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Learning How To Drive a Stick-Shift Car


Give 'er plenty of space, folks; she's a newbie! | March 18, 2010 | Scott Jacobs for Edmunds
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I would have been ready to take the plunge inspired by your ordeals but for the minor insignificant detail of actually finding a car with a stick shift to practice on. (I live in Seattle area, and all the rental companies have only automatic, and all my friends and relatives own only auto trannie cars... Quite a bummer, don't you think?)
Since there are others on this site who learned on an automatic and would like to learn to drive a stick as the author of this article successfully did, here are two things I found over the years that may make the learning and teaching job easier.
#1: Take the car to a level quiet street or level empty parking lot area. Level is important. With the student driver in control of the car, have them fully depress the clutch pedal, help / tell them to put the car in first gear, tell them to not touch the accelerator pedal and gently let the clutch out until the car is rolling because of the engine idle speed and steer the car straight. Then stop the car. Of course it may hop and buck or stall the first few times, but not as bad as if the accelerator is involved. Do the clutch and steer only process again and again until the student driver begins to get the feel of where the clutch engages and encourage them to 'tease' the clutch pedal until the car is sufficiently rolling on the engine idle alone. After the start from a stop becomes smoother, you can have them begin to shift to higher gears on an idle or begin to introduce light pressure on the accelerator in the start-from-a-stop scenario or both. This is your call as to when you think your student is ready.
Repetition will pay off just focusing and learning the basics of the clutch operation and the student driver's confidence will grow as they begin to "feel" the clutch and coordinate with the engine RPMs they are hearing.
BTW: I am a stickler on totally releasing the clutch and not resting your foot on it while driving until you are going to depress for disengagement again. This will save clutch release bearings (throw out bearings) and burning the clutch / flywheel contact surfaces.
#2: After a period of time when the student is having sufficiently smooth starts from a stop, learning to up shift, down shift and come to a stop again you can introduce the second opportunity to overcome dread with a stick shift car: the roll back on a hill.
Once the student has good clutch and accelerator coordination, then purposely put them facing up on a slight grade.
Show them the use of the parking brake to minimize riding the clutch at a stop and to overcome the fear of rolling into the car behind you. This will take some time as you increase the degree of angle that the student is parked on and they begin to not panic when the car stalls or it begins to roll back. This may need to be done over several sessions to relieve / space out the stress on both the teacher and the student.
Eventually they will be able to conquer an uphill start on a steep street, driveway, etc.
I have found that overcoming these two scenarios builds confidence and makes the student want to drive.
Since I live in the Los Angeles area near the foothills, I have a way of dealing with other drivers who are starting to come up too close to the rear of my truck when I am stopped on a grade for a traffic signal, etc. As I see them approach in the rear view mirror, I ever so slightly roll back before they get to me so that they know I am driving a stick shift and I could roll back damaging the front of their car. A few times I have had to do it twice to get their attention.
In the almost 51 years of driving in Southern California, I have never had anyone come closer than they should after having done that.
May you help someone know the joy of driving a stick shift car well: it almost looks effortless and the shifts feel smooth like an automatic.
Your student will be very grateful.