Child #3 graduated from the KCE manual transmission driving school

[TiGeo]

My youngest son has his permit about 2 mos. ago and we drive all the time...he's doing great. 2/6 vehicles we have in our "fleet" are stick so of course, everyone needs to be able to drive them and he is no different, regardless of what vehicle he will eventually get next year when he gets his license. My oldest has my previous daily...a 2013 Ford Focus with the excellent MX75 5 spd. He's home/graduated from college a few weeks ago so perfect timing to teach the last one how to drive a manual. We have spent about 30-45 min a day the last 4 days and he's on it now, I'd say he's good. I find that firstly, explaining mechanically what a manual is/how it works/why it stalls/why you do what you (in easy to understand terms e.g. "if the engine is mechanically attached to the wheels via the trans when the clutch pedal is out then what happens when you stop without putting in the clutch?") vs. an auto is critical before starting out. I've done this two other times so I'm getting efficient at it...start in a parking lot of a nearby school to be able to get it going/stop then proceed out to a short neighborhood loop then eventually drive it home. Practice taking out the dead clutch pedal travel/finding the bite-point. Practice parking/reversing out. It's not super hilly here but there are some steep hills here and there and I have a few good ones in a nearby neighborhood that I use to teach taking off w/min. rollback and to use the parking brake if needed. He's basically got it/I'm comfortable with him in it/he could get in it and drive me to the hospital in an emergecy. We may end up giving him this car if my oldest gets a job/starts working/buys himself a car here in the next year which is a reasonable possibility. We have had a few "GAS! GAS! GAS! GAS!" and stalls but overall, he figured it out pretty quick. B/c nobody really even knows what this is anymore, I thought about getting a magnet for the back of the car that says "THE MORE YOU HONK THE MORE HE STALLS".

 

[IndyIan]

Good job teaching him. I assume the clutch is like my car, and has pretty good feel and a fairly wide bite point. Tallish 1st gear, but nicely spaced ratios after that.
I guess I am getting close to this time as well. My boys have got dirt bikes now so they understand the concept of a clutch, but I'll have to teach them that the car clutch isn't meant to slip nearly as much! And you don't drive around near WO all the time!
And you can't fan the clutch to get into the power band exiting a corner...

 

[tcp71]

We have this on one of the two manuals in the house. Everyone can drive every vehicle we have.

 

[andrew_j]

That’s great!

My 19 yo daughter a designated driver out with friends learned by trial on 1990s Camaro Convertible z28 belonging to friends grandmother.

 

[TiGeo]

We have this on one of the two manuals in the house. Everyone can drive every vehicle we have.

View attachment 281422

I see these but kinda dumb really...Millenials are in their 40s now, I think you'd be better off if it said "GenZ" or "Zoomer" etc. for the current/youngest gen which this does actually apply to by and large.

 

[TiGeo]

That’s great!

My 19 yo daughter a designated driver out with friends learned by trial on 1990s Camaro Convertible z28 belonging to friends grandmother.

That's how I learned...in my buddy's mom's 1989 VW Fox. Out at a party, I had to drive home, well...I figured it out. I remember it b/c there was a toll plaza we had to go through....and I was scared to stop once I was moving so....well....I just ran it

 

[fantastic]

I see these but kinda dumb really...Millenials are in their 40s now, I think you'd be better off if it said "GenZ" or "Zoomer" etc. for the current/youngest gen which this does actually apply to by and large.

Schooled!!!
Greatest joys of their life is learning to drive. At least you are taking the time to teach them this great life milestone.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

cool

 

[Sumboodie]

I'm surprised some kids don't have any seat time on a tractor or any equipment with a clutch. Even a lawn tractor.

Had a 20yr old kid work for me that had never drove... anything. And hopefully never will with anyone nearby cause holy smokes!
Like the brain would just lock up or something.
First person I've seen manage to get "stuck" with a mower in an empty acre by driving into the corner of a building.

 

[Shannonwilkerson]

I see these but kinda dumb really...Millenials are in their 40s now, I think you'd be better off if it said "GenZ" or "Zoomer" etc. for the current/youngest gen which this does actually apply to by and large.

I dunno man, I’m a gen z guy and 3 of my vehicles are manual. I know a lot of people my age that can drive manuals. I can even drive 3 on the tree, and float gears in a pete.

 

[VolkswagenFox21]

1989 VW Fox

That's what I learned driving in, except in my case it was an 87. Hence my username being what it is.

 

[TiGeo]

I dunno man, I’m a gen z guy and 3 of my vehicles are manual. I know a lot of people my age that can drive manuals. I can even drive 3 on the tree, and float gears in a pete.

