learning (teaching) to drive a manual transmission...

[cfg83]

Christ -

Originally Posted by Christ

Taking off is probably the worst part of teaching someone to drive stick, but (wasteful as it sounds) the best way I've ever been able to get anyone to learn is to teach them to hold the engine at ~2k and then "feel" where the clutch starts to grab. Once the car starts moving, it's best to just let the clutch the rest of the way out to prevent burning.

...

Yeah, I traumatized a cute girl trying to teach her how to drive stick in my CRX. She was fine in the parking lot, but kept stalling it on real streets. She later bought a Mazda MX3 with an automatic, . At least I influenced her to get an MX3, !

I realized after the fact that *if* I had told her to set the tach at X RPM before letting up on the clutch (egg-zactly like you have described) she probably would have "got it".

CarloSW2

[cfg83]

Domman56 -

Originally Posted by Domman56

I taught my self actually in a miata (baaaaad car for tall people by the way)

shifting is the easiest thing

when taking off you're just gonna have to give up ONE clutch probably haha that takes a while to get down

I used to be a clutch-rider in my Dad's VW Karmann Ghia. I went through two clutch plates in three years. The second time, the repair dude showed me that I had worn the mounting screws off the clutch, hee hee hee.

CarloSW2

[Christ]

Originally Posted by cfg83

Christ -



Yeah, I traumatized a cute girl trying to teach her how to drive stick in my CRX. She was fine in the parking lot, but kept stalling it on real streets. She later bought a Mazda MX3 with an automatic, . At least I influenced her to get an MX3, !

I realized after the fact that *if* I had told her to set the tach at X RPM before letting up on the clutch (egg-zactly like you have described) she probably would have "got it".

CarloSW2

Carlos -

Go through all that, then try to teach someone new to manual transmissions with an unsprung twin-plate clutch that has half a ton of clamp force.

That's what I stuck my wife with the first time she drove stick with me.

[markemmanuel]

Originally Posted by Christ

Shifting by the speedometer leaves you SOL if just about anything happens where you can't use/see the speedo, and doesn't teach the driver anything about the car at all. Driving manuals is preferred by my immediate family because you have to be in sync with the car to be doing it correctly, and if you can't identify shift points by vehicle sound, you're definitely not "in sync" with your car.

Tell me about it. My car doesn't have a tach and the speedo died on me this summer. I've become all Zen with driving since it happened. I'm much more aware with my driving.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by markemmanuel

Tell me about it. My car doesn't have a tach and the speedo died on me this summer. I've become all Zen with driving since it happened. I'm much more aware with my driving.

Did you learn to count mile markers and other road designations to figure out your average speed yet?

I went out and measured the average distance of a few of the lines on the road back in the day, to figure out how many should pass per 10 seconds at 60MPH, 40MPH, 20 MPH, and so on.

I can't remember any of the figures anymore, I've become alot more lax in my driving than I used to be, but I don't drive illegally anymore, either.

[user removed]

Stripes are about 43 feet from beginning to beginning. 13 per 1/10th mile. Passing 2 per second gives you very close to 55 MPH. Used them for rough speedo calibration on test drives.

regards
Mech

[Christ]

Is that a universally applicable (federal) rule?

I'm not doubting you, I just want to make sure that someone doesn't read it and then go out and get a speeding ticket because theirs are further apart or something.

[markemmanuel]

Originally Posted by Christ

Did you learn to count mile markers and other road designations to figure out your average speed yet?

I went out and measured the average distance of a few of the lines on the road back in the day, to figure out how many should pass per 10 seconds at 60MPH, 40MPH, 20 MPH, and so on.

I can't remember any of the figures anymore, I've become alot more lax in my driving than I used to be, but I don't drive illegally anymore, either.

My speedo began to fail intermittently in the summer so when it was working I matched the sound of my car, the gear and the speed I was at. When it died, I paced with my brother until we get to work (we work part time at the same place). I also go with the flow of traffic locally. On the interstate, well, it pretty much sucks for me. I search out the slowest car and pace him/her.

Fixing the speedo is on my to do list for things to fix. It seems my car decided to go on strike or something last summer and fall. Repairing her is a good way to learn and practice working on a car though!

btw- The Odometer works so I still keep track of my MPG.

[cfg83]

markemmanuel -

It sounds like it's all under control, but can you borrow a GPS from a pal? That could replace your speedo until you get it fixed.

CarloSW2

[user removed]

Originally Posted by Christ

Is that a universally applicable (federal) rule?

I'm not doubting you, I just want to make sure that someone doesn't read it and then go out and get a speeding ticket because theirs are further apart or something.

I wouldn't swear it was universal, but you can check by pacing the distance on your local roads.

I pace about 99 per hundred yards, and that is just over 14 paces for me.

Of course you could use a tape measure to be more precise, or just count them between mile markers on roads that have them, but I wouldn't do it while driving, you might hypnotize yourself .

regards
Mech