What kind of car would you use to teach kids how to drive a stick?
What kind of car would you use to teach stick?
- Thread starter sifan
- Start date
- Status
Any recommendation that has clutch cheap to replace? My dad taught me the stick with his old beaten '72 Fiat 850 Spider, which is RIP now.
Clutch replacement in whatever you have is probably cheaper than another vehicle.
Bob
Bob
Currently I do not have a stick-equipped car.
Someone else's car.. preferably a driving school car then.
I would consider the Ford Mustang. Get the GT because it would be less likely to stall when the student drops the clutch!
A Honda Civic. Easiest manual trans equipped vehicles I've ever driven.
I learned on a 67 Galaxy 500 with a 390 and 3 on the tree. I caught right on. It amazes me to this day to those who cant grasp the concept.
Id say a corolla or civic would be the easiest to learn on although I never could teach my sister how to drive my Celica. It should be mandatory that you can drive a stick shift.
Id say a corolla or civic would be the easiest to learn on although I never could teach my sister how to drive my Celica. It should be mandatory that you can drive a stick shift.
Our Ford Aspire is pretty easy to drive. I wouldn't start out with any truck, although that's how I learned. Just depends on the driver.
VW bug, 1972 or older.
VW Bugs are very forgiving as well, maybe more so than a Civic.
I'd hate for someone to learn on my Corolla, with a glazed over pressure plate and disk and a transaxle that's about to push up daisies!
I'd hate for someone to learn on my Corolla, with a glazed over pressure plate and disk and a transaxle that's about to push up daisies!
A small light car, with a fairly torquey engine which will not stall when you ease the clutch up in 1st gear at slightly more than tickover. That way, you don't have to rev the engine much to prevent stalling for a newbie...
Likely something RWD for ease of clutch replacement. Love driving FWD, but hate working on them. My 77 LUV survived both my kids learning to drive on it. I told my daughter very few people get to learn to drive in what they rode home from the hospital when they were born. While I was struggling for a good explanation for why she didn't get to drive the Grand Am with the HO Quad 4, her older brother pointed out the truck was less likely to jump into the next county.
He learned on the truck too. His mother picked him up from his final driver's non ed class in our 81 Phoenix, V-6 and 4 speed. He couldn't launch it. the truck was much friendlier. He was doing well, but then regressed, and started clashing the gears every shift. I hadn't driven it for a while and didn't realize the problem. Finally when he couldn't even start it without it jumping ahead, I realized the &^%$@$*&^ hydraulic clutch failed again. He got a demonstration on how to drive without a clutch.
He learned on the truck too. His mother picked him up from his final driver's non ed class in our 81 Phoenix, V-6 and 4 speed. He couldn't launch it. the truck was much friendlier. He was doing well, but then regressed, and started clashing the gears every shift. I hadn't driven it for a while and didn't realize the problem. Finally when he couldn't even start it without it jumping ahead, I realized the &^%$@$*&^ hydraulic clutch failed again. He got a demonstration on how to drive without a clutch.
NOT a 1986 Camaro without power steering, that's for sure.
Kestas
Staff member
I had the good fortune to learn driving a manual when I was a student engineer at Ford Manual Transmission. I got to learn to drive a stick on the whole lineup of manual vehicles, from the Pinto to the off-road trucks.
It was easiest to learn on a 4-cyl vehicle. The hi-powered V8s made for a stiff clutch that was hard to control. The low-powered econoboxes had a clutch that was easy to control and a large "sweet spot" -- kinda like the "Prince racquet" of manual transmissions. The econoboxes made learning rather easy for me.
It was easiest to learn on a 4-cyl vehicle. The hi-powered V8s made for a stiff clutch that was hard to control. The low-powered econoboxes had a clutch that was easy to control and a large "sweet spot" -- kinda like the "Prince racquet" of manual transmissions. The econoboxes made learning rather easy for me.
Either one of my old Civics would have been ideal....light clutch, adequate, but not overwhelming power...and I'm sure they're even better now than they were then (86 and 91).
I tried to teach my best friend on my 02 Altima 3.5. Pretty light clutch and lots of low-end torque. He didn't stall it very often, but did do a few unintentional peel-outs. I'd suggest something with less power.
I tried to teach my best friend on my 02 Altima 3.5. Pretty light clutch and lots of low-end torque. He didn't stall it very often, but did do a few unintentional peel-outs. I'd suggest something with less power.
A 1974 BMW 318i
- Status
