Driving experience you have forgotten about...

[Dr Smith]

Thought I'd share a driving experience I'd forgotten how fun it used to be...

For the last 2 years my daily drive is a manual so I have this habit of reaching for the gear selector when wanting to down change and accelerate if driving our Terry instead.

I loaned a friend one of our vans and he left his FG X6RT with me.

So....driving to work, 2 lanes in my direction, bus up ahead slowing for bus stop and I have a nice gap available if I merge right...this time I do remember I'm in an auto but still reach down for the gear selector and flick it into manual, down change 2 gears and just add some throttle with the turbo right in it's sweet spot..no massive leap forward, no mismatched revs, just this great wave of power and torque as I slot in and try to avoid the car behind needing to brake...I love our Terry but my old G6ET was something else...

[Vesper Martini]

I recall when I drove a manual and hadn't for a long time.. forgetting to downshift at the end of a freeway & nearly stalling the car.

as much as I like driving a car, the thought of driving one as a daily to work in traffic would do my head in nowadays.

[BENT_8]

Just driving old cars in general, no reminder to belt up, no airbags, no power steering, cable or linkage operated clutch, no A/C, no power windows, no cruise, no cup holders,just you and the car driving down the road, can of coke in one hand, winding the window down with the other whilst steering with knee's..cue the faux outrage

[Citroënbender]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Just driving old cars in general, no reminder to belt up, no airbags, no power steering, cable or linkage operated clutch, no A/C, no power windows, no cruise, no cup holders,just you and the car driving down the road, can of coke in one hand, winding the window down with the other whilst steering with knee's..cue the faux outrage

One of my dailies ticks quite a few of those boxes, the heat does get you in summer.

[five 7]

Rag to wipe down inside windows on cold winter mornings.

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by five 7

Rag to wipe down inside windows on cold winter mornings.

Qrtr windows pushed all way out so as to aid in demisting as well....

[FTE217]

driving autos does my head in......
Boring no matter how quick so over rated due to the "ease" in traffic, laziness more like it.
I get manuals were dogs back in the day - some clutchs were hard yaddayadda and less traffic.
I drive my manual Sprint many times around metro traffic, the clutch is like butter to me and down shifting to power up is pretty much synced.
Dr Smith, my auto BM goes very well when needing to give it the boot and shifts with ease BUT once back in the Sprint my experience is worth every shift back and forth mis timed or not its gold
Double shuffling back down is music to my ears and so uncommon today.
Always takes me back when manuals ruled the sales.

[Big_Daz]

One that stands out for me was 15 odd years ago (when Jap Imports was a relatively new thing and R32/33 skylines weren't all that common yet), a mate of mine had an accident and got quite a large payout from it. One of the things he bought was a freshly imported R33 GTST Skyline... White with some White rims of some description. It had a 2.7 litre Stroker RB built with all the good gear, T88, etc etc. Thing had a HEAP of HP, bad manners and came on boost like turning on a light switch. He didn't like driving it so I would drive it when we would go out. The first time we took it out, he warned me "she's a handful when she comes on to boost, just so you know"... Yep, sure as s*(t was... Now I got used to the way it drove, and had some awesome fun in it (it was a highway race monster -in mexico of course) but that bloody first drive (and the first full boost pull in second gear) still stays with me. Ive driven faster cars since, but nothing that hit boost that bloody aggresively....

Good times, car ended up being sold with the new owner, unfortunately, writing it off almost immediately..

[DJM83]

From my old Focus XR5T. (now have an FG turbo)
Push button start.
My old ST.
Push button start.
Keyless entry.

[Tonz]

Mini cooper doing handbrake turns on a frozen lake in southern New Zealand best run was spun 16 times. so much fun.

[Sprintey]

Valiant Hemi with a column shift - Grampa's V8 killer

Column shift manuals in general, that regal way of driving them. Pull down and toward you for first, push up, let it fall back to it's midpoint, then up into second (power on!), such a gentle slide down into 3rd.

Combine with bench seat and girlfriend right next to you

We've really gone backward....

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Valiant Hemi with a column shift - Grampa's V8 killer

Column shift manuals in general, that regal way of driving them. Pull down and toward you for first, push up, let it fall back to it's midpoint, then up into second (power on!), such a gentle slide down into 3rd.

