DAY 86: Stage 3 Practical Lesson AT1.01 Automatic-Transmission Car

I finally went for my auto car lesson. It was a night lesson. Driving an auto car was much smoother and easier as compared to manual car. One reason was because the auto car I  drove was a newer model. The car was also slightly wider. The accelerator and foot brake were more sensitive. The steering wheel was also more sensitive.

We did all the courses in the circuit (including the one specially for auto car - moving onto ramp). The side mirror was not in the same position as the manual car so I had some difficulties adjusting to the indicators, In addition, it was difficult to gauge correctly the car position while doing the parking at night due to reduced visibility. Then, we went out to the streets. It was easy to accelerate to around 60-70km. My left hand still have the tendency to look for the gear. As I was used to use engine brake while slowing down during manual driving, I realize there was not much engine brake for auto car. So for a few times, I ended up braking a bit too late.

Things to note:

• Step foot brake with right foot. Never step foot brake with left foot.
• Should not step foot brake and accelerator at the same time
• Auto car does not have a lot of engine brake
• When turn left/right at a junction, the first vehicle will go to the pocket, second car wait behind stop line, after first vehicle has passed, check traffic light if it has turn amber or blinking and blind spot before moving off
• If there is a vehicle stopping at a single lane with double white line in between (and it not about to move any time soon), stop the car, make sure it is not going to move (ask tester if can overtake over the double white line), signal left, make sure incoming lane is clear, and proceed to overtake.
• For route 2, after U turn at Bukit Batok Road, maintain lane discipline (go to left lane). Only perform lane change to the right just before passing the overhead bridge to turn right at the next traffic junction

Expenditure

Practical                 $68.48
Total cost so far:     $2151.68

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DAY 79: Stage 3 Practical Lesson Stage 3 Review (again...)

Today was my Stage 3 review again (check out what happened in my previous stage 3 review here). I felt my low speed control smoother after yesterday’s grilling lesson. This time I passed. It was a different instructor. He even brought me to the streets to do 3 point turn. After spending 2 weeks quarantined in the circuit, I became unfamiliar with street driving. Fortunately it all came back swiftly after a while.


Things to note:

• For E brake, step fully on the foot brake, just before stop, clutch in to prevent stall
• For parallel parking, when moving out from horizontal position, no need to reverse full lock as it has higher chance to hit the kerb, 1 round will do.

Expenditure

Practical                 $68.48
Total cost so far:     $2106.16

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DAY 78: Stage 3 Practical Lesson 3.10 Stage 3 Review

This is the second lesson of the day. It is my stage 3 review. I was unfortunate to get a super strict instructor. I later found out from my friend that he's the strictest of all instructors in the group, also the strictest I met so far, even stricter than my group leader. He told me that I need to maintain lane discipline even in the circuit (ie keep to left most lane). Otherwise, 6 points would be deducted,.

Initially, he stayed quiet throughout, letting me do my maneuvers at peace. After I finished all the courses, he told me to pull my car to the side of the road and start telling me how terrible my driving skills were and he was surprised that I managed to reach so far in the course. He pointed to a basic technique that I failed to display - low speed control which is essential while driving in circuit. I tend not to step on accelerator while half-clutching, making the car very jerky at low speed. He said that my poor technique was probably due to all the try-sell slots that I attended, as the instructors were not from my default group, they tend not to be committed.

Even though I managed to clear all the courses, I didn’t make it to the next stage. After the lesson ended, my morale had dropped so low that I was literally dragging my feet (and bag) home


Things to take note:

• While half-clutch at low speed, hold right leg at accelerator, controlling speed only with the clutch (clutch/unclutch)
• For directional change, position car in the middle of lane and that your shoulder is at 2.5 rectangle on the right kerb counting from the front. In this way, you can immediately full lock right when you start to reverse
• For vertical parking, if you see that the left rear wheel is about to hit the kerb, release steering wheel left full lock (adjust steering right) until wheel is able to pass the kerb
• For vertical parking, if you see the right rear wheel is about to hit kerb, stop reverse, move forward slightly and then full lock steering wheel left again and reverse (remember to check right blind stop and rear windscreen when reverse)
• Make sure to check rear windscreen every time before you start to reverse

Expenditure

Practical                 $68.48
Total cost so far:     $2037.68

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DAY 78 :Stage 3 Practical Lesson 3.08 3.09 Emergency Brake, Three-Point-Turn

In today's lesson, I managed to clear 2 subjects which are emergency brake and three-point-turn. By the way three-point-turn is will not be tested.

