Automotive idiot stories...

[MrBikerMan]

The U.S. is very wrong in many ways. Still love it though (at least when bush isnt making any decisions)

[targa]

i guess this would count as an automotive idiot story...

my friend hurt his leg a few days ago playing soccer, so i have been driving him around for a few days, in his car, which is a manual

today i get back into my car, which is an automatic, and as i approached the first stop sign, i felt a tugging on my right arm

i knew i wasnt still driving teh manual cause i didnt slam my foot into the stomp, but the entire day i have fealt the need to shift

~ kinda odd i thought

[Niko_Fx]

Happens to me every time I drive an automatic, I keep looking for the clutch and feel the need to shift.

[Quiggs]

Yep, sounds about right.

[byronleehk]

Originally Posted by Niko_Fx

Happens to me every time I drive an automatic, I keep looking for the clutch and feel the need to shift.

Same here

Whenever I'm in the wife's car I automatically stamp my left foot on the phantom clutch before starting the car

[Matra et Alpine]

Originally Posted by byronleehk

automatically stamp my left foot on the phantom clutch before starting the car

Did worse in about the second ever auto I'd driven.
Spent 4 hours on the freeway, off-ramp up to a junction and in mental-auto mode I pushed the clutch in to change down gear.
However *I* pressed the big pedal.
Stopped the car on it's nose, luckily no one was following

[fa22_raptor]

Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine

Did worse in about the second ever auto I'd driven.
Spent 4 hours on the freeway, off-ramp up to a junction and in mental-auto mode I pushed the clutch in to change down gear.
However *I* pressed the big pedal.
Stopped the car on it's nose, luckily no one was following

But but... your left foot's not meant to press the brake pedal even in a manual? Shouldn't you have just been pressing on the footrest?

[SilverG35SportC]

Heres a funny story that happended to me about 3 days ago. I was driving to the rowing club near my house around 5:30am becasue i do rowing in the morning and my mom pulled onto an on ramp. We were turning fine when all of a sudden the 18 wheeler in front of us slows right down on the last part of the ramp. He stops we are wondering why becasue there didnt seem to be an apparent problem. I looked to the right side of the car and saw a hitchhiker walking towards the truck. hahahhaa. Who stops and 18 wheeler on an on-ramp and 5:30 in the morning to pick up a hitchhiker. It may not be the best automotive story but I just thought it to be ridiculous.

[h00t_h00t]

Originally Posted by fa22_raptor

But but... your left foot's not meant to press the brake pedal even in a manual? Shouldn't you have just been pressing on the footrest?

It is in a right hand drive car.

[my porsche]

ok, fa22...
right foot = accelerator & brake
left foot = dead pedal and clutch

hehe, dad used to race porsches, i picked up a thing or two

[KnifeEdge_2K1]

brake pedal on autos are much wider and will cover the are of where the clutch should be if it were a manual, its a common mistake to step on it

[targa]

Originally Posted by KnifeEdge_2K1

brake pedal on autos are much wider and will cover the are of where the clutch should be if it were a manual, its a common mistake to step on it

my friend told me about one time that he did it and almost got rearended on the highway....scary

i often kill the stomp after driving a manual

[fa22_raptor]

Originally Posted by my porsche

ok, fa22...
right foot = accelerator & brake
left foot = dead pedal and clutch

hehe, dad used to race porsches, i picked up a thing or two

Hahahahaha... yes, thanks for that. I'm not stupid or anything and yes, I can drive and yes, it's a manual. Maybe my wording wasn't great or something, because I understand that your left foot isn't meant to use the brake pedal. Even in an automatic car, despite the brake pedal being significantly bigger than that of a manual, it feels awkward and unnatural to use the brake with your left foot hence my initial surprise that Matra did. Whatever the case, it would really suck to press the brake accidently on an auto out of habit .

Oh, and by the way h00t, in right hand drive cars, everything's the same as in a left hand drive car except the side the stick is on.

[Falcon500]

do you prehaps mean the stearing wheel...

I have the really bad habit of left foot breaking in automatics on the rare occasions i drive them....guess it keeps my left foot from doing nothing

[KnifeEdge_2K1]

if you mean braking with your left foot it's ok, not recomended but alot of things arnt

if you mean the technique left foot braking as in turning into a corner, floor the gas and feather the brakes the kick out the rear end then yes thats a bad habit