How best to teach my daughter to drive a Miata

In article >, Lanny
Chambers > wrote:

> In article >,
> "nosfatsug" > wrote:
>
> > Any advice to help her get the feel of the clutch and engine?
>
> Take her to an empty parking lot with a moderate slope. Her mission is
> to hold the car on the slope by slipping the clutch, eventually making
> it creep forward and back a couple of feet at a time, without using the
> brakes, under complete control...while staying under 1500 rpm. Don't
> worry about the clutch--you can tell her to take a break if it starts
> smelling funny. You might let her know that most drivers NEVER learn how
> to do this, even though it's not particularly difficult. It just takes a
> little practice.
>
> Explain the goal, then get out of the car and leave her alone until
> she's ready to quit. Just go away, don't even hang around to watch. If
> she doesn't master it the first outing, don't tell her what she was
> doing wrong--she knows, and just needs more practice. Motivation is
> usually a larger issue than instruction; kids are just as smart as
> adults, and perfectly capable of teaching themselves such simple tasks
> as driving a manual transmission. Avoid criticism and embarrassment, and
> she'll do the rest on her own. Probably in under five minutes.

This will work, but I have done it a little differently with a wife and
two sons.

I always start them out in a flat place. Put car in neutral, emergency
brake on. Explain the clutch and gears, then with the emergency brake
still on, put it in gear and with no gas release the clutch slowly
until the engine starts to stall. This helps them find the point where
the clutch starts to engage. Repeat a few times without gas till they
can make the engine lug and then depress the clutch again smoothly.

Then they are ready to try it with the gas, and the emergency off.
Usually they can get it then with very little trouble. I keep them on
the flat and have them practice starting slowly, quickly, and fast till
they are pretty smooth. Hills come when they are comfortable with
starting at any pace requested on the flat. Then they are ready to
master finding that clutch engage point quickly and transferring from
brake to gas to start up a hill.

I agree with no criticism and embarrassment, but encouragement and
hints can help them learn faster. Do not raise your voice, do not get
excited or complain about damage. Just question them about what they
think happened and what they think went wrong. Guide them, do not push
them.

I do not believe in slipping the clutch if at all possible. The goal is
clutch depressed, or engaged only. The time spent in between should be
as quick and smooth as possible. Slipping the clutch is only an
effective technique in very few situations to moderate torque to the
wheels - usually only when stuck in snow or sand. Learning the sound of
the engine in relation to load and speed will get you to master the
clutch gas equation, and then teach you how to maintain a consistent
speed without cruise control.

You're cruel Mal ........ but I like the way you think ;-)

Chris
99BBB

"Mal Osborne" > wrote in message
...
> Are you sure that is a good car to learn to drive in? Being one of the
> best handing & easiest to drive cars ever made, once you daughter is used
> to it, she will come to grief driving almost anything else! It's also
> smaller & has better visibility than almsot anything esle. I recently
> taugth my son to drive, we started out in an 89 Hyundai Excel.
>
>
> "nosfatsug" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Well, the time has come and I am now teaching my daughter to drive my
>> Miata. She quickly picked up the whole concept of a manual transmission
>> and was out on the open roads after a short practice session in a parking
>> lot. As with all new drivers to a manual transmission, the most
>> challenging thing for her is the balance between accelerator and clutch
>> when taking off from a stop (e.g., somewhere between stalling the engine
>> and spinning the rear tires). Any advice to help her get the feel of the
>> clutch and engine?
>>
>> Gus (91 BRG)
>>
>

"Mal wrote
> Are you sure that is a good car to learn to drive in?

My daughter already knows how to drive and understands the difference
between a real car like the Miata and everything else that is just
transportation. She hasn't had the chance to learn to drive a manual since
until recently I've been driving it to work every day. Actually, if she
learns the joy of driving a Miata, is there anything more important that I
can pass on to the next generation? My dad taught me the joy of a good
sports car so why shouldn't I do the same with my daughter?

Gus (91 BRG)

Lanny wrote

> Take her to an empty parking lot with a moderate slope. Her mission is
> to hold the car on the slope by slipping the clutch, eventually making
> it creep forward and back a couple of feet at a time, without using the
> brakes, under complete control...while staying under 1500 rpm.

Great advice. We started on a flat parking lot, moved up to relatively flat
streets and then moved to a street with a hill where I taught her how to use
the parking brake to keep from rolling backwards. Next time out, I'll give
a go at having her try to hold the car on the hill without using the brake.

> Don't worry about the clutch--you can tell her to take a break if it
> starts smelling funny.

