Has anyone taught their teen how to drive a standard? Or

[seaglass]

remember when they learned?

I could use some tips or exercises to help my daughter.

She's fine shifting from 1-2 and 2-3(she can hear the engine and do it at the right time) but she has such a hard time smoothly starting in 1st and reverse. We have practiced over and over in a parking lot and she just isn't getting it.

I'm wondering if there is anything I can have her do so she gets it.

[ContraBass Black]

1. I need to learn it soon.

I'm 20. :(

Seriously, what did people do when all the cars were manual?

[Bassic]

5. You mean like in Europe?

They learned. It's not so hard as it seems, and it's a heck of a lot more fun to drive.

[ContraBass Black]

12. I'm surre it's not hard.

I just know a lot of people who refuse.

Before I can learn, I need a car. Anybody in the Blacksburg, VA area that wants to lend?

[billyskank]

2. Slip the clutch

When I was learning to drive, at first I couldn't understand how you pull away smoothly. And then it occurred to me: slip the clutch! Tell her not to let the clutch all out immediately.

[seaglass]

10. What does slip the clutch mean? I've been driving standards

for 20 years and don't know if I do that, whatever it is.

[billyskank]

16. Slipping is what clutches are meant to do

Slipping the clutch is when the pedal is not fully depressed and not fully released; the engine is not fully coupled with driving wheels and the clutch "slips." Your daughter needs to learn how to do this so that she can learn to pull away smoothly. As you know, it's easier to do than it is to describe.

Just teach her to let the clutch out s l o w l y when she wants to pull away, rather than letting the pedal all the way out at once. She'll quickly get a feel for it.

[Mutley]

3. I finally learned a little over a year ago and...

what it took for me to finally get it was to actually see it in a car commercial. This commercial had a guy playing a racing video game and to actually see his feet working the pedals made it click in my head. Maybe you should take her to an arcade. :D Driving a manual is so much more fun than an automatic. I will never go back!

[seaglass]

13. My daughter is really hoping my car breaks down so I'll

buy an automatic but it's not going to happen. A standard in snow is just so much better!

Geez that must be why I stink at race car games at arcades, I never noticed the cars had a clutch. That was a great idea!

[Bassic]

4. Easy

Tell her to first give a little gas, and then ease back on the clutch. Tell her to gradualy put a little more gas as torque decreases. And if it starts to jerk about, tell her to immediately press on the clutch again, and try it again.

Remember, gas first, not at the same time.

And it will take a week or two before she stops stalling the car.

[seaglass]

11. OK, that's the part she needs to know , pressing on the clutch and

starting again when she starts to jerk the car.

[Bassic]

21. Yeah drill that one into her head, it prevents useless panic

[Scooter24]

6. I'm 25...

and have yet to learn to drive a standard. It'll probably be traumatic :P

[Heidi]

7. Patience, patience, patience.

I learned to drive (more than 20 years ago) on a standard, and my dad was really, really patient, which helped me more than I can tell you. I think it's easier to learn when one doesn't have the feeling that the teacher is just about to be driven insane by the experience.

You're doing a great thing by teaching your daughter to drive a standard. If she can learn to drive a standard, she can drive anything. :thumbsup:

[seaglass]

9. I am being patient but she is getting frustrated with herself.

Unfortunately she doesn't have many options, she either drives my standard or her dad's truck.

[Heidi]

17. You sound like a good mom, HopeLives.

Your daughter's just going to have to tough it out and learn to do it, or she'll never be able to take the test. This probably makes her nervous; the "up" side is that she'll want her license badly enough to learn to drive a standard. It's painful to watch the frustration, isn't it?

:hug:

[seemunkee]

I learned the hard way. Bought a car and had to.

My uncle drove me to a parking lot gave me a five minute lesson and then said OK lets head home. That was it. I had to learn or not go anywhere. I taught many friends to drive on that little Fiat, mostly when we were drinking, not recommended.

I haven't taught my son or wife how so they can't steal my car.

