Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Please note that it is not permitted to have referral links posted in your signature. Keep these links contained in the appropriate forum. Thank you.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2055940817/signature-rules
Hi all,
Vanilla are planning an update to the site on April 24th (next Wednesday). It is a major PHP8 update which is expected to boost performance across the site. The site will be down from 7pm and it is expected to take about an hour to complete. We appreciate your patience during the update.
Thanks all.

Left reverse

  • 12-02-2019 3:05pm
    #1
    BarraOG
    Registered Users Posts: 351 ✭✭


    I've completed my edts and the instructor told me that I'm ready for the test but that my Left Reverse needs to improve. I'm really struggling with it and want to practice it at home by constructing a corner with a length of hose. What is the typical radius of a corner used for this manoeuvre?


Comments

  • #2
    Dravokivich
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    Ask them what part of it you need to improve on.


  • #3
    punisher5112
    Registered Users Posts: 24,647 ✭✭✭✭punisher5112


    You need to find a very quite road, car park, disused area and use and actual bend with curbing.


    Ask exactly what your issue is and work on it.

    Just keep doing it.


  • #4
    BarraOG
    Registered Users Posts: 351 ✭✭BarraOG


    I know when to bend, I just dont know how much to bend and how to know if I've steered too much or too little. Thanks.


  • #5
    punisher5112
    Registered Users Posts: 24,647 ✭✭✭✭punisher5112


    BarraOG wrote: »
    I know when to bend, I just dont know how much to bend and how to know if I've steered too much or too little. Thanks.

    Feed the steering and correct as you move.

    Keep an eye on the back wheel and use the curb to get a view of where you need to be.

    You don't need to be fast doing this but you need to show you see other obstacles moving or not and the check over the shoulder too.

    Ride the clutch and use this to your advantage as you can control the speed(I'm sure you have been told not to let out the clutch fully or car will take off)


  • #6
    BarraOG
    Registered Users Posts: 351 ✭✭BarraOG


    punisher5112 wrote: »
    Feed the steering and correct as you move.

    Keep an eye on the back wheel and use the curb to get a view of where you need to be.

    You don't need to be fast doing this but you need to show you see other obstacles moving or not and the check over the shoulder too.

    Ride the clutch and use this to your advantage as you can control the speed(I'm sure you have been told not to let out the clutch fully or car will take off)

    I can't see the back wheel so I get confused when people mention it. I know that the back handle is where the front part of the back wheel is. But I still manage to hit the curb and I cant see that I've done so. I can also over compensate in the opposite direction by not steering enough. Again I dont know what I'm looking for to know if Im steering correct.


  • Advertisement
  • #7
    biko
    Registered Users Posts: 81,223 ✭✭✭✭biko


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkg_0STEPls


  • #8
    punisher5112
    Registered Users Posts: 24,647 ✭✭✭✭punisher5112


    You need to change the angle of the mirror for the reverse around the corner and also you can remove your seat belt doing a reverse if it were a help.

    You pull up, breath, set up your mirror and have that you can see where the wheel is but also enough to be able to see the curb in good time.

    Take your time. Do not rush it and use the clutch to control your speed and do small corrections as you go.

    Do not go for full lock on steering and then aiming for the curb.


  • #9
    BarraOG
    Registered Users Posts: 351 ✭✭BarraOG


    biko wrote: »
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkg_0STEPls

    Doesn't deal with my issue. Just says to "steer fairly quicky to take the car around the corner".


  • #10
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭[Deleted User]


    BarraOG wrote: »
    I know when to bend, I just dont know how much to bend and how to know if I've steered too much or too little. Thanks.

    One thing that I found helps with over-steer is to drive around the corner normally (forwards) and to check how little movement you need to carry out on the steering wheel. It's identical in reverse. There's a little bit of movement at the start to get your angles right, then hold the wheel steady, then a bit more movement at the end.


  • #11
    ayux4rj6zql2ph
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,001 ✭✭✭ayux4rj6zql2ph


    When I was learning I was taught to have the back wheel by the corner of the kerb, do a full lock and once she’s around the corner straighten it up and go straight back, adjusting accordingly if necessary, each to their own however.


  • Advertisement
  • #12
    posy2010
    Registered Users Posts: 250 ✭✭posy2010


    I failed my test on this (hit kerb). Test taker guy recommended I actually DON’T adjust mirrors downwards as he felt I focused too much on seeing kerb


  • #13
    punisher5112
    Registered Users Posts: 24,647 ✭✭✭✭punisher5112


    posy2010 wrote: »
    I failed my test on this (hit kerb). Test taker guy recommended I actually DON’T adjust mirrors downwards as he felt I focused too much on seeing kerb

    Only one mirror.

    Sure if it isn't adjusted down how can you see the kerb.

    I don't mean fully to the ground but enough to see


  • #14
    Alanstrainor
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 23,157 Mod ✭✭✭✭Alanstrainor


    You don't necessarily have to move your mirror when completing this maneouvre. I would recommend not doing so to be honest. But it does beg the question, is your mirror correctly adjusted in the first place. It is very common for drivers (not only learners) to point their mirrors skywards, which leaves a lot of wasted space. It should be possible to see the rear corner of the car at a normal position. With this you should then be able to gauge distance from the kerb.

    I would say that practise makes perfect, and it sounds to me like the issue here is largely down to lack of practise and perhaps instruction. I would adjust your mirrors and if you have an accompanying driver then ask them to sit with you while practising in the car on a real corner. If it is an especially quiet corner (it should be!), then if you hit the kerb you should be able to stop, pull up the handbrake put the car in neutral and step out of the car and look at where you've ended up.


