Never Do This In An Automatic Car! | Learn to drive: Car knowledge 

But...but what about a brake torque launch. When you spin up the engine in drive by holding the brake down to spin up the torque converter and turbo if your car has one.

How will cruising downhill in neutral cause damage to the gearbox (not that I would do that)? As long as you stop before putting it in drive again damage shouldn't be caused. I am only asking as I am about to get an automatic and would like to know as much as possible.

I can see the logic if the same principle applies to not being allowed to be towed in neutral, this I didn't know. So if you break down, you have to be recovered rather than being towed?

Well done! 🚗😃

Congrats

Congratulations

Congratulations

How many lessons did you have? I’ve had 20 in a manual so far but I’m hoping to move to auto instead as my instructor is constantly letting me down

that is the correct way.

This is entirely wrong : you should correctly use your left foot to brake and right for the accelerator ; this gives much more control and leads on to more advanced techniques .

no it is NOT .@@bwghall1

​@@derekheeps1244you should only use the left foot on the brake if you're doing something that absolutely needs you to have that much control, like track racing and such. Its easy to mess something up if you have to worry about controlling both feet in a stressful situation rather than just rotating your right foot Braking while pressing the throttle might also hurt your car's long term lifespan

Do you know when you pass your driving test, do you receive your full driving license within 3 weeks?

No automatic I hate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!

@@Zahid_FBTL we are different. we love automatic and we need more videos about it

@A. Noxsox omg I know right 🤦🏻‍♀️

@@Zahid_FBTL Yeah when you’re stuck in traffic for an hour everyday you’ll start loving automatics lol

​@@maddestruction1 omg and one freehand haha

Yeah, a valuable "insight" of how NOT to drive an automatic car! As always, a very useful video indeed!

Only inferior or neglected cars will wear out . I have cars up to 66 years old still running like new and have had one with 470,000 miles , still on original engine and automatic gearbox , until a woman crashed into it while parked on my driveway ( after demolishing my garden wall in the process ) thus writing it off ; otherwise it would most likely be somewhere between 750,000 and a million miles by now ( that incident was back in 2006 ) . Any car , properly maintained , will last indefinitely .

suzy herrington I done the same wheel come of the spring and made horrible noice burst the wheel had to wait for recovery

Wow scary

Did u pass ?

You SHOULD use your left foot to brake and right to accelerate ; two feet correspond to two pedals - you have two feet and presumably don't hop along the footpath , so why drive with one foot .

@@derekheeps1244 uuuuh.... what? No... One foot to control both pedals, you should never have both feet on the pedals, when you accelerate you don't break, and when you break you don't accelerate, one foot is used.

Why the need to left-foot brake? When doing a hill-start, you wouldn't use the footbrake at all. You'd use the handbrake. In a manual, the three controls are clutch, handbrake and accelerator, and you coordinate letting up the clutch, applying power and releasing the handbrake to set off smoothly. In an automatic, it's just the handbrake and accelerator that you need to use. But never the footbrake for either transmission - that requires three feet in a manual or else left-foot braking (which I NEVER do) in an automatic. You haven't lived until you've had to do a hill-start in an unfamiliar car on a 1:3 hill such as Rosedale Chimney near me, because the car in front has ground to a halt ;-) I always leave a long gap behind the car in front on that hill, and stop as soon as I see the car ahead is in difficulties, to allow plenty of room for him to roll back. I once got behind a car that was rolling back several feet each time he tried to set off - and when he was getting perilously close after using up all my safety distance, I got worried. I parked, got out, and asked if he needed any help. He was panicking, so I offered to drive his car to the top. I think he was quite impressed that I could get into an unfamiliar car with unknown clutch bite position, and petrol rather than the diesel that I'm used to, and set off almost flawlessly - OK, I stalled first time but I didn't roll back because I kept the handbrake on until I felt the car want to move forward. Setting off in my own car after that was a great deal easier, mainly because diesels have so much more low-speed torque that you can set off without needing to rev then engine as high when setting off on a very steep gradient.

