When learning to drive and taking lessons, every decision feels significant, from the route you are driving along, the structure of your lesson plans, to the car you and your instructor are driving in.

 

With regard to the latter, there exists an entire genre of learner driver cars, which are typically smaller, more comfortable, easier to handle and affordable cars which a driver would be most likely to buy as their first car.

 

Within reason, you can drive almost any car when taking your driving test, although there is a clear tendency towards the types of cars instructors would use.

 

What is the best car to learn to drive in? That often depends on the driver, but here is a guide to the types of characteristics which make a good learner car, which types of cars you should avoid, and which cars are most popular with instructors.

 

What Makes A Car Suitable For Learner Drivers?

The purpose of taking driving lessons when learning to drive is to spend time on the road in an authentic but safe driving environment, in a car designed to be forgiving for drivers who are still figuring out the complexities of driving.

 

What makes a car forgiving? Here are five of the most important factors which make a car perfect for someone learning to drive.

 

Small Size

Almost every instructor will teach you in a small hatchback rather than a saloon, estate or SUV.

 

Why is this? A major difficulty when learning to drive is getting a sense of spatial awareness and knowing where every wheel is and where you are in relation to other motorists. This is particularly important when attempting to park.

 

Driving is generally much easier in a smaller car because you’re taking up less space on the road and there is less to think about, something that is vital when you are starting out taking the wheel and actually taking to the road.

 

Easy To Steer

Most cars come with power steering as standard, but small cars tend to be far more responsive when you turn the wheel, whilst their front-wheel drive engines mean that they are far less likely to oversteer and spin out in adverse conditions.

 

Feeling like you are in control and being forgiven for turning the steering wheel too much are vital traits when building confidence whilst driving for the first time.

 

Better Visibility

Similarly, hatchback cars tend to be designed with all-around visibility in mind, whilst having a relatively low driving position close enough to the road to be aware of everything around you.

 

This differs from an SUV, which often towers above other road users, as well as a lower-slung sports car, which does not always provide the level of visibility you need to safely drive.

 

Manual Gearbox

Whilst less of a consideration in an increasingly electrified age, there are still a lot of benefits to learning to drive in a manual car, in no small part because you avoid having to upgrade your license later.

 

Whilst driving a car with a manual gearbox is more difficult to get used to at first, it trains certain skills that you will not get in an automatic car and provides more options when you are looking for used cars.

 

Until EVs completely take over the market, this will continue to be the case.

 

More Affordable To Buy And Run

Small cars are typically cheaper to insure, which helps offset the premium that new drivers face.

They also have excellent fuel economy, are much cheaper to maintain and spare parts are typically plentiful and affordable to come across.

 

All of this is a vital lifeline for new drivers (and their parents), as typical scrapes and bumps will not be prohibitively expensive to fix.

 

As well as this, small cars are generally far cheaper to buy than any other car on the market, with some new cars costing under £15,000 new and under £1000 used.

 

Which Cars Are Most Popular With Instructors?

Whilst some instructors will use your car, most will use a dedicated training car which typically has dual controls to allow them to help you with the clutch and safe, controlled stops.

 

Whilst instructors will typically have their preferences for the types of cars they will elect to use, most will drive similar smaller cars with dual controls that are plentiful and affordable.

 

For years, the three most popular cars for driving instructors were as follows.

 

Ford Fiesta

One of Britain’s best-selling cars even after it was discontinued, the Fiesta is cheap to insure, cheap to buy used and cheap to maintain, which means that dual control mods are also easy to install.

 

It also has a reputation for being easy and fun to drive, which appeals to new drivers.

 

Vauxhall Corsa

Possibly the first car that comes to mind for many learner drivers who grew up in the 2000s and 2010s, the Vauxhall Corsa remains extremely popular amongst new drivers and instructors alike.

 

Its reassuring driving feel and sense of predictability helped to make it a favourite of instructors for years, and its surge in popularity since a recent facelift has only made it more popular with instructors.

 

Volkswagen Polo

The VW badge has also featured on a lot of instructors’ cars for the same reasons as the Fiesta and Corsa; it is cheap to buy and insure, predictable and comfortable to drive, and a typically sensible choice when teaching someone the rules of the road.

 

Which Cars Can’t You Use When Taking Your Driving Test?

What is quite remarkable about learning to drive is that there is a fairly large scope of cars you theoretically can use on your driving test.

 

It is possible to drive a Range Rover on a driving test, and there is no rule as of yet which states that you could not drive a Porsche 911 on your driving test.

 

As long as the examiner has enough space and all-round vision to see the road around them, the car can be used.

 

This is why a Porsche 911 can be used, but a Toyota IQ or Polestar 5 cannot!