In this article, I will be sharing my personal experience when I am at Stage 1 practical lessons with SSDC. I also will be sharing other resources like video which is relevant to all the subjects in stage 1.
Table of Contents
Class 3 Driving Practical Lesson – Stage 1 Overview
Here are the subjects for my Stage 1 driving practical lessons and there are 13 subjects in total. I will share more information in the next section.
- Familiarization and Pre-operative Procedure
- Engine Starting and Stopping
- Moving off and Stopping
- Steering Part 1 and Gear Shifting to 2nd gear
- Braking
- Gear Shifting to 3rd Gear
- Blind Spot
- Steering Part 2
- Speed Adjustment
- Traffic Rules
- Low-Speed control and right turns
- Driving on a slope
- Stage 1 Review
Subject 1- Familiarization and Pre-operative Procedure
This is just to brief you on how the car works and the functionality of the cars like the pedals, wipers, steering wheel, starting the engine, signals, hazard lights etc.
And how you get into the car like if you come out from the driver seat to go over to the seat beside the driver, you have to walk behind and come back. As for the front seat beside the driver, you have to come out and walk in front of the car and turn right again and to the driver’s seat.
Subjects 2 – 3 – Engine Starting and Stopping & Moving off and Stopping
Besides trying to use the car key to start the engine, you also need to know the biting point using the clutch for the manual car to move off.
It is important to know where is the biting point for the clutch to prevent the engine stalled. If I still recall, I usually feel it using the sound and the vibration of the car as when you slowly lift up the clutch and once it reaches the biting point, the sound & vibration will be different.
As the car reaches the biting point, the car will slowly move. You can control the speed easily with clutch control. Lastly, if your instructor needs you to stop, simply clutch in and brake to stop the car.
- If you lift up further, you will notice the car will slightly increase in speed
- if you clutch in further, the car will reduce the speed slowly.
You can find this video below to have a better understanding
Do note not to lift the clutch up too fast as it will cause the engine to stall then you have to restart the car engine again. Have a feel first after a few tries, then you will slowly get used to it. Here is the video that can help you better understand the biting point.
Subject 4: Steering Part 1 and Gear Shifting to 2nd gear
In this subject, the school instructor usually will ask you to drive around the circuit and in SSDC there are different bends when you driving around as some bends can be very sharp which requires you to steer more.
I still recall what the instructor asks me to focus ahead when steering, not sure how useful is it at a later stage all my steering really depends on what I see ahead and the feel. It is like if is it not enough, steer more to prevent wider turns.
Hopefully, this video below able to help you better understand how to steer a car property.
As for changing gear from gear 1 to gear 2, usually, it will still be done in the circuit for school learners. The steps will be the same.
- Clutch in – after a short period, your car is moving on gear 1 with the accelerator pedal, you can start to switch to gear 2 or you should up to gear 2 if you are dragging the gear 1 = the engine is making a louder noise.
- Use Your Left Hand To Switch to Gear 2 – try to avoid using your eyes to switch the gear, you should have a feel
- Slowly release your clutch – Avoid “throwing the clutch”, release too fast will result in jerky.
- Once ok, remove your feet from the clutch pedal
As for switching the gear from 2 to 1, the steps are also similar
- Clutch in – also depends on the speed but on gear 2 the speed should be fine otherwise you can slow down a bit by releasing the accelerator pedal first before you clutch in
- Shift to Gear 1 – Use Your Left Hand To Switch To Gear 1
- Slowly Release Your Clutch
- Remove Your Feet from Clutch Pedal
You also can take a look at this video below which I find it useful
Subject 5 – Braking
The main thing that the instructor is looking for was the braking should not be too harsh. And also for new learners even for myself I also wonder should I brake first and then clutch in or if I should clutch in and use the brake pedal.
Over here this video actually should show you both manual and auto transmission car and explains the proper braking.
Subject 6 – Gear Shifting to 3rd Gear
For school learners, it will be your very first road trip for this subject because in-circuit usually don’t recommend using 3rd gear.
The concept will be the same as shifting from gear 1 to gear 2. As for the road, you will need more alerts on the traffic condition, any road hazards, etc. One of the instructors actually shared with me, that by right on gear 3 you can recommend driving up to 25- 40km/h.
