Ok, so I'm about to bite the bullet and teach my wife how to drive my (or as she says "our") MINI.

2 problems; She's turning 29 next week, never driven a car, doesn't have her license yet. And second, I bought my MINI, paid for it, and then limped it out of the parking lot and taught myself how to drive stick. Since I never had a teacher, I definitely won't the best teacher.

My biggest concern is that I'm going to pass on my bad habits to her, and she's going take the easy way out and drive even worse, kill my clutch, engine, and paint.

So I've come to NAM:
- How did you learn to drive stick?
- Any tips/advice for a beginner?
- Any bad habits I might have that I should correct first?
- What's your two cents?

 

Let her watch this

 

Easy, everyone I have taught how to drive a stick has been the same. I take them to an empty parking lot first. After that they get into the driver's run threw the gears without the car on and also push the clutch in a couple of times just to feel what it is like. Then I have them start the car. Now when I get them to the car in first gear and have them slowly pull up on the clutch until they feel the grab point and right after they feel the car rolling forward I have them push the clutch back in and let them know that is what they are looking for. We repeat this step again but, this time I have them give it some gas when they feel the grab point and start rolling the car. We do that a couple of times and then move on to changing gears.

 

Thanks,
As for bad habits, When I let out the clutch I try to do it with as few revs as possible, sometimes I barely give it gas, in an attempt to put as little wear on the clutch as possible. If my RPM drops to 500 and feels like it's inches away from bogging down, but I still get the car rolling, am I doing any damage to the engine? am I actually saving my clutch any more?

 

- Had a motorcycle as a kid not a 4 wheel vehicle, but a manual transmission. Learned to drive a manual 4 wheel vehicle in the Army (jeep).

- Learn the basics in an empty parking lot or open field before advancing to roads out in a rural area if possible before driving in city/highway traffic etc.

- Don't ride the clutch! What I mean by this is if you have to stop up ahead, don't depress the clutch pedal and coast to the stop sign/light. Down shift and use the braking action of the transmission to slow the vehicle down. Before long it will become natural on knowing when to downshift, in the mean time you can use the tachometer to gauge when to change gears (somewhere around 2000 rpms). Listen and feel what the car is telling you! It will tell you if you have done it at too high an rpm range or too low. This also helps to save your brake pads and rotors.

If your having to stop at stop signs/lights or stuck in a traffic jam for periods of time, put the vehicle in neutral (foot off of the clutch) and use your brakes. This will extend the life of your clutch.

Manual transmission now are very forgiving, changing gears is easy, practice is key and in no time your wife will be a pro.

But in the mean time let me grab some popcorn and watch!

Good luck and be safe!

 

Your clutch can take a beating. You may be about to find out how much. I learned to drive stick in a Daewoo Lanos, they have no tach so it was all by engine noise. As for teaching your wife, your good starting point is that she has never driven so there's no comparing to an automatic. Key point of advice tho, even tho it's your car, soon to be both of yours, keep in mind to stay relaxed while she's learning. She gonna be nervous as it is, especially if she knows you are protective of your car.

 

Theres only one important tip I can give you...


Don't be a clutch driver.

 

There are many tutorials on youtube that can help.

 

My tip....find a person with a car that is getting junked or sold, or a low hp car (honda is a good example), a NON-MINI, and teach her on that car, get maybe a couple lessons...
then try the mini...mini clutches are $$, and not known for being durable or abuse resistant!!
Once she knows the basics, she should be fine, but starting out in an older honda for a few moments might be better.....less stress about her hurting your baby!!

 

If she's NEVER driven a car, she doesn't need to start with a manual transmission. Go to your local car rental and rent the cheapest subcompact (it'll be an auto) and let her learn the basics of driving without having to worry about clutches and gear levers. Once she's competent in the auto, move on to the MINI.

 

Top tip: don't get 'precious' about a car - it's just a car.

Changing gear or using the clutch correctly is a hundred times less important than looking out the windshield and paying attention to your driving.

 

how funny, im reading through this and i get to the end and the ad says "rebuilt transmissions"

i learned stick in my neighborhood in a used nissan maxima. my dad got in the passenger seat and was trying to tell me how to do it and i figured i didnt need all his explanations. pushed the clutch in, started the car, put it into first, released clutch, stalled. i thought my dad was going to be pissed, but luckily he was very patient with me. which you should be too.

fast forward ten years and my gf wants to learn how to drive my mini. shes tried on two different occasions, best shes got was to actually take off. but i have a feeling it was luck. everytime she stalls, she sees me cringing and she gets more and more depressed. so try to be as patient as possible, be very encouraging, try to pretend like all those horrible sounds from your car doesnt bug you and get ice cream afterwards.

