Crash course in driving a stick

Steverino

Steverino

black sheep
My youngest daughter's car went tits up, and needed a vehicle asap. All I have to loan her is a truck with a 5 speed. She drove a manual once that I'm aware of, and that was a few years ago. So this morning, she's just got up and barely awake, it's raining, she's late for work, and I'm giving her a lesson on driving a manual. She's going to have to get on the interstate from home to get to her job. I took her around the block, we changed seats, she takes the wheel as I talk her through the motions. Then I got out, and off she went. I was a nervous wreck!

I just got a text, she made it without stalling it once. I'm pretty sure she'll have a few of those in the coming days. I need a drink, and it's only 9am.
 
Clutch mojo.
It's amazing how many people can't drive a stick.
Most people back home were clueless when it came to a manual.
They are a pain in the ass in NYC traffic.that might be a big part if it.
 
DFB said:
Clutch mojo.
It's amazing how many people can't drive a stick.
Most people back home were clueless when it came to a manual.
They are a pain in the ass in NYC traffic.that might be a big part if it.
Click to expand...
Dammit!

I was going to post "Happy New Clutch Day!"
 
I learned when I lied in a job interview for a delivery driver job in college. I knew how it all worked but I didn't have any experience. They threw me in the truck and told me to make some deliveries and I figured it out from there.
 
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I learned how to drive a stick when I was about 10 years old, driving my dad's 1978 Chevy Custom Deluxe with an inline 6 and 3 on the tree.
 
When I got my drivers license I met my Dad at the DMV and he shows up with a brand new Ford Fiesta. With a stick shift. I had never driven a manual in my life and I have a driving test in 20 minutes.

I passed. It's not that hard.
 
I had to hire two new drivers recently, one with no stick time and one with minimal stick time. I taught both how to drive our toyota p.u. and one of them how to drive our ford f650 bobtail. If they are motivated they will learn.

I have also taught all three of my kids how to drive a stick. My son now drives a stick regularly. I was fortunate in that I had a huge stadium parking lot to teach them in, one so big they could get into fourth.
 
True story, no shit there I was a young pv2 getting a ride from my Sgt from the housing area in Panama on our way to Fort Clayton. He had fixed someone's car (a Lada) and had to get it to post. He says "you need to drive that" I explained that I never drove a stick, he shows me what to do and said it's either that or his van with a v8 and double clutch.

So I got my crash course over the Bridge of Americas, driving a Lada, during the cold war, in Panama rush hour traffic.
chewie0
 
Knox in Box said:
True story, no shit there I was a young pv2 getting a ride from my Sgt from the housing area in Panama on our way to Fort Clayton. He had fixed someone's car (a Lada) and had to get it to post. He says "you need to drive that" I explained that I never drove a stick, he shows me what to do and said it's either that or his van with a v8 and double clutch.

So I got my crash course over the Bridge of Americas, driving a Lada, during the cold war, in Panama rush hour traffic.
chewie0
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They must've built a billion of those cars. I like watching YT dashcam videos, there are hundreds of videos from Russia. Every other crash involves one of those Ladas.
 
Driving a stick wasn't so bad until my dad made me stop on a hill and start again. The first few times, I must have rolled back about 10 feet before I let the clutch out far enough. It got better quickly, though. '65 Rambler with 3 on the tree.
 
I find it's best to give some instruction, then let them go. If an instructor stays in the car, it makes the driver nervous and they make more mistakes. If they are alone and stall or grind gears, it becomes far less of an issue.

Most should be able to learn in an afternoon.

DFB said:
Clutch mojo.
It's amazing how many people can't drive a stick.
Most people back home were clueless when it came to a manual.
They are a pain in the ass in NYC traffic.that might be a big part if it.
Click to expand...

Only 3% of all cars sold in the USA are stick, i has been that way for more than a generation. It's not a NYC thing.
 
Wyatt said:
Only 3% of all cars sold in the USA are stick, i has been that way for more than a generation. It's not a NYC thing.
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That's probably at least part of the reason I've held on, kicking and screaming, to my 2000 Ford Ranger with 214,000 miles on it. :embarrassed:

Back in the late 90s, we had a 1996 Plymouth Breeze, and a 1993 Ford Explorer, both 5 Speed manual. Then we got a 1998 Suzuki Esteem, also 5 speed manual, then the 2000 Ranger...5 speed manual...then a 1996 Subaru Outback...5 speed manual.

Now, it's very difficult to find anything that doesn't have an automatic transmission.

2 of our 3 vehicles are automatics.
 
I learned in a similar manner. I worked at a gas station. Boss called me in needed me to drive a car to the nearby town with a Midas since we didn't have the part to fix the car. It was a VW beetle. I looked told him I had never driving a stick, he said time to learn have fun. It took me 10 min to figure out that reverse was push down first :tongue:. I only had trouble when I got stuck on a hill. After that experience it as a breeze. My last 3 cars were manuals and I hope to keep mine current one for a lot longer because of the difficulty of finding manuals any more
 
nuke_diver said:
I only had trouble when I got stuck on a hill. After that experience it as a breeze.
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My car has a feature called "hill start assist", it keeps the car from rolling backwards on hills as you let out the clutch. I don't need it, and it kinda takes the fun out of it, but it is nice when climbing up a set of ramps. You just ease the clutch out and use the brake to control the rate of ascent.
 
Passed my driving test here in the UK in 1988. First and only time I have ever driven an automatic was on a family holiday to Florida in 2012. It took 20 minutes to find out how to make it change into drive from park (put foot on brake). After a 12 hour delayed flight, 3 hours queuing to go through customs, and being awake for 36 hours straight I was not impressed. Give me a proper gear box any day of the week.
 
My Dad tried to teach me how to drive stick when I was 15 with my learners permit, but he made it too complicated and I didn't get the hang of it then. Later on I bought my first car, a 1975 Datsun B210 that was a stick, and it forced me to learn how to drive a stick shift. Also a friend of mine helped me through it and he made it so much easier.

Since then the only car I drove on a daily basis that wasn't a stick shift was my 1997 Dodge Dakota, all my other cars are manual. That being said I think after I'm done with the Corvette my next car will likely be automatic (I'm looking at getting a Mercedes CLS). As I get older I want to have something more comfortable and luxurious.
 
My dad tried to teach me to drive stick on his old Ford Ranger. But my dad is a shitty driver who rides the clutch, so the mechanism was shot and it would only shift about a third of the time when he was the one driving. It didn’t go very well.
 
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