So tell me about teaching your kid to drive a stick shift

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

I don’t have a kid, but I can tell you a critical moment I had with Dad.

First some background: in Spain you have to go to a Driver’s School, as the teacher has to have a Teacher’s License. Most people get the majority of their lessons at DS, but go with Daddy to the local practice area or to deserted places.

I was having problems getting Dad’s car moving, either I’d overrev or underrev. This one time, we had stopped, Dad had been yelling whatever (I’m told he was superb at teaching other people, very patient, but with us he expected everything to be perfect on the first try), then I stepped on the clutch and went to put the car into first but he angrily did it for me. The car went forward like a champ; once it was at 20, I went to change to 2nd… uh? “Dad, you put it into third.” “No I didn’t!” “Cross my heart, Dad, look” and I shifted down into second. “Well, skewer me and call me holey… looks like you’ll be able to learn how to drive after all.”

For some reason (and this happened with many subjects) it was the point where my driving got his respect: from then on he’d advise me but never again yell.
The first few lessons are in the practice area without leaving 1st (which also means you don’t go over 20km/h).

My teacher told us something very important: “a driver’s license does not mean you know how to drive; it means you have been deemed capable of continuing your learning without killing anybody. When you really learn is during the first few months of having the permit.”

22

The way I learned was by watching my parents drive their stickshifts. Not only watching, but listening and watching the rev dial, watching the foot movements, and the gear shifting. It’s quite an experience and I miss it. :frowning: I’ve always hated driving automatics, my next vehicle is definitely going to be a stick. It’ll also keep those damned kids of mine from wanting to borrow the car.

A sentence of death concentrates the mind wonderfully :stuck_out_tongue:

23

All of the above =)

I learned to drive in 2 cars - an ancient Chrysler New Yorker land yacht [I understand that year had the longest wheelbase of any non limousine] and a ferrari owned by my boyfriend of the time. I can pretty much parallel park anything, and I could drive a manual from the start.

I got driving confidence in the automatic, staying in lane, not being terrified by driving at speed in construction zones, not being scared by other drivers. I mainly learned with my Mom [dad was away in a different state on business for the year I was learning to drive so I have no idea if he would have been good or terrible at teaching me] and I learned to drive the manual in a tiny car - very manuverable. Since it was much smaller, all I needed to concentrate on was the manual transmission.

I find it very useful, and have a preference to driving manuals. It was funny in Germany at the airport in Frankfurt when I went to pick up the rental. I have a german surname and when the lady found out I was american she was nervous because all she had left were manual tranny cars. She was very relieved to find out I preferred manuals. [and believe me, a large engine SUV is a blast on the autobahns :smiley: Next time I may get a sports car :D]

24

It going to take a while to get the hang of it, it always does. I changed my car a few weeks back, and I’m still getting used to the new one. It’s easy to drive, and I can do so smoothly, but I can’t find the biting point as quickly as I could in the old one yet. I’m still looking for slightly bigger gaps in traffic to pull into, and using the handbrake more when pulling away on slopes.

25

Here is what I did the last time I taught someone (a woman that I was hoping would also be a romantic interest. She said this could not be a could idea, since men are weird about their cars…)

  1. I explained not to worry if she grinds the gears. All newbies do.
  2. I explained not to worry if she stalls the car. All newbies do - and even now I occasionally do.
  3. I explained that a car was just a car and short of killing us, nothing she could do would upset me. (Especially this car, which is a beater.)
  4. I took her to a large empty parking lot and told her to ignore the gas petal, but just slowly release the clutch petal until she could feel the clutch engage. With enough practice you can get the car moving without even needing to give it gas.
  5. I made her do that 10s of times. Then I asked her to try it with the gas petal.
  6. Once she had *starting *mastered, we moved on to shifting to other gears. But by then she was so comfortable with a clutch that she picked it up quickly.

Alas, we never did hook up.

26

Ok, you allow people to learn how to drive, without teaching them on proper i.e stick shift cars?

27

I’ve owned manual-trans cars for 14 years, been driving them for 25. Don’t remember my own learning experience, but I had heard recently that doing drills to develop muscle memory helps. The OP’s daughter is probably past the point where these tips will help, but for someone who is just starting out, there are three drills to begin with:

  1. with the car in neutral and the parking brake set, step on the accelerator to rev the engine up to 1500 RPM. Leave it there for a second, then release. Repeat a couple dozen times. This helps teach your right foot about how hard you want to get on the gas during launches.

  2. Clutch-in and put the car in first gear. Without touching the accelerator, let the clutch out until the RPM’s just start to dip. Repeat this a couple dozen times. This helps teach your left foot about where the point of initial clutch engagement is.

