Doesn’t she look happy? Kim JUST learned to drive the Mazda MX 5 stick shift. Photo: Scotty Reiss
You can do this. And so can she.
You learned years ago and for you, driving a stick shift is natural. Friends say enviously, ‘I wish I’d learned to drive a stick.’ But teaching someone to drive can be a harrowing, even friendship-breaking experience. Add in a manual transmission and forget it; you may never speak again.
But it doesn’t have to be like that. First, prepare yourself and your friend to learn to drive a stick–preparation is always the key, right?
Then, understanding the basics and a clear path forward, your friend is just a few minutes away from being a manual transmission driver.
First, read our 9 steps for preparing to learn to drive a stick shift.
Then, here is our guide to getting your friend up and gunning.
8 Steps to learning to drive a stick shift.
1. Learn to power the car with just the clutch
Remember: Left foot operates the clutch (and only the clutch) and right foot is for braking and accelerating. Photo: Scotty Reiss
Have the driver start the car with the gear shift in neutral, right foot on the brake. Then, with her left foot on the clutch (all the way to the floor) and right foot on the brake, shift into first gear. Have her take her right foot off the brake and slowly let the clutch partially out and see how it moves the car.
2. Learn to slow with the clutch
While she’s still in first gear, have her put the clutch in again and the car will slow. After a little back and forth, she’ll get a feel for when letting out the clutch gets the car moving and when putting her foot on the clutch slows the engine; she’ll be able to actually drive a short distance (and very slowly) with the clutch about half way out.
3. Learn how a stall happens
If she does take her foot off the clutch without giving it a little gas, she’ll stall the car. This isn’t a bad thing; she needs to understand the point at which this happens. Warn her not to ‘pop’ the clutch, or let off it too quickly; if she does, the car will lurch forward. That is not only uncomfortable and dangerous, but it’s hard on the clutch, too.
4. Give it a little gas
Starting in first gear, guide her to take her foot off the clutch and add a little gas, then fully ease off the clutch. Soon she’ll be up to speed and ready for step five.
5. Shift gears
An indicator on the dashboard of the Mazda 3 shows when the car thinks you should shift gears, and recommends the next gear. Photo: Scotty Reiss
As the car gains speed, guide her to push in the clutch and pull the gear shift back into second gear, then ease off the clutch as she adds a bit more acceleration.
6. Listen to the engine
As she shifts to second gear, she should hear the engine getting louder; when she shifts gears, the engine should quiet down again. Ask her to listen to the engine for a sign she should shift into third gear, and then, into fourth.
7. Learn to brake
This is really important. When braking to come to a full stop, she should put in the clutch at the same time she applies the brakes to avoid stalling out. You can also teach her to shift into neutral; this will also prevent a stall. For light braking, though, the clutch does not need to be used.
8. Learn to back up using clutch power
Many times backing up only requires slowly letting out the clutch. Let her get the feeling of backing up using the clutch; if she’s not moving fast enough, urge her to give it just a little gas.
Some things to keep in mind:
After you’ve successfully mastered the parking lots at the local church and Town Hall, it’s time to head out on the road. But there are a few other things to keep in mind that will complete the lesson:
Hill Hold: Most newer cars have hill hold, so when putting the car into first gear and taking your foot off the brake on a hill, the car won’t roll back. Older cars may not have hill hold, and if the car she’s driving doesn’t, it’s worth practicing on a hill before heading out into traffic on hilly roads.
Downshifting to slow down: Once she gets skilled, you can teach her to use engine braking by downshifting, which adds to the fun of driving a stick.
When parking, put it in gear AND apply the hand brake: You don’t want to risk the car rolling away.
This is a lot to learn all at once. Don’t sweat it. Some of this will come intuitively for experienced drivers. Probably one reason why many people don’t learn to drive stick is that they attempt it before they have much driving experience at all, and it can be frustrating.
With patience, she’ll get it. And with practice, she’ll love it.
If you have any doubts at all, you can see how Kim Tate learned to drive the six speed Mazda MX5, which is an easy car to learn to drive a stick in, and she did it in 30 minutes.
Scotty Reiss
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This is the best way to teach driving to anyone, not just women..usually driving instructors assume that we all know what is going on in the workings of the car or have some experience with cars. Not everyone is into cars or even been exposed to it. I grew up with a father who believes cars aren’t a women’s business and that paradigm stuck with me. This made it difficult to learn. It took me many years of trial and error but finally, I got my license. With my brother, my dad was also tough. “Don’t touch my car! You will crash it”, my dad always said to him. My brother also had many trials getting his license so we must understand it’s not easy for everyone. Teaching takes patience, it’s a process as it’s explained in this article. So if you don’t have patience in you, rather not teach it.