I'm tying to teach my girlfriend how to drive stick and it is not going well. does anyone have maybe like some tips or something. I have tried to help but she just keeps staling. Also what kind of harm can be done to my car by her stalling over and over?

Thanks,
Gavin

 

Burn out the starter or clutch maybe. How are you trying to teach her? have her (or anyone) practice with just her left foot and the clutch while the car is in first - no gas, no changing from 1st to 2nd.

Put the clutch in, put the car in gear, slowly let out the clutch until it is fully engaged and the car is moving. She'll learn to feel the clutch pick up, and get an understanding of how it works. Once she gets the car rolling, then tell her to stop (she'll stall). Getting a feel for the clutch and remembering to pull the car out of gear when stopping are the two basics she needs to learn, and you don't need the gas pedal to learn them.

 

ps - if you start to smell clutch, call it a day and go buy her an ice cream.

 

When I first bought my S 2 months ago, I had to learn on it. My dad has had a clutch car since he was 16 also, not as a daily driver now-a days. But he said the S's clutch is by far the most finiky he's ever had to deal with.

With that said.. the way he tought me was to put my clutch foot on the clutch, push it to the firewall and then as I'm giving it gas, slowly let off the clutch.. I killed it about 10 times over before I called it a night. I dreamt it in my dreams on how to do it.. waited a week to try it again, and on my first take-off I was fine.

I guess something just "clicked" though what Saki GT said is the best advice I've ever seen someone give.. and I wish I knew it. I learned about a week later that I could crawl with doing just what he said.. playing with the pedal and finding the break point between moving and stalling.

 

Saki GT DO this while the car is idling and not have her use any gas?

 

Someone has asked you to teach her how to drive stick. Now, you're asking someone else (on the internet, no less) to teach you how to teach her.
Hmmmmm .................................................. .........

My advice ...................... Find a driving school in your area that has manual cars and get her into it.

 

i learned how to drive stick after watching fast and the furious...try that method

 

Yes, idling. There is no need for her to go anywhere at speed, since she should be focused on the process, not the road. Go find a big parking lot that is not being used. (Church not on Sunday, a school not during the week, mall after closing, etc). The car should be motionless, but running, and its three basic steps.

1 - push in clutch (all the way)
2 - put shifter into 1
3 - slowly let out clutch pedal, and experience car take up (feel clutch engage, feel engine react, feel car move, watch rpms dip, etc)

Learning to use one's left foot takes practice - she already know how to apply gas, and trying to use both feet is difficukt at first, so eliminate it from the process. Same goes for shifting from 1 to 2, hills, traffic, radio, etc - simplify the process and she'll focus on the keys much more easily. Also, be patient - remember its frustrating to learn.

 

xviper she asked me to teach her because she is getting a new car but is is a stick shift and how i was teaching her wasn't working so I decided to ask so i could find a different approach at it because my way was obviously not working.

 

It's your sanity. I'd go for the driving school.