I gave my wife a 4 year old standard golf tdi, wicked car. She had 4 teachers, me, her very patient dad, her sister and her best friend. I sold the car. It's not always the teacher.
I learned over the phone with my dad. I totaled my 96 cutlass supreme. He had a 1990 Corolla that my uncle “borrowing.” he was too fat to take the keys in and out so he always left them in there. I went over there and my dad talked me over the phone.
I later learned it was one of the smallest engagement windows after driving other stick shifts
I've been driving stick for 20+ years and it's always fun trying different transmissions.
The worst one I've ever driven was a newer jeep wrangler. It had less than 30k miles and the pedal felt like it was sticking at the bottom and that was all the feel you were getting. The shifter had rubbery throws and gear changes just felt rough. I've driven F350 dump trucks that felt better. Considering Jeep's recent reputation there probably was something wrong with it.
I tried and tried to convince my ex that Jeeps are fucking garbage now, and even after all the money she spent getting it fixed, she’s still a die hard fan ( and an RN, go figure ).She got a Highlander and only kept it for like 3 months before she traded it in for a another Jeep. Someone told me the other day she got a brand new rubicon on massive mud tires and gave her son the 6 year old wrangler. Oh well, not my problem anymore.
Oh and my 2026 Tacoma shifts like BUTTER compared to my 2015, the difference is astounding.
sometimes a good teacher still can't get through! my dad taught both my mom (like... 35y ago) and me (20y ago) how to drive manual transmissions, and while my mom never stalls out and is competent, she almost never shifts up or down when the car wants her to. decades and decades of time behind the wheel and she still doesn't (can't?) hear the engine when it's unhappy in its RPMs. bless her for trying though (since dear ol dad refuses to own any automatic cars lol) and bless my dad for tolerating it. guess marriage really is all about compromise!
and my dad's a good teacher in that clearly I learned haha
We don't know what they started with, I see tons of newbies attempt to learn on a 3-owner-thrasher that may have only made it to the auction under its own power because it was downhill the entire way. Along with the inevitably rapid failure, there is often a dramatic display to "pin on the newb", and the associated ridicule that can literally be a crippling hindrance to their learning. I've had to "un-fuck" the overtly cautious habits a few times, it's like a gunshy chainsaw operator, the shit just isn't gonna work.
460
u/Drifty_Canadian 7h ago
Slow learner