For emergency brake, the instructor will tap (or slam) on the dashboard and immediately you are supposed to stop the car by stepping hard on the foot brake. You need to REALLY REALLY REALLY hit the brake ALL THE WAY. Do not be afraid you will spoil the car (that’ll be BBDC’s problem) or that the airbag may explode. It is fine if the engine stall after the brake, the idea is not to hit whatever that caused you to e-brake. Initially I made the mistake of trying to keep the engine live and was all to careful when hitting the brake. it increased my braking distance and would be considered failed during the test.

For three-point-turn, make sure no incoming vehicle on opposite lane and no vehicle at the back. Make sure in gear 1. Turn steering wheel fully to the right and drive until car is near to the kerb. Change to reverse gear and check blind spot and rear window. Turn steering fully to the left and reverse until near to kerb. Change to gear 1 and turn full steering to the right and move off until car is straighten before changing to gear 2.

Things to take note:

• Usually tester likes to do e-brake at the outer lane next to the HomeTeamNS club, immediately after moving out from the parking lot during the test
• Normally if the tester wants to initiate e-brake, the tester will start looking back (or side mirror) to make sure no car is close behind. He will also start wearing/tightening the seat belt  If you notice there is no car close behind you it is very likely he will initiate e-brake. Take this as an indicator. 
• Ok, do not over-anticipate, the tester may try to trick you by touching his hair instead (it happened to me once with one of the instructors -_-" )

Expenditure

Practical                 $68.48
Total cost so far:     $1969.20

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DAY 77: Stage 3 Practical Lesson 3.07 Vertical Parking

Today lesson is on vertical parking. Here are steps from what I understood:

1. One you enter the lane, drive close to the centre while line of the lane. I gauge this by making sure the while line is in line with the left side of the cash card machine attached at the bottom right corner of the windscreen
2. Stop the car, adjust both side mirror so that you can see the rear wheels
3. Chane to reverse gear
4. Signal left, check both sides’ blind spot and rear windscreen.
5. As you reverse, you will notice there is a part of the lane that has a different colour (one side is tar while the other side is cement I think. I think it is put there as an indication). Once the left rear wheel (as seen from left side mirror) almost touches the line, full lock steering left
6. Check right side and right side for incoming vehicle. Also check rear windscreen and continue reversing
7. Once car is straightened, quickly return steering to centre. 
8. Check rear windscreen and continue to reverse until the lane kerb on the left is covered by the left side mirror before stop the car
9. After the car is stationary, engage neutral gear and handbrake and let instructor know you have completed the parking
10. Before move off, return side mirrors to previous position.
11. Engage 1st gear
12. Check left and right of lane for incoming vehicle
13. Move car forward until the left lane kerb is about the shoulder of the instructor (⅕ of side window length from behind) before full lock steering wheel to turn

Expenditure

Practical                 $68.48
Total cost so far:     $1900.72

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DAY 76: Stage 3 Practical Lesson 3.05 3.06 Parallel Parking, Circuit Slope

Today I managed to clear 2 subjects which were parallel parking and circuit slope. I found parallel parking to be the most difficult technique so far as it involved the most actions and checking.

Here are steps and indicators to take note when performing parallel parking. For better visualization and clarity, I advise that you refer to the Practical Training Handbook or consult your driving instructor.

When entering the lane with the parallel parking slot (on your left):.

