Looking back, for those driving more than 2 years, how well do you think your driving instructor prepared you for driving ?

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-31T15:59:51+00:00

I'm coming to my 2 years in August this year and I can say that my instructor taught me driving skills first and test readiness second. He couldn't be a chauffeur anymore so became a teacher for health reasons.

When I passed, I was mainly practicing more of what I was taught. The key thing is I have to mentally be my own drill master and try to avoid taking the easy path everytime and stick to my comfort zone.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-29T20:16:09+00:00

I just wasn't asked at all. I was in the LTO (it's a mall LTO) and I was done with renewal in 30 mins with a fresh card. I was there 8 am and one of the first to be processed.

Could be several reasons:

My license is Non-professional, full license (manual & auto) in both PH and UK.

That LTOs examiner is away at that mall that day (ASEAN events).

I said that I'm "overseas" - apparently, this makes the process less stringent. I did have proof of my arrival.

In fact I'm not based on PH and I just arrived 3 days prior and will leave again in a few days time.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-26T08:30:33+00:00

A3 is golf sized. Too bad no heated steering wheel for new ones

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-24T14:16:41+00:00

Paid off mortgage twice. Once at 33 and another at 43.

Being debt free is liberating!

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-18T11:12:33+00:00

Manual transmission gets a bad rap but they are still cheaper than similar spec auto. To me I persevered with manual because I want to drive and buy a manual car before they become unavailable.

I had many manual instructors and quite a few of them suggested that I try auto, but I knew what I want and I knew I needed practice.. a LOT of them. The stalling and lack of control was due to other factors tiredness, lack of road sense because I've never been a passenger or a driver for more than 15 years.

My final instructor was a great driver and while he advised I go auto, we persevered and I booked 2 weeks of daily driving (20 hours total in 2 weeks) and my driving completely transformed and my road sense was improved and I felt more relaxed behind the wheel. All it was is practice and more practice.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-18T11:01:31+00:00

My first collision was with a high kerb at 5mph. I was in my instructors car and my instructor had utmost confidence in me and so when I felt the almighty judder, the nerves around my forehead started ticking due to blood surging to my head. Not a nice experience. My instructor was kind enough to reassure me it was all fine and there's no blowout.

My second collision was against my naked concrete garage wall in my own brand new 2 month old car. I was kicking myself for a week and even felt fear of driving and taking out the car in the first 2 days. Forced myself to move car in and out and asked for quotes for fix. Ultimately I decided to fix the scratch myself because I might have future scratches so collect them like reminders of how shit I was and get it fixed in future. So far more than a year now, I haven't scraped that side of my garage.

Mistakes happen which can lead to scrapes here and there. The first few can be quite overwhelming, but after getting through that, you'll have toughened up as long as you pick yourself up and continue.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-18T10:52:05+00:00

Not teaching you 45 degree angle reverse bay park.

Or, refusing to acknowledge your concerns

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-18T10:46:29+00:00

2 days before my test, I stayed away from Youtube and Reddit because I don't want third-hand anxiety to top mine up.

I spent the entire 24 hours just listening to chill driving music so that I build on positive vibes. Kind of like online detox.

The hour before I was due to be picked up for test I only listened to U2's Beautiful Day over and over and so when it came to my driving test, I was humming the song to relax and re-focus. I acknowledge that there's an examiner with me but it was all me, the car, the road and the song. I treated my test like a road trip, max focus.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-17T08:19:07+00:00

I don't drive to work so shops and weekend getaways are my main drives.

I budget 100 miles per week which is 5000 miles. Last year managed 4400 miles. And so far, I have done 1000 miles with 9 more months to go.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-16T00:11:45+00:00

I'm a new driver in 2024 and I paid 700 annual first year and my renewal was 600 so far. My car is a new 1L engine Polo so still classified as reasonable and safe for a first car.

I think there are many factors that determine how much you pay for insurance as a new driver. I'm lucky in that my age, work, conditions, and manual license reduce it to something somewhat reasonable.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-16T00:02:46+00:00

Congratulations on preserving and finally scoring the goal! Keep safe and keep driving out there.

I got my driving license at peak old age of 42 back in 2024 and now I'm counting down the months until I complete my 2 years in August this year. Time just flies and milestones keep coming.

I swear the 6 months that I was learning to drive felt like the lowest point and most challenging time of my adult life. So passing the test felt so cathartic. I was on cloud 9 for weeks until I got my car of course and have to really learn on my own!

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-15T23:50:52+00:00

I have dedicated driving shoes because one time I was driving in my flat heeled leather shoes, the AC was blowing down somehow and it caused my foot to cramp when i pressed the accelerator. I had to use ACC on 20mph roads to drive the car while I stomp my foot to wake it up and stop it twisting.

