Your thoughts on manual trans for new driver

I've got a son who will be starting to drive in about a year. I've had the mindset that he would learn to drive a manual transmission because he would be autocrossing the family Miata as part of his learnings, however his daily would be an automatic so that he could focus on learning to street drive and not have the added distraction of a clutch at the beginning. I just came across the perfect first car (and my airport beater in the meantime) - an early E36 318i - stout, slow and LeMons priced. The only problem (???) is that it is a 5 speed.

What are your thoughts about 16 year olds and a third pedal? Tell me that my thinking is right or enable me.

My first car was a stick. It's not a big deal, and I don't know why people act like it is. Personally, I think driving a stick would make him safer; having something to do with both hands means he's less likely to text while driving. An added benefit: most of the kids he knows won't be able to drive his car. My co-worker's daughter's car was recently totaled when the daughter'w boyfriend drove it.

The process is simple: Don't let your kid onto the street until after you have worked with them enough that they are competent driving a stick.

When I learned to drive stick, my dad took me to a big empty parking lot. We practiced nothing but starting and stopping without killing it for several afternoons. Then we progressed to starting, accellerating, shifting into second and stopping. Next, going from a stand still to third and stopping. Then he took me to a side street with a stop sign at the top of a hill where I could practice starting without killing it. When I was good at that, we started driving around the neighborhood.

Get that BMW! He'll be a better driver for it. A clutch is no longer a distraction after some basic training.

Thirded (or whatever numbered). The clutch isn't the distraction - the clutch prevents other distractions (eating, drinking, texting, etc.). My first car was a manual trans Audi 5000 - it was awesome.

It really only takes a week or so to get used to driving stick for the first time (or if you havent done it in a really really long time).

I tried to push my dad to get a 5 speed that would eventually end up being a car for one of my brothers who is probably the same age as your son.

He was ready to go back and buy the car but it had been sold.

I think the world would be a better place if more kids were forced to learn how to drive manuals.

Get the stick.

Thanks for the enablement. Good to hear perspective from others.

A whole bunch of people grew up with a stick as the only option. They all died in horrible car crashes. Oh wait, actually they were fine. I'd go for it.

In reply to glueguy:

I'm going through this thought process right now. And I mean right now, as my twins are taking their driving tests today. I, like you, always planned on teaching them a stick for the same reasons. I have a CRX-si with a 5 speed, and I've taught them how to use the stick. They are starting to get it, but as you know it takes some practice. What I've decided to do is put them in my wifes car with an automatic at first and keep working with them on the manual until I'm comfortable that they can use it without it being a distraction. I'll let you know how that goes!

JoeyM wrote: When I learned to drive stick, my dad took me to a big empty parking lot. We practiced nothing but starting and stopping without killing it for several afternoons. Then we progressed to starting, accellerating, shifting into second and stopping. Next, going from a stand still to third and stopping. Then he took me to a side street with a stop sign at the top of a hill where I could practice starting without killing it. When I was good at that, we started driving around the neighborhood.

I must be your long-lost brother, as it sounds like we had the same dad.

Bonus points for taking your driver's test with a clutch - even 35 years ago, the inspector said I was the only one in recent memory.

My family did not own an automatic - when I finally drove one for the first time, I nearly put my passengers through the windscreen as I instinctively went for the clutch at a stop light and hit the wide pedal with my left foot.

It will take a few more hours of work to reach a comfort level, but that stick shift will be safer in the long run.

The manual transmission forces a new driver to constantly think ahead and plan what he or she is doing, not just point and shoot .

An automatic requires too little thought and effort once the he gets the feel for the controls. Once he thinks he has 'got the hang of it' he will start texting, eating, fiddling with his MP3 player, etc. much earlier. The extreme easiness of driving that automatic will lull him into a false sense of security that could backfire.

I guess the point is, driving a stick is a distraction within the act of driving, with an automatic he will find something outside of the act of driving to occupy his attention .

My kids will drive sticks. My son is learning now. Gets his permit this summer. My kids will not be those losers on the Amazing Race who plop down in a car and say "Oh no! It's a stick! I don't know how to drive a stick!"

my first car was a stick, no issues. Remember, there was a time when automatics were rare....

fast_eddie_72 wrote: My kids will drive sticks. My son is learning now. Gets his permit this summer. My kids will *not* be those losers on the Amazing Race who plop down in a car and say "Oh no! It's a stick! I don't know how to drive a stick!"

I don't know what "the Amazing Race" is, and I must conclude that it is some sort of pop culture TV show, and I am therefore happy that I don't know what it is.

I don't see any problem with having a manual transmission, but what does your son want?

My dad insisted I master the manual transmission in his '81 Datsun 210 (this was in the mid '90s, and the car was a total beater) before I got my license. That car had steep gears and no torque, so he let me do a bit of driving in a Caravan with an automatic to learn the other parts of driving before tackling the stick shift. His words were something along the line of "If you can learn to drive on this car, you'll be able to drive anything."

I later ended up buying a car with a shot clutch and didn't realize it for several months, because even a thoroughly shot clutch in a LeBaron was easier to work than that Datsun's.

I bought my oldest daughter a 242 Volvo with a stick for her first car. The biggest problem was my instructing. I had her out, explaining how the pedals needed to interact, and she was stalling more than she was going. We were both getting frustrated, so she drove home, I went to the store, and as I was driving away I realized I had been telling her to do it wrong. I went back and taught her properly, and she was gone.

It can be tough to describe in detail an action that you don't have to think about anymore.

This thread reminds me I need to build my 9-year old a shifter kart this summer....

Get the stick for all the reasons above. He'll have to actually concentrate on driving rather than numb out and get distracted by all the other items.

And, just go ahead and budget for a new clutch within a year or so.

-Rob

I dont see the issue either unless he just can't figure it out (like my sister who used up a clutch in 20 minutes of driving her first time)

Learn to drive a stick first.

There is nothing more embarassing than a 40 year old "adult" who can't drive a stick.
Shameful, and to be avoided at all costs. :)

glueguy wrote: Thanks for the enablement. Good to hear perspective from others.

Yeah, I took my driver's test in an '81 Civic with a 5-speed. It was also the first time I ever parallel parked. Neither one was any biggie for a 16-year-old with a little clutch practice.

Buy the BMW and start teaching him now. I learned how to drive my first car when I was 12 and it still belonged to my dad. It was a Mustang GT. We just went to an abandoned parking lot and I learned the basics. When it came time to get my permit, I drove it home. I've always had manuals. I can't imagine trying to learn a manual transmission AND autocross at the same time!

stuart in mn wrote: I don't see any problem with having a manual transmission, but what does your son want?

Absolutely irrelevant, unless said son is independently wealthy and will pay his own money to purchase, insure, and fuel the automobile. Even then, it is Dad's right and duty to "guide" his son as he sees fit. And given that the car in question is a BMW, the son will be ecstatic that he is blessed with such a car and will be eternally grateful to his father for allowing him to drive it.

come on now.... really, how berkeleying long does it take to learn to drive a stick ?

1988RedT2 wrote:

stuart in mn wrote: I don't see any problem with having a manual transmission, but what does your son want?

Absolutely irrelevant, unless said son is independently wealthy and will pay his own money to purchase, insure, and fuel the automobile. Even then, it is Dad's right and duty to "guide" his son as he sees fit. And given that the car in question is a BMW, the son will be ecstatic that he is blessed with such a car and will be eternally grateful to his father for allowing him to drive it.

Well, if that's the way you're going to look at it then he should take the attitude my parents did...if I wanted a car I was welcome to go out and buy one with my own money.