I have several younger family members that want to learn to drive a stick but I don't own one to teach them on. No one in our family owns a manual trans car either. How can I teach these youngins to drive a stick on the super cheap?
I thought about going to a dealership to test drive, but most of the time the salesman is in the car with you. I considered renting a car, but I'm sure it will be more than anyone is willing to pay. Any suggestions?
Borrow from a soon to be former friend?
never seen a manual rental car...
maybe buy a beater on it's last legs and dump it at the JY in a month?
make sure their first car is a manual? no better way to learn than necessity.
The answer is always.....................Miata.
Yeah, I didn't know you could rent a manual in the US anymore.
Go buy a shifter cart...Sell it when you are "Done".
I will be looking for the video on youtube
I have taught a few people to drive a stick. Don't do it if the person is your significan other or a female child. Tears will be involved.
Here is a little thing I do so that they can visualize what happens when they let the clutch out:
Flip a bike upside down so it is balanced on seat and bars. Now crank the pedal so that the tires spins slowly.
Ask you student to try and stop the tire by grasping it with two fingers. Explain that when he lets the clutch pedal out he/she is grabbing the tire.
They can get an idea that there is an ideal rate to grab the tire for smoothest stoppage. Too fast and it yanks their hands, too slow and it burns the fingers.
You can also explain what changing the gears accomplishes using this tool.
I taught at least 6 people to drive a stick when I had a beater first gen s-10. BTW, I miss that car more than any other car I've ever owned. One of those lucky people is my current wife. No tears were involved but that was a frustrating experiment.
The two 16 yr olds that want to learn to drive manuals are looking into buying a manual trans car as their first cars. They want to learn now so they can confidently drive the car off the lot and home safely.
I have considered buying a beater, but (like most here) it will prob turn into another project that I can't afford. Plus cant really just buy a beater and be done with it. You have to consider insurance costs, storage issues, and any other nonsense I'm forgetting. Not to mention, my project firebird has driven me into bankruptcy.
I taught my GF of near 6 years how to drive a manual. No tears where involved. Of coarse she got in the car. Stalled it twice because I forgot to tell her to release the handbrake and then had no problems. 
Step 1. Enter the 2012 BABE rally
Step 2. Convince all the manual driving wannabes to be your teammates
Step 3. Buy sub $500 manual trans car
Learn as you go. It wouldn't be the first time it happened on the rally.
I like the clutch to disc brake analogy. The clutch makes something spin while the brake makes it stop spinning. You can even take a tire off to help drive the point home and get some hands on.
I taught my wife to drive a manual- after she called me and I had to go get the Cooper S she had JUST purchased, and needed me to drive home. I spent a week learning the car, and was able to have her confident and on her own in about 2 hours. And then I taught a friend of mine to drive it, and promptly did a burnout and blew the front tires instead. I'm still not quite sure what was more fun.
The thing about teaching someone to drive a stick is that (at least for many people) it requires ongoing practice. A couple hours will give the basic principles, but actually developing the feel to be consistently good at and comfortable with it means driving a manual transmission car daily for a couple months.
That's not to say the basic principles aren't worth having on their own -- especially for kids soon to be off to college who might find themselves the only sober one with nothing but a manual transmission car to get home in...
get a cheap dirt bike - thats how i learned out to use a clutch - had no problems when i went to drive my first manual car.
GrantMLS wrote: get a cheap dirt bike - thats how i learned out to use a clutch - had no problems when i went to drive my first manual car.
^ good point. I was on dirt bikes since I was 10. My first car was a gas guzzling 455 olds with an auto. I had decided to get a 4 banger manual and when I bought a $100 chevette and brought it home my dad's first remark was "I thought you were going to buy a manual" My answer "I did" Dad: "When did you learn to drive stick" Me: "On the way home"
Sadly it was not quite as simple when my sister fell in love with and bought her first car without our help...a 1978 Spitfire...no she didn't drive stick and no she knew nothing about british cars....but she learned how NOT to put out an electrical fire.
^ That's about how I learned to drive stick. I bought a manual AWD turbo DSM, sold my corolla, and had to get home.
"Don't own a manual transmission?" What does that mean? Is it some sort of cryptic riddle?
In reply to dogbreath: It's a sad state in my life is what it is.
I taught my wife to drive a stick in the 87 Supra.
Go to a dealer that doesn't ride along for test drives.
Drive it off the lot to a place to swap and teach.
Drive it back. 
Logitech G27 gaming wheel (includes a clutch). It won' be perfect, but it'll get some of the basics down before they try on a real car.
I have so far taught about five people how to drive a stick with this method... it does, however, require that you own a manual car.. so this may not help you.
Explain to them that a car is like a bicycle. Your feet are like it's engine, the shifters on the bars are like the shifter on the floor. The only difference, is the clutch, which disconnects the pedals from the wheels. Since the engine is always spinning, you must disconnect it from the wheels when you're stopped. It is also required when changing gears.
Then I drive them to a nearby parking lot, show them the numbers on the stick, get out and walk away. I come back after they have demonstrated a successful start.
I have found that people are extremely timid and overthink the process if you are in the car with them. They are so afraid to hurt things that they end up screwing up. One girl did just fine until I sat back in the car, at which point she bounced it off the rev limiter and did one tire fire.
I learned on a motorcycle.
I don't think you can do it without SOMETHING with a clutch. You can give theory and show mechanics, but actually doing it is a matter of feel, sound, and practice.
A used car salesman at a buy here pay here lot actually taught me to drive a manual with my dad in the back seat.
Edit: I didn't really get comfortable with it until I bought a manual of my own several years later.
lizard wrote: I guess it could be the opposite of don't own vehicle with a wussymatic transmission? All of our vehicles are theft deterrent due to the fact that they have 3 pedals...
Good point, not many thiefs know how to drive sticks.
I wish my current rides were manuals. The Camaro is but it isn't street legal so I can't play around in it. The Bonneville and Dakota R/T weren't available with manuals. Heck the last time a Bonneville has a stick was in the 60s if I remember right.
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