[seaglass]

14. It's been about 3 weeks for my daughter and I'm not seeing

improvement. I let her take it on the road last night for a short ride (with about 10 stop signs) and she didn't even want to drive home. Luckily my son lightened things up a bit by laughing his ass off every time she had a jerky start.:-)

[Darth_Kitten]

15. Not to sound like a stick in the mud....

but shouldn't driving teachers teach kids? :)

I mean, some people may think they are fine drivers, but they may be passing on their own bad or poor driving habits to young kids. And that scares me. :scared:



P.S. Not directed at you, I'm just using my reply to your post as a soapbox. :)
:evilgrin:

[seaglass]

19. Yep she is required to take road lesson's with Driver's Ed

to get her license, though they won't teach her to drive a standard.

My experience has been that parents are extra cautious when teaching their kids to drive because they don't want their kids to wreck their car or get hurt.

If kids are driving unsafely it has more to do with the kids pushing the limits than not being taught correctly.

[Darth_Kitten]

32. I have no doubt you are cautious...

but there are a lot of dumb parents out there.... :)

:hi: I'm just cynical.

[seaglass]

33. Lots of dumb adults, teens and kids. But I don't think all our laws

and rules should be based on what dumb people might do.

[Darth_Kitten]

36. But they are....unfortunately...

But I guess laws are here, or most laws are to protect us from the actions of a few, really stupid individuals. :silly:

cheers! :D

[Pharlo]

41. Driving instructors with standard transmissions?

Not today - all automatic.

I taught several of my nephews to drive manuals because their parents only had automatics.

My mother required all of us to learn to drive a standard.

[cmd]

38. I bought my first car, then learned to drive

That was my dad's policy when we were growing up. Since I lived in the boondocks, there wasn't any way to make enough money to buy a car. I graduated from college, took a job substituting for the last quarter of the year and earned enough to make a down payment on a '65 Corvair Corsa. Dad drove it home, then I headed to the hayfield out back to practice shifting gears. When I learned to do that, he finally would let me drive on the highway (backroads, really). I strongly recommend practicing on back roads. Your learn very quickly to judge distance and road conditions. Freeways are then a piece of cake.

[seemunkee]

8. Opps, double post

[jmm]

18. I first learned to drive on a standard.

I thought it was pretty easy but got really confused and had a difficult time learning to drive an automatic. It wasn't until an ex told me to forget everything I know about driving and try to start anew that I got it. Does your daughter already know how to drive an automatic? She might be making the same mistake I was by thinking the only difference is shifting.

[seaglass]

20. Yes, she is also learning on my husband's truck which is an

automatic. I have a hard time with automatics because I never had any idea what D2 meant (I know not all cars have that).

[trof]

34. The way I understand it D2 bypasses low, or 1st gear.

Use it for starting to move on ice or snow, when 1st gear would cause wheels to spin.

I think it can also be used for "braking" during a long steep downhill run to keep from wearing out the brakes.

I've always questioned whether is worse/more expensive to wear out transmission rather than brakes.
???
:shrug:

[Jersey Devil]

22. It's something you just have to get the feel for, can't be taught imo

I learned the hard way. When I was in college I worked part time for a landscaper. One day the boss said he had to leave and that I should drive the truck to the jobs for the rest of the day. Well, by the 10th or 12th lawn I had it down pretty good. I suspect, however, that he probably had to put a new clutch in that thing earlier than would usually be expected.

[freestyle]

23. Try it with her eyes closed. Still in the lot of course.

I learned on a stick and drive one now. Getting started is mainly about feeling the balance of clutch and gas to start smoothly. Also, if this lot, or some other car free area has a hill, try that. The most difficult thing in a stick is getting started going uphill with no drift. Once she masters that, the rest is gravy. Good luck. Driving a stick is so much more fun and engaging.

[Saphire]

24. experience...that's what it takes.

[GOPisEvil]

25. Try telling her to go by sound.

Tell her to gently ease off the clutch, while her other foot is on the gas. WHen you hear the engine "catch", then she can gently push the gas in and fully release the clutch. It's hard to explain what "catch" is, but the engine slows down and starts to sound like it's going to stall.

I think she's trying to time everything perfectly, and you just can't do that. It's a gradual process.

[seaglass]

28. Yes, I notice she's watching the RPMs which means she isn't

focusing enough on the sound (and also means she isn't looking at the road!).

[billyskank]

31. I learned in a car without a rev meter

which probably helped. If you have the handbrake on while trying to find the bite point (which we should) then you know the clutch is starting to bite when the car shifts slightly as the engine starts to strain against the brakes (in addition to the change in engine note).