With all the stop / start traffic, automatics are perfect for driving in a city. You'll love it!

The on screen speedometer is from the GPS data that our GoPro cameras record. We then add the current speed limit and gear selected manually. 👍🏼

You are welcome!

It’s very rare to use Neutral in an automatic. The only situation we can think of is when the car has a problem and needs to be pushed or towed.

The word is brake , not break , and often you DO need to apply power in order to move off ; also many smaller engined automatics will roll back on hills if not held on the brakes .

I find it harder to set off smoothly in an automatic because I am used to a combination of increasing throttle and letting in clutch to control how fast I set off; in an automatic there is only the throttle to control the speed. Manoevring at very low speed is also more difficult because the car tends to stay still until the engine is runnign faster enough when the transmission suddenly starts moving the car - especially on an uphill which is too steep for creep to start moving the car, without any throttle, as soon as you release the brake. In very slow traffic (eg a stop-start queue), in a manual I tend to keep my foot off the throttle and with the engine idling, let the clutch up briefly in the appropriate speed (1st or 2nd) to nudge the car forward, if I need to go slower than the car will go in that gear when the engine is idling. In an automatic there's the problem that the car may creep too quickly even with in throttle, so you need to control it on the brake - which may disable the creep...

In case it helps, this video explains the basics: How to drive an Automatic Car: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-21rkscmavl4.html 👍🏼

Glad it was helpful!

Thanks. It's Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk. 👍🏼

Thanks for your comment. The Leaf was an ideal car to film this video with, as since it is fully electric it is immune to damage from any of these bad habits!

We made a separate video about that: Left Foot Braking An Auto: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1X_z6OVcPeQ.html

I agree. I have seen, far to often, drivers who obviously drive with their left foot resting on the brake pedal and causing the 'stop lamps' to be illuminated constantly.

To be honest we're probably not the best people to explain technical details like that. We are more concerned with how to drive the car, and this will be the same whatever type of auto box the car has. Thanks for the idea though!

You missed out fluid flywheel boxes as not all automatics have torque converters , as well as preselector automatic boxes ; dual clutch gearboxes ARE just automated manuals , as are the single clutch ones . Each of these do require to be driven slightly differently due to their different designs .

Steering around tight corners: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TcDf24iCFb4.html 👍🏼

DSG is a dual clutch automated manual gearbox , not an actual automatic gearbox .

My Audi A1 does this but it can be controlled; if you ease off the accelerator gently the transmission slips into neutral but if you let off more abruptly it stays in gear. It always goes for the highest possible gear, but does change down if you brake on a steep hill. When it’s in neutral at speed you only have to touch the brake or accelerator to reengage drive. Apart from not having to move a lever about it’s nearly as complicated as a manual!

I doubt very much whether any modern transmission would be designed to coast (ie disengage engine from road wheels) during overrun - eg when going down a hill - because with fuel injection, it uses less fuel to remain in gear. If the wheels are driving the engine, the engine management unit can cut the fuel completely because none is needed to keep the engine idling. If you press the clutch - or the transmission does the same - a small amount of fuel is needed to keep the engine idling, because the wheels are not doing that job. I can see the instantaneous fuel consumption (on the trip computer) on my car shows 999 mpg (effectively no fuel being used) if I lift off the power and stay in gear, whereas it shows around 200 mpg if I press the clutch because a small amount of fuel is needed in the latter case.

lovely trees.

You can use the brakes in snow, but we must be very very gentle to avoid skidding. The creep function of auto cars should be enough to prevent the car rolling back on hills before pulling away.

Advance Driving School thanks for your reply 👍🏼🙂

"how you dealing to prevent the cars rolling back on up hill?" - use the handbrake as you would in a manual car and how you were taught (certainly in the UK).

Have you seen this video? How To Make Parking Easy | Learn to drive: Manoeuvres ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-D9H_cSzLitQ.html

Can you do videos in automatic dealing with traffic tailgating...