Sure but on average? There just aren't many around to even learn on. My 3 boys are all Z and they and their friends are all into cars so in that group most can and do drive stick but on average the joke on the sticker works better for Z than Millenials.

 

[Pew]

We have this on one of the two manuals in the house. Everyone can drive every vehicle we have.

View attachment 281422

Sometimes I wished my previous car, the focus, would get stolen. But it was a manual and knew it would only get broken into

 

[Passport1]

Learned to drive a manual on an old John Deere tractor. It had so much torque it was almost impossible to stall out. Later we got a new Ford 6000 tractor with an auto transmission. If you reved it up and dropped it into drive it would do a respectable wheely. In the '50s the proliferation of automatic transmission cars introduced huge numbers of new and woefully incompetent drivers to American roads. I still can't fathom how somebody that can't manage a stick shift can ride a motorcycle and shift with the left foot.

 

[Egg_Head]

When my youngest son was 16, it had snowed and I took him to a parking lot in the CJ-7 to teach him how to drive a stick. Did not lock the front hubs and the rear had a Trac-Lok. Slippery surface was forgiving and helped him get a feel for the clutch engagement. In about 10 minutes he was a pro. Lesson then included power sliding and turning front wheels into the slide. We had a ball.

 

[wander2039]

It’s a good feeling to see the kiddos accomplish something like that. Very few can. My boys have been terrorizing the 22 acres with the mighty buggy. The 14 year old figured out the clutch workings first but mr 17 figured it out this weekend. Think they knocked the exhaust more loose. I can hear exactly where they’re doing laps and hitting the red line Now to get the good Festiva and have them drive it around the gravel roads.

 

[TiGeo]

It’s a good feeling to see the kiddos accomplish something like that. Very few can. My boys have been terrorizing the 22 acres with the mighty buggy. The 14 year old figured out the clutch workings first but mr 17 figured it out this weekend. Think they knocked the exhaust more loose. I can hear exactly where they’re doing laps and hitting the red line Now to get the good Festiva and have them drive it around the gravel roads.
View attachment 281553

Radical!

 

[97prizm]

My youngest son has his permit about 2 mos. ago and we drive all the time...he's doing great. 2/6 vehicles we have in our "fleet" are stick so of course, everyone needs to be able to drive them and he is no different, regardless of what vehicle he will eventually get next year when he gets his license. My oldest has my previous daily...a 2013 Ford Focus with the excellent MX75 5 spd. He's home/graduated from college a few weeks ago so perfect timing to teach the last one how to drive a manual. We have spent about 30-45 min a day the last 4 days and he's on it now, I'd say he's good. I find that firstly, explaining mechanically what a manual is/how it works/why it stalls/why you do what you (in easy to understand terms e.g. "if the engine is mechanically attached to the wheels via the trans when the clutch pedal is out then what happens when you stop without putting in the clutch?") vs. an auto is critical before starting out. I've done this two other times so I'm getting efficient at it...start in a parking lot of a nearby school to be able to get it going/stop then proceed out to a short neighborhood loop then eventually drive it home. Practice taking out the dead clutch pedal travel/finding the bite-point. Practice parking/reversing out. It's not super hilly here but there are some steep hills here and there and I have a few good ones in a nearby neighborhood that I use to teach taking off w/min. rollback and to use the parking brake if needed. He's basically got it/I'm comfortable with him in it/he could get in it and drive me to the hospital in an emergecy. We may end up giving him this car if my oldest gets a job/starts working/buys himself a car here in the next year which is a reasonable possibility. We have had a few "GAS! GAS! GAS! GAS!" and stalls but overall, he figured it out pretty quick. B/c nobody really even knows what this is anymore, I thought about getting a magnet for the back of the car that says "THE MORE YOU HONK THE MORE HE STALLS".

For years a number of other countries taxed automatic vehicles with a higher tax so everyone drove a manual. As a kid it's all my parents drove. That's awesome that you were able to get another kid to drive a manual. I'll guarantee that none of his friends will ask to drive his car.

 

[ATex7239]

I see these but kinda dumb really...Millenials are in their 40s now, I think you'd be better off if it said "GenZ" or "Zoomer" etc. for the current/youngest gen which this does actually apply to by and large.

Tons of Millennials were into Japanese tunners with manuals… I guess everyone forgot about the Fast and Furious craze and hearing… bbbrrraaapppp… bbbrrraaapppp… bbbbrrraaaapppp… coming from all the 4 bangers with catback exhausts shifting gears around 2000ish to 2010ish.

Also yeah kinda out of touch with reality to think of Millennials as the young people of today. Must be the early stages of dementia setting in.

 

[Number_35]

A fair number of my Boomer peers never learned to drive MT.