road in GB/NL/DE/CY/USA as it's 2nd nature having driven there so often - so I often find myself cutting in close to other cars when in NL, or being lazy on cruise in USA (unless you're on the LIE 
). So, I'm in no way a driving god, but I've mastered the art of the rental car! It's just practice if you ask me...
Now here's the story...
Back in 2009/10 we were working in Georgia (the state), and had been over for a few weeks, when some fresh bods come in. We pick them up from Atlanta airport and drive down I85 the hotel. Young lad, new on the team, asks if he can drive in, the next morning. He's over 25, and it's company insurance - go for it...
Now you know it's not going to go well when he walks around to the right-hand side...
Driven abroad before have we? - no.
OK, it's an auto - driven one of those? - no
OK, it's also a full-size chevy impala - driven anything big? - only my Corsa
We set off - I tell him to tuck left leg against the seat as you have no clutch, so don't use the leg. To his credit, we manage fine for about 8 miles until we have to turn off to the plant - it's the first left turn he's done. Rolling along to the junction, he plants his foot on the e-brake (most American auto Chevy's have a foot operated, press-on, press-off "handbrake" pedal) at around 30mph! We're completely sideways into a smoky halt, backwards across the junction. Luckily, not hitting anything.
He didn't drive again....
). So, I'm in no way a driving god, but I've mastered the art of the rental car! It's just practice if you ask me...Now here's the story...
Back in 2009/10 we were working in Georgia (the state), and had been over for a few weeks, when some fresh bods come in. We pick them up from Atlanta airport and drive down I85 the hotel. Young lad, new on the team, asks if he can drive in, the next morning. He's over 25, and it's company insurance - go for it...
Now you know it's not going to go well when he walks around to the right-hand side...
Driven abroad before have we? - no.
OK, it's an auto - driven one of those? - no
OK, it's also a full-size chevy impala - driven anything big? - only my Corsa
We set off - I tell him to tuck left leg against the seat as you have no clutch, so don't use the leg. To his credit, we manage fine for about 8 miles until we have to turn off to the plant - it's the first left turn he's done. Rolling along to the junction, he plants his foot on the e-brake (most American auto Chevy's have a foot operated, press-on, press-off "handbrake" pedal) at around 30mph! We're completely sideways into a smoky halt, backwards across the junction. Luckily, not hitting anything.
He didn't drive again....
PositronicRay said:
cjs racing. said:
My daily drive is a Transit van, my wife has a Yeti.
Mine is manual, hers is auto, I'm sure many can see what is coming.
I went for the clutch, and mashed the brakes at 60, damn thing felt like it wanted to do a front roll.
Why do autos have to have such a big brake pedal.
I know I'm not the first to do this, so lets have some funny tales about the same?
Coming to a stop yes, never heard of anyone doing this @ 60!!Mine is manual, hers is auto, I'm sure many can see what is coming.
I went for the clutch, and mashed the brakes at 60, damn thing felt like it wanted to do a front roll.
Why do autos have to have such a big brake pedal.
I know I'm not the first to do this, so lets have some funny tales about the same?
My 1974 Camaro had the foot operated E Brake even thought it was a manual. Four pedals to really confuse my pals when they wanted a "go".
Oh, and a foot operated dip switch for the lights too. No wonder most Americans buy the auto, they're not lazy, just confused.
Oh, and a foot operated dip switch for the lights too. No wonder most Americans buy the auto, they're not lazy, just confused.
Edited by Mound Dawg on Wednesday 28th June 19:38
I did it when I pulled back into the Audi dealer after test driving an S3 S-Tronic. Luckily, I was only coming to a stop but I felt like a right tit!
Couple of weeks after getting one, I was driving the girlfriends Mini and forgot the dip the clutch coming to a stop at a junction.
Thankfully, I can now switch from autos/manuals without any issues.
My excuse is that it's my first auto car!
Couple of weeks after getting one, I was driving the girlfriends Mini and forgot the dip the clutch coming to a stop at a junction.
Thankfully, I can now switch from autos/manuals without any issues.
My excuse is that it's my first auto car!
Never hit the brake in an auto before, luckily, but I have done the opposite before, after 2 weeks of deliberately disabling the left side of my body in an auto rental car. I sit back in my mx5, friend in the passenger seat. I pop it into reverse and back out of my parking space as normal, I go to brake before putting the car into 1st and my brain just s
ts the bed... the car nearly rolls into a bush.
Turned out I had my right foot on the clutch and my left foot over in the left side of the footwell, I had to actually look down at my feet to figure out what the hell was going wrong. Mate thought it was hilarious.
Probaby rivals borrowing my dads car in the US and nonchalantly turning left at a junction right into the wrong side of a guard house, guard gave me the wierdest look until he heard my accent and put 2+2 together
.
ts the bed... the car nearly rolls into a bush.Turned out I had my right foot on the clutch and my left foot over in the left side of the footwell, I had to actually look down at my feet to figure out what the hell was going wrong. Mate thought it was hilarious.
Probaby rivals borrowing my dads car in the US and nonchalantly turning left at a junction right into the wrong side of a guard house, guard gave me the wierdest look until he heard my accent and put 2+2 together
. Way back in the in the late '70s when I was a sixth former, the school had a transit minibus with "crew seating", a bench down either side of the rear cabin. Said Transit also had a pedal layout where the steering column ran between the brake and clutch pedals.
I think there were 16 or 18 of us who were quite well squeezed in said minibus when, at the bottom of a steep slope, our physics teacher used the leftmost of pedals to the right of the the steering column to change down. After that he looked over his shoulder at the heap of pupils and the now empty rear third of the two benches and said "see, room for at least another 10 in there".
I think there were 16 or 18 of us who were quite well squeezed in said minibus when, at the bottom of a steep slope, our physics teacher used the leftmost of pedals to the right of the the steering column to change down. After that he looked over his shoulder at the heap of pupils and the now empty rear third of the two benches and said "see, room for at least another 10 in there".
I drove probably 80 miles to my parents house in my volvo v50 auto, full of wall panels from my bathroom that they wanted. The load wasn't that secure but the panels were huge so I didn't think they'd go far. Anyway, concentrated all the way there, drove carefully, got to my parents...and slammed on the brake.
the panels slid forward and smashed my windscreen.
the panels slid forward and smashed my windscreen.
Not quite in the same vein as the OP, but when I went to test drive the car that is now Mrs PB's car, I had driven to the showroom in a much older car. As we went down the road on the test drive, approaching a set of lights, I lightly feathered the brakes.
Well, if I'd been in the older car, lightly feathering is exactly what I would have done. However, due to the lack of pedal feel and general lack of weight of controls, I very nearly put the salesman into the dashboard and the car on its nose. That would be the difference between a 1987 car, and a 2011 car.
Well, if I'd been in the older car, lightly feathering is exactly what I would have done. However, due to the lack of pedal feel and general lack of weight of controls, I very nearly put the salesman into the dashboard and the car on its nose. That would be the difference between a 1987 car, and a 2011 car.
I had the opposite issue to the Op, been driving autos of various guises for a few months and then got in a manual. Pootle along the motorway for a while before taking a junction and slowing down for the roundabout...
I remember thinking "this auto is st still hasn't shifted down" then remembered yes the auto is st as its a manual and I'm the automatic, lol, nearly stalled in 6th gear before realising I needed to use my left foot.
I remember thinking "this auto is s
t still hasn't shifted down" then remembered yes the auto is st as its a manual and I'm the automatic, lol, nearly stalled in 6th gear before realising I needed to use my left foot.
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