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A good friend of mine wanted to learn how to drive a standard shift car, never having been behind the wheel of one before. Silly me, I volunteered to teach. I hope my truck will forgive me for that hour of abuse I put her through.
Any of you all ever teach someone else to drive a standard?
LOL, sounds like an ex-bf of mine. I simply cannot, CANNOT, drive a standard. Many have tried to teach me, all have failed. Of course, there is also the fact that I don't understand the appeal. An automatic is a no brainer.
^Sure you can! It's just NOT fun (or easy) to teach as I'm sure it's not fun to sit in the drivers seat and have commands shouted at you.
I think the key to learning standard is go over the basics (it's a simple process) vocally before getting in and then getting in the vehicle BY YOURSELF and going from there. That's how I learned. It's difficult to learn anything when you've got a half-panicked guy sitting in the seat next to you shouting commands at full volume while you're just worried about hitting that tree, rolling into that car behind you or hitting that dog.
When my brother was learning I told him to use my sister's car (mine had been abused enough) and practice in the driveway and at the park and ride down the street on the weekends by himself. It took him a few days, but he got it. My sister learned the same way. When you can relax and go at your own pace, you can pick it up.
I had to learn on my own, without instruction, in a crowded loading dock between a brick wall and a half dozen 18 wheelers. I was working for a Newspaper and my regular delivery van was swapped with a van with a standard transmission.
I had never been behind the wheel of a standard before and had 65 workers cheering everytime I stalled trying to get away from the loading area without hitting any of the obstacles all around me. It was straight out of the frying pan and into the fire for me, but It was a lot of fun after I figured out how much pressure and the timing of the clutch/gas.
I tried to teach my wife how to drive the car I used to have. Lucky she decided to give up before the car did. To bad they don't have rental cars in standard. I grew up riding dirt bikes from a very young age so found driving a standard came quite easy.
Haha- I got my license on my 16th birthday and already had a car... the first among my friends. My car was a hatchback standard (1982 Ford Fiesta), and I taught many of my friends to drive a standard in that car! Oh what abuse that clutch must have gone through.
WAY back in the day... driver's ed was taught in a standard shift car. I kinda think it still should be (or at least partially- enough that they could operate a standard shift car if need be).
Now the Three-on-The-Tree (3-speed on the column)... I can do that, but don't think I would try to teach anyone else to!
My husband taught me in one weekend...had to because we were trading the automatic. I had to commute to Dover, NH the following Monday. I rarely ground the gears but I stalled it a lot.
I learned to drive with a manual transmission--a good friend with a Volkswagon bus back in the sixties. My father had told me I did not need to learn to drive--after all, I could walk to high school and when I was married, my husband would drive me to to the grocery store!--ARGGHH!
I recently bought a brand new car (a first for me) and got a good buy because it was a manual transmission--most don't want them--but I like them--Drive myself to the grocery store!
Treeluvr, I served in the military with a woman who had never learned to drive because her father had the same attitude. Her three brothers all learned to drive early and had their own cars, but she was never allowed behind the wheel. One of the reasons she enlisted, I think. I drove her home to Chicago once, and she had trouble giving directions to her house because someone else had always driven her there.
So I taught her how to drive -- on a standard! That poor '68 VW bug never forgave me. She bought it off me afterwards and drove it home on leave. Her father almost had a heart attack when she pulled into the driveway.
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