thanks for the input guys. He’s not a TOTAL novice, but I think i’ll give him a few lessons on it just so he knows where the clutch starts to engage. It’s a diesel, so it’s a pretty forgiving car in that respect.
I think the best will be to simply make no big deal of it and let him get his confidence that way. I have driven stick for several years now so it’s no biggie, and I do all the stuff mentioned above, but I think I didn’t get “perfect” until after about a month or two.
I suppose that’s the timeline, right? If you take the average person who doesn’t do well in a manual, and give them the couple-hour lesson they could get around (albeit very stressfully) for a week or so, then finally get to where they are flawless after about a month or two.
Oh hello, do we have the same father? Mine even upped the stakes by becoming so outraged that he started calling out “gas!” “brake!” “clutch!” at random, and then expecting me to know that when he shouted “brake!” I was supposed to know that he really meant “clutch!” because apparently I was supposed to be able to translate distraught father language. (I should note my dad is actually pretty cool, but had a thing about his car.)
Having someone else in the car with me while I was learning always made me nervous, either because my dad’s mental, or because I would have a nice friend volunteering to help me, and then I would feel awful every time I ground the gears on her car.
Finally another friend took me to an empty parking lot in his Camaro, and told me he’d be back in an hour. I didn’t want to do this at first, but he seemed pretty confident that no matter how bad it sounded, I probably couldn’t damage his transmission that much in an hour. Once I was alone, I was able to do much better.
So since the OP’s friend already knows the basics of driving standard, I’d suggest taking him to a parking lot and leaving him to his own devices. Once he is more comfortable, you can share pointers on how to perfect his technique.
Another thing that I think is one if the differences between someone who has no problems driving stick and someone who does. People that are good at driving stick can sense that the engine is about to crap out (lugging or clunking) and just naturally deal with it without really paying attention. (If they’re slowing down, hit the clutch, if they’re speeding up, hit the gas). Something I’ve mentioned to n00bs is that when the engine starts making funny noises and the car starts jerking, don’t panic, hit a pedal. Generally, either the gas or the clutch will keep the car from stalling. Of course you don’t want to hit the clutch as your trying to make a left across a busy street, but not killing the engine is a real confidence builder.
Another thing. When you’re waiting to bolt across that busy intersection between cars, make sure the car really is in 1st. Even to someone expierenced it’s really nerve racking when you finally see an opening, you let off the clutch, punch the gas and craaaawl into the intersection becuase the car is in 3rd instead of 1st.
Having taught everyone from former girlfriends to fellow workers on VWs to 5 speed hi-lows it’s not that hard. Parking lots are the prime venue, and I used to take out a pile of empty drywall buckets so they could learn stall parking, too. Patience and a supportive attitude from the trainer are the best things for a n00b.
I’ll second or third most of the advice in this thread. I learned on a stick even though I’m young (because my dad believes in actually driving a car instead of just pointing it in the right direction) and I’m extremely grateful for it (a 3 AM wake-up to “You drive, we need to sleep” would be a reeeaally crappy way to learn).
My dad just took me to a deserted parking lot, but the one thing I want to stress is- turn the radio off. He made a point of that, so that I could hear when I needed to shift. I’ve taught several friends to drive a stick also, and made sure they could hear the engine until they were more comfortable. Also, direct his attention to the tachometer. My dad had me practice slowly revving the engine to about 1500 RPMs (although this differs from car to car- anywhere between 1000 and 2000) and holding it there before lifting off the clutch.
Then, if you’re feeling adventurous, take him to a hill and have him stop halfway up, then tell him to go. That’s what my dad did, and I knew that I’d roll the moment I came off the clutch, so I just gunned it. Luckily, my dad was very calm during our driving lessons, so he just laughed and explained about coming off the clutch a little until it engaged.
It just sounds like he needs a little confidence, so a few hours in a deserted parking lot should work well. The more time behind the wheel, the more comfortable he’ll feel. I’ve only had 1 person I tried to teach manual suck horribly, but I suspect it had more to do with the car (the clutch is a little wonky) than his abilities.
My dad started us kids out when we were little riding in the pick up. He would have us listen to the engine for the rpm’s to increase (which has the added benefit of keeping the little brats quiet) and telling him when to shift, graduating to moving the gearshift for him and so on. By the time we were ready to drive, we already had a pretty good idea what we were doing. And the ones that needed remedial instruction got to be the gopher when he replaced a clutch or tranny in a vehicle. All of us can drive a stick (for some of us, it’s preferred) with the best.
What the hell? Like most Brits I learned to drive stick - we now have autos thanks to Mrs M’s dodgy wrist that isn’t happy handling a gear-change - and I’d make damn sure I didn’t stall starting from a dead stop. Didn’t need to scream the engine either. It’s just a case of finding the biting point on the clutch and after that you’re good to go. Never had any clutch problems either.
The other evening in the Vectra (auto) I noticed that when I was rolling gently along at 30mph I could double the revs without changing speed. I miss the sensation of being in contact with the road.
Heh… No. “Kangaroo gas” is an expression used in Finnish to describe the bouncy, jolty movement of a car driven by someone just learning how to drive a stick-shift.
Ah, lowbrass, you’re right. What I wrote was not what I meant. What I really meant was what you said; the “smooth movement” part is what I was trying to get at.
That didn’t make any sense at all… I think I’m a little tired right now.
I was most worried about doing damage to my brother’s car when he was teaching me, so he put me at ease by telling me, “When in doubt, just push in the clutch. It’s like Neutral, which is ya know, neutral.”
Of course, we were in a deserted parking lot, not a city street, but his advice gave me a lot more confidence about learning to drive.
I agree with everyone else about finding an empty lot (I used a deserted alley with my son) and finding the friction point of the clutch.
With my son, I took him into the alley and I showed him (and explained) how the clutch worked. I went from a dead stop to moving about 3 times in first, and then in reverse.
Then it was his turn.
Kangaroo gas? yeah a couple of times. Stalled? He sure did. But after going back and forth in that alley 3 or 4 times, he was ready to hit the streets.
Was he perfect that first trip? No, but he got better real fast.
That reminds me of something that happened in college. A friend of mine was teaching another friend to drive a stickshift, but the school is on a steep hill. So she was heading down the hill and felt like the car was going too fast, panicked, and stepped on the clutch, which of course made the car go even faster. :eek:
