Four weeks and four and a half thousand miles on, how are we getting on with the Fiat? Every time I have met another (non-BSM) instructor recently, they all want to know what I think of the 500. Sometimes they ask in a mocking tone, as though they expect me to confirm their preconceptions and say "Urgh...Don't ask. It's a piece of crap." But others seem quite interested and want to know more about it. I really like it and, although it is not perfect, I would definitely consider it if I were to leave BSM and become independent.
One of the most popular topics currently, on the BSM instructor website, is all about what different instructors think about the Fiat. Of those that don't like the car, the main gripe used to be about its size (because it's not too bad in the front - I am 5'11" and have more legroom than I did in the Corsa, and I have no problem with width, even though one particular pupil seems almost as wide as he is tall), but now the most common complaint is about the sensitivity of the clutch and accelerator. Several instructors are complaining that their pupils are constantly stalling and they, themselves are also stalling. Come on..... we are instructors. We should be skillful enough not to stall.
The change from the diesel Corsa to the petrol Fiat has caused some of my pupils problems. With a diesel engine you can control a car at low speeds without any pressure on the accelerator. This makes clutch control on manoeuvres relatively easy and it also makes moving off easier. This is a bit of a lazy way to drive - the examiners don't like it - but why use the accelerator when you don't need to? On the positive side, with petrol engines, you can brake to a lower speed before the engine struggles and, ultimately, stalls. Four or five of my pupils were initially frustrated by repeated stalls, particularly during manouvres. It was time for me to tweak the way I teach.
In a diesel, I asked my pupils to find the bite point on the clutch before releasing the footbrake/handbrake. Unless you are very careful, this will result in a stall in a petrol car. To avoid this, the driver simply has to 'set the gas' (apply light pressure to the accelerator) before finding the bite point, then maintain those revs as the clutch is lifted - balancing the clutch and accelerator. A few of my pupils had problems because the engine is very quiet, so keeping the revs up seems wrong to them. So, when I asked them to bring the revs up before finding the bite, they would sometimes rev, then drop the revs as they brought the clutch up, resulting in a stall.
Yesterday Anna had her first attempt at the practical test. You may have read me writing about Anna back in December. I was unhappy because her test was cancelled (in December, but before all the snow and ice came) when the temperature was 6C (although there had been a frost in the early morning). Her test was rescheduled for early January when, of course, it was cancelled - quite rightly that time, due to the thick blanket of snow everywhere. Anna then went off to University and has not been back for a lesson since. She arrived home on Tuesday evening and spent the evening practising in her parents diesel Astra. She had never driven the Fiat before. Yesterday morning, I picked her up an hour before her test and she really struggled with the Fiat's clutch. I spent the hour concentrating on clutch control at low speeds, reversing and hill starts. By the time we arrived at the Elgin test centre she had got herself into a bit of a state, her confidence shattered. I kept my fingers crossed, but, after stalling four times, she asked the examiner if she could just go back to the test centre and was very upset when I met her.
Ultimately, the blame lies with me. Ok, so Anna could have tried to get back for some extra lessons. But her driving was fine, so I was confident that I could get her to adjust to the Fiat in the hour before the test. But, as pupils and instructors know, stalling knocks confidence.
Perhaps those instructors who criticise the Fiat's clutch are correct, perhaps it is Fiat's fault and not ours. It was tempting to think so after Anna's test trauma. I still disagree.
I have only had two pupils who have not been happy about the Fiat after a couple of lessons in it. All the others have either adapted immediately, or have done so within two hours. These others range from those who have had over thirty hours in the diesel Corsa, to complete beginners. So, if they can master the Fiat's clutch, ANYONE can.
After Anna's test I had two hours to drive the 95 miles to Ullapool. I had advised Anna to spend the afternoon cursing the examiners, me and BSM, and to walk round spitting on Fiats (I am fairly confident she wont actually do this, at least not the spitting part). Meanwhile I was cheering myself up by enjoying the brilliant blue skies, pristine white mountains and Wilco's Summerteeth CD playing loudly in the car.
The rest of the day was VERY concentrated: 8 separate one-hour lessons in 9 hours. I was literally dropping one pupil off then picking the next one up within 5 minutes. Two of the pupils were brand new; neither had ever driven a car before. They were both a pleasure to teach and, guess what? Not one stall between them.
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