To Change Driving Instructors?

[ForeverBubblegum]

I’ve just finished an intensive driving course (40h) and today failed my test. Can’t really blame them, I did drive horribly for the test, but overall my driving usually not that bad. The problem I had was that when I’m nervous I tend to a bit fast of the clutch and start lifting before there’s enough gas going in and stall (or overcompensate and kangaroo). This then gets me more flustered so it gets worse. I stalled several times during the test so unsurprisingly failed on control when moving off.

I don’t blame my instructor for this, although we maybe should has spent more time getting it 100% right early on, in retrospect he seemed to want to push ahead with road practice so was using duel controls a lot. The main issue is his car is petrol and I have read that lots of instructors use diesels as they are more forgiving.

Would changing to an instructor with a diesel help? Or would getting to know a new car and instructor set me back more than persevering with the petrol? Overall my current instructor is OK but we maybe haven’t gelled as well as we could. I’m quite a nervous driver in general and he didn’t really help at times, but not so bad that I would change based on this alone.

If I can get starts (and nerves) sorted I’ll probably be ready to retry the test quite soon, so just not sure what to do for the best. Has anyone noticed a big difference between fuel types (especially when new to driving) or am I just clutching at straws (no pun intended)?

I have never heard of a big difference between petrol and diesel cars. All cars are different to drive and it takes a little while to get used to exactly how hard you have to push the clutch, accelerator and brake, or pull up the handbrake, when you first drive a new car. But if you're not entirely happy with your driving instructor, you should get someone else anyway. Good luck.

Do you want to consider learning on an automatic car? It's easier and who wants to change gear on a roundabout?

There are less things to do and you can concentrate on the driving.

I'd say if you are not happy with your instructor then switch. I don't think the difference between diesel and petrol is huge tbh.

I have just passed my test this week. My instructor had a nice manner but wasn't afraid to correct me as I was driving, she constantly provided instruction (and in the end, critique when I was test ready) for a better drive.

So much so that I found the examiner far more forgiving and ended up with 2 minor faults when in my head I had made at least 10!

Agree with previous poster. There no discernible difference driving a petrol or diesel car (certainly not one a beginner would notice) so that's a non issue. It might be a good time to change instructors if you are not entirely happy, just to get a fresh perspective. Some instructors specialise in helping nervous drivers. What you need more than anything is probably just more practice.

I had 3 instructors learning to drive 3rd one was perfect . If not happy change . My 3rd instructor I told her issues . My biggest one she resolved 1st lesson

The problem is with your clutch control not petrol or diesel. You need to work on it & you’ll no doubt pass. Said as someone who really struggled to pass btw, passed 5th time with long breaks between as I kept giving up.
You’ll get it I promise. ☺️

I find diesels more unforgiving to be honest. They teach you properly how to do it as if you get it wrong, they stall much quicker than petrol cars. I could pull away in 2nd or 3rd gear even up a small incline in my petrol car, couldn't do that in my diesel that has a bigger engine.

You need to learn to use the clutch. I’m surprised any driving instructor would let you sit the test when you haven’t got that basic skill down yet.

By all means find an instructor you feel more comfortable with but petrol/diesel doesn’t make much difference.

Hi everyone thanks for the replies.

The contentious seems to be that it’s a complete fallacy, fair enough.

I think I just need to spend a few hours constantly stopping and starting in a quiet street or car park, and think that should have really been our first lesion. I can understand him not wanting the car to be stalled over and over, but that surly is just something you accept as part of been an instructor.

To be fair a few days ago I was ok at it, it never got to the instinctive muscle memory stage but I could manage alright 95% of the time (bit bumpy but acceptable). Unfortunately the more we focused on trying to get it right the more stressed I got over it and just got worse and worse. So now it’s become a bigger block then it ever needed to be.

Think I’ll try to book a one off couple of hours with a different instructor in the next few days and see if it clicks better with someone else, and then decide on booking for another 10 hours or so. I’ll not mention it just yet though so if the new car does throw my I can still go back to currant instructor.

If I’m honest I wasn’t at the stage where I felt confident I would pass, even without the nervous mistakes it was 'if I'm lucky' (and that didn’t help with the nerves). But with it been an intensive course the test was booked before I’d even started lesions, and we passed the point of been able to re-arrange it when I was only ¼ of the way through and it seemed to be going well. As I would not have got a refund for not attending there wasn’t really much to lose.

They are in some ways. They don't stall as easily when driven properly but you can't get away with anything either. My driving instructor just changed from a very tolerant petrol car to a diesel and I hate the damn thing. It screams at every bastard roundabout because I can't get it up into 2nd the very nanosecond it goes above 5mph.

You haven’t lost anything by taking the test. If anything it might help you be less nervous next time as you know whats going to happen.

Loads of people fail first time. It’s not a big deal.

It really is just practice, take some more lessons and I’m sure you will be fine.

You don't need to spend a couple of hours stopping and starting, you just need to learn clutch control: Put on a little bit of gas and slowly lift the clutch to the 'bite' - you will see the bonnet of your car lift slightly. This means that the gear mechanism has meshed the engine and wheels together. Watch for the bonnet to lift, that is the point when you can release the handbrake and the car will keep its position. You will not roll backwards or pull forwards. This is the 'biting point' and you really need to be able to do this for a hill start. When you have the car at the biting point you can then choose when to pull away by lifting your left foot up fully. Remember your observations before you zoom off!

A decent instructor would have worked more on clutch control with you. Using the dual controls should be a last resort. You are meant to be learning to have full control!

Change to a better instructor. I've had average, then I changed to good. Made all the difference.

I took ages to learn how to get the clutch point when driving. I'm not very well coordinated, at least that's my excuse. Once I got it, never forgotten. Just needed that light bulb moment. Some get it quicker than others.

There is a difference with diesel and petrol, but not one I could say I would have noticed when I was learning. My revs sit lower in my diesel and its quieter. Actually, I can imagine this being harder to drive as it won't tell by the sound that it's struggling in gear until its really protesting.
Changing instructor and car isn't a bad thing, it might be unfamiliar to start, learning its little quirks, but you will have drive new cars throughout your driving life. It sounds like clutch control is an issue, tell your new instructor this. Really get it down so its not the first thing that goes out the window when you're nervous.

Depending where you are driving a new instructor may put you on a hill or incline for you to learn clutch control.

Oh and having driven petrols and diesels, diesels are more fussy about you driving in the right gear at lower speeds but that's the most significant difference. You can drive more on the clutch on some diesels at slows speeds but if you want your clutch last I wouldn't do so.