Combine with bench seat and girlfriend right next to you

We've really gone backward....

ah yes the good ol 3 on the tree !
My first car wasa HG Kingswood 2 tonne 3 on the tree.
You'd get something like 45mph in first thrashing out those 186 red motors and all then slam up into 2nd up top BUT those damn linkages at times would "lock up"
You looked a real failure when having a run against someone from the lights
The next forgotten experience with that car the amont of diffs I blew due to having 10" rims with good ol BF Goodrich tyres, ok maybe my burn outs used to be slightly excessive .

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by FTE217

ah yes the good ol 3 on the tree !
My first car wasa HG Kingswood 2 tonne 3 on the tree.
You'd get something like 45mph in first thrashing out those 186 red motors and all then slam up into 2nd up top BUT those damn linkages at times would "lock up"
You looked a real failure when having a run against someone from the lights
The next forgotten experience with that car the amont of diffs I blew due to having 10" rims with good ol BF Goodrich tyres, ok maybe my burn outs used to be slightly excessive .

Dunno how you got a 2 tonne HG,I thought they were about 1500 kg

[jaydee]

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

Dunno how you got a 2 tonne HG,I thought they were about 1500 kg

It was loaded with 500kg of brickies sand.

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

Dunno how you got a 2 tonne HG,I thought they were about 1500 kg

i think he might've meant 2 Tone...

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by Tonz

Mini cooper doing handbrake turns on a frozen lake in southern New Zealand best run was spun 16 times. so much fun.

haha classic times, we were doing similar with Mini Mokes on grass down slopes.
Not 16 times like ice but never bothered to count for we were too much.

[Mulva]

I miss key-bangers when passing cyclists or schoolkids at bus-stops.

[MITCHAY]

When I was learning to drive I was doing split duties between manual and auto. Since then it has been 99.9% manual driving so when I drive an auto on the rare occasion I have the muscle memory to go hunting for the clutch and gear stick.

After a while I get used to not having to change gears and it is a nice change where almost everyone is driving an auto.

Eventually I get back in my car and have forgot to change gear or use the clutch. This is usually the only time I stall though on rare occasion I have forgotten to put it in neutral.

But once I'm orientated again it is so good to be back in a manual because autos tend to get boring though the ones I have driven don't have much go

[5thFordWA]

Being a mechanic in a dealership, and being off a farm as a kid, continually swapping between manual and auto doesn't faze me, even at over 70yo and long retired. But 4 years ago I rented a manual 6 speed Tucson LHD in Austria - now that is different - getting used to changing gears with your right hand, something your brain has never done. I really had to concentrate, and it took a couple of days to really get used to it.

But something now almost forgotten? Cruise Control, or the lack of it.
When it started coming in it was quite rare, and I used to think what a waste of money, just laziness, just a gimmick, etc. Then sometimes I thought it might be handy, like when I was driving our Mitsi L300 across Australia, coming home was hard on the right leg, but you sort of didn't worry about it.
Then I bought a 2 yo 1996 EF sedan with cruise, and I realised what a great thing it is. I did several cross Nullarbor trips in that one, and the next BA, and even my WRX manual has cruise. I love it. And for those that think it must be so boring on cruise control that you would fall asleep, I find the opposite. I just don't get as tired from the overall driving experience, and can do a fair bit of long distance without needing a week to recover, it really makes a difference.

[hayseed]

Pulling out the Choke to Start something..

[MITCHAY]

Originally Posted by hayseed

Pulling out the Choke to Start something..

Haha I'm pretty sure my mates Laser had a choke maybe a KA/KB Laser? Anyways it was also decked out with neons and subs when Fast and the Furious came out

Now that I think of it, driving a car without power steering and when speed cameras didn't exist

[five 7]

Points And match stricker or if you're lucky enough to have a
"Lady" on board a nail file to the rescue.

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

Haha I'm pretty sure my mates Laser had a choke maybe a KA/KB Laser? Anyways it was also decked out with neons and subs when Fast and the Furious came out

Now that I think of it, driving a car without power steering and when speed cameras didn't exist

Yeah the Laser would have a manual choke,like Falcons pre XE,HZ Holdens,VB Commodores

[jaydee]

Being able to drive fast, real fast, and at worst only get a speeding ticket.
Now you go to Court, lose your license and your car gets impounded.
Oh, and always losing your seat belt buckle down the seat until they invented buckles on stalks.

