Teaching to drive stick

[Gotch]

So oldest boy, now 18, can drive my xgen just fine. Youngest, just turned 16, is having issues with the light clutch and engagement point. Mostly stalling... I did have him practice using no throttle at all, takeoffs in 1st. He did pretty good. But when we go to adding throttle... bucking and stalls. This was on TSP Stage 1, map 1 (pretty close to stock). Had a brain fart this morning and I’m going to make a custom tune for him to learn the basics. I never liked what drob set as idle, it is too low, so I’m starting at idle setting of 765rpm and see what happens. Hopefully today’s lesson goes better. Once going, youngest is fine, it’s just the takeoff, which is the hardest to master.

I should add that oldest boy learned on a 9th gen Si, which had a very distinctive engagement point.

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[Andre80]

show them how a clutch works, a drawing a movie

must understand what he is doing with his foot

 

[casprog]

The way I learned stick was, long ago there was a Porsche Boxster I wanted in downtown LA. I practiced for about 5 minutes with my sisters car the night before (all I was allowed), then drove 60 miles the next day to pick it up. Drove stop and go quite a bit as you can imagine LA traffic would be... I got her home : )

From my experience, eventually it just clicks with muscle memory, the key is having that click prior to car damage : P I'm sure it will be fine with your oversight and guidance.

 

[Gotch]

Yes, muscle memory is key. I’m thinking he is having issues due to the stupid low idle.? So I designed a custom tune. If it works out I’ll post settings (KTuner basemaps) if not, I’ll raise the idle speed to 4K rpm... lol!

 

[Gotch]

show them how a clutch works, a drawing a movie

must understand what he is doing with his foot

My foot is going to be up his ass if he doesn’t stop stalling it....

 

[SDAlexander8]

Yes, muscle memory is key. I’m thinking he is having issues due to the stupid low idle.? So I designed a custom tune. If it works out I’ll post settings (KTuner basemaps) if not, I’ll raise the idle speed to 4K rpm... lol!

Tell him to rev it to 2k and hold it there, then let the clutch out. Rather than pressing the gas and releasing the pedal at the same time. There are some very good videos on youtube of how a a standard transmission works. Understanding the mechanical components really helped me out when learning.
The revs need to match the speed of the transmission when the clutch is released all the way to get into first with no jerking. Understanding gearing really made it click for me.

 

[Gotch]

Ya, I’ve been driving standard for 45 yrs... he did much better today...zero stalls and only 1 shudder. The tune I made just for training made a complete difference for him. He was happy and had a great time driving in the countryside. I love seeing a smile vs frustration. The tune is all it took to make a huge difference. That he was so successful after not driving for 3 weeks makes me a proud dad.

 

[DRuby]

If your fella can get the car moving in 1st, with nothing except the idle revs and the clutch fully engaged, he should be able to rev it up.

One other trick - as long as he's in a safe area like a wide open parking field, maybe get out of the car and let him go it alone. Bring a beach chair and keep checking you phone with just one eye on his progress.

Important tip: A long press on the start button shuts the car but keeps steering active.

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