Taught my 15 year old daughter to drive a stick today in my GT

[GoBlues38]

She was awesome. Daughter and the car. My daughter got the hang of it real quick, only killed it twice.

Started her off by keeping her foot off the gas and just feeling the clutch, when she figured out that relationship, added in the throttle and she was golden.

We were in a parking lot and was able to get her up to 3rd gear a couple times.

She has 11 months before she gets her license, but has a learners permit. She will need work on how to shift and turn at the same time, and doesn't understand yet when to use the clutch for stopping and some turns.

But I am proud of her. She did good for her very first time. Kids are awesome!!!

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[stang1971]

now take her to Gateway!!! haha

 

[Lost]

I did the same with my daughter. The GT is pretty easy. She would have a lot harder time with my wife's chevy cruze because of the 1.3L gutless motor. The torque of the GT covers a lot of clutch sin.

 

[db252]

Taught my daughter the same at 15. She loves driving a manual car/truck and has always had one still to this date at age 24. It's been fun to watch some of her boyfriends reactions knowing they can't drive her car as they don't have the ability. It has been an increasingly lost skill over the years.

 

[GoBlues38]

It has been an increasingly lost skill over the years.

Yep. My wife and I do not want her to ever be in a situation where she can't drive her self home. If someone is drinking, take the keys and drive home.

We will get her a car at 16, probably a used GTI. It will be a manual. So she can learn, but also because so many can't drive one now a days, it will keep people from driving her car.

 

[PJR202]

I taught my sister on her early 2000's Eclipse when she was 17. She worked with our dad some, but he can get impatient behind the wheel. Outside of a car, he's probably the most patient person I know. She did well though. She had a flawless test drive in a city environment after just sn hour of parking lot time. I think the key is the uphill slope. If you can hold it there, the rest is nothing.

 

[ForTheHordeKT]

Nice haha. I remember when I was that age my aunt went to a parking lot and put me behind the wheel of her old '99 cobra. I did a pretty good job of getting it into gear and not killing it, and when I finally did go out and get my first car ('85 5.0) I wasn't afraid of the manual transmission thanks to that experience. She told me she wanted me to learn because when she was young and in her early 20s, she got pressured into buying a 1990 5.0 at the dealership and couldn't even get the thing home without a friend coming to drive it for her, and didn't want me having a similar experience haha. Definitely the way to go teaching your kids to drive.

Having most everyone not know how to drive my car was definitely a perk of having my first car be a manual lol. Out of our whole household back then only my stepfather knew how to drive the thing aside from me, and none of my friends. Nobody ever begged to borrow the car lol.

 

[Lost]

 

[OrangeRush]

Proof that these are some of the easiest manuals to drive. I'd argue that a Toyota Corolla would be easier, but the lack of torque kinda makes it hard(er).

 

[Dizzle58]

I have been toying with teaching my 19 and 15 year old girls. One side tells me they will get it and the other side says they are gonna kill the clutch. I'm sure I will give in at some point though.

 

[spence52490]

Hopefully I have the same success teaching myself when I get a GT lol.

 

[nastang87xx]

I'd argue that a Toyota Corolla would be easier, but the lack of torque kinda makes it hard(er).

I think that's a good thing though. That forces you to understand clutch modulation and understand how that it's not an on/off switch. Plus the extreme bucking from a high powered engine and how fast it revs up can definitely be unnerving for a first timer.

 

[OrangeRush]

I think that's a good thing though. That forces you to understand clutch modulation and understand how that it's not an on/off switch. Plus the extreme bucking from a high powered engine and how fast it revs up can definitely be unnerving for a first timer.

Huh, I guess I've driven way too many manuals. I find the Mustang to be quite slow to rev. Nowhere near as slow as the Ranger I had, but still.

My counter-point to your argument would be that it teaches less mechanically-minded people that all clutches are the same. In terms of overall difficulty I think that the GT would be "easier", albeit slightly intimidating.

 

[QRK]

That's awesome. Females tend to be somewhat apprehensive when you want to teach them how to drive stick because they're intimidated. Women that can drive stick always get extra brownie points in my book.

I always teach people the same way, by having them get used to the clutch first without touching the gas. It helps teach that when it comes to slipping the clutch, you don't just dump it as soon as the car gets moving along with the fact that a ton of revs aren't needed to get into gear. The fact that the GT has enough power to start moving without the gas helps too.

I also always tell anyone that I'm teaching to not panic if they mess up or worry about ruining my car. I would stop them long before they did any damage.

 

[Redraven571]

Everyone in my family knows how to drive stick, even though the only one with a manual right now is my 21 year old daughter, with her 2000 Jeep Wrangler.

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