Teaching wife to drive stick?

[FR-Ser_Vo]

Originally Posted by Kimsey47

Forgot to add... No radio, and silence so she can hear the car/engine etc.

I agree. NO RADIO.

[Dadhawk]

From reading all the above you would think that learning to drive a stick is more difficult than underwater brain surgery using chopsticks and a butter knife.

It really isn't that hard, lets face it guys (and gals) our grandmothers (and in most cases our great grandmothers) learned to do it. They learned because they 1) didn't have a choice and 2) were therefore motivated to do it.

It will only work if the motiviation is there. If it is, it really shouldn't take more than an hour for them to be competent enough to survive on the street. They won't be winning any drag races and you wouldn't want them driving in San Francisco, but they won't be hurting anything either.

Just my $0.02 worth.

[Ben_G]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

From reading all the above you would think that learning to drive a stick is more difficult than underwater brain surgery using chopsticks and a butter knife.

It really isn't that hard, lets face it guys (and gals) our grandmothers (and in most cases our great grandmothers) learned to do it. They learned because they 1) didn't have a choice and 2) were therefore motivated to do it.

It will only work if the motiviation is there. If it is, it really shouldn't take more than an hour for them to be competent enough to survive on the street. They won't be winning any drag races and you wouldn't want them driving in San Francisco, but they won't be hurting anything either.

Just my $0.02 worth.

Motivation is key....for my wife, it was learn, or not drive at all.....

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[FRiSson]

I didn't learn until I went out on my own. She is probably just nervous. Let her take it out alone early on a Sunday morning.

[Tanuki]

I tried the learn or dont drive and that did not work. It all comes down to desire. Dont force it.

[Opposed]

My wife is learning on my FRS, and we both noticed she does prettty dang well when she doesn't "over think" anything. If she just looks forward out the windshield, and just let everything happen naturally, that she takes off pretty smooth. Its when she is staring at the tack, over thinking the clutch is when she had a tougher time.

[Rustyspoon]

My first time driving a manual car was when I drove it off the lot after I bought it. Let me tell you it does not like starting in third (pissed of a few people i am sure) and reverse baffled me for a while. But I quickly learned and drove it home without once smoking the clutch. I would suggest just leaving her in a parking lot and go shoe shopping.

[Clembo]

As long as she knows the basics just give her the keys and turn her loose. She'll figure it out quicker and easier on her own without someone hovering over her.

[Barbarian]

We watched videos on youtube which worked a lot better than me trying to explain to her without the multiple camera angles that some of the better videos provide

[kthxbai]

First off, I tip my cap to you for teaching your wife how to drive a manual and in the FRS to say the least!

When I decided to start saving for not only an FRS but for my first M/T car 6 years ago, my fiance was nice and brave enough to teach me how to drive a M/T in his '05 tC. As a gal myself, maybe I could give some insight to what we are thinking when you are trying to teach us how to drive a manual.

1. It's not my car, I don't want to do anything to break it.
2. It's a NEW car, I don't' want to do anything to break it.
3. All of my significant others shifts are not jerky, so should mine.
4. I want to make my significant other proud that I'm learning to drive a M/T car.
5. I'm scared of stalling out and/or grinding a gear in front of my significant other.
6. It seems so much harder to drive the car with the A/C on.
7. You keep telling me to listen to the engine and not watch the tac, easier said than done.
8. Yes you are giving me constructive criticism, but your tone can make me think otherwise.

So going back several years ago, the comments above were the most popular things going through my head at any point while I was trying to learn. You can ask if she feels comfortable driving the car alone in a parking lot or around the neighborhood, but when I was first learning I liked having the instant feedback (as intimidating and deflating as it was sometimes). This is one of the many situations in life in which the more she practices the more it will help her feel more confident in driving a M/T and as her confidence builds so will her feel for how the car drives. Just remember when you feel like you've repeated yourself a million times and wished the teaching session was over, just remember that we are beating ourselves up 10 times over for not picking up driving a M/T car as quickly as we wanted.

Even though when I was learning, I didn't drive the '05 tC everyday (i drove it a minimum 3 days out of the week). In hindsight, I think not driving the car everyday did not allow me to get a feel and remember what the car and clutch felt like. When we first bought my FRS, my fiance test drove it and drove it home the first night because I reverted back to being scared I was going to hurt the car. After driving the FRS for 2 weeks straight after we brought the car home, I was shifting and rev matching like I'd been doing it all my life. The FRS is a good beginner's M/T car in my opinion, as the steering wheel and engine give so much feedback of where you should be. Just give her some time and keep encouraging her to apply the basics concepts of driving an M/T and she will get better with time.

[gily25]

Take wife out to nice dinner...have one too many drinks, tell her she needs to drive home, you'll be relaxed enough not to freak her out and she'll have the motivation she needs to get the job done.

Otherwise let her take a cruise by herself in a parking lot while you go for a walk or something, you said she already knows what to do so you being int he car isn't helping her.

Third option...instead of spending $500 on a beater and the registration and crap that goes with it, check driving schools in your area. The bigger ones that offer Driver retraining usually have manual training as well.

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

Originally Posted by OrangeJuleas

Not too many rental car companies will rent you a manual. Probably for this very reason...

EDIT: From Yelp, I found a review stating that the only rental company that stocks manual transmissions here in Los Angeles is Midway:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/midway-car-r...everly-hills-3

"I went here to rent Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500. (540 hp - oh yeah!)

Let me start off by saying this is the ONLY car rental company that rents a MANUAL TRANSMISSION vehicle. I searched nearly ever inch of LA and the internet. Apparently people would learn how to drive stick with a rental and bring it back smoking like a chimney."

Driving it like they stole it...

Anyway, I don't know how they do things in AR, but good luck man.

finding a $500-$1000 manual beater is hard to do as well.

[OrangeJuleas]

Originally Posted by FRSBRZGT86FAN

finding a $500-$1000 manual beater is hard to do as well.

How about paying a friend $500 to destroy his/her clutch?

[tbwoodlee]

Here is the most important thing to remember...

If she does learn, then what will you do? She will know how to drive it! She will take it out for late night drives through the curvy back roads ... (checks to see where you are from...) of Arkansas!

Do you really want that strain on your marriage? What will you do when she is constantly driving your beautiful car, and god help us if she adjusts the seat! Lets be honest, We all know once she gets the first taste of how fun it is to drive it, she will never give it back.

I say don't teach her so none of this is an issue.