Instructor for manual driving/stick shift

[Anonymous]

Are there any instructors who will teach a new teen driver to drive a manual/stick shift car? If so, can you provide names (and contact info if it's a moonlighting or independent instructor)? We have the car and need someone to teach our kid the basics to drive it because there currently is a lot of conflict between the kid and parent who is attempting to teach. The parent is willing to continue once the kid has the basics down. All the professional schools we've looked into only teach manual to 18+ drivers with a license already. TIA.

[Anonymous]

Teaching a stick is a different skill than driving one.

Here are the operative words that did it for me: “FRICTION POINT.”

The “friction point is that magic place where the clutch contacts the pressure plate. You can feel it happen. An iota past contact the vehicle starts to move. That’s when to add some gas. Once the car is moving, THEN add gas.

Have the student put the car in gear and let the clutch out until they feel that tiny first contact or until the car begins to move. As soon as they detect motion, they need to put the clutch back in and maybe touch the brake to stop again. Repeat. A bunch of times.

If a person can identify the friction point, they can build in that with the required coordination. The key is to realize that the car will move with the clutch partway out and no extra gas.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Adding: anybody who drives a stick well “knows” the friction point. What makes it helpful is that it is an intellectual concept. The student only needs to know/coordinate one small thing to get the car moving, then add in the rest.

[Anonymous]

52 year old here. I miss driving my stick shift car and Im so glad I learned. MY dad tried to teach me, but I had to go out into a lot and be left alone to figure out the nuance of releasing the clutch and inching forward before applying the smallest amount of gas pedal, then brake, repeat until perfected.

Kind of like what PP described, sort of. Its not that hard. I feel like a member of a dying breed of humans being able to drive a stick shift. And I feel like a bit of a badass too, heh heh.

[Anonymous]

God, I remember teaching myself stick on a friend's ancient Toyota land cruiser in the 90s. Must have ground those gears into dust!

I still miss driving stick. Once my kids are off to college I plan to buy myself one, if they are still around!

[Anonymous]

What is he not getting? Stopping to first gear? My parents just took me to a parking lot. The car they bought me was a stick shift and they wouldn’t let me drive theirs. I found it stressful but got it after a few weeks. Dh bought a stick shift and just drove it home from the dealership without every learning. No idea how.

I agree it’s a dying skill. 2 of our cars are stick shift and we love them so much.

[Anonymous]

Gene Weingarten swears he can teach anyone to drive stick in an hour

[Anonymous]

My mom taught me. She was a great teacher! I told her she should open up a stick-driving school. Sorry she never did, OP!

[Anonymous]

Learned by myself. My dad showed me how and explained logistically. But basically I needed to be left alone or with someone who did not care at all about the learning curve so I could figure it out for myself. So I drove by myself, with my bf, or drove his friends cars.

It just takes time.

Following up with pp, my dad showed me how technically you could wait on a hill with no brakes (with him driving and explaining). This helped me understand what they are calling the friction point.

[Anonymous]

I think it helped to learn on an old temperamental car so I could "feel" the switches. I learned from my SIL, she didn't get frustrated and made it fun.

Navigating hills was the hardest part, be sure to find some to practice on to get over the rollback fear.

[Anonymous]

Friction point will allow holding on a hill, but on a steep one the chest is to use the handbrake and let it off slowly as the car starts to move.

[Anonymous]

I taught 2 neighborhood kids on the weekend once, but my manual VW is no longer around. So hard to order a stick shift around here, only Hondas on back order.

I still remember my dad teaching me and explaining how the gears change before we got in the car. And also how to only shift after 3500 RPMs, but listen to the engine for when. Never be in too small/high a gear to not be fully in control of the vehicle ( accelerate /decelerate)

go around an empty lot starting and fully stopping at every tree. starting is key.

learn to hover on an incline.

learn to go from 0 to 3rd gear+ on an incline.

learn to downshift on turns. to stop signs.

fun stuff. kid will be ready for EU or LatAm rental cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teaching a stick is a different skill than driving one.

Here are the operative words that did it for me: “FRICTION POINT.”

The “friction point is that magic place where the clutch contacts the pressure plate. You can feel it happen. An iota past contact the vehicle starts to move. That’s when to add some gas. Once the car is moving, THEN add gas.

Have the student put the car in gear and let the clutch out until they feel that tiny first contact or until the car begins to move. As soon as they detect motion, they need to put the clutch back in and maybe touch the brake to stop again. Repeat. A bunch of times.

If a person can identify the friction point, they can build in that with the required coordination. The key is to realize that the car will move with the clutch partway out and no extra gas.

Good luck.

yes the pressure plate, still remember dad showing horizontal plates placing down...

[Anonymous]

We’re hanging on to our 13yo manual transmission Honda for the purpose of teaching DCs to drive it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:52 year old here. I miss driving my stick shift car and Im so glad I learned. MY dad tried to teach me, but I had to go out into a lot and be left alone to figure out the nuance of releasing the clutch and inching forward before applying the smallest amount of gas pedal, then brake, repeat until perfected.

Kind of like what PP described, sort of. Its not that hard. I feel like a member of a dying breed of humans being able to drive a stick shift. And I feel like a bit of a badass too, heh heh.

36yo here. I miss my manual!!!