[antych]

This is how I learnt to drive stick when I was 17 - I showed up at a car park for my first driving lesson. The instructor told me what to do, 5 minutes later I was driving around town. What's the big deal?

[bender rodriguez]

Originally Posted by SenorFunkyPants

Definitely get him to rent a manual car for at least several days even a week...preferably in the model of car he is thinking of.
He can learn the basics pretty easy. It takes quite a bit longer to get good at it.

There are no manuals for rent in the US

[bender rodriguez]

Originally Posted by antych

This is how I learnt to drive stick when I was 17 - I showed up at a car park for my first driving lesson. The instructor told me what to do, 5 minutes later I was driving around town. What's the big deal?

Driving schools no longer teach stick in the US. Its pretty much dead...

[Shock96]

I am with antych. What's the big deal?

I am surprised to hear how much trouble people have had learning to drive a stick.

I learned to drive a stick at 13. Living in Idaho, I had my license at 14 (daylight only) and rumbled around in a 1963 Chev C10 with 3 on the tree. No synchro's, double clutching everything. It was quite a hoot. With a cool Tommy Lift on it.

I +1 the recommendation on buying something small with a stick (maybe a Miata?) to learn on.

I taught both my daughters to drive a stick in my 1994 Mustang GT. Lot's of easy torque and a decent transmission. The 5.0/T5 combo can take a lot of abuse.

[Dattebayo]

I honestly don't even know if manual cars will exist in the near future. This is actually the big reason I bought a BMW and not a Porsche. I was going to buy a Cayman, but since majority of their cars come PDK equipped, they were giving me huge sales incentives to get a PDK. If I wanted to order a manual one, they wanted me to pay $10,000-$15,000 more for a car that is cheaper.

I actually don't know many sports cars where they come in manual transmission only. Also most of the real sports cars have automatic transmissions perform better on the track with their auto/manual transmission. The truth of the matter is that manual is dying out, so get it while you still can.

[BMW GENIUS]

One thing that helped me learn very quickly was to think about it like opening a door. You can't open a door with out twisting the door knob, and you can't go in to gear with out pushing the clutch. Once you get that concept, it can help. Or get them on a motorcycle since all bikes are manuals and let them learn the concept on that and just translate that to a car later.

[Lshaw]

In my experience. You just have to drive and learn from your mistakes. Feedback from the car is the best teacher.

[pikkagtr]

Buy a $500 civic on craigslist
Then donate it to charity so they can sell it and help less fortunate people and you get a nice tax write off
Win win

[ClawHammer]

Here in the UK "stick" rules. I think you guys are overthinking this. You don't mess up a car learning to drive it unless you're really bad. I passed my test on the third go but the issue was never using the clutch/gears.

Best way is as another poster already stated. In a car park or quiet street just put into first and let the clutch out slowly until the car creeps forwards. You should be able to do this very easily without using the "gas" peddle. Once you can do that the rest is easy especially if you already drive.

[semclane]

I would think that the clutch delay valve on BMWs would make learning to start off in first gear relatively easy. I rather liked it for starting on hills in the E90 330i I used to own. My M235i has the flappy-paddle automatic (so my wife can drive it I needed) but I get my stick shift fun from my 99 Miata.

[Alexen]

Oh guys, thanks for the laugh

Can you believe that just a few years ago there was the only option to get the drive license in Russia – to pass the driving exam on a stick? And you definitely could not imagine what a terrible car is Russian LADA to drive it and especially to learn how to drive the car with manual transmission

But after that hard the experience (almost 4 years driving Russian cars + 5 years driving mazda 3 and mazdaspeed 3 with MT) I feel free to drive anything including heavy trucks

Peace with you!

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by Alexen

Oh guys, thanks for the laugh

Can you believe that just a few years ago there was the only option to get the drive license in Russia – to pass the driving exam on a stick? And you definitely could not imagine what a terrible car is Russian LADA to drive it and especially to learn how to drive the car with manual transmission

But after that hard the experience (almost 4 years driving Russian cars + 5 years driving mazda 3 and mazdaspeed 3 with MT) I feel free to drive anything including heavy trucks

Peace with you!

To get a racing licence here in Ontario, you must perform the school with a manual. It is getting harder and harder for students to find a car to do it.