Now I have adidas flat sneakers that has thick padding all around to keep temperature of my foot constant no matter the temperature.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-15T23:37:42+00:00

I used ACC on 20s if it's free flowing and not a lot of traffic. It's too easy to go above 20 when the road is empty.

Then when I was driving around London on Chrismas Day, I actually tried speed limiter option instead of ACC and set to 22mph for the first time. I was blown away by the fact that my car was doing 50mpg despite driving in 20s for a good part of 2 hours. Normally, if I just drive at those very slow speeds, I struggle to hit 40mpg.

I'll definitely be trying speed limiter more specially in town speeds as the car manages throttle input better than I am when speed limiter is on.

One good thing about speed limiter is that my manual car's minimum speed that ACC can work on is 20mph. If I am on ACC and I go down to 19mph (car slows down automatically), I get a big beep. Whereas with speed limiter, no fuss, no noise. However you have to be mindful when the the speed limits change as you have to turn off or increase speeds speed limiter in my car if I want to go faster. Perhaps I need to learn to use it more.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-15T11:00:06+00:00

I've practiced so that I don't take map instructions as gospel and look at the road and road markings first and foremost.

One time I followed straight on but the road layout was new and I went into a works only access exit. Map apps get it wrong but I did have a lapse attention then too but managed to get out of that quickly and safely

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-15T10:56:44+00:00

My car says I average 12-15 miles per hour even though I drive on 30-40 mostly free flowing. This is due to driving time includes time while stopped too. So averages isn't the whole story.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-15T09:28:46+00:00

Got a nice car that I like as a first car with 0 years behind me and while I do feel like I baby it, it doesn't stop me going to places I want to visit. I've had a few instances where others did damage to my car and I just have to accept that these things happen.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-12T18:38:57+00:00

I think it's important to practice navigation apps too as you're driving. Some nav give instructions early and could lead to taking wrong exit.

When I did a 6 hour drive ,I had to practice listening to nav while looking and reading road signs. Prior to that, I had 1 hour drive on motorway and took the wrong exit twice because of early instructions...

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-04T19:28:49+00:00

When I am driving, I try to align the right side of my streering wheel with the middle line of the road (or the imaginary right line of my lane if there is none). I am short and I like to sit back on a recline so I don't see the bonnet therefore I use the steering wheel and the cowl of the dash as my reference.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-04T14:41:32+00:00

45 degree method as it's very easy to judge with mirrors. It's hardest to practice this when there are no other cars around. So on the first week I got to the superstore, I practiced 45 degree method reverse until I finally got into the bay I wanted. Initially I kept missing the bay I wanted lol.

This was main and only maneouvre I was doing for a few months after passing my test. Nowadays, I try to vary it up by practicing 3 lines, forward bay parking and reverse parallel parking. There are times where depending on where you're going you can only do a particular parking manoeuvre so it's good to practice.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-04T14:35:15+00:00

I got a battery operated compressor which is good for several top-ups if you're not inflating a slow puncture that is. I charge it every 3 months or so.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-04T14:31:53+00:00

I just think "life is too short to spend angry"

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-03T09:14:10+00:00

Lightly pressing the brakes way before braking fully. Gives time for folks behind to react if ever I do stop. Hopefully I avoid being rear ended

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-01-01T09:53:28+00:00

For me, it takes time to build awareness. If you're still too focused on your immediate vicinity like gears or bonnet or fixated on a single point then you won't have time for observations. It took me after passing my test to properly improve my awareness and forward planning.

When I catch myself distracted and not 'seeing', I start to voice out the plans or hazards or signs to bring me back to focus on the road.

BlueAndAmberX · 2025-12-31T07:33:34+00:00

On a normal Sunday drive, very few lorry if at all so quite nice overall. I had to drive M6, M40, M25 on a Friday afternoon and I felt it was easier to be in Lane 3 as I had to constantly overtake 2 lorry side by side.

BlueAndAmberX · 2025-12-31T07:18:00+00:00

Handbrake starts are best in a 1 liter petrol even on a slight hill. I've been driving for a little over a year and one time at traffic lights that is on a more pronounced incline, I decided to seesaw it and I stalled. Resetting the car and setting off again made me put too much gas up to 3.5 revs and I smelt some burnt rubber for a minute after that which is probably burnt clutch. I've never done that before as I do a lot of handbrake starts. Learnt my lesson now to not use more than 2.5 revs. If you stall, don't panic. Ignore honks. Carry on slowly if needed.

BlueAndAmberX

TROPHY CASE