 

Honestly...be kinda tipsy. My wife decided last Friday she wanted to go out to dinner...after I'd had a few. I rode shotgun, giving pointers as we went, and we successfully made it 30 minutes to our destination with only one hill start flub. Probably some of the best fun I'd had in a while, me all loosey-goosey along for the ride. I was relaxed so she didn't get nearly as nervous.

 

Glad I am not in your shoes!! I can't remember ever not knowing how.....guess it started when 'we' (my sister & I) were young. Not having any boys (none that we are aware of anyway! lol ), our dad made sure we had all the boy toys so it likely started with motorcycles graduating to go carts then dune buggies. My sister's first car was a 66 VW bug (sure wish had that back). Dad said 'we' had a natural feel for it for whatever that means......that was in between his yelling 'your scaring the hell out of me' and 'you drive like your mother' !! So, I don't have much advice esp since she has never driven a car - wow. Just try & be patient but she will prob do best by herself after a few times watching you. Might want to hire someone to keep peace in the marriage!! lol lol I will say that taking off in first is def different than my Jetta was........

Good luck & be careful!!!

 

bump this

i do this as well, try to avoid when i can, seems almost worse

 

Make sure she practices engaging the clutch so she gains muscle memory about where the engagement point is. That'll make it a lot easier to avoid giving the car too much gas when starting. It's all about muscle memory, going through the motions again and again and she'll be a pro in no time!

When I was learning I found a tutorial on youtube by a Mini driver, here's the link:
hope this helps!

 

If you are lugging your engine by having rev's drop that low, that certainly is not good for the motor. Add a bit of throttle so the rpm's don't drop as much and transitions between gears are smooth.

 

Do you have a friend with a 4x4? Like an old Jeep or Land Cruiser... easiest way to learn a clutch is in a truck with a low range, because you don't need gas. Plus it's a relatively low speed event, just in case panic strikes. Even better if you can leave the front hubs free, so you're still in 2wd but in low range, that way the steering is still light. Once you get the clutch motion down in low, it'll be easier to transition up to high range, then ultimately try again on the MINI. I think MINI clutches take some getting used to, and IMO would be difficult to learn for the first time.

 

If you want to keep this lady on friendly terms, don't teach her how to do anything. Ask a good friend skilled in the subject to do the teaching. Videos are good. I like the previous poster's idea of learning to drive in an automatic first and especially on a big empty parking lot. There's more do driving than just making a machine move from point A to point B. There is the all important 'situational awareness' with which fewer and fewer drivers seem to be concerned.

Just yesterday I asked my wife (of 40+ years) if she'd like me to teach her how do something and all I got was 'The Look'. I went back to what I was doing very quietly.

 

Think I'd have to agree with both ZippyNH and ammodave. I wouldn't let anyone who has never driven before start out on MY manual car. There is too much stuff going on on the road as is. Think about it - Do you really want to add all the nervousness of being a new driver AND learning to drive stick?

If she must learn how to drive a manual first (before an automatic), try and find someone with an older model, low hp car. If that doesn't work, you may be better off paying for a couple of half hour lessons with a driving school.

 

Thanks for the helpful tips everyone. I should probably replace my lower engine mount, so that shifting is easier, before I start the lessons.

Next question(s): How many RPM do you rev up to when starting in first? And then what RPM do you use as a point of reference to up shift? All in relaxed driving, not when you're trying to burn through a tank of gas asap.

Like I said, I try to keep my revs at or below 1,000 RPM (sometimes drop to 5-600) until I have the clutch out, then i give it more gas and shift into 2nd around 2,500 RPM.

 

Watching the tach for the shift point will wear you out. Work towards 'smoothness'. Learning by feel and allowing the sound as well as the seat of the pants to tell you how well you are matching engine to shaft speed will go along way to taking the stress out of the whole process both for you and the clutch plate.

Learning how to land a plane at night, about 5 touch and gos into the lesson, turning into final the instructor reached over and turned out the instrument lights. Pitch black in the cabin and I near panicked. All he said in a calm voice was "Listen to the plane". I came down from 1200 back to 60 cycles and greased her in. Did that 4 or 5 times and it began to feel natural. The same should happen with your shifting.