Guess who learned how to drive a 5 speed!?

[PunkinBug]

(xposted)
Yeah, thats right. Me.

And just to emphasize how exciting this is for me (NONE of my friends get this), let me list my previous stick driving experiences.

1. 1990 F150- The first stick I ever drove, and the first car I ever drove. I was 15 or 16, and my stepdad took me out. It was fourth of July, and on the way home, I had bottlerockets shot at me for over five miles.

The next summer, my parents were on vacation and we were having one of those storms in the midwest that like to uproot trees. The safest place for the cars was on the side of the house that wasnt being pummelled by wind, so I had to move the truck from in front of the garage (full of tractor equipment and hornets nests, not big enough for a car) to the side of the house, about 15 feet. I was in drivers ed and despite begging to be taught to drive a manual exclusively I had been encouraged to learn on an automatic. However, I had my book. It wasnt very explanative however, and it took me about 30 minutes to move it... purely by getting it to buck forwards (never actually driving it, just killing it repeatedly). It bucked so hard my friend split his head open on the dashboard.

2. 86 Mustang- My now-husband then-boyfriend agreed to let me try to drive his car home. I made it halfway there, pulled up the e brake to keep myself from rolling, and pulled the e-brake completely off the car. Jim drove it the rest of the way home, sparks flying out the back.

3. 90's Geo Tracker- I wanted to borrow my friends' husbands car to go get Jim from a camp he was working at. She told me she could teach me how to drive it. Turns out, she didn't know either. When it came to starting up a hill in the only left turn lane, I just couldnt do it. More and more people piled behind me and despite having the hazards on and OBVIOUSLY killing it, they kept honking instead of going around me. I got more and more frazzled until I finally GOT OUT of the car and freaked out on everyone behind me, waving my hands and flipping them the bird. Of course, then they all found a way around me. We ended up pushing it up the hill (Two 17 year old girls) and SOMEHOW got it back to her house.

4. Lulu- Jim let me try to drive the Beetle sometime last year, in St. Louis. I did pretty good for a while, then killed it several times and couldnt take him grinding his teeth anymore.

FINALLY this weekend I was up to trying again. He took me around the block once and then I kicked him out and took a friend with me who was lighthearted and easygoing. I made it down the street and through a drivethrough (with three other people!) without killing it. I ended up driving it about 6 hours that day, and killing it 5 times. All from a stop, with people getting impatient. I understand the mechanics of it now, just need more time under my belt to be comfortable with starting from a stop in a hurry. That night I went and picked Jim up from a party and drove the whole time without commentary.

YAY! Its a HUGE accomplishment for me, I have longed to learn for YEARS (obviously) and had a lot of bad experiences that just got me nervous, but Im a little older (If a little means 5 years) and a little less tense and I think within a week or two I should be able to drive my beetle full-time (Much to Jim's delight, who will be enjoying the TDI until I run out of gas). Its opened up a whole new world for me, I have been looking at aircooleds since I always wanted one but never wanted to wreck one, and I found two that I really like. SInce I just got a new job, I might be able to get one. Is it sacrilige to mention aircooleds here? ROFL

I'm just so excited to be able to finally drive Lulu whenever I want to! YAYYYY!!! Anyone else learn to drive a stick in a new beetle?

[dnyed]

You picked the right 5-speed. The VW 5-speed is the easiest manual tranny to drive. My newly licensed 16 year old niece picked it up before the end of short lane she lives on.

I learned on a '65 Chevy pickup with the "granny" low. If I can drive that thing, I can drive anything!


Congratulations!

[Smileybug]

I had learned to drive on an auto but once I got my bug, I had to learn to drive stick! And I'm so thankful I learned on that. It was so forgiving and easy to drive. Now that I've gone manual transmission, I'll never drive auto again!

Now that i've learned, I realize I can drive pretty much anything. My bf's car is a manual and one weekend when I was visiting him, he got really sick (nasty nasty 24 hour stomach bug) and we were staying at his dads house but were at his dorm at the time. So I had to drive his car for him since he could barely sit upright. I'll tell you, nervewracking as anything (didnt want him to feel worse!) but it was easy once I got it moving (I had never driven another stick since I learned on my car so I wasnt sure how to transition between different ones). If I didn't know stick, it would have been a really bad night.

[Lnzbug]

That's great! I learned on my sister in laws Honda civic. It was in South Haven Michigan and I remember the slight incline at one street scared the heck out of me. We kept going around the block till I got the hang of it. It only took about 4 tries. Luckily no one was behind me till the fourth time. I remember John saying, It's ok, you can do it. They're far enough behind you. When I did it I was so proud.

