VW Polo - HJ driving one handed

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Sat 21 Aug 2010 17:11
VW Polo - HJ driving one handed - chewer1

As an avid reader of HJ's road tests and Telegraph column I enjoyed the polo 1.2TSI video. I was a little surprised though to see him drive the whole time one handed with his left hand presumably resting on the gear lever. Not good practice surely ?

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Sat 21 Aug 2010 17:49
VW Polo - HJ driving one handed - dieseldogg

tsk tsk

poor selectors )perhaps(

mind i drive with the wheel gripped low, bytimes whilst resting my hand(s) on my thigh(s)

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Sat 21 Aug 2010 18:21
VW Polo - HJ driving one handed - SteveLee
Driving with your hands at the bottom of the wheel (palms down"resting" in the bottom of the wheel) is very dangerous, if you have to steer in emergency you will most likely steer in the wrong direction.

I don't see a problem with one hand on the top of the wheel but resting the other on the gear lever isn't going to do the gearbox any good, this can cause massive wear on the selector arms and dogs.
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Sat 21 Aug 2010 19:06
VW Polo - HJ driving one handed - tanvir

I drive with my hand on the stick, but as I have my elbow on the centre armrest there isn't much load going down the stick.

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Sun 22 Aug 2010 00:37
VW Polo - HJ driving one handed - Avant

I'd guess that this was the video producer wanting as much of the interior of the car to be visible as possible. Also the point of this particular test was for HJ to see how economical this newish petrol engine is, and this involved the careful selection of gears which he was showing us.

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Sun 22 Aug 2010 08:41
VW Polo - HJ driving one handed - Jonesy127
I can't find this video?

I've often wondered if load on the gearstick (resting your hand on it) still inflicts damage with modern cars?

Of course some older cars have a press-down gearstick for selecting reverse - I wonder therefore it's not an issue, as there's a spring allowing for give?

Edited by Jonesy127 on 22/08/2010 at 08:43

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Sun 22 Aug 2010 09:05
VW Polo - HJ driving one handed - Honestjohn

Video here:

www.honestjohn.co.uk/road-tests/volkswagen/vw-polo...o

No producer. The vids are done single handed. Written, location found, directed, set up, shot, performed, edited all by me (which explains the, er, quality).

But Avant is right that in attempting to drive the car as economiclaly as possible I had to make a lot of gearchanges.

What I try not to do is speak to the camera while I'm driving the car. That's more dangerous than driving single handed.

HJ

Edited by Honestjohn on 22/08/2010 at 09:07

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Sun 22 Aug 2010 16:13
VW Polo - HJ driving one handed - Dutchie

I tend to drive with my left hand resting on the arm rest,depending on traffic condition.The big distraction for me when my wife puts her rock music cd on T Rex Marc Bolan or White Snake the one who must be ob.;)

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