[Fed]

Back in the day we used to have a bunch of Escort panel vans for work and even now I've been known to use the wipers as indicators.

Gear stick air swings are common for me even going between two autos, Commodore & Falcon.

Wanting to hold the door handle up when locking the Commodore happens sometimes.

Three on the tree Holden gear shift lock ups sure brings back memories as does the lift up ram air vent on the early ones.

Vacuum wipers, Oh what a joy they were.

[.:4:.]

Getting pulled up for suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle when it was my parents car so my licence at the time lined up with the adress on the rego, and was always a pain in the hole. Random drug searches were also annoying. The fuzz would take everything out of the car, back seat and all, find nothing as drugs arent my thing. But theyd leave everything on the footpath then leave. So its been a good 15 years since any of that business has happened, but its experiences id rather forget about. Being sat down on the gutter, for reasons you dont earn. And for the drug searches, spare tyre on the footpath, back seat base, all the other crap you have in a car, and they find nothing so just leave. Leaving me to put my car back together. And its happend a couple of times in my prior years. It was always random roadside stops, and to be fair, if you're polite, the fuzz dont tend to turn all hard cop if you arent actually doing anything wrong. So never any fines, never any warnings, just major time constraints.

[X-AHH]

Unfortunately, I can't remember any of the ones that I've forgotten about.

Maybe I'm taking the thread title a bit too literally.

I can however remember at the age of 18 being stuck at the side of the main road into Mt Gambier from Adelaide after pulling over to find a tree big enough to stand behind. Got hopelessly bogged instantly because the long grass hid the muddy ground underneath. The mate and I decided that because we couldn't move, the best way to cope with the situation was to drink a cartoon of beer between us.

When the police pulled up behind us a few hours later, it was difficult to convince them about our circumstances. Eventually, they saw the funny side and took us the last 10km into Gambier. Next day, got the car towed out and all was good.

I still regret not taking a bag of doughnuts to the station the next day.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

Getting pulled up for suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle when it was my parents car so my licence at the time lined up with the adress on the rego, and was always a pain in the hole. Random drug searches were also annoying. The fuzz would take everything out of the car, back seat and all, find nothing as drugs arent my thing. .

Brings back memories of NSW cops searching under the mattress in the back of our panels vans when parked at the local lookout or beach. Quite a regular occurences back then resulting in a canary sticker.
To loud, to low, to wide, to dark.

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Brings back memories of NSW cops searching under the mattress in the back of our panels vans when parked at the local lookout or beach. Quite a regular occurences back then resulting in a canary sticker.
To loud, to low, to wide, to dark.

had the dope in a better spot eh

[mondeomatureguy]

Hi guys,
I was about 21 when my sister gave me her old 1964 Chev belair which had a 307 V8 engine in it.
It was a really great cruising car and i drive it up to Queensland to see a mate of mine.

Before the free way you use to have go thru Peats Ridge and there used to be a Caltex garage on the old Highway that was one of my stops for fuel and food.
The Chev was a big car and i am only short in height but i never had any trouble driving it.

I got pulled up by the Highway Patrol to make sure i could reach the pedals in the car.
I used to like and still do like driving at night and the high beam switch was on the floor and you hit the button with your foot.

When i returned to Sydney and was still living at home and working in Paddington but i was still on holidays.
One night at 11pm i went to take the car to get washed at were i worked as it was open 24 hours a day.
As i was going down a street called Mona Rd at Darling Point in Sydneys Eastern Suburbs i put my foot on the brakes and noting it went straight to the floor.

Mona Road comes out at New South Head Road and there is a set of trafffic lights at the intersection.
As i was going down the hill at Mona Road the traffic lights were green and i went shooting thru the lights at a great rate of knots.

I went down Glenmore Road at Paddington with out hitting another car and my car was still in low gear and it just slowed down enough for me to leave it at the Brake Centre in the building that i worked at.

It turned out to be a rear wheel Cylinder that was leaking and when i put my foot on the brake it pushed all the brake fluid out thru wheel cylinder.

That was i think the only time in all my years of driving that i thought " this is not good when the brake pedal went right to the floor".