It will be a good experience because you can have a good feel to operate the car at a faster speed and at the same time, you need to slow down or shift to lower gears like approaching the zebra crossing, and also approaching traffic lights still on red as they also very emphasize on engine brake.
Subject 7 – Blind Spot
I feel this is an important safety check habit even now I still practice it when I do my lane changing, turning, etc. Sometimes you may forget as there are many things to do when you are driving, like checking mirrors, and signals, focusing on the road, etc.
What is Blind Spot?
Based on my definition, there are certain that you are unable to view it through your side and rear mirror. Therefore, it is important to check blind spot for road safety, especially during lane changing or turning
You can have a better understanding with this example below:
Use MSBA
These are the steps for checking the blind spot, I will call MSBA:
- Mirrors – Check rear and side mirror (if turning left, check left mirror)
- Signal – Turn your signal on at least other road users are aware you are moving or turning left.
- Blind Spot – Check your blind spot, not just for the sake of action.
- Action – You can proceed once it is safe.
Tip on how to make it a habit when checking the blind spot
This is my personal method where in order to make it a habit even I am not driving, while walking, I will try to simulate and try to do an MSBA ( I know there is no signal while walking) when turning and changing lanes.
The 2nd method was whenever I was in the circuit doing a few rounds of warm-up before heading to the road, during the bends I will do an MSBA as well to keep it as a habit.
Subject 8 – Steering Part 2
For this subject, it is overlapping over the previous few subjects when you are actually on Subject 6 – Shifting to Gear 3 whereby you will spend most of the time on the road doing left turning.
Do make sure when you turn left, your steering should is good enough, not to do a wide turning, and straighten your wheel at the correct timing to prevent crossing over to other lanes.
Subject 9- 10 – Speed Adjustment & Traffic Rules
Similar to Subject 8, these 2 subjects also overlap or are similar of what you have been doing since Subject 6.
For speed adjustment, I think the instructor will look at how you control the speed when approaching pedestrian crossings, this includes shifting the gear, etc. You also should be comfortable when using gear 3 on the road.
As for the traffic rules, I think this should be covered in your theory as well. Alternatively, you may refer to the link here from LTA as well.
Subject 11 – Low-Speed control and right turns
For this subject, it will be doing the right turns and of course, turning will be lower speed.
So likely the instructor will make you try right turns in the circuit but some instructors allow you to try on the actual road. On the actual road, you require to do the lane changing which will be in the later subject.
Things to note will be:
- Reducing your speed when turning
- Your positioning before your turning
- your steering to the right – like how you going to steer right to go to the correct lane
Subject 12: Driving on a slope
When you are on the road, the road will not be even all the time and can be a slight gradient upwards or downward. Especially for moving upward or uphill, it can be challenging for manual cars as it tends to roll back easily if the clutch control is properly controlled.
Do take note of the following when you are moving upward/uphill, there are 2 methods to move off from the uphill.
Method A – Clutch and Brake Pedal
- Ensure you are on clutch and brake pedal
- Slowly lift up your clutch pedal until it hit the bitting point
- Once you are on bitting point, hold on to it and move your right foot to the gas pedal to move off
- If the car is still rolling back, you can slightly lift up your clutch pedal until your car not rolling back or moving off.
Method B – Using Handbrake
- The handbrake should be on
- Step on the gas/accelerator pedal
- Rev around 2500 – 3500 and hold it there
- Slowly release your clutch pedal until the bitting point. You can feel your car has a slight movement, like lifting up
- Handbrake off
- Your car should be able to move off slowly from the slope
You also can watch these 2 videos below
Subject 13 – Stage 1 Review
For this subject, it will be reviewed like a mini mock test to see how well you can operate the car that has been covered in the first 12 subjects.
If you are at this stage, you should be mastering well all the fundament stuff for driving and you should feel comfortable on the road as well.
Conclusion
That’s all for Stage 1 for my SSDC Learning Journey and hopefully, with all this advice based on my personal experience and video resources, I shared able to help you better understand during your learning driving journey. I will be sharing stage 2 too in the next article.