Was sure there was a thread about this already. Either I’m going mad or the poster who started it has since had themselves deleted (RIP).
(TL;DR: Spasming muscle at my ankle while driving today that was very uncomfortable although didn’t actually cause me to have unsteady acceleration.)
Anyway, opening with a pretty specific query: Learned to drive (automatics only) at the end of August. Then after about 2 weeks we had to put our car (an i30) into the Hyundai place as it had a major engine issue. 5 weeks later and Hyundai have agreed to pay for all of it (woo) and given us a courtesy car (double woo).
Today I drove the new car (SantaFe) for the first time. It’s bigger than our one - one of those high monsters that aren’t much bigger inside like a QashQai which I guess might be relevant due to the different sitting posture - and I had to pull over at one stage because I was getting a weird twinge in my right foot: I was basically getting a weird jiggle to it on the ankle like the muscle was just getting strained and spasming.
After a small pause I got under way again and it was okay but it was definitely a bit upsetting. Luckily the minute wobble it gave to the accelerator was light enough not to affect the speed.
Basically is this something other people get when driving? Just one of those things? Or do I just have funny muscles?
Oh good, just like me, I guess! You’re a Brit too, right? I never learned due to being in London and the costs of learning were never worth it at all (both lessons and sorting out a car after).
Not really long enough stretches of driving to allow for cruise control I guess.
In fact today I was off to buy a $98 Navman GPS thingie from Officeworks for journeys I don’t know, due to the Victorian governments blanket ‘no phone use’ for P-platers. Basically we can’t use them for navigation nor are we even allowed to use them to bluetooth music to the car (technically). In theory Android Auto / Apple Carplay should be okay but again, nothing official on the site so it’ll only take one arsehole cop to take you down should they want to!
Leasing system ends (benefits system changed, I’ll get a cash equivalent instead) so I need to consider buying the car or getting a new one. It’s complicated by the fact that currently I don’t pay for insurance - it’s the car that’s insured, not me as the driver - and I was a new driver when I got it.
I can stick up for the i30 as decent car and Hyundai have decided to fix it free of charge despite being out of warranty as their investigations have proved it would have been a fault outside of our control.
Maybe that’s a normal thing for manufacturers to do though.
I would guess you’re just sat in the wrong position. Next time you’re in the car play with the seat distance, angle etc - you might even be able to move the steering wheel up or down. Worth checking at least.
Yeah steering wheel is up as high as it’ll go as otherwise it’s practically on my thighs. But hadn’t considered the seat height might adjust too actually
Reckon it’s less scary in this sleepy, relatively flat, relative backwater (compared to zone 2 London). That said, I am surprised I am not more terrified given how terrified before I learned and doing my early lessons.
I don’t get the ankle spasm thing, but I’m not really a fan of the SUV driving position in general, so make sure you fiddle around with the seat and steering wheel height. I imagine it’ll settle down over time as you get used to driving.
I remember driving a 50-minute journey into Nottingham at rush hour just days after I passed my test. Through constantly easing my way along using the clutch (which was terrifying), my muscle was seriously spasming (is that a word?) towards the end. Got it a few more times over that year, none since
Yeah holding any uncomfortable position will make you do that after a while (have you ever done that game where you hold your arms out fully stretched at head height while holding something - after a couple of minutes it’s pure torture). Think a lot of people, especially new drivers, are too focussed on keeping proper form in terms of posture and stuff, probably better once you can relax and feel comfortable just pivoting your foot for the accelerator and stuff.