Sheila Mc Donald Following Distance / Tailgating | Learn to drive: Highway Code ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-156jBbhh9AI.html 👍🏼

The standard creep function that is built in to almost all automatics should stop the car rolling back on a hill, so no 'Hill Assist' function (as found in newer manual cars) is needed.

Being old-school, I don't like to trust hill-start assist in either manual or automatic, for fear that the car will roll backwards (maybe an unfounded fear!!), so I do it the way I was taught and have done for 40-odd years: hold the car on the handbrake while applying power (and also letting the clutch up in a manual) until the car "wants" to move forward and the brake is no longer needed. My own car doesn't have HSA, but my wife's newer Honda does. I suppose I should find myself a hill when there's no-one behind and prove to myself how well HSA works, so I can convince myself that it works, in a situation where it doesn't matter if the car *does* happen to roll back ;-) I suppose I'm so used to the clutch-handbrake-accelerator method that I don't *need* HSA - and perhaps (snobbishly!) think it's for people who can't master the proper method that I've done all my driving life.

We actually made a separate video about that: Left Foot Braking An Auto: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1X_z6OVcPeQ.html 👍🏼

No, just push it a little usually.

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool Thank you so much!

Yes, you can change between different forward modes whilst driving - but don’t try to select park or reverse!

We have made a whole video about left-foot braking in an automatic car! You can watch it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1X_z6OVcPeQ.html 👍🏼

I just experienced this in the morning and feel silly and terrified. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I have been using both feet in automatic cars for over 50 years ; after a short while it becomes second nature and I can actually go from auto to manual without even thinking about it - I must now have easily covered over two million miles as I typically cover upwards of 100000 miles a year between work and personal driving . Prior to having cars with ABS , I also learned to use cadence braking with the left foot in automatics . It does not take long to learn the technique .

@@derekheeps1244 My instructor (ex Police Class 1 driving instructor) for my normal test, and my "observer" (ie instructor) for my IAM test both deplored the idea of left-foot braking except when manoevring very slowly. Mainly it was because it is dangerous if the automatic is being driving by a driver who is used to driving a manual, when his left foot will have developed muscle-memory for making large clutch movements, and will instinctively do this with the brake which needs the more delicate movement that you also use for the accelerator. Also, it encourages the driver to press both brake and accelerator at the same time, which of course is impossible (barring heel-and-toe!) if you use your right foot for both pedals. As regards cadence braking, when I tried it on a non-ABS car as a practice, I found I couldn't press the pedal rapidly enough to make it useful, and in an emergency, the instinct is to hit the footbrake as hard as possible, not to pulse the pedal while also trying to steer round the hazard. One thing I was taught for the IAM test was "progressive braking" - apply the footbrake gently at high speed, gradually increasing the pressure as the speed reduces, and then ease off the footbrake almost to the point that it is no longer applied, as the car comes to a halt. Too many people jam on the bootbrake at high speed and keep it on until the car has lurched to an abrupt stop. I'd find it very difficult now *not* to brake progessively. I'm surprised it isn't taught for the ordinary test - or wasn't when I took it in 1981. I was lucky that my instructor offered me a couple of post-test lessons on how to drive *well* as opposed to how to drive to satisfy the examiner. For example, don't change down sequentially through the gears (on a manual) but instead brake in the gear that you're in (maybe 5th or 6th), then change directly into the gear that you'll need to accelerate away again, missing out all the intermediate gears. Sequential changes were needed to pass the ordinary test in 1981, though I understand that the IAM way is now taught even for the ordinary test. He also took me to a nearby motorway and gave me a few tips on joining the motorway and reading the road ahead and the door mirror to judge when to pull out to overtake - not too early and take ages to reach the vehicle that you're overtaking, and not so late that a car in Lane 2 is blocking you from pulling out. He advised me that when I'm approaching an entry slip road (when I'm on the motorway) try to change from Lane 1 to Lane 2 to create space for a car to join in Lane 1; failing that, ease off the power slightly (no need to touch the brake, often) to create a space ahead of me for him to move into.

In the UK we can drive on the road once we are 17.

