Good post. That's exactly how I taught myself to drive a stick, just little starts and stops in the street in front of our house. My Dad was too impatient and after one 'lesson' I decided to teach myself. I did just what you described and I quickly learned the clutch gradually catches, not all at once. The rest was easy.
Teaching to drive standard
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Another useful tip: if the vehicle has a hand operated parking/emergency brake, that's a great way to hold the vehicle on a hill as you learn to start on a grade. As you feel the clutch engaging, release the hand brake. I still use this when on very steep hills if I have some jerk driving an auto right on my butt.
I have never used the parking brake on hills, I bring it to the point to where it almost stalls at idle then release the brake, give a little gas and release the clutch. Hill starts never take more than 1 second of clutch time for me I don't need to rev the engine. I feel like if I did this with the parking brake that I would probably be burning more of the clutch by using it for a longer duration with more throttle.
I usually teach the no-gas method of clutch engagement before I tell them how to provide gas when accelerating from a stop, it seems to bring on a less-jerky learning curve although it might mean more stalling at the beginning of the learning process, I think that it would bring about less clutch wear in the end. I see way too many people revving up to 1500 rpm at a stop sign on level ground when I accomplish the same at about 1000 rpm in the same amount of clutch engagement time.
I wouldn't worry about that 1ZZ-FE, Toyota engines are strong enough for plenty of abuse.
I usually teach the no-gas method of clutch engagement before I tell them how to provide gas when accelerating from a stop, it seems to bring on a less-jerky learning curve although it might mean more stalling at the beginning of the learning process, I think that it would bring about less clutch wear in the end. I see way too many people revving up to 1500 rpm at a stop sign on level ground when I accomplish the same at about 1000 rpm in the same amount of clutch engagement time.
I wouldn't worry about that 1ZZ-FE, Toyota engines are strong enough for plenty of abuse.
Some cars are much, much easier to do that with than others. It's one of the things I checked when I was test driving a car a couple of weeks ago. If it's easy to get it going with no gas, then my thinking is that it'll be more pleasant to drive in stop-and-go traffic.
never thought of it 'till this thread, but when I was 15, We put a concrete slab leading up to the carport (clay driveway before that).
Dad told me that he needed a ramp built (from clay) up to the slab, gave me a shovel, and the keys to the car...shovel to build the ramp, and car to pack/roll it down.
Then he went inside, and left me to learn.
Dad told me that he needed a ramp built (from clay) up to the slab, gave me a shovel, and the keys to the car...shovel to build the ramp, and car to pack/roll it down.
Then he went inside, and left me to learn.
I tried to teach my wife to drive a stick once. We agreed a car with an automatic transmission was cheaper than a divorce attorney.
Some of us even if we are good drivers and patient friends are terrible at this type of instruction. For most, the act of driving is habit and not consciously applied skill and it requires much more of an effort to transfer explicit skills.
It is increasingly rare in my neck o the woods to find driving schools with manuals, so it forces more of the instruction load on peers. Under these circumstances you really have to think about really basic principles AND the idiosyncracies of the car. One of these is what kind of engine is it. Most of my early experience was on a first generation VW rabbit (golf) and a Nissan Micra with a tiny engine more suited to a kitchen appliance. Just pulling out of a parking space you had to rev the engine to an extent that would have my Porche above the legal speed limit in 20 feet.
But the thing that i think is most important is to let the driver get the feel of the clutch. Use an empty parking lot and just let them engage and disengage the clutch. The rate at which the clutch engages and the position in the travel of the pedal is extremely variable. That Rabbit/Golf had a positive feel and a gradual engagement through the third quarter of the pedal travel. Then i got in my older brother's enormous Chrysler with a clutch with zero feel that essentially was an on/off switch. Rude awakening.
Before I got my first Porsche, I had not driven a manual in exactly a decade, so I begged for a little time in my friend's Tercel and then paid a driving school for two hours in a manual. I also got some instruction thrown in. Bonus.
It is increasingly rare in my neck o the woods to find driving schools with manuals, so it forces more of the instruction load on peers. Under these circumstances you really have to think about really basic principles AND the idiosyncracies of the car. One of these is what kind of engine is it. Most of my early experience was on a first generation VW rabbit (golf) and a Nissan Micra with a tiny engine more suited to a kitchen appliance. Just pulling out of a parking space you had to rev the engine to an extent that would have my Porche above the legal speed limit in 20 feet.
But the thing that i think is most important is to let the driver get the feel of the clutch. Use an empty parking lot and just let them engage and disengage the clutch. The rate at which the clutch engages and the position in the travel of the pedal is extremely variable. That Rabbit/Golf had a positive feel and a gradual engagement through the third quarter of the pedal travel. Then i got in my older brother's enormous Chrysler with a clutch with zero feel that essentially was an on/off switch. Rude awakening.
