Driving a clutch

[Kevin A]

Heylo,
I have a 1970 VW bug, and my sister and I are trying to teach a friend how to drive a clutch. We both know how, but we havent taught anyone how before. So my question is, what are some pointers for teaching?

Thanx,
Kevin

[AlbertW]

engage before you switch, disengage AFTER you switch.

otherwise grinding will occur.

(dunno, never actually driven stick, but that's my best guess )

[Matt Attallah]

WOO-HOO!

Sticks are so much fun to drive. I have an automatic right now - but I want a stick back. Just the feeling...

But just rember to engage the clutch before shifting and than slowly let off the clutch when engaged (and give it a little gas when you are slowly letting of the clutch!)

It's gonna require you to experiment - each clutch has it's "Sweet Spot!"

Man - I really want a stick car now...

[Andy A.]

The best advice I can come up with is to spend 10 minutes with the student in an open parking lot just going in and out of first gear. First is always the hardest gear to learn. Advise them to err on the side of slow clutch feed and extra gas. It makes things a little jerky but cuts down on stalls. Make sure to let them know that everyone takes time to learn.

After 10 minutes, get out of the car and let them practice on thier own. When they can get in and out of first and second cleanly, try a back road on a sunday.

Also, make sure they understand why they have to shift and how the clutch works. I found it helpful to picture what was going on in the transmission.

-Andy A.

[MissInformation]

A friend tried to teach me stick before I even had a license or any driving experience. Back country road, 65 miles an hour, slow tractor suddenly in front of us, nice ditch to land in... Lesson learned from that, make sure they are comfortable with hitting the clutch and the break at the same time because the reason we ended up in the ditch was I took my eyes off of the road to look for the clutch.

I did eventually learn, and one thing I wish the person who taught had done was found a hill with no traffic and let me practice starting the car up. I felt very uncomfortable with starting the car up and the way it drifted a bit when you first started to release the clutch and the first time I had to do it on a hill (at a stop sign) I almost drifted back into the car behind me.

Other than that, I can only suggest that you have lots of patience and try to stay calm even in scary situations (him yelling at me to hit the clutch also helped to send us into a ditch).

Heidi

<============>
automatic all the way

[Kevin A]

Hello,
Thanx for the advice.

"Also, make sure they understand why they have to shift and how the clutch works. I found it helpful to picture what was going on in the transmission."
-Andy A.

Is this a good explanation. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/clutch.htm
I know how it works myself, as ive installed a few, and I'm mechanically inclined. But he doesnt seem to want to get greasy, so maybe that will help.

When you say engage, do you mean put the pedal to the floor, or let the clutch disks engage, as in letting the clutch out?

Thanx again,
Kevin

[dlavery]

My Dad's advice to me when he was teaching me to drive:

"If you can't smell the asbestos burning, you aren't doing it right."

The lesson that I actually learned:

"No matter how hard you try, you just can't do a 9000 rpm red-line, drop the clutch, and pop a wheelie with a stock New Holland 2550 harvester. It just doesn't work."

-dave

[RogerR]

lessons i've learned?
don't always believe the knob on top of the shifter that shows the placement of alll the gears, especially when its upside down.
or else you might put the vehicle in 1st while trying to go into reverse....yeah....anyways....

also, have the friend feather the clutch (without touching the brakes or gas) so that they can get a feel for when the vehicle will stall

[Matt Attallah]

Originally posted by dlavery
My Dad's advice to me when he was teaching me to drive:

"If you can't smell the asbestos burning, you aren't doing it right."...

So true, so true!!

My first car that I drove a stick in was a Jeep Wrangler. After that day - it needed a new clutch (thank god it was just a beater!!)

That was so cool! Sticks are so much more fun!

GO STICK!!

[AlbertW]

wait... why do you have to hit the clutch and the brake at the same time? don't manual cars have torque converters?


edit: nevermind, guess not.

[AdamT]

Originally posted by AlbertW
wait... why do you have to hit the clutch and the brake at the same time? don't manual cars have torque converters?


edit: nevermind, guess not.

You don't have to hit the clutch and the brake at the same time...you should hit the clutch before stalling out. I learned this because I wouldn't have ended up with a foot of the front end of my car in a blazer if I hadn't hit the clutch! ENGINE BRAKING!!!!

Tip: Find a hill like MsInformation said, except instead of just starting up, find that "sweet spot" where you have enough gas going and the clutch engaged enough so that you don't move due to the engine and not a brake.

[Andy A.]

Originally posted by AdamT
Tip: Find a hill like MsInformation said, except instead of just starting up, find that "sweet spot" where you have enough gas going and the clutch engaged enough so that you don't move due to the engine and not a brake.

Holding a car on a hill using your clutch is a great way to destroy the clutch. Anytime the clutch is between fully engaged and fully disengaged (like when using it to hold your self on a hill) it is going to wear. So, if you are on a hill, hold your self with your breaks, not the clutch. I usually shift into neutral when I come to a stop, just so I don't accidentally let up on the clutch.

Thats why it is so important to practice hill starts. The faster and smoother you can feed the clutch, the longer it will last and the happier you're car will be.

But, hill starts are always difficult, I still stall every now and then. So, all you people who drive autos, do everyone a favor and DON'T TAILGATE PEOPLE WHO ARE STOPPED ON A HILL. You'll probably freak out a new stick driver and end up with him sliding right back into you. So leave a few feet in between.

-Andy A.

[DougHogg]

My recommendation is to start in a parking lot (as someone else suggested) and then get the trainee to be able to start the car by just releasing the clutch gradually, without giving the car any extra gas. The idea is for the person to learn at which point the clutch engages the engine to the wheels and have a good feel for that before they start applying gas. (I guess that is what an earlier post referred to as "feathering the clutch". )

Then have them start gradually applying a little gas as they release the clutch.

The purpose of the above approach is to avoid the car lurching forward, stalling, lurching, etc...while the passengers try to avoid whiplash.

[Tytus Gerrish]

Rev it up ,dump the clutch, and don't shift till you redline
(But thats only if you want to get arested!)
Its Not hard in fact once you learn You never want to drive an automatic ,Like me!

[Matt Attallah]

Originally posted by Tytus Gerrish
Rev it up ,dump the clutch, and don't shift till you redline
(But thats only if you want to get arested!)
Its Not hard in fact once you learn You never want to drive an automatic ,Like me!

Just do it on a side street. I have a ton of tire marks by my house from doing that.

It's not Illegal as long as you don't get cautght!


**But really - Don't do that. It may be fun - but you may pay for your actions...***