Perhaps your instructor knows that your test centre doesn’t do the Reverse Bay Parking manoeuvre, so hasn’t bothered to teach it to you. I’d ask them about why that is, as it is a useful skill to have after your test.

How did the test go? Did it include reverse parking?

There are advantages and disadvantages to using your left foot for braking in an automatic car, but there is no right or wrong. In the UK we usually use the right foot for both pedals, but in other countries it is taught the other way sometimes.

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool Left-foot braking is very much frowned on by advanced drivers (IAM and Police Class 1) - when I learned for my ordinary test, by instructor had been a Police instructor until he retired, and when I took my IAM test - both told me don't do it in an auto except when manoevring at low speed and you need to counter the car's tendency to move forward on creep or to surge forward suddenly as you increase power if creep isn't working properly. All other times, use the same foot for brake and accelerator so there's no temptation to press both pedals at the same time and no tendency to press the brake too hard if you are used to driving manual where your left foot has learned muscle-memory for big movements of the clutch rather than delicate movements of brake and accelerator. Only time I've left-footbraked was when driving a go-kart on my stag night because you are sitting astride the steering column which makes it impossible to use your right foot for both.

If you like - but we consider it to be unnecessary.

We normally stay in Drive and hold the foot brake - but if we think we might be stationary for a long time we would select Park.

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool Thanks for that do you mean press park button only or park and park brake

Setting the transmission to Park (with the button) locks the front wheels, so we don’t think there is any need to use the foot operated parking brake unless we are leaving the car parked somewhere.

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool Brilliant thanks for your help

What do you mean by S and 6th gear? Perhaps that is 'manual mode' for your car and would explain the poor acceleration. Does the same thing happen in D mode?

Apparently your car has a ‘eCVT’ system that is very simple and robust. Not sure about slamming it into reverse though! 😉

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool Yep! 2002 Prius with an eCVT. If reverse gear is selected while moving forward, the computer won't allow the electric drive motor to switch directions, and neutral will be selected automatically.

Apart from selecting reverse gear, it’s the normal hill start technique just like driving forwards 👍🏼

Advance Driving School thank you for the answer!

Could you explain further please?

I am sure that you will get used to an automatic car eventually. Practice when the roads are quieter, and to start with use your right foot for both pedals - as you would in a manual car. Good luck!

Woooo! Well done 🚙👌🏼😃

Yes, we only had the Leaf available but wanted to show what not to do in normal automatic cars. Of course it meant we could do all the wrong things without any fear of actually causing damage! Good luck with your lessons 👍🏼

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool Thanks!

I bet you’ll love it!

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool you right l enjoy it the lesson my instructor said my driving is perfect go straight way book your test automatic is made for lady’s for me is the miracle made it for lady’s forget clutch,biting point change gear just perfect 👍 recommended it for everyone is the best automatic

I've had 4 manual lessons and I've decided to do automatic instead the clutch is to scary for me especially up hill starts ,

I would advise (in the UK, at least) to try if possible to pass in a manual car, even if you intend to drive automatic only after that. That way you are legally allowed to drive a manual if you ever need to, whereas passing in an automatic only allows you to drive automatic.

It’s impossible to say without being there - but perhaps you hadn’t selected drive when you released the handbrake, or possibly something else. Better luck next time 👍🏼

It's not too complicated really - here is a video that shows the basics: How to drive an Automatic Car: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-21rkscmavl4.html

Using Neutral doesn’t usually increase wear, but it does give us less control over the cars speed than staying in Drive.

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool oh ok thanks

Guess it can depend on automatic transmission too? I've never noticed this problem with my 04 volvo with geartronic autobox 🤔

You should select the lower gear BEFORE you begin to descend the hill ; this will avoid that issue ; however if you are caught out on an unfamiliar road , then gently apply the brakes with left foot and bring the revs up with right foot to match the road speed as you manually select the intermediate gear , and this will not happen . Incidentally , the word is BRAKE .