[Dorado]

Wow! That's a story of perseverance. Thanks for sharing and Congrats.

I taught my wife after we got the bug. It the first ever manual transmission car for both, so the first few months I learned to drive it (I would go out only at night or on weekends and stick to the same roads going around and around). After a year I told my wife that she could learn too because she had been riding with me and had been getting the feel of it and the sound of it.

So a year later I took her for 5-6 Sunday mornings at a big empty parking lot. I just taught 1st and 2nd, simulating a stop sign, going around, coming to a stop, then going around, etc. It went well on those sessions, but afterwards she was afraid to try on the road. I would say that she knew already what she needed to know, but to no avail.

So another year later, we were in the car with a friend of hers who heard that she had learned on a parking lot but was not driving it on the road. The friend insisted right then that she take the wheel. She did. And yada, yada, yada, now I hardly get to drive the bug!

I recommend going out to practice when there is little traffic, and sticking to a very well known route that has variety of terrain. Go around your route several times, looking to improve the timing and selection of gears for each curve, each hill, etc. The key to getting better is to make it predictable and enjoyable.

[FlwrPwer]

I learned how to drive stick on my beetle. In fact, I couldnt even drive him home from the dealer or test drive him. My dad had to do all the for me because...well, i couldnt drive him

It took my sister's boyfriend 3 hours of driving around in circles in my development to let me out of the neighborhood. When we finally went driving, i had to downshift quickly and I hadnt learned that yet. Which made it very interesting.

Needless to say, I drove him to work 2 days after I had him...I still couldnt drive him the first day and I've been driving him ever since. I will never go back to an automatic car.

[Smileybug]

I definately echo the sticking to the same roads thing while you learn. Thats what I did. I learned basic starting and stopping and getting up to 2nd in the community college parking lot by my house. After I got that down, my dad took me out on the road, more or less. We live by a major highway and there are service roads that run along it that come back around to the main road in town so I drove the service roads around and around and around, getting it up to 4th gear on them and there were plenty of stops and turns. It definately helped.

[noR]

Congratulations PunkinBug!

I'm glad you persevered and won out.

Now there's no car or truck you can't drive.

[CaptainXeroid]

My parents only had automatic cars because my mom never learned.

My first encounter with a manual transmission was leaving a party in a friend's 4sp. early 1970's Beetle. Someone tossed me the keys, I cranked it up, we lunged forward, and one of the other guys told me to push in the clutch. Clutch...what' s clutch I asked. They talked me through it & we all made it home safely.

When RK & I first started dating, she had an Olds Firenza 4sp., so I got to practice on that. Then we had a Dodge 024, Dodge Neon, and now the Jetta with that extra pedal on the left.

ATL traffic is MURDER on a clutch and the left leg, but when the roads open up, having that extra control of shifting gears yourself really makes driving more fun.

Congrats Punkin!! Now you just need to make sure you drive it often enough to stay sharp.

[bluebeetlebabe]

yes my ex fiance let me learn to drive a 5 speed in his 2001 1.8t!! this was about 4-5 years ago. and now I drive my 2000 1.8t everyday I love it!! lol boy it sure was fun learning in his car though!!

[dnyed]

My niece had learned on our 2003 TDI, Betel. Later on, I let her drive my 6-speed Turbo S.......mistake. I found out later, that she had it up to over 100mph. Of course, I confronted her, told her I still loved her, and said she will never drive it again. She apologized, with the disclaimer that it was too much fun, (true) and said she will drive safely from then on.

She now has her own manual VW, here she is!

[ilpotosino]

i learned to drive in stick actually stick its very common in Mexico

[LadybugEwa]

I first drove a stick when I was 6. That story's floating around somewhere on the Org but I guess no-one believed me at the time. Basically I prevented a huge meltdown between my parents after 6 months of driving lessons my dad gave my mom with me in the back seat. I could never imagine driving anything else.
I heartily congratulate you on your accomplishment, PunkinBug. The more you practice, the more fun it will be. Best practice, is to take off uphill every day at least once, and don't be afraid to give it more gas. You learn to ignore the rude people behind you, but I grant you, that takes a lot of practice too.

[FarrisK]

Great story! I learned to drive a stick when I was about 10 (the first time) on my dad's Golden Toyota Tercel (The Nugget... not of gold ).

Anyways, about 5 years later, my dad got a Cabriolet with the intention of it being mine when I turned 16. I wound up learning everything after 2nd gear on that. (Man, do I miss it...)

Between that car and my Plat'Beetle, I drove a 5spd Toyota Pickup. Piece of junk, lemme tell ya. I hated that transmission. But I digress.

I LOVE my NB's tranny. So smooth, even for a diesel!