stangg172004

My sister decided she wants to learn to drive. No one else in my family wants to teach her so i agreed. Now she wants to learn stick and im more then happy to teacher her in my car but my question is if it would be better to teach her to drive in an auto first or go straight into the manual? Obviously safety being the number one concern.

AcuraAddic

hmmm in my sugestion is to teach her how to drive stick first if she can catch that first the auto will be much easier to handel for her and the stick will show her how NOT easy it is ... its just my opinion and how i learned it ....the hard way ...

o1s

go manual. she may never want to learn if she starts with an auto.

v6cord2k5

iTrader: (1)

How much do you trust her not to slip up?
Is she a quick learner?

In an open lot you have the advantage of being able to slip the car into neutral with an auto and pulling the e-brake to stop if she has a complete failure to follow directions.
With the stick you'll have to wrestle her for the shifter and trust she will jump on the clutch if anything goes wrong.

My girlfriend (already knew how to drive auto, age 21) learned to drive stick and got the car rolling on her first attempt after about 10 minutes worth of verbal lessons. She rowed through to 3rd gear and managed to stall at the easiest spot... coming to a stop, lol

I would teach her in an auto first if it's accessible, just so she gets the basic driving experience down first.

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

My thoughts exactly.

AZuser

I'd say start with auto first so she gets the basics down... how much gas to give it, how much pressure to put on the brakes... stuff like that. After a few hours, move on over to a stick.

At least that's how I learned.

PortlandRL

I started with my mom's van but my dad made me learn stick on his Saab 9000 around the same time. Start with the auto but then teach her stick.

Something my dad taught me, "You're going to kill it the first few times..." And he was right. Actually it was more than the first few times. It took me six to eight months to get decent at it and more than a year to get it down pat. Worth it, though.

Loseit

iTrader: (1)

definately start her w/ stick.
Once they learn auto it's hard for their brain to want to go to stick.

dallison

start with stick. i learned to drive on a 1984 renault 4 speed and f150 4 speed

it builds character and gives some good stories years down the road

Bearcat94

Do it old school - start with stick. She may never want to learn auto.

Used to be you didn't have a choice and most everyone was capable of catching on pretty quick. Auto's have dulled our minds.

SG81

iTrader: (1)

i say start her w/ auto. if she can get that down, then move on to stick. why risk your clutch?

SaraWI

Although I didn't learn stick until just a few years ago and had already been driving auto for about a decade, I still say teach her stick. She will never want to learn stick if she knows auto out of fear. Trust me. I almost gave up 100 times learning stick but I had a $30k new car sitting there that I couldn't drive so, needless to say, I had motivation.

Myxomatosis

I'm torn, I would try stick first,but if she didnt get it or got really frustrated after a few days I would probably give in.

I first drove stick, because I had to be a DD, I did it, but it was because I had to. Than I didnt do it again till my current job, which requires valeting amongst other things. You can learn how to drive stick very fast with a 911 turbo in front of you and the owner watching you. It works very well!


You could cut yourself real bad and say you have to take me to the hospital.......in the stick shift car....if I'm going to die from a loss of blood let it be in there. She'll learn very quickly.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

Manual first.

TS_eXpeed

A big part of it depends on the teacher

If you feel competent enough to teach, go ahead. Manuel all the way.

vas25tl

I'd start out with auto like some have said. Let her get the feeling of what a car is before adding another pedal.

Moog-Type-S

manual

myron

iTrader: (4)

manual for sure. I wish I learned to drive manual first. if you learn to drive manual and get a feel for the car and everything that way, auto is easy

mrmako

Manual: And don't worry about mistakes. With the economy down, there has to be a lot of big parking lots with no one in them. Once she feels comfortable there, then venture out onto roads.

EuRTSX

People learn auto?

