Missus wants to learn Manual

esq on 20/10/2014 - 12:23

The missus is keen on an S2000 or Elise and said to me "esq I need to learn manual, can you teach me?"

No way am I or my car going through that sort of ordeal. Should I just cough up the money ($55 an hour, holy crap!) and get her to learn the vanilla way?

Made some calls and told should take at least 8hrs to learn. She is not a fast learner and has trouble parking as it is. Why they gave her an auto license in the first place is beyond me.

Should I just discourage her and get her an auto Miata or MR2 or something? Taking the driving test - it's the same test that L platers take right?

Automotive

Comments

  • shadowarrior on 20/10/2014 - 12:28
    +8

    I would not give her access to a reasonably fast car like the Elise or MR2 until you or a professional driving instructor has confidence in her driving skills. I have driven the Elise (friend owns one) and nope, it's not newbie friendly.

    Learning how to drive a manual is a mandatory step imo to understand and have full control of your driving. Other's might and will argue with me about this point. :)

    If you are worried about the wear and tear of the clutch and gearbox in your daily drive, book her for a driver's training class. Or get her a cheap less powerful manual car and let her go to town with it. If it's cheap enough, you can always bin the car once she has learnt how to drive a stick after burning the clutch or mashing the gearbox.

    If you don't have the time and/or patience, a driving school will be your best answer.

    If she has a full Auto license, in QLD you sit for the same driving test on a manual car if you want to upgrade your full auto license to a manual as far as I know.

  • MondaySleeper on 20/10/2014 - 12:33
    +3

    Ummm.. i can imagine your better half changing gears without the clutch and changing from 5th gear to 2nd gear…..

    better to go with an instructor first..at least for a couple of initial sessions….

    • shadowarrior on 20/10/2014 - 12:52

      Ouch! Man that made my spine tingle just picturing it…. :|

    • esq on 20/10/2014 - 13:16
      +4

      I think the chance of this hypothetically occurring at least once is 100%.

    • drewbie on 21/10/2014 - 17:48
      +1

      I have nothing useful to add except that I laughed SO HARD at this. And it's funny because it definitely will happen :)

  • ProjectZero on 20/10/2014 - 13:10
    +1

    Well if you wanna discourage (or get her to learn real fast) highly recommend booking for lessons during peak hour…

    A mate of mine taught me that way, let me try to get the car moving (first gear clutch practice) for an hour or so before… then got me to drive from Macquarie uni back to my place (Glenwood).

    I learnt it quite quickly during that ordeal, still stalled it three times, but when i got my first manual car, i just needed fine tuning and was good to go.

    • esq on 20/10/2014 - 13:19
      +1

      My first stick lesson was during peak hour on an arterial road with truck traffic (Kessels Rd). It was also really hilly. Stalled plenty of times and still sometimes get PTSD flashbacks.

  • BuyoTheCat on 20/10/2014 - 14:43

    It is to your benefit that she learns how to drive stick.

    • [Deactivated] on 20/10/2014 - 15:30
      +1

      Hmm. In the right 'circumstance', yes, as opposed to driving 'over' the stick, which would lead to much, much, worse PTSD flashbacks for the OP…

  • daewoo on 20/10/2014 - 15:16
    +6

    Do what I did to teach my wife manual: Buy an old Corolla for the price of it's remaining rego. Then sell it.

    • WT on 21/10/2014 - 10:22

      Exactly, but since this is ozbargain and if your not married don't buy it with your money, use hers

      • daewoo on 10/11/2014 - 22:52

        I'm married, hence she has to pay for half the things I buy on OzBargain =)

  • [Deactivated] on 20/10/2014 - 15:29
    +4

    Reinforcing shadowarrior's comment up^top:
    As the motivation for getting a proper (manual) licence, neither of the cars mentioned are exactly ideal as first-up drives…
    As you can tell from that sentence, I also think (while not actually specifying 'mandatory'), that more people should be encouraged to gain a (proper) manual licence.

    Reasons for that (read first, plenty of time to neg!) - and somewhat beyond esq's missus' particular motivation - below…

    Beyond having more control and being more engaged in the actual process of driving a car (and, in my opinion, at least somewhat less inclined to be distracted from the task), you do also develop (ok - excluding My Mother) at least a degree of mechanical sympathy, interest, and knowledge, that most (not all, but most) auto-only drivers just bypass - which is sad.

