I've got to tell somebody this story and it can't be any of my friends because my girlfriend will find out and be really upset:
She was driving my 2000 base last night learning how to drive a stick. She did great for about the first hour until we pulled up at a stop sign on about a 10% incline. She kills it. I tell her to give it a little more gas than usual. She kills it. I wave a car on. I tell her more gas and slower on the clutch. She kills it. She starts crying. I wave on about 5 cars. I tell her that she has to keep trying or she'll never learn. She kills it. This repeats about 5 more times. Finally she revs it up to about 7000. I brace myself. We s-l-o-w-l-y creep forward--still at 7000. Creep, creep, creep--7k the whole time. The cars starts smoking. She starts wailing. She manages to pull the car into a driveway...still at 7000 rpms. We get out and smoke is everywhere and the air reeks of clutch. It was dark so I couldn't see what she was doing, but I thought she just had her foot on the clutch at the friction point the whole time. She didn't. Her foot was nowhere near the clutch. She was in 3rd gear the whole time. She had revved the engine so high that the clutch had lost its grip and was burned away by about 10 seconds of 7000k. My poor clutch. My car only has 15000 miles. The engagement point on the clutch feels about an inch higher now.
I wasn't mean to her. I tried to make her feel better. But...jeeze...it'll probably cost me $600 for a new clutch.
Thanks for listening. I'm going to go research my next clutch now.
i jsut started laughing while reading your post.. because i can imagine being in the same situation too. i think i'll just rent a car when i have to teach. geez.
Women are retards when it comes to cars. I say 'hold the clutch at the partial engagement point and let the wheels catch up to the engine' - crunch, she tries to shift like that; or thud, she just drops the clutch; or what's that smell? why am i gassing it but it's not going any faster?
Same exact thing happened to me. I tried to teach my girl and explained that for first gear, go over then up. Well she just went up. My girl tried to start in 3rd for a couple minutes. All I could smell was transmission. When I corrected her, we finally got going. SHe was scared to downshift at turns, so she took them fast as hell.
She hasn't driven my car in the 3 years since.
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1994 Prelude Si (Sitting in Garage)
2004 WRX Wagon (Pounding the snow)
my girl didn't have a problem getting into first...but actually going was another story. She would bounce and stall now and then, but she kinda got it...At least she got reverse down
hahahaha....these posts are so funny cause I can totally relate. gf a few weeks ago, but not in my car....haaaaayell no. I taught her in an old 83 civic wagon with no tach. that's what I had to learn on. A lot easier to drive if you're not looking at the tach the whole time. I thought I was explaining things plain and simple...but no....stall stall stall....rev rev rev....oh well. I guess that's why they created automatics.
Too bad rental cars never come with 5 speeds, that would be the best way to teach someone how to drive stick. The clutch on my old car was dying I think because I let a friend learn on it.
Think of it as an excuse to get an aftermarket clutch.
BTW, I have taught a few women (including my mom!) how to drive stick and never had any problems (until once I tried to show off and prove to her that I *COULD* start in 4th ). The trick is to not let them on streets until 1st gear is mastered. On declines first, then level ground, and the finally on an incline.
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'07 Mazdaspeed3 Black Mica
'97 5-Spd Base San Marino - Traded in 5/7/07
Whew! I feel for you. Funny story, because this weekend I also taught my girlfriend how to drive my car. She actually was learning pretty fast to get the car started out of first gear but she had a problem figuring out where to shift. Man, she'd drive 25mph in 5th gear or 30mph in 1st. Argggghh!! She'd rev up to 6-7000RPM in 1st slowly and then do that in 2nd. Oh, BTW, she also started the car a few times in 3rd gear but I stopped her before she damaged the clutch. She needed a car and I was planning on letting her borrow it. No way, I rented her a car instead.
recently ive been teaching my gurl how to drive on my car, she has the similar problem with the clutch. she rev's to high, that's what really pisses me of the most.
Are you people insane?!!!! You're teaching girls (GIRLS!!) {no offense to women but for the most part come on!} how to drive on your cars?!!?!?!?!?!? You guys really must not like your cars....i don't care how much i like a girl...i would not let her destroy my baby! Hell i don't even let girls who can drive stick (or claim to) drive my car!
Originally posted by prelude_driver Are you people insane?!!!! You're teaching girls (GIRLS!!) {no offense to women but for the most part come on!} how to drive on your cars?!!?!?!?!?!? You guys really must not like your cars....i don't care how much i like a girl...i would not let her destroy my baby! Hell i don't even let girls who can drive stick (or claim to) drive my car!
Dude...it's just a car.
I dunno...some of you guys act like it's an exotic or something...
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