Edr0e

I taught my girlfriend to drive stick in my evo (rocketship)

First thing she learned was how to drive the car without throttle. Took her to a huge parking lot. She feathered the clutch in 1st and reverse and she only stalled 3 times before she got the hang of it. Once she got used to the clutch, the engagement point, and the dynamics of how the car reacted when she let off the clutch she learned how to row through the gears. After she drove around my neighborhood for about 30 mins I took her to a huge hill. Forced her to stop on the incline and drive the car uphill.

It felt like there was a donkey in my trunk!!! But after about 2 hours she was coasting!

Not a faint smell of burnt clutch... I was so happy!

Street Spirit

Teach her on the standard car first. There's not really much to learn about auto aside from knowing the car will move when you release the brake, and it'll go faster when you hit the accelerator. The rest is pretty much the same between transmission...understanding steering, traffic laws, getting comfortable, being aware, knowing the boundaries of the car, etc, etc, etc.


My thoughts are that any first time driver (eg: doesn't know how to drive at all) should be taught by a driving instructor. Family members and other long-time drivers have developed their own driving habits, some of which might not necessarily be correct or something that should be adapted by another/a new driver. Plus, it's a lot less stressful when emotions aren't involved and they don't have the stress of someone freaking out next to them.

Fishy

If you really think so then help pay for a driver's education course.

03aspec

I'd say that you start her off with auto, especially if she has never driven a car before. Let her learn the ropes with an auto first, then after about two weeks switch her over to the manual.

Street Spirit

It's actually most common here for people to take driving lessons, as you also quality for a discount in insurance upon completion.

zeta

iTrader: (1)

My GF asked me to teach her how to drive the CLS-6.

I joked with her that she would first need to have the cell phone surgically removed from the left side of her face because it was necessary to use that limb to help control/drive the car.

Anyway, I was not surprised to see her master the required coordination rather quickly. Besides, the whine of the S/C'er sounded a hell of a lot more sexier as she rowed through the gears.

Costco

Since its YOUR car thats stick..... teach her with an auto. Sorry, but even as cautious as I am in regular driving, I'd prefer to learn how to drive auto first, then stick, which is how I was taught. Its better to learn the subtle nuances of the road first, like how to tell if someone's going to change lanes even if they don't signal, what to do in this situation, etc. before you start driving stick.

Yeah driving stick is easy. But for a new driver, a panic stop is much easier in an auto than a stick. Plus buying a new clutch ain't fun. YMMV though my cousin learned stick in her boyfriend's car and she stalled so many times that he got pissed off and took over driving. She did eventually get it down.

From my point of view, benefits of driving an auto first outweigh the benefits of driving stick first, and the risks of driving stick first outweigh the risks of driving an auto first.

neuronbob

Stick first. That's how I did it. In fact, I learned stick BY MYSELF. Of course, this was only possible because I bought a Honda and we all know Honda manuals are easy as pie.

I only bought my first automatic about two years after I got married; had been driving stick for five years at that point.

stangg172004

In illinois, after 18, you dont need classes to take the drivers test.

stangg172004

and interesting remarks everyone, thanks

Street Spirit

No one here needs to take in-class or in-car classes, period. However, I'd say it's the most common route here. By taking driving lessons here, you move on from your learners permit 4 months earlier (out of 12) than if you do not take classes, and you also get a break on insurance.

mitch14

teach her on the auto first, some ppl just aren't good at driving at all. if she still wants to learn manual after she feels comfortable with driving then do it. in my experience most ppl want me to teach them stick, i've never come across someone that was too lazy to learn, after they've been driving with an auto.
but i end up turning down most ppl cuz i still want a clutch left for when i drive

good luck

DC3328

iTrader: (22)

she didnt take drivers ed?

stangg172004

no, never cared to learn since all of her friends had their license and either their own car or their rents'.

stangg172004

interesting, here between 16 and 18 you need to take a class to get your permit.

Danil ACE

Auto is probably best since many girls seem to be a little slow to learn when it comes to cars.

stangg172004

now thats just sexist...