...and there's NO WAY she's going to do so on my new MCS! lol

I've been trying to find a local rental place that has manuals - preferably a cheap eccono car...but I'm not having any luck.

Does anyone know of any rental place that rents manuals in the Tampa area?

 

Check out local drivers ed schools. Might be cheaper and keep your relationship intact. My Dad taught me to drive in a SuperBeetle. That was harrowing. Best to learn from someone you do not need to keep a relationship with.



Paul

 

If she has a good teacher, she could hardly damage anything. Just be patient. Show her how much u care for her and turn the keys of your prized possession over....she will reward u handsomely im sure for your willingness to share w/ her Trust me :smile:

 

She does that anyway...and nope, no way does she drive mine till she knows how I'm going to rent a car for her, take her to an empty road, give her the basics and tell her to practice practice practice

Her goal is to learn to drive one before May, when she's going to get a Z3. And she doesn't want to hurt that either

 

Bought my daughter a Toyota pickup 4x4 stick and she did not know how to drive a stick. Took her out to teach her . She would not listen to me (hey, I'm her dad why should things change) and after about two hours I gave up, went home, called a friend of mine and had his son come over and take her out to teach her. They came back a couple of hours later with her driving fine . The teacher has to be someone the student will listen to.

Earl

 

BINGO!

Paul

 

Taught my wife to drive my MSC. Probably easiest car I've had to teach someone in. Went to large Costco at night and just let you do laps for couple hours on weekends, then a couple industrial parks for stop and go. She does fine now and loves me more because her ex told her she could never learn how.

 

my patented* technique for teaching someone stick:

step 1) they're not allowed to use the gas pedal for the first bit. Have them start the car rolling by easing off the clutch os gradually that the engine idle gets them going. If they stall, they went too fast. I find this teaches people about the friction zone in the clutch. I find that <cough>women<cough> have the hardest time starting the car from a stop, because as soon as they feel the car move a bit, they dump the clutch, thinking they're done with it.

i taught my gf on my MCC with this method. it works for bikes too.
before teaching, when i'd drive, i'd have her do the stick. that got her familiar with the positions, and how to not go from 5th to reverse.

*not patented

 

And don't visibly cringe when she's at a stoplight and rolls back down the hill into the car behind her.

 

No problem...but in that situation, I might make some loud sounds.

 

I learned how to drive manual in my MINI.

got to texas(where my car was) and was like...ok...how do these work?

killed it in the guys driveway twice

15k miles later, clutch doing fine... I think you may underestimate the quality of the MINI...

 

...I just don't underestimate the destructive potential of a first time woman driver

 

This is what I do as well.

 

I've told my three kids they must learn on someone else's car... then I got the opportunity to buy my oldest a manual transmission Paseo... PERFECT! She is now allowed to drive the MCS, and the other two have a car to practice on this summer.

Godspeed.

 

I tried teaching my wife a couple of times on a Protege5 that I had a few
years ago.



She drives an AT now...

 

My curret 99 Jetta is a manual and MAN did I have a time trying to teach my wife how to drive that thing! It is a pretty easy manual to lean on also but like someone else previously said the "listen to what I am saying" factor has to be high.

"The gas not the clutch!" "you are in 3rd....you are in 3rd.....that's 3rd!" *jerk* "OK, let's start her back up and try again"

 

Many years ago I taught my wife how to drive stick, so she could drive our old Honda Accord to work.

We would have our driving lessons in a parking lot of a bank at 1 AM, and then graduated to driving to surface streets, and then finally on the freeways.

Soon she was comfortable and driving with traffic.

Just take it one step at a time!

 

Definitely have someone else teach in in a different car.

You are too emotionally attached to your car for you to be able to teach her to drive it, especially with this sort of sexist attitude. . .

 

Well my wife knows how to drive a stick. I ask her if she would like to drive she just says it's your car you drive I would rather not bother with your manual tranny I like my automatic.


ART

 

You know the older I get the less I seem to know about interpersonal relationships. Having taught all three of my kids (they are now adults) to drive I think it is best to have a 3rd person teaching the basic skills. Once the student develops a bit of confidence then you could add some refinements to the process...................................mgg (MTR ON)

 

heh heh.:smile:

My first brand new car was a stick, my mom had to drive it home from the dealership. She then proceeded to try to teach me how to drive it. Did not work. Went out with my dad the next day. After about 10 mins I drove him home and went out for a drive.

It depends on the teacher. My mom knows how to drive stick but isn't that good at it. My dad use to drive stock car. All he did was told me to find the *spot* just before it stalled.

Tried to teach my little cousin how to drive the Mini. She did OK for the first time. But is the DSC light suppose to go on on dry pavement? Oh, wait, DON"T POP THE CLUTCH.

 

I learned how to drive a stick when Dad bought me a new '72 Fiat 128 Wagon. I had to drive it home!

I learned FAST!


Clover

 

This topic is so troubling, my gf really wants to drive my new MCS, but I am having a very hard time mustering up the confidence to teach her.

This thread has left me in the same spot I was before, undecided. I have taught a few friends before, but they were all using their own cars, and stalls, grinds, and the aroma of burning clutch didn't hurt so much.

I've suggested the following things for her: 1. Go test drive an MCS (or MC), practice, THEN you can drive my car. 2. Find someone else with a manual car, ask them to drive it, learn, THEN you can drive my car.

She's athletic and coordinated (which I swear have a lot to do with how quickly or slowly one picks up such an effort in agility, dexterity, touch, and coordination as driving manual) and I know she will care a lot about how she is treating the car, so maybe I'll give it a go...afterall, if 14 yr. olds can absorb Shakespeare with me, maybe she could not kill my car

mb

 

My hubby taught me to drive a stick in his EVO and let me tell you, the clutch on an EVO is much more delicate than in the MINI. When I got the MINI, it was sooooo much easier to drive. Both of us had to be in the right mood whenever we would have a lesson. He had to work very hard to subdue his feelings about his car, but the EVO and its clutch are fine.

If you really want to teach her, use it as a lesson of patience for yourself i.e. calmly tell her what she is doing wrong and tell her how to do it better, and don't say stupid stuff under your breathe that may start a fight. She will already be feeling vulnerable with you watching over her shoulder, but letting her learn in your MINI will let her know that you have some confidence in her.

 

I find myself in a similar situation. My GF wishes to learn to drive a manual, but I don't really want her to learn from me or in my car. Too many invitations to fight.

Right now, I'm leaning toward asking my teacher to teach her...that person being my father. She likes him a great deal and vice versa (after all, he was the matchmaker) and he has a Mazda B2600 I think would be ideal. Once she's got the idea down, I'll let her have a shot at my car, but probably with Dad the first time around.