  • #15
    Isambard
    Registered Users Posts: 5,796 ✭✭✭Isambard


    my instructor had a bit of paper stuck on the side back window, you reverse until that lines up with the kerb on the curve and then steer until the Triplex (or whatever) sign in the rear window lines up with the kerb, then go straight back.


  • #16
    BarraOG
    Registered Users Posts: 351 ✭✭BarraOG


    Isambard wrote: »
    my instructor had a bit of paper stuck on the side back window, you reverse until that lines up with the kerb on the curve and then steer until the Triplex (or whatever) sign in the rear window lines up with the kerb, then go straight back.

    Whats a Triplex sign?


  • #17
    GreeBo
    Registered Users Posts: 27,007 ✭✭✭✭GreeBo


    Don't try to get the correct steer from the start, just adjust as you go. Go as slow as you want and just don't hit the curb.


  • #18
    Isambard
    Registered Users Posts: 5,796 ✭✭✭Isambard


    BarraOG wrote: »
    Whats a Triplex sign?

    was along time ago, used to be three little Xs in the middle of back window


  • #19
    MascotDec85
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 1,924 Mod ✭✭✭✭MascotDec85


    Moving the mirror down to the kerb isn’t great advice imo. It means that you are reacting to what the kerb is doing rather rather spotting and anticipating what it’s going to do. It also means you might not see traffic or pedestrians approach from behind or to from the left. I’ve spoken to a couple of testers who hate to see candidates move the down. When setting the mirror you want to see you car in the first quarter of the mirror. This means the other 3/4 is what’s happening behind. If you can see the car in too much of the mirror you’ll struggle to see the kerb.

    In terms of the steering I teach to steer in quarter turns. When theback of the car reaches the point of turn, using your left hand at the top of the wheel, steer from 12 o’clock to 9 o’clock. Make sure as you approach the point of turn you’re looking in your left mirror so that you can see where it is and you know when to turn.
    From this point, if you see the gap or angle between the car and the kerb increase steer TOWARDS the kerb again by steering from 12-9. If the gap isn’t increasing or decreasing hold the wheel steady to guide the car around. If you see the gap getting smaller steer AWAY from the kerb using your right hand from 12 to 3.
    Don’t think steering left or right think TOWARDS or AWAY.

    Keep the clutch low and have the car at a walking pace.

    Hope that helps. I’ve found that the overwhelming majority of my pupils get this method when they’ve struggled previously as it puts some quantity and structure to the steering when they’ve had no idea how much steering to do.


  • #20
    Amirani
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,521 Mod ✭✭✭✭Amirani


    Yeah, I'm not mad about moving the mirror. It's not really essential, and you run the risk of forgetting to re-adjust it afterwards.

    When you're doing reverse around corner type manoeuvres in normal driving you won't be adjusting your mirror.


  • #21
    GreeBo
    Registered Users Posts: 27,007 ✭✭✭✭GreeBo


    MascotDec85 wrote: »
    It means that you are reacting to what the kerb is doing
    If the kerb is doing anything other than being a kerb just run away! :pac:

    More seriously, OP, remember that you are the one making things happen, neither the kerb nor the car are moving on their own. You are making the car go around the kerb, so you are in control.

    Too many people seem to drive as if they are riding a horse. There is no brain in the car, it does what it does because you make it do it.


  • Advertisement
  • #22
    punisher5112
    Registered Users Posts: 24,647 ✭✭✭✭punisher5112


    When I said adjust it down its from my experience so many have it looking up to the sky.

    You need to use the mirror but also look around.


  • #23
    BarraOG
    Registered Users Posts: 351 ✭✭BarraOG


    Thanks for your advice!

    Tried the Left Reverse again today without putting down the mirror and I was fit to cry after about an hour of hitting the curb or going too wide. With the mirror up in its normal position, I couldn't even get a sense of where the turning point was anymore. Maybe the curb I practiced on was very sharp - it was 12 foot in radius.

    So I dropped down the mirror and moved my head towards it, while still in my seat, until I could see the back wheel. I then sat back in my seat now having a very good sense of where the back wheel was. I then kept that point in my head and was easily able to reverse around keeping a drains length. I now could sense the gap between the wheel and the curb widening and closing as I steered.

    I only had time to do this a few times but at least I have something that might work for me. My edt instructor did say that I could drop the mirror and that he would do so himself... but he told me to only look into the mirror for at most two seconds at a time.

    Anyway, I'll hopefully get a chance to head out and practice it again tomorrow and will also try gradually lifting the mirror with each successive attempt.


  • #24
    Dravokivich
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    Amirani wrote: »
    Yeah, I'm not mad about moving the mirror. It's not really essential, and you run the risk of forgetting to re-adjust it afterwards.

    When you're doing reverse around corner type manoeuvres in normal driving you won't be adjusting your mirror.

    I do it nearly every day and most times I dip my mirror down to check distance to the kerb. Then pull it back up again.


  • #25
    Posy
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 27,520 Mod ✭✭✭✭Posy


    Like, you adjust it every time you reverse?


  • #26
    MascotDec85
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 1,924 Mod ✭✭✭✭MascotDec85


    OP, what car are you driving?


  • #27
    BarraOG
    Registered Users Posts: 351 ✭✭BarraOG


    MascotDec85 wrote: »
    OP, what car are you driving?

    2007 Opel Astra 1.4 Petrol


  • #28
    Dravokivich
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    Posy wrote: »
    Like, you adjust it every time you reverse?

    Only when alongside something that my wheel can mount up.

    If I was reversing around a car, I'd be able to see where that was.

    I don't look solely at the mirror either. It just gives me a reference with a glance.


Advertisement