  3. Combine both actions: throttle-up and let the clutch out until the car just starts to roll, then clutch-in and take your foot of the gas and hit the brake. Repeat a couple dozen times.

  4. Begin practicing normal first-gear launches.

It may be worth repeating this sequence on successive weekends. When stalls begin to become a rare thing, you can graduate to the next phase, which takes a driver from “able to use a stick shift” to “skilled with a stick shift.” This means:

-learning smooth launches (no jerkiness) with low engine RPM (minimizes clutch wear)
-gradual let-off of acceleration just prior to upshift, with clutch disengagement just as the drivetrain is unloaded
-matching RPM’s during clutch-in just after the upshift
-gradual ramp-up of acceleration just after the upshift
-getting to know the clutch and throttle well enough to be able to launch on steep hills without using the hand brake

Extra credit:
-matching RPM’s during downshifts

The goal is to not jerk your passengers’ heads around, and it’s challenging, which is part of what makes driving a stick interesting (at least for me). Part of the challenge is being aware of what your passengers are going through, and the vast difference in perception when you’re behind the wheel (as opposed to being a passenger) is a huge factor. The driver knows what’s happening, and what’s about to happen, and is more firmly braced in his/her seat than the passengers typically are. During upshifts/downshift, feel what the car is doing, and watch out of the corner of your eye and see what your passengers’ heads and bodies are doing while you upshift/downshift; if they look like bobble-head dolls, then you have room for improvement.

28

I gather you’re not from the US. stick-shift cars are becoming exceedingly rare in this country. Over the years, automatics have become more reliable and more efficient to the point where the advantages of a stick shift have pretty much been erased. People tend to buy automatics nowadays because they don’t enjoy doing all that work of shifting and paying attention to the engine; they want their hands free for eating breakfast, reading the newspaper, and texting their BFF’s.

People looking for sport/performance these days frequently opt for “manumatics”, automatic transmissions which allow driver control over shift points just like a true stick shift (e.g. paddle shifters behind the wheel, or an upshift/downshift lever on the center console). Moreover, if you’re looking for serious performance, it’s hard to beat a manumatic built around a DCT; these can upshift far faster than the best stick-shift driver.

People who own a stick shift anymore tend to do so because it’s fun/interesting, and they enjoy being more involved with the driving process.

29

in 2010 6.7% of cars sold in the US were equipped with manual transmission, which actually happens to be the highest rate in 5 years.

93% of cars being sold in the U.S. aren’t “proper” cars?

30

Yep–that is how I learned as well. It is amazing how quickly you figure things out when there are hundreds of cars honking at you! But I didn’t enjoy it, so I am thinking a less stressful way for the kid might be better.

31

Yeah, once that was explained to me, it became no problem.

Then again, I learned manual transmission on a motorcycle. The transition to a car was odd (for those who’ve never driven a motorcycle, clutch and gas are controlled with left and right hands respectively), but not difficult.

Probably not something to recommend for most people though. :smiley:

32

Rick
Thanks, I like this idea quite a bit. She has the level and slight downhill start down fairly okay. I did the let the clutch out slowly without gas already, but she doesn’t have the concept on a slight hill. I want her to learn to be able to hold the car on the hill with just the clutch, and I think this technique will work. Thanks for the tip!

33

My dad raced motorcycles for 25 years and then taught me (and my sister) how to drive.

He used the wax-on-wax-off method and devised little drills that he made me drive over and over and over and over again.

For example, he’d take me out to a vacant parking lot (like a school on a Sunday or something) with an inch or two of snow on the ground. I was instructed to drive in a simple circle. Then I was instructed to put the car into reverse and drive the same circle backwards. “And I only wanna see one set of tire tracks in the snow, young lady!” I got that down and he graduated me to figure-eights, forward and then backwards. Then a long straight line, forward and backwards. Then a long ess curve, forward and backwards. By the time I spent 3 or 4 hours driving backwards in circles, I pretty much drove over to the DMV and nailed the driving test.

The two most helpful things to me when learning to drive a stick:
• Yes, esplain please how a clutch works, and why I’m doing what I’m doing. I am a “gotta know why” learner; knowing how something works helps me understand what I’m doing.

•When I make a mistake, don’t just let me bunny hop down the road. *Tell me what to do to *correct the mistake.

When my dad taught me to drive, that was on an automatic. Flash forward 20 years and I bought a truck that’s a stick. I now live 1,200 miles away from Daddy, so I enlisted the previous truck owner to throw in a couple stick shift lessons. I knew what to do and didn’t need much explanation, but his presence was invaluable when I started bunny hopping and, frustrated, cried out, “What am I doing wrong?” He said, “Oh. When you’re bunny hopping, you’re letting the clutch out too fast. Just push it in a little bit and it’ll stop.”

