teaching stick shift

[Action Jackson]

Well, you can't beat auto for a busy rushour in the city !

It's the non-rush hour times that I'm glad I don't drive an auto anymore.

[Dartman]

My first car was a 42 ford Jeep and my second was a 41 military dodge 1/2 ton pickup/Power Wagon. I learned to shift mostly on the Dodge. It was a full on crash box with no syncros, If you didn't double clutch you didn't shift.
I could down and upshift easily by the time it left me, I was still getting the hang of hills but with a granny gear plus LOW army gears it was easier
I just went out and drove it.
Learning to syncronize everything is the hard part once you've got a feel for what your car wants and how it pulls your there. Probably best to do the parking lot thing at first for sure, cement doesn't dent or bleed
The cars I drive all have autos and I prefer them for normal driving. The truck was meant to be beat on, manhandled, and shot at. It was built to work and autos weren't really an option then, you learned to drive not point.

[jase]

...I don't understand why the rest of the world seems to like autos so much...

Because we crazy Americans need both hands to simultaneously talk on the cellular phone, comb our hair, put on makeup, eat, drink, change CDs/tapes, read books/newspapers/magazines/maps, give "the finger" to an obnoxious driver, brush our teeth, and shave.

Do you really think that we could do all of that and shift gears as well? Be serious!

lmao.

Hmmm. Comb hair and brush teeth. See, that's how we limeys get away with manuals -- don't do those two

Has to be said I was trying to eat a sandwich and talk on the "mobile" phone today whilst driving -- and of course managed to badly crunch the gearbox at 70mph changing into 5th when my oily sandwich-hand slipped off the gearstick