Learning to drive shift stick.
09-06-2007, 05:07 AM
#1
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Learning to drive shift stick.
This idea came from Lainey's thread on, "Does your spouse drive your S?"
When I was learning to drive shift (manual) back in merry old England we had to learn hill starts and three point turns. (I'll explain more if you need me to)
The scariest thing I did was to obey my instructor who kept telling me to put my foot down when I was coming up to a left turn. I understood "put your foot down" to mean go faster, he meant put it on the brake. That was the fastest turn I have ever made and I have no idea which gear I was in!
When I was learning to drive shift (manual) back in merry old England we had to learn hill starts and three point turns. (I'll explain more if you need me to)
The scariest thing I did was to obey my instructor who kept telling me to put my foot down when I was coming up to a left turn. I understood "put your foot down" to mean go faster, he meant put it on the brake. That was the fastest turn I have ever made and I have no idea which gear I was in!
09-06-2007, 05:12 AM
#2
Catherine!I posted my experience in the other thread, but I'll put it here as well.
For the record, I learned to drive a stick on a VW bug. I was 17. My boyfriend, (now he's an ex-husband
) and I went to a quiet road in a local town. We stopped and started and stopped and started until I got the feel of the clutch. It took a while to catch on to letting up on the gas while shifting and to get a smooth shift going. It seemed as if my feet had too many things to do, and I was watching them instead of the road. 
A local town cop pulled over to ask what we were doing. My ex told him he was teaching me to drive a stick shift. The cop laughed, said "Good luck" and left.
I didn't take the car on the streets until I knew I could take off without stalling it. The first few hills when I was driving it alone caused a bit of
I taught my son to drive stick the same way, and a friend's girlfriend as well. She didn't know how to drive a stick and he liked his
It's best to always have an alternate driver if you like .
09-06-2007, 05:59 AM
#3
I learned to drive a stick as a junior in highschool. Our driver's ed car was a Chevy Biscane with three on the tree. It had no seatbelts, no airbags, no abs, no stability control, no power steering, no power brakes, no third brake light...its a wonder we didn't all die a horrible death in that thing.
We learned three point turns (they called them K turns), hill stops (with and without using the parking brake), parallel parking, and driving a stalled vehicle off a railroad crossing on the starter. We did not learn how to heel and toe.
That driver's ed class and my typing class were the two best classes I took in highschool, at least in terms of gaining skills I would use often throughout my life. Too bad I never got to take shop. Would love to have added welding to that skills resume...something I never have learned.
We learned three point turns (they called them K turns), hill stops (with and without using the parking brake), parallel parking, and driving a stalled vehicle off a railroad crossing on the starter. We did not learn how to heel and toe.
That driver's ed class and my typing class were the two best classes I took in highschool, at least in terms of gaining skills I would use often throughout my life. Too bad I never got to take shop. Would love to have added welding to that skills resume...something I never have learned.
09-06-2007, 06:28 AM
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I learned on a '48 Dodge fluid drive. You could column shift if you wanted to do so, or go automatic by stomping the gas if your right arm/hand was busy with more interesting tasks. I taught +1 in a VW Beetle and my kids, their friends, my friends, and interested neighbors in various manual Volvos. I think the latter two cars were perfect training mules. Most recently, I taught my granddaughter in a '94 Accord. I've ever only owned two automatics; a '64 Pontiac 421 and an '02 Lexus RX300.
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09-06-2007, 07:45 AM
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My friend drove me to the motor license bureau to get my learner's permit in his Austin-Healy 3000. After I passed the written test and got my little permit, he tossed the keys to me and said "You're driving home." It is called the "deep end method", I believe.
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09-06-2007, 11:11 AM
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59 Chevy 3 on the column. My father taught me in 1966. I taught +1 on a loaner Volvo when the car she had when we got married,a '71 Mercury Capri, was in the body shop and the loaner was a standard. I don't know if it was her, but the transmission died while we had it.
09-06-2007, 11:50 AM
#10
Back in the day I was a best man for my cousins wedding. He had a souped up 56 Chevy with 4 on the floor that had to be driven from his house to the reception, a distance of appx 10 miles. I got elected even though I had never driven a stick, I been driving my 61 Pontiac for about 3 months at the time. I can remember i kept thinking how Mike drove the car the few times I had ridden with him. Needless to say I made it OK, minus a little rubber on the rear tires and when I purchased my next car a few months later it was a 64 Chevelle SS with a stick. Never have bought an automatic since.