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After a lifetime of driving manual cars I have a test drive booked on Sunday in my first automatic. Any tips or advice on what to watch or look out for would be most appreciated.
The test is in a Corolla Sports Touring Hybrid.
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With torque converter automatics, it’s my habit to knock back into neutral if I’m going to be stopped a while, at lights for example, so no tendency to creep and more economical too.
1) Tie left foot to bottom of seat!
2) Keep left hand under bum until needed.
Joss
***🌻🌻🌻 ***
Current car BMW X2 2.0i Sport sDrive Auto 2019 with Sport pack
Last car Ford Focus Titanium 1.5 TDCI
Builder of Gaming PC'sYeah that’s what I told Mrs ajn Joss, worked for her now she’s totally use to the auto driving, the auto hold hand brake she loves too..
It’s worth bearing in mind the difference between a true auto with torque converter & an automatic manual which won’t have auto creep. A surprising number these days are electrically operated manual boxes.
I think personally throwing left foot braking into the mix for a test drive auto newbie is just confusing the matter. There’s nothing wrong with people who do that who do it well BUT the number of nasty accidents up here caused by elderly drivers doing that & accelerating at the same time, foot slips off brake & car shoots off into a shop window as happened in Cromer Morrisons recently.
We are told that left foot braking is too violent and too strong. We are also told that old people have their foot slip off the brake when they are accelerating. Why I wonder does their foot slip off the brake pedal? Why not the accelerator, which is usually smaller anyway. Its much more likely that they stuck their one foot on the accelerator thinking they were braking. But that would not suit the narrative would it? That these two footed drivers are lethal. Of course that ignores the fact that with this super powerful foot clamped on the brake the car would not go anywhere anyway. Group think is a wonderful thing. If anybody took the trouble to look up the facts they would find it is elderly drivers stamping down with their right foot on the accelerator thinking its the brake that causes nearly every accident. Their reflexes are then too slow to adjust that right foot off the accelerator and onto the brake. Again that would not suit group think. useful tips by all means like ‘creep’ but cease the carping about one or two feet. Next time you see a car bearing down on you as a pedestrian or in your rear view mirror, pray its a two footed driver since at speed it can make a 20 metre difference. And that can mean life or death. Let someone work out for them self how to drive, stop hinting someone has a problem if they don’t want to drive with one foot.
sif really seems to be taking issue with this…. and a few others aren’t helping either
Firstly no one said it was illegal so don’t know why you made that point?
Elderly people get dopey and do dopey things, that’s why they crash…
The question was related to someone who has been driving a manual car for a lifetime trying an automatic for the first time…. talking about 2 footed braking or using your left because your right is weak or amputated isn’t relevant. I use hand controls but don’t advocate for them because they can brake quicker?
“Next time you see a car bearing down on you pray it’s a two footed driver”? What a load of rubbish… why not pray it isn’t a manual gearbox, or pray they’re paying attention, or that their brakes and tyres are in good condition….
When you are driving you should either be accelerating or braking, not trying to do both at the same time and the easiest way to manage this is to use one foot…. if you drive differently because of a disability then that is specific to you and not relevant to the OP.
Hhhhmmmm I feel it’s time to perform an EMERGENCY stop now, and get out…😂🤣
Its all getting a bit missing the junction on a roundabout multiple times for me…
Enjoy the test drive Sunday Fiestared👍👍
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The way I got use to auto from manual, was to sit on my left leg. Soon got use to using right foot only for braking.
@ajn Enjoy the test drive Sunday Fiestared
Thank you, I’m looking forward to it.
As others have said, just forget that your left leg exists! I first drove autos in Florida around 30 years ago and couldn’t wait to embrace them in the UK thereafter. Had a mix of autos and manuals for the next 10 years but over the past 20 years I’ve just had autos. I liken it to manual versus electric windows. You’d never want to go back to manually winding a window up and down! Good quality modern autos have better performance and economy than the manual versions and are so much nicer to drive. You never lose the knack of driving a manual though. I drive lots of different cars each year and many are manuals. I can jump into any car and be comfortable driving it within minutes. The sole exception was a LWB van recently when moving my daughter. The worst manual gearbox on earth!
