Teaching to drive manual frs
 

So my sister is almost 16 and its about time she learned how to drive my car, as she owes me more hours behind the wheel than i can even begin to count lol. So this is my first manual and I know friends and family had a lot of general pointers for me in my quest for great shifting, but from my own experience this manual is a bit different than some of the others ive driven, so I know some pointers to give but would really like to see if anyone had some feedback on how I can help her, it is always great to get some outside pointers, especially because well shes new to driving anything lol let alone a manual transmission. anything you can think of helps!

go to an open parking lot and keep getting into first gear until she fully understands the idea of the clutch grabbing. Then do the same with a slight incline. Getting the car started is the challenge, the rest is a cake walk.

engaging clutch is the key. 1st & 2nd gears are most difficult to most people.
practice is also another main point to learn stick. explain her how manual car works in detail first. once she fully understand it, it will be much easier for her to operate a vehicle.

Lift off gas before depressing the clutch pedal, then shift to the correct gear. Let the clutch in, until it starts to grab then press in the gas slowly.

For teaching a person where the clutch point is, go to a flat parking lot that is empty. Press in the clutch with the car on in neutral. Shift to first. Slowly let out the clutch until it starts to grab. If they do it slowly enough, the clutch will start spinning with the flywheel and start moving the car forward.

Once she's relatively OK with that, teach her on a hill how to start. You should not even need gas to start moving if you move deliberately and slowly enough.

I'm not too far from you. I can stop by and teach her and maybe give you pointers if you still have any questions, too.

Patience and no pressure.

I guess that's one way to pick up women... err girls... underage girls...

I've only been driving manual for a little over a month and I have to say, learning in detail how the system works really helped me out as a beginner. It kind of boosts you up to the next level I guess you could say.

It's like knowing the 'why' behind the 'how'.

And then I went out and just practiced as much as I could.

Oh you're right, it's 18 in California huh? :lol:I'm sure my gf of 5 years won't mind either

But in all seriousness, i don't mind lending a hand. I teach most of my friends and they never have a problem

This and don't downshift from 2nd to 1st unless going sub 3 mph. 1st to 2nd is a slower shift to get the right rev match than the other gears. When down shift, try to give a little throttle so it rev matches when you let in the clutch (I only say this because my friend never does this in his car).

Watched Subaruwrxfan's video 15mins before test driving the car at the dealership. Sit her down, play the video and hand her the keys. Nothing like rising up to the occasion. :thumbsup:

Scream a lot and keep your hand on the handbrake, as most Americans learn how to drive in America do.

Make sure to get a feel for the clutch and shifter before starting, teach her that clutch is a hot stove and you can only put your foot on it when you need to. Riding the clutch can be avoided for life from the first day of driving a MT. Also learning to listen to the engine instead of looking at the RPM's is great, good excuse to buy an exhaust too.

As others have said, just tell her to slightly let off the clutch until she feels the car pulling and then give a little gas. When it comes time to shift, let off the gas, clutch in all the way, shift to 2nd, and slowly release the clutch again while giving a little gas. Practice this a few times. Be sure to make it clear that when she is braking, let off the gas, clutch in, and then hit the brakes. Once she gets better, she can start braking before she hits the clutch all the way in.

When it comes to hills, she has an advantage having a normal handbrake (some cars have the pedal e-brakes... hate those). Same rules apply. When on an incline, with the e-brake engaged, slowly ease of the clutch, while giving a little gas. Once she feels the car pulling, slowly release the e-brake.

Be thankful the car is not a turbo. I was trying to teach my wife how to drive my Cobalt SS turbocharged..... turbo starts spooling at 2000 RPM. You should have seen the look on her face when the car started boosting
http://media.arkansasonline.com/img/...8a07f5331c05b6

One thing that helped me a lot, even though I'd been driving a manual for at least 6 months by this point, was to learn how a clutch and flywheel work. My friend had a new clutch sitting on his countertop. I asked what it was, he said it was a clutch, and then I picked it up and started looking at it. I figured out how it worked just by looking at it, and then it all made sense. Before that, I just knew you had to ease off the clutch pedal or else it would stall because the fairies and unicorns between the clutch pedal and the tires didn't like it otherwise.

Every time I've ever taught someone to drive a manual, which has been a lot, I always start off by giving a very primitive explanation of what it is they're doing when they push that pedal in and out.

Geez, the FR-S clutch would be hard to learn on. Not very forgiving.