Ever teach somebody how to drive a stick

[The SPEEDY]

I made my girlfriend drive my car yesterday. I didn't realise it was so hard for some people to understand a how to use a clutch, she is a natural blond though. Going down the road she asked me if she was supposed to leave the clutch out or put it in. I had to do most of the shifting though, I don't think she's ready for that. She never stalled it once, must be all that torque .

 

Let me hear your storys about teaching people to drive the stick.

[TarheelZ]

Yeah, a LONG time ago I tried to teach a girlfriend on a '68 Mustang with a built 302 in it. We 'leap-frogged' the length of a strip mall, tires chirping, my head bouncing off the dash. It was the last time I tried that!

[tmf6902]

My dad taught me a few years ago...(yes I know it's embarrasing that I didn't know how), he has a restored 63 bonneville. I got it after about 10 mins....but I owe years of video game experience to the short learning curve. I love it, it gives ya something to do when you're driving. I did chirp the tires a bit, but was that because of inexperience or I just felt like dropping the clucth???? No one will ever know

[ToeJam]

The hardest part I've found is getting the person to understand the differences between starting from a stop and shifting as you're moving. The quicker shifts you make at speed don't go over well when you're stopped....and vice-versa.

 

Always fun to watch however!!!!

[The SPEEDY]

I think because of the torque and the some what close ratio of the gears helped out a lot. She's pretty short so I had to remind her to push the clutch all the way in. She got the gas pedal mistaken with the brake and reved it up to about 4K and started screaming as we a still rolling barwards. Thankfully she left the clutch in and i just pulled the e-brake.

[General Lee 01]

The first time I learned to drive a stick was in a '86 Honda Accord. I threw gravel 30 ft behind the car when I started off.

[robsawatsky]

I had the pleasure of teaching (name and relationship withheld) how to drive my old 1975 Honda Civic. This person somehow managed to get this car to hop and shudder at an unbelievable rate. The Honda had the smoothest shifting tranny and clutch uptake of any vehicle I've ever driven; couldn't make it do deliberately what this person did accidently.

[LikeaRock14]

A friend of mines mom wanted me to teach him how to drive the manual in her 00 Mustang....Wow, talk about an experience! I kept telling him every time we stopped to push in the clutch and press slightly on the brake. Somehow he couldn't manage to find the clutch, and always ended up slamming the brakes and stalling the car

[doverarjim]

I had just talked about this with some friends this weekend. Back in the mid 70's I had a 67 Chevelle 396-375hp, 4 speed it was not fast but it sure wasn't slow by any means mid 12's at about 110 to 115 with street tires and open headers. A girl friend wanted to learn to drive a clutch so I taught her one night about 2:30 am we went to a mall parking lot and with some pillows and her purse behind her she started out. She would let out on the clutch and mash the gas pedal when this happened it would scare her and she would let off the gas and then she would start laughing about it and do it all over again. We had been doing this for about 1/2 hour when a set of blue lights came on, I told her to stop and I got out of the car the cop came up and asked what we were doing when I told him we were learning to drive a clutch he told me OK but not to move until his blue lights were turned back off, I said OK and he drove to one of the entrance to the parking lot and turned his lights off, I got back in and were started again with the jumping and the laughing for another 15 or 20 minutes when she told me she was tired so I got behind the wheel and started to leave the parking lot and every entrance was blocked by cops laughing at her. In all I would say we put on a show for about 15 cops that night.

[Shaners]

My dad taught me in a '74 Super Beetle a few years before I was legal to drive. I took my drivers test in a stick ('78 Chevette) 3 days after I got my permit. The officer couldn't believe I could drive it that well!!!

 

I taught my wife in a '79 Ford Fiesta, about 4 years before we got married...

 

I love driving a stick once in awhile, but there is no way I could do it for a daily driver anymore...

[R Dogg 56]

I learned how to drive a manual about ten years ago in my uncle's '86 Ford F-700 grain truck w/ 300 I-6, HD 4-speed w/ Hi-Lo range and 25 ft' grain box.

[Wingnut]

I learned when I was around 12-14 in a sandrail with a Chevrolet Corvair (D@mn you Nader! ) engine in it.

 

Only hard part, was remembering that the gears were with the hand, and the clutch was with the feet....I had been riding dirtbikes up to that point, so the gear/clutch thing was backwards.

[Supurban]

I personally learned to drive stick driving some beat up 1988 S-10 pickup at work. I think 1st gear teeth were all chewed off. So feathering in 2nd with lots of juice was needed - clutch was worthless anyway. Great way to soak up the newbie moves.

 

I've given up teaching anyone to drive stick for now. Besides, everything around is automatic. Boy do we get spoiled with the conveniences of automatic transmissions, power steering, and power brakes.

 

A humbling experience for me was trying to drive a Suzuki sedan in India that had no power steering/brakes and was a stick - RIGHT HAND DRIVE. Shifting with the left hand is a lot like trying to stand up when your foot has fallen asleep!

[silverado man]

I learned how to drive a manual about ten years ago in my uncle's '86 Ford F-700 grain truck w/ 300 I-6, HD 4-speed w/ Hi-Lo range and 25 ft' grain box.

I learned on the same type of truck but didn't have power steering or power breaks. Talk about fun trying to stop a two ton truck. I used to shift for my dad while he was driving down the road and then one day he finally let me drive. I don't remember how I did the first time I got behind the wheel. I just know now I love driving anything with a stick. It is just fun running throught the gears. That and being a farmer was great I was drive farm equipment and vehicle when I was about 10 or so.

[NOS#9BIGMAC]

I had to teach myself after i got my first car. It was an 80 something honda civic well lets just say I had to put a new clutch in it about a week later it was smoked hard I only had 1st n 2nd gear 3rd 4th n 5th were non existent. took a helluva beating for a rice burner though.

I'm still trying to get my roomate to learn how to drive a stick so that should be a good one.