WOW! WOW! WOW!
I’m sat here wondering why I’ve been driving manual cars for so long. I had my test drive and was a bit concerned about driving an automatic for the first time. Making it even worse the salesman gave me the car and said I’ll see you in 20 minutes.
I had ‘planned’ a journey on Google maps but it was over so quick that I did another lap and, this time, added in a detour which took me onto the local bypass and then, sadly back to the dealership.
Thanks to everyone on here for all the help, it has been really appreciated. All I need to do now is sit and wait for my new Toyota Hybrid to be built.
Well done. You won’t regret it. Some things are best embraced. It’s a bit like retirement. When did you last hear someone say “I wish that I’d retired later”? 😂
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The issue isn’t so much left or right foot braking but more one foot v. two feet. As has already been mentioned plenty of people have the use of only the left foot, which is fine because the foot is only going to be pressing one pedal at a time. And that’s the point, those who build the muscle memory of left foot braking and right foot accelerating stand a very good chance, when the chips are down and instinct kicks in, of stamping on the brake with one foot while stamping on the accelerator with the other, often with disastrous consequences. By maintaining the foot off accelerator onto brake instinct (and relearning to keep the clutch foot doing nothing, which is learnt very quickly) you eliminate this, very real, possibility.
Well done, FiestaRed. You seem to have enjoyed it all. Sure you will do the same when the beast arrives.
@Tharg Well done, FiestaRed. You seem to have enjoyed it all. Sure you will do the same when the beast arrives.
Now, having checked the Toyota website, I think it was a 2.0 litre car I was sent out in, not the 1.8 I had requested. After my problems with my handover from Vauxhall, this leaves me wondering if, when you reach retirement age, does everyone think you suddenly become stupid and not check things out on pages like this one?
Glad the test drive went well 🙂 Was going to add watch your speed to the list….
Until getting our SEAT with the DSG I’d only driven manuals and you get used to “knowing” your speed based on the selected gear and the sound / rpm of the engine – the DSG (most of the time) shifts so smoothly that its easy to keep your foot down without realising your going faster then you think.
Not a problem now but for the first couple of weeks it took some getting used to.
I fully agree with you there TJ. As I mentioned I included the local bypass on my last lap and was surprised when I looked at the speedo.
On my Astra ST I have a warning set to remind me when I exceed the limits I have set. Hope there’s something similar on the Toyota.
You can download the user manuals here:
https://www.toyota.co.uk/tme#/my-toyota/eManual
Choose generic search then Corolla HB/TS – english – 2021. You can leave the month blank.
@Marc Thanks for the link to the manuals, I’ll read through them until the day I finally get a hard copy.
You can download Toyota specs here:
https://www.toyota.co.uk/brochures-pricelists
Choose the Carolla Price list (equipment and specs), make sure you read the specs for the estate towards the end of the pdf not all specs are the same for the same trim but different body shape, for example the GR Sport hatch has 18 inch wheels, on the estate it’s only 18 inch wheels on the 2 litre the 1.8 has 17 inch wheels.
@Marc The smaller alloys on the sports tourer is something I’ve just spotted.
One other thing that I don’t think been mentioned is “Idle creep”? When you come to a stop at traffic lights or crawling in stop start traffic if you take your foot off the brake the car will start creeping forward so keep your foot on the brake until you want to move forward then pop over to the accelerator and away you go. Some cars have “auto-hold” built in with the likes of VAG cars that hold the car at stop for as long as you like and until you press the accelerator but many including the KIA I have now, the auto-hold only holds for two seconds to prevent the car rolling back when travelling in an up hill direction and gives you a very short time to get your foot off the brake and on to the gas.
The Toyota Corolla has auto hold so no idle creep, it’s a button next to the hand brake button. You have to press it to initiate the system after starting the car, once it’s switched on the car will hold after coming to a halt using the foot brake and will release on pressing the accelerator, if still stationary after 3 minutes the car will automatically apply the parking brake.