Before I got my first Porsche, I had not driven a manual in exactly a decade, so I begged for a little time in my friend's Tercel and then paid a driving school for two hours in a manual. I also got some instruction thrown in. Bonus.
I've driven multiple vehicles with a standard transmission. I think that the Prizm/Corolla is one of the easiest to drive of all that i've driven. The Prizm and Corolla have a short travel yet they seem to have a very smooth engagement compared to others. To make things easier it seems to compensate for clutch engagment by giving itself a little more throttle when the idle drops below a certain point. I've driven a few Honda's and an old Dodge Colt. It seems Honda's have more of an on/off switch effect to the clutch and it's what I learned on.
I'm 26 years old and the only stick cars I have ever driven to any extent are a '74 Volkswagen Beetle and a '86 Citroen 2CV. What is amazing is that their cable operated clutches feel very natural to me. On the occasions where I've driven modern cars with hydraulic clutches I swear to *** I can't drive them! The pedal seems to give me none of the feedback that I've come to expect from my oldies.
So, conclusion, my newer daily driver will be an automatic.
So, conclusion, my newer daily driver will be an automatic.
I think the Ford Mustang might still be using a cable operated clutch. At least the previous generation did.
learned by buying a stick for my first car, that way i had no choice...mazda rx7 (1987), little tough at first with the clutch and stalling etc, and driving in town and coming into situations where you are going too fast for first but too slow and lugging in 2nd, it's all about anticipating other driver's speed and movement to keep it from lugging etc... but i got it real good in about 3 days, then when i went to truck driving school i hopped in and rowed through all the gears there too, i think everyone should learn a manual, it's easy as pie.... dead battery? pop start it...better gas mileage, and its funner.
My wife is the smartest woman in the world. However, she can't figure out how to drive a standard.
I learned how by watching my Dad. I still had a little trouble at first like most folks do, but I picked it up eventually. I had the luxury of living in a rural area too! I could drive around on the backroads without too many people or the police bothering you.
My wife gets frustrated too easily. I can't take the abuse of my Formula either.
I learned how by watching my Dad. I still had a little trouble at first like most folks do, but I picked it up eventually. I had the luxury of living in a rural area too! I could drive around on the backroads without too many people or the police bothering you.
My wife gets frustrated too easily. I can't take the abuse of my Formula either.
Yup. The venerable VW Bug is one of the very best in this respect. A light vehicle with a low gear almost qualifying as a granny gear plus a very heavy flywheel. One has to be pretty sloppy to kill a Bug on takeoff.
Teaching a girlfriend to drive a stick is one thing, but teaching your wife? That borders on insane
Joe
I think that it involves a more modular form of thought. The ability to feel, react, and adjust to the goal of creating a smooth yet quick engagement with the correct timing and amount of both pedals. It is this kind of thinking that I think makes it easier to adjust carbs on scooters and mopeds and other small engines without spending too much time figuring it out.
I'm about to teach a female friend how to drive stick sometime next week, I taught my brother pretty quickly and I'm about to see how different the learning process will be for her.
I'm about to teach a female friend how to drive stick sometime next week, I taught my brother pretty quickly and I'm about to see how different the learning process will be for her.
I agree with those that said you don't need to worry about her damaging the clutch during the learning phase. I think it much easier to damage the clutch over the long term by using poor driving techniques like stepping on the gas before the clutch is completely released or slipping the clutch on hills to maintain your position instead of using the brake.
I think it is important that stick newbies learn to be able to detect the point where the clutch starts to engage so that they don't hit the gas too soon. One way to do this is to have them slowly let up on the clutch while watching the tach. As soon as the rpms start dropping off, you know that things are about to happen. After they are able to let out the clutch to this point and then push it back down smoothly, over and over, they will begin to understand how to do the same thing by "feel" and not need to watch the tach.
Also, I feel it is best for someone to learn how to drive on an automatic first, so that they are not distracted by the need to learn those other basic driving skills while also trying to learn how to use the clutch.
I think it is important that stick newbies learn to be able to detect the point where the clutch starts to engage so that they don't hit the gas too soon. One way to do this is to have them slowly let up on the clutch while watching the tach. As soon as the rpms start dropping off, you know that things are about to happen. After they are able to let out the clutch to this point and then push it back down smoothly, over and over, they will begin to understand how to do the same thing by "feel" and not need to watch the tach.
Also, I feel it is best for someone to learn how to drive on an automatic first, so that they are not distracted by the need to learn those other basic driving skills while also trying to learn how to use the clutch.
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