[Alexen]

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

To get a racing licence here in Ontario, you must perform the school with a manual. It is getting harder and harder for students to find a car to do it.

Lol) It seems to be a good business to rent old cars with a manual for driving schools))

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by Alexen

Lol) It seems to be a good business to rent old cars with a manual for driving schools))

Not really. Almost impossible to rent a car with a stick.

[SenorFunkyPants]

http://renty.biz/manual-transmission...-shift-rental/
Comes with a 2 day course on how to drive stick!

Oh OK now I notice the OP has been banned!

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by SenorFunkyPants

Oh OK now I notice the OP has been banned!

Wait, what?

[JimM6GC]

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

Wait, what?

Well, I guess he can still view this thread as a guest, if he wants to. Hopefully he will, for there are some good comments.

Totally agree with your advice about the gas-off practice drills. That and SenorFunkyPants' suggestion about the rental company that gives MT instruction as part of the rental.

As for me, I learned how to drive an MT when I turned 16 (in the 70's) and got a job cleaning and refueling school buses for a regional bus company in New England. All but three had an MT. I'll never forget my boss sitting me down behind the wheel of a school bus on day one and teaching me those very same gas-off practice drills to get me started. So I learned how to drive (and park) an MT bus around a parking lot before I ever got behind the wheel of a car.

[aas5]

I grew up driving a stick in and outside of Moscow. Started driving a Lada with a 1.5L engine when I was 14 on country roads. Great experience that I will always remember.

Having said that, here are my words of wisdom:
1) It takes time and practice to learn to drive stick. You won't do it overnight and you need real road experience and not just by watching a youtube video. I would stay away from busy roads and practice in parking lots of back roads as much as you can.

2) Having driven many cars with stick and having owned two BMWs with auto, I would highly encourage you to consider that you can have as good of an experience with an auto transmission using the paddle shifters. I was at the Las Vegas Motorway recently driving X6M and X5M on the track and the experience driving with paddle shifters was very close in terms of the feel to driving with the manual. I thought it was as involving but quicker with more attention on driving and less on shifting. I think the manual experience is overrated and you can have a very similar experience with the paddle shifters.

[Peter_R]

1. As ClawHammer says, you guys are overthinking this. The last time I looked into this, in the UK you can take different tests. The tests are:

a. With a gear lever - manual version (stick as you call it).

b. Automatic version.

2. If you pass your test in the stick version, you can legally drive an automatic version.

3. If you pass your test in an Automatic version you are not legally allowed to drive a stick version unless you pass the test in a stick vehicle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United...m_driving_test

Practical test
Unless one is converting a foreign licence, it is necessary to have passed both components of the theory test before sitting this exam.[13] Passing the practical test then entitles one to hold a full UK driving licence.[1]

The test candidate must produce their provisional licence for the examiner before the test starts.

The practical car test can be taken in either a manual or an automatic car; if the test is passed in an automatic car, then the full licence granted will be restricted to automatic cars.

It was funny recently when I asked my wife to drive my X3 xDrive30d and she said after all these years I have never driven an automatic. After 30 minutes she had mastered it. So if my wife can go from stick to Auto then you guys will have no problem. You have just got to think a bit more often when you are driving slowly. It is all about clutch control in confined spaces. Once you have mastered that, then that is it.

[AlterZgo]

Originally Posted by bender rodriguez

Wish he could rent a car with stick or something. Just seems a shame to buy a sports car in automatic.

I did exactly this back when I learned how to drive stick in the late 80s. I was able to find a rental company that had manual transmission Honda Accords - the easiest cars to learn in. I'm sure there must be rental companies that still have them.

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by bender rodriguez

Driving schools no longer teach stick in the US. Its pretty much dead...

Seriously? That's sad. I learned stick on a old beetle (I style) and then in a Jeep Cherokee (H style).

[YWGT3]

Learned by jumping into the deep end of the pool. Still remember the dealer manager and sales team peering through the showroom window laughing uncontrollably while watching me trying to tame a newly purchased bucking bronco three series stick down the driveway. After a few drives, I got use to the stick except for those initial stops on steep gradients which weren't too forgiving on the clutch.