We've already been there and done that (she got a good smell of burnt clutch
while practicing on a hill). I also did a good job of not wincing and
being supportive since I figure I've got a good 70k miles on the clutch and
so if I have to replace it a little sooner, no big deal. Actually, you
should have heard me congratulate her on her first burnout taking off from a
stop sign on the first day.

Anyway, thanks to all for the supportive and positive advice. I think we
are only one session away from me letting her head off on her own, at least
for the drive to school and back.

Gus (91 BRG)

"Raising another Miata lover the only way I know how, by letting her
experience the pleasure first hand"

I heard something on Car Talk that worked very well for both my kids. On a
level surface, have her start using only the clutch, no gas at all beyond
idle. A few (well maybe more than a few) runs through that drill and she
knows what to do the gas.


"nosfatsug" > wrote in message
...
> Well, the time has come and I am now teaching my daughter to drive my
> Miata. She quickly picked up the whole concept of a manual transmission
> and was out on the open roads after a short practice session in a parking
> lot. As with all new drivers to a manual transmission, the most
> challenging thing for her is the balance between accelerator and clutch
> when taking off from a stop (e.g., somewhere between stalling the engine
> and spinning the rear tires). Any advice to help her get the feel of the
> clutch and engine?
>
> Gus (91 BRG)
>

Lanny hits another homerun...

When Dad taught me to drive those (too) many moons ago, it was in a
'76 Honda Civic on a driveway with about a 10-15 degree slope. We
spent about half an hour doing nothing more than, "edge it forward,
let it back" using only clutch and accelerator.

After the half hour he asked, "have you adjusted your mirrors?" When
I responded to the affirmative, he said, "Let's go shopping, you're
driving." And off we went to buy a Holley 750 for the truck...

In the decades since, I think I've only stalled on a hill twice.

- L




On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 04:55:30 GMT, Lanny Chambers
> wrote:

>In article >,
> "nosfatsug" > wrote:
>
>> Any advice to help her get the feel of the clutch and engine?
>
>Take her to an empty parking lot with a moderate slope. Her mission is
>to hold the car on the slope by slipping the clutch, eventually making
>it creep forward and back a couple of feet at a time, without using the
>brakes, under complete control...while staying under 1500 rpm. Don't
>worry about the clutch--you can tell her to take a break if it starts
>smelling funny. You might let her know that most drivers NEVER learn how
>to do this, even though it's not particularly difficult. It just takes a
>little practice.
>
>Explain the goal, then get out of the car and leave her alone until
>she's ready to quit. Just go away, don't even hang around to watch. If
>she doesn't master it the first outing, don't tell her what she was
>doing wrong--she knows, and just needs more practice. Motivation is
>usually a larger issue than instruction; kids are just as smart as
>adults, and perfectly capable of teaching themselves such simple tasks
>as driving a manual transmission. Avoid criticism and embarrassment, and
>she'll do the rest on her own. Probably in under five minutes.

'97 STO, "Chouki"

// Change TEJAS to TX to reply via eMail //

In article >,
"nosfatsug" > wrote:

> We started on a flat parking lot, moved up to relatively flat
> streets and then moved to a street with a hill where I taught her how to use
> the parking brake to keep from rolling backwards. Next time out, I'll give
> a go at having her try to hold the car on the hill without using the brake.

Good plan, Gus. Once she can do that, her confidence will soar. No more
fear of hill starts.

Your daughter's a lucky girl...and you're a lucky dad.

>
> "Raising another Miata lover the only way I know how, by letting her
> experience the pleasure first hand"

You've got it!

Chris
99BBB

>
>

nosfatsug wrote:
> Ken and Chris, Thanks for the advice. I couldn't agree with you
> more. I survived teaching my wife to drive a 3 speed 68 Montigo back
> in college after her father gave up. The best part was the big hill
> on the way into campus with the stop light at the top. She almost
> needed both feet to push in the clutch. 25 years later we are still
> married and while she prefers an automatic, she drives a stick just
> fine.

Sometimes I take it for granted that my SO actually *prefers* a manual
transmission to an automatic. I really like her for that.

<snip>

--
tooloud
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L Bader wrote:
> Lanny hits another homerun...
>
> When Dad taught me to drive those (too) many moons ago, it was in a
> '76 Honda Civic on a driveway with about a 10-15 degree slope. We
> spent about half an hour doing nothing more than, "edge it forward,
> let it back" using only clutch and accelerator.
>
> After the half hour he asked, "have you adjusted your mirrors?" When
> I responded to the affirmative, he said, "Let's go shopping, you're
> driving." And off we went to buy a Holley 750 for the truck...

After doing that to that poor Honda for 30 minutes, I'd have driven it to
get a new clutch kit.

<snip>

--
tooloud
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