Steering basics: how far to turn the wheel

Watch it, then drive it

1. 1

   Watch how it is done

   Instructors film this one step by step. Watch a couple before your first try.

   More videos on YouTube↗
2. 2

   Drive it with the coach

   Guided mode puts the reference points on screen and stops you the moment you drift.

   Practise this in the simulator
3. 3

   Test yourself

   Test mode says nothing and marks you in the examiner's words. Three clean runs in a row and it is learnt.

Half lock and full lock

In a small car like the one in the simulator the wheel turns about two and three-quarter times from one end to the other, so full lock is about one and a third turns from straight and half lock about three-quarters of a turn. Half lock gives a wide, gentle curve; full lock is the tightest circle the car can make.

Hold, then unwind

The car keeps turning for as long as the wheel stays turned. Once you have the lock you need, hold the wheel still and let the car come round. Start unwinding before the car points where you want to go, because the wheel takes a moment to come back: leave it late and you overshoot.

Slow car, quick hands

At walking pace you have time to turn the wheel briskly, so the car follows the curve you meant. Turning slowly while the car moves quickly is what puts you on the kerb. DVSA does not mark you down for how you hold the wheel or for crossing your hands, only for losing control, so pull-push is a good habit rather than a rule.

How you practise it here

Watch drives it for you with the commentary running, so you see the whole thing once before you touch anything. Steering only takes the pedals and gears off you, the way an instructor does on the first lesson: a mark on the wheel shows when to turn and how far. Guided puts the reference points on screen and stops you the moment you drift. Test says nothing and marks you in the words the examiner uses. Three clean Test runs in a row counts as learned, and it comes back two days, a week and three weeks later so it is still there on the day.

Step by step

These are the words the simulator says to you, in order, the same commentary you would get from the passenger seat.

1. 1Creep forward with the wheel straight. Look where you want to go, not at the bonnet.
2. 2The cone is level with your shoulder: turn right, about three-quarters of a turn. Half lock gives a wide, gentle curve.
3. 3Hold the wheel still. The car keeps turning on the same curve for as long as the wheel stays turned.
4. 4Nearly square to the next line. Unwind the wheel back to straight as the car comes round.
5. 5Now a tight turn left round the second cone: full lock, about one and a third turns. Slow car, quick hands.
6. 6Full lock is the tightest circle the car can make. Keep it there until the car points along the box.
7. 7Straighten up: the same turns back the other way, before the car points where you want to go.
8. 8Straight and inside the box. Stop here and tap Finished.

Common questions