    I also think that very few learner drivers on the 'auto-only' licence path, ever ponder that one day (even if just somewhere while they are travelling on holiday), that the difference between getting somebody (or just themselves) to safety, or to a hospital, in order to maybe save someone's life, may in fact hinge on their ability to drive a manual vehicle.

    Too melodramatic? Maybe…

    Other than in a gridlocked commute, driving a manual is also FUN!

    For people who only ever want to drive automatics (or just think they do), or who think that they'll never actually need to drive a manual, I do wish you well.

    OP - encourage her. If you don't want to teach her, then do spare your brain - and your car's drivetrain - and pay for the lessons…

    • ProjectZero on 20/10/2014 - 15:49
      +2

      Other than in a gridlocked commute - driving a manual is also FUN!

      +1! Only time i've ever felt, "F this, i wish i had an auto" was during peak hour, my leg spasms so much during peak hour.

    • drewbie on 21/10/2014 - 17:56
      +1

      Other than in a gridlocked commute, driving a manual is also FUN!

      Three words for you: Old Pacific Highway: Brooklyn - Mt. White - Calga and beyond. Pure bliss :)

    • Bren20 on 03/11/2014 - 02:00

      I really hate the argument that you should learn to drive manual as it helps in emergency situations. I'd love to see some stats on the mortality rate of not being able to drive a manual. Surely, by progressing your argument it is better to say that everyone going for their drivers license should undertake a CPR course, as this is something much more likely to save lives, and would require a significantly shorter investment of time.

      • [Deactivated] on 03/11/2014 - 07:01

        If you see no merit in that part of the argument, I'm happy for you to hate it.

        I would also love to see some stats, but they would be difficult to collate.

        In lieu of owning a ventilator and an Eneloop-powered, OzBargain-certified, defibrillator, I (also?) know how to do CPR. You too, indeed, dinna? A useful skill to have - might come in handy one day. Maybe.

        I'm looking at the time: It's breakfast, '89.

        • Bren20 on 03/11/2014 - 10:28

          Nope, I don't know CPR, but I can drive a manual so I feel I'm doing my bit for community safety ;)

        • [Deactivated] on 03/11/2014 - 15:01

          Extra maybe. I'm waiting for confirmation from the cops that you have no suburban dragracing+doughnut priors. No wink+smiley "I'm doing my bit for community safety" sticker on your licence 'til then, dinna89…

  • pookie on 20/10/2014 - 17:32
    +4

    Get her a Charade 3cyl. It be safe to learn with :)

    But BEWARE….trying to teach a family member, especially your missus to drive a manual is playing with fire :/

    Good luck..

    Pookie

  • Karlos101 on 21/10/2014 - 07:13

    Either that or buy her a $1000 banger she can crunch the crap out of. But sounds like the driving instructor is the go.

  • Geewhizz on 03/11/2014 - 06:46

    For the stress it will save you,and subsequently, her, definitely go with the driving instructor. It will be money well spent.

  • [Deactivated] on 03/11/2014 - 07:09

    Hold on, hold on, your wife calls you esquire?

    • esq on 03/11/2014 - 11:41

      She calls me all sorts of things ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

  • Logical on 03/11/2014 - 12:49

    You can get a rental car for about $29 per day. A few hours a day and she will either learn to use Manual gears or you end up divorcing over the arguments/ stress/ heartaches.

    • Geewhizz on 04/11/2014 - 07:32

      I don't think L drivers are allowed to drive hire cars.

  • Davey on 14/11/2014 - 14:48

    Thank God for auto gears…..have had to drive manuals for 50 plus years so my three cars now are manual. Two 4x4 s and wagon

  • Medrad on 18/11/2014 - 16:02

    Seriously bad idea, manual learning driver wanting a s2000 or a MR2.

    If she wants to learn manual, get a daily car in manual, let her drive for a few years.
    If she wants a faster small car in auto, get a Mazda SP23 (with semi-manual gear shift) or a Golf with flappy paddles. It'll be like driving a manual but without the pain of stalling or the cost of learning.

    Also, $55 an hour is not expensive for manual driving lessons when you're talking sports-car. Judging by your comments, she's not a great driver. No amount of money is too much for lessons if she's as bad as you say she is.

    Best learning experience for manuals, large open car parks like at a Footy oval or big open paddocks.

    Enjoy your pain.

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