Or at least tuck your left leg under the seat to avoid the temptation to use it for braking. I've never felt the slightest urge to left-foot brake - I don't do it in a manual so why would it cross my mind to do it in an automatic? When I first drove my dad's automatic jsut after I'd passed my test, I did instinctively try to use it to change gear (forgetting that I didn't need to change) but that's different. You only touch the footbrake once with the force you'd use to press the clutch - after that you tend to remember not to do it ;-)

Great job!

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool thanks ☺️

Hopefully you passed first time, unlike me. It took me three goes, because I was unlucky enough to draw the Bastard Examiner From Hell for my first test (seriously: all the instructors complained to the head examiner at the centre because this guy failed people who woul have passed with anyone else and he was angry and obnoxious if you asked him to clarify an inctruction). My next door neighbour is the only person I know who he passed and he said (or so I was told) "I am very sorry to have to tell you that I cannot find sufficient reason to fail you so against my better judgement I am required to pass you". There's no call for snide, vindictive comments like that. And I failed the second time when reversing around a corner because a car appeared behind me on the road I was reversing from (it appeared from round a corner after I;d checke that it was safe to begin - a bad place to do the reversing test!). I stopped, checked that other the car stopped as well, and then continued, whereas the examiner said I should have stayed stopped, half way round the corner (even if the other car flashed me a "proceed") and should have waited (forever?) until the other car had overtaken me on the wrong side of the road. My instructor said that failure reason was factually wrong (and as an ex Police Class 1 instructor he should know) - he lodged a complaint but of course that doesn't reverse a failure. At least that examiner was human enough to apologise for not being able to give me an 18th birthday present of a pass slip - he noticed that the test was on my birthday. And then I passed third time. The head examiner did that test and he said "Ah, you had Mr X for your first test. I'm not surprised you failed. You might be interested to know he no longer works for us."

If we were stopping for 20 minutes, we’d probably even switch the engine off!

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool Ah ok thanks.

@@ronrellesiva2911 20 minutes!? I would have gone for a nap

@@excus Or got out and walked ;-)

Hill starts in an automatic: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2IWnbF59ET4.html 👍🏼

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool as you mentioned we should not press foot break and gas same in automatic car

It’s OK for a hill start, but not to launch the car!

You can if you like - but it might cause a delay in moving off promptly. We prefer to stay in Drive and keep our foot on the brake.

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool Thanks,

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool My instructor would crucify you for suggesting keeping your foot on the footbrake instead of using the handbrake, because it is very rude to the traffic behind you esp at night who will be dazzled by your brake lights. I'd go into neutral, as for a manual, and move to drive as the lights go to red-and-amber in time to set off when they go green. Same as in a manual you'd engage first with the cltuch down on red-and-amber, ready to let clutch up and apply power on green.

Perhaps try driving on there where there is very little traffic, such as on a Sunday morning. If that doesn’t work then why not book a refresher lesson with a local driving instructor?

Actually if you press the brake pedal lightly you can select neutral without stopping the car. On some other cars you only need to press a button on the gear stick and it will allow you to select neutral without slowing down at all! Either way, we shouldn’t do this as it gives us less control.

There is a section of the video about Neutral, near the end. 👍🏼

If the hill is super steep and you don’t think the normal ‘creep’ will stop the car rolling back, hold the foot brake (with your left foot) or hand brake whilst pressing the accelerator - then once you feel the car straining to go release the brake 👍🏼

Perhaps you should switch to braking with your right foot to stop that happening?

We generally keep it in Drive unless we think we will stationary for some time. Either is OK 👍🏼

@@AdvanceDrivingSchool Do you advise holding the car on the footbrake all that time - thus dazzling the driver behind with your brake lights. I'd go into neutral and use handbrake, as in a manual, to avoid constant brake lights. I can "hear" my instructor's voice "Footbrake to stop, handbrake to *stay* stopped" as if it were yesterday ;-)

You’re right - this video is aimed at new drivers. We’ll cover when manual gear selection in an automatic car is useful in a separate video 👍🏼

Great! Thank you! Look forward! Missing nice English roads. Regards from Russia