Very funny story