Tips on teaching a kid to drive? :)

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I have mentioned before that my wife's cousin is a drug addict. She has an awsome 12 yr old girl.

Since tomorrow is a holiday that just means its another day to throw a party. So we got the kid for the night.

She helped us clean up around the house. I then figured it was time to learn how to drive.

She has the brake,gas and steering down good. Taking off from a dead stop is giving her trouble.

Funny that she found 2nd gear all on her own. Any tips on teaching her how to work the gas and clutch?

Oh and before anynone complains we are on my 10 acres...not city streets.
 
You got to teach her to 'feel' where the clutch starts to engage, so she knows to give more gas there to get the vehicle moving.

At least that is how I was taught.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
A person shouldn't learn on a standard imo.


What? That is the best place to learn...after that an auto is almost not driving!
 
Start her off on a dirt or gravel road (I'm assuming we're talking about a manual transmission here) The loose traction surface will allow for more leeway getting underway in 1st gear, build her confidence and help her get the right "feel". I taught my #2 son to drive a stick on my CJ-7 in the snow in a big church parking lot. Had him all set in about 20 minutes, feathering the clutch and go pedal while also teaching him how to turn into slides. Good for you, she'll remember you believing in her and taking the time to teach her this for the rest of her life.
 
Tell them to go really slow on letting up the clutch. No it's not the correct technique but you can explain clutch wear after they can drive around and get through the gears. (That's how my 16 year old friends taught it when we needed to drive each other around)

Yelling at a kid to blip the throttle and not to slip the clutch while the vehicle bucks and stalls is too much at once. (This is how I was taught years later)
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
A person shouldn't learn on a standard imo.


Not true when I was a kid that's all my parents had. You learned on a stick or you didn't learn. Both my daughters learned on a stick (5 spd) in a large parking lot were I worked that vacant on weekends.
 
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Taught both my kids on a standard trans. Took them up to the school parking lot on weekends and they picked it up in no time. When they bought their first cars, both went with standards.
 
When my dad taught me I was 17, and I was learning on his FJ Cruiser. I basically understood the concept beforehand and did ok, but I had some issues on inclines and I was a little nervous from a stop when I was at light. Combine stoplights and inclines...

What my dad never told me was that initially, it's ok to slip the cutch just a little bit. I thought before I touched the gas pedal I had to release the clutch before touching the gas pedal. Once I realized and confirmed this with him I was totally fine.

So maybe tell her that just initially you'll let her slip the clutch, feather the two at the same time until she's got a start. Then after she's learned she needs to try not to do it.
 
i taught my son by taking him to a salvage yard. and get them to show him the clutch parts and how they work. just laying on the counter top.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
A person shouldn't learn on a standard imo.


IMO, if a person learns to drive a car with an automatic, they never want to learn how to drive a stick.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
A person shouldn't learn on a standard imo.


I did at 14. My dad had an 88' S-10. It had a stick and no air. It didn't even have power steering.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
A person shouldn't learn on a standard imo.


ive taught all my kids, 2 girls and 2 boys to drive a standard first and i think it helps them when they have a auto later as a standard makes them think ahead. They all had endless hours on trail bikes from the age of 4 on so the clutch thing was not strange just had to move the action from left hand to left foot lol.

my oldest daughter helped a couple of her guy friends move from lexington ky to denver and btwn the 3 of them she was the only one who could drive the standard moving van. she gave them all kinds of grief over that lol.
 
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