I expect she just needs to do everything much more slowly and deliberately.

[LynzM]

26. For me, it helped to visualize the two pedals

As two pendulums, starting at opposite sides... each swings down toward the other and then exchanges places. Or, hold your hands away from you, one palm down, one palm facing away from the other, then move them so that they switch orientations... not sure if I am explaining this to make sense. Basically, the concept of each pedal being a continuum, and you want to find the range in the middle where they meet, gradually. It's not a fixed 'point'. Good luck!

[sasquatch]

27. Have her say this thirty times right when she starts

"The clutch is my friend"

[seaglass]

29. That's funny, might work! n/t

[indigo32]

30. It takes patience

I can drive one, and taught a 16 year old as well. I once heard Click and Clack (Car Talk Guys), say to have them practice without the break engaged.... that way you REALLY have to do it slow and easy, and you begin to feel the engagement point :shrug:
mostly just takes practice I think.

[trof]

35. Do you live near a large cemetary? Seriously.

My grandpa taught me to drive in a large cemetary.
Little or no traffic, but lots of corners, cross street, and turns.

Learned parallel parking between two "target" tombstones he'd point out.

My final exam:
He put a 3/4 full glass of water on the hood of the car. (Hoods were flat then.)
When I could successfully stop and go, turn left, turn right, back up, without spilling any water I was ready for the state exam.

[skygazer]

37. The water thing is how I learned to pull a horse trailer

My hubby put a cup of coffee on the dash and the goal was to drive so smoothly that I didn't spill any. It was a good idea that made sense (water makes more sense - not hot if you spill it on yourself!).

[Briarius]

39. when I learned, I drove barefoot

seems that it made it easier for me to feel the clutch "catching" so I knew when to give it more gas on takeoff. Good for her for learning! Hope she gets it worked out!

[fleabert]

40. I have taught about 5 people to drive stick...and I am a fantastic teacher

The trick I use for 'feeling' first gear, you know that magic spot where the clutch pulls and releases the car just so?, is to get on a small hill in a very empty parking lot and make the student come to a complete stop, then slowly (SLOWLY) let out the clutch, no gas, until they feel the car pull slightly forward, the quickly drop the clutch back in (so as not to kill the engine) then do it again and again.

This is horrible for your clutch, but it will give them a better feel for what the clutch is doing for the engine, and how it works in tandem with the gas. You can do the same in reverse. They will probably kill the car several times, I make the ones who aren't getting it take off their shoes so they can really feel it in their foot.

This is also good to teach them how to handle a red light or stop sign that is on a hill, a very scary moment the first time it happens for anyone who has driven a stick and not practiced timing first gear on a hill already.

You can also add in using the gas pedal to lurch the car forward, then an abrupt stop immediatly, so they can know what do if they make a mistake- Brake Clutch at same time hard, car into first, restart or take off if in the middle of intersection. (this happened to me, I lurched and killed the car in the middle of an intersection and because my stepdad had taught me what to do and I had practiced it, I didn't freak out, I came to a stop quickly, in gear and restarted FAST, and I was out of the intersection before the light changed. saved my ass)

The hill thing, rolling back and forth only using the clutch is the favorite thing the people I have taught talk about. They all have told me afterwards that they drive better than anyone they know and are more confident on hills than anyone else too.

[SarahB]

42. Mine's still too young to drive (she's 13), but...

I taught a couple of my friends as a teen (both my parent's cars were standards, so I learned fast). It's just a matter of practicing coordinating the feet and hands. Once they understand how it works, then it's just about the practice.

[wellstone dem]

43. You have courage

My dad taught me to drive a stick shift, and wouldn't let me drive it until I proved I could change the tires. But I am a wimp, I had a hard enough time teaching my daughter to drive without listening to gears grind. Good job Mom!

[Jamastiene]

44. Tell her it is like dancing with the vehicle. I know that sounds funny,

but it worked for me. I liked your comment on listening to the engine. That is part of the dance. It tells you what to do. I'm not the greatest at driving a stick shift, but it's good to know how at least.

[Schema Thing]

45. Good analogy. Do that dance on a slight hill for quicker learning.

My preteen has the basics down.