1. Drive straight forward until about ½ car length from the junction. Make sure your car is at the centre of the lane. For indication. check your right window, and make sure the white dashed line in the middle of the road is just above the edge of right door window 
2. Adjust left side mirror until you can see the rear wheel
3. Change gear to Reverse and check left and right blind spots and rear window
4. Signal left
5. Reverse until the left wheel is in line with the front side of last rectangle of the left kerb by looking at the left side mirror (the kerb is coloured with black and white rectangles)
6. Check right and left side for incoming vehicles
7. Immediately left full lock steering wheel and reverse until you can see right rear wheel in line with the middle of the rear kerb from the right side mirror (coloured by black and yellow rectangles) Also check left side mirror to make sure rear left wheel is not too near to the left kerb
8. Immediately return steering wheel to the centre before stopping the car
9. Adjust right side mirror until you can see the rear wheel
10. Check left right blind spots and rear window
11. Continue to reverse until rear right wheel is above the white border line of the parking lot (as seen from the right side mirror)
12. Cancel left signal
13. Immediately right full lock steering wheel.and continue to reverse until vehicle is straightened. 
14. Change to gear 1, immediately left full lock steering wheel while moving car forward until vehicle is straightened. Make sure you see not more than 4 rectangles on the left side mirror or else your car may risk hitting the front kerb.
15. Change to Reverse gear and reverse car until only 3 rectangles of the left kerb are seen in the left side mirror. 
16. Once done, change gear to neutral, pull hand brake and raise hand to inform tester that parallel parking is completed

To move off:

1. Change to gear 1, move car forward until about 4 rectangles of the left kerb can be seen on the left side mirror 
2. Change to Reverse gear and left full lock steering while reversing (check rear mirror first). Check both sides mirror to make sure rear wheels do not hit kerb. 
3. Return steering to centre before stop
4. Set side mirrors’ position back to previous setting (for main road driving)
5. Change to gear 1, check right blind spot. 
6. Signal right
7. Right full lock steering while moving forward until left door handle is in line with the left kerb of the lane.
8. Cancel signal
9. Continue move forward and steer car left to straighten the car

The next time we came back to the slot to try parallel parking another time, I realized I was not able to adjust my side mirrors back to the same position as the one just now. The indicators were not at the same position anymore. So the final parallel parking was not successful as my car was parked quite out of the lot. So far, I have not figured out how to mitigate this. Perhaps in the next lesson I will find a way or perhaps with more practice, it will come naturally.

After parallel parking, we proceed to do the stopping and moving off of the circuit slope. As I had done this before in Stage 2, it was more like a recap.


Things to note:

• To pass parallel parking, right side mirror much stay inside the white line bordering the parking lot. The car must also stop at the centre of the parking lot
• If brake too hard while reversing, tester might think that you have hit the rear kerb
• Remember to check blind spot, and signal.
• 10 points will be penalised for striking kerb. Stop car if you’re about to strike kerb even if the car is not straightened yet to avoid being heavily penalized
• 5 minutes is not a lot to perform parallel parking during test. Try to get it right the first time
• For moving off slope, need to signal right and check blind spot before moving off
• Accelerate until about 3000 rpm before releasing handbrake
• Do not release accelerator or clutch until car has reached the top of the slope else the car may slide backward
• When going down slop, make sure to use engine brake

Expenditure

Practical                 $68.48
Total cost so far:     $1818.33

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DAY 74: Stage 3 Practical Lesson 3.04 Directional Change

In today’s lesson, I spent some time at the beginning revising the crank and ‘S; course. The instructor felt that my technique for ‘S course was weak as my car was not kept to the outer part of the lane, resulting in the need to turn the steering wheel more and the back wheel was very near to the kerb. In addition, I tend to end up near to the right kerb at the end of the course due to the excessive turning. He advised that I should try to keep to the outer part of the lane and just before I clutch in to stop at the end of the ‘S course, I should return the steering wheel to the centre position.

Next, we moved on to directional change. It was not as difficult as I imagined. There were 'indicators' within the car which I could use to judge and gauge while doing the different actions, It made me wonder whether all these indicators are doing good or harm to a learner. Yes it made it easier to do the maneuvers (and probably helps in passing the test) but I don't think all these indicators will work when you really try parking at the car park (ok perhaps there will be other indicators).