Oh. Why didn’t you just say that in the first place? :smiley:

After maybe 2 20-minute lessons, it became clear to me that the truck needed some major engine work. (I ended up having the carb rebuilt. Coupla times. Yes, it is that old, it actually has a carburator!) I managed to drive it to the shop by myself. When I picked it up, I’d schedule practice sessions for myself (using dad’s wax-on-wax-off method for myself). I’d start by driving around the block. If I could get all the way around the block without stalling or bunny hopping, then I’d extend my route by another block. Finally, I found a no-traffic side street that had the slightest incline. I practiced rolling backwards down that incline over and over until I found that sweet spot in the clutch and learned to control the motion without using the brakes.

I never once have used the handbrake. If I’m stopped on a hill and some douchebag stops too close to me, I figure it’s their problem. When you rear-end someone in this state, that’s your failure to yield, not the driver in front. If you get smacked in your front bumper by my ancient steel bumper (did I mention the truck is an old beater?) I guess maybe you’ll learn to give other drivers a bit of space on a steep hill after that. 'Cause I don’t give a damn about dents and whatnot on my truck. I bought it to abuse it.

34

I vote for Rick’s ‘one pedal at a time’ approach. Master the clutch first - on a level road or parking lot, then a bit of accelerator. Learn to move and stop in first gear and reverse, then move onto a slight incline. Gear changes are the last thing to master.

35

Sure, absolutely. Using the handbrake prevents you from rolling back as you move your right foot from the brake pedal to the gas pedal. If there’s more than a slight incline, you can roll as far as two or three feet backwards in the interval between switching your feet. Some people, especially people who drive automatics and don’t think about it, pull way too close to other drivers at stoplights on hills. It also gives you time to get the engine revving to the proper amount so you don’t go shooting off or spin your tires. Using the handbrake is a must-have skill in hilly places. Some automatics even roll backwards when they’re in gear if the hills is steep enough, so it’s a good skill to be aware of for everyone. I’ve used this driving in San Francisco before, and it’s damn near essential at stoplights if you’re not the first person at the light-- the first guy is almost on the level, but the second person is often on a steep angle.

I’ve also used my parking brake when going down long, steep grades and my regular brakes start to heat up. If you smell your regular brakes, and traffic isn’t difficult, it can be a good idea to switch to your handbrake for a moment. Finally, if your engine dies while you’re moving and your brakes are powered, you’ll feel your brakes go mushy and quit after a moment, so you have to switch to the handbrake.

36

Two or three feet? In San Francisco, maybe, if you’re new to a stick shift. Anywhere else, with even a modicum of pedal dexterity, you shouldn’t roll back more than a few inches.

You are aware that the hand brake uses the same friction hardware as the regular brakes, right? The only reason you’d stop smelling your brakes is that the handbrake only activates the rear brakes, which are downwind of your nose.

Moreover, you’re in a manual-transmission car: downshift, and let the engine help manage your speed. Give your brakes a break.

They don’t quit, you just lose the vacuum-assist.

If you really whale on the handbrake, you might be able to lock up the rear wheels on wet pavement. Even if the vacuum reservoir is fully depleted, you can get more stopping power than that with the foot brake, which activates the brakes on all four wheels.

37

Almost everyone in the UK learns on a stick.

Here’s my advice (I’ve taught a couple of exes to drive; one set of lessons ended in a divorce [almost a joke]):

In a parking lot, teach the person to engage first gear, and get the car rolling just with the clutch release with the left foot - no gas. This teaches the bite point.

When they’re OK with the clutch control for first, show them how to change gear by depressing the clutch, then have them change into second. They’ll already understand what the bit point is, so it will be easier. Still no gas.

Repeat up to third and fourth with no gas (on my car you need gas not to stall in fifth).

Then back down to first, and let them go faster with just a little squeeze of gas, then second, etc. Do this for several days until they’re really comfortable using their left foot and letting the clutch bite.

Only then take them out on a highway.

Also, for hill starts there is really no other way not to roll back than by using the parking/hand brake. I found when I lived in the US and drove a stick, a lot of people didn’t realize this.

38

OK, all you hilly locale handbrake using ones- what would you do in a truck like mine, which has a manual transmission and a foot-operated parking brake to the left of the clutch pedal? You only have two feet.

39

In the US, yes. If she ever wants to drive in Europe she’ll need it, though I realise that may not be all that likely. I’m 30 and I think I’ve been in an automatic maybe once if you don’t count taxis during trips to New York.

40

You roll backwards. Simples.