Here I will attempt to describe how to perform directional change (For better visualization and clarity, it is better to refer to the Practical Training Handbook)

After entering the directional change slot:

1. Drive straight to the end with the right kerb just below the left door window. Front kerb ~10cm below the right side mirror
2. Check left/right blind spot and rear mirror.
3. Reverse straight until horizontal kerb is at the centre (or slightly back) of the rear right window. Use cluch/unclutch technique for low speed control
• A tip from another instructor: if you already position your car such that your shoulder is at the 2.5 rectangle of the right kerb (counting from the front), you can immediately do a full right reverse
4. Immediate turn steering wheel fully to the right
5. Check left windown and blind spot before car reverse rightward into the slot (to make sure no car is coming in from the left)
6. Check right side mirror to make sure right rear wheel does not strike right kerb
7. Check left side mirror to make sure left rear wheel does not strike left kerb
8. Once car is almost straightened, immediately return steering wheel to the centre.
9. Check rear mirror before reversing straight until left side mirror is in line with the left kerb of outgoing lane
10. To move off, check left and right for any car
11. Move car forward until left door handle is inline with the left kerb of outgoing lane
12. Turn steering fully left at low speed (clutch/unclutch for low speed control)
13. Return steering wheel as car is almost straighten

Expenditure

Practical                 $77.04
Total cost so far:     $1749.85

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DAY 72: Stage 3 Practical Lesson 3.02 3.03 Reversing Technique, Crank Course & ‘S’ Course

I got another try-sell lesson tonight. After doing 2 rounds of warm up, we headed to the parking lot to try out the reversing technique. The instructor placed 2 poles at the side of the parking lot. I learnt to reverse the car either in between the 2 poles or to the left or right side of the poles. It was quite difficult to see the poles at night via the rear mirror. I did several attempts, moving from sides to sides by moving the car forward and then reverse. Steering the wheel while reversing was not very intuitive. Sometimes I would spend a few seconds trying to figure the correct direction to turn while reversing to the left or right. Fortunately lesson 3.02 is not tested.

After that we proceeded to the crank course & ‘S’ course training. The technique to go through the crank course is to do a full steering wheel turn once the left (or right depending on the direction to turn) kerb is in line with the left (or right) car door handle. Just before the car position is straightened, return the steering wheel quickly to the centre. For ‘S’ course, try to keep to the outer part of the semicircle while turning - for the first anticlockwise semicircle of the ‘S’ course, keep more to the right side, for the next clockwise semicircle, keep more to the left. Once you reach the end of the course, clutch in and quickly return steering wheel to centre before coming to a stop. (I know it is hard to visualize through words. Refer to the Practical handbook if in doubt)


Things to note:

• To reverse to the left, turn steering wheel left. If reversing right, turn steering wheel right
• It is better to go through the course slowly so that you have more time to turn.
• Control low speed by clutch/unclutch to biting point
• The steering wheel can turn 2 rounds maximum in both directions
• For ‘S’ course, keep the left bonnet edge to the centre of the road for the first anticlockwise semicircle. Then, keep the right bonnet edge to the centre of the road during the next clockwise semicircle.
• Do not turn the steering wheel while the car is not moving (-2 points during test)

Expenditure

Practical                 $68.48
Total cost so far:     $1672.81

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DAY 71: Stage 3 Practical Lesson 3.01 Driving in Circuit

Managed to get another try sell night lesson. Tonight I started my Stage 3 subject. The first lesson was familiarizing with the roads in the circuit. We drove around the circuit, with the instructor giving directions (change lane, turn left, turn right etc). Roads in the circuit are narrower and shorter. There are some parts where I need to perform lane change immediately followed by a left turn after a right turn. In addition, the traffic light only remain green for 6s.


Things to take note:

• Maximum gear 2 in circuit. 
• Left/right turn with gear 1
• To reduce vibration while gear 1 (due to car speed too slow), fully clutch in
• Turn left after sign board, turn right before. Eg if instructor tells you to turn left on 4, it is to turn into the lane AFTER the no 4 sign board (which is the S course). If it is a right turn it would be into the lane before the sign board (which is the same S course).

Expenditure

Practical                 $68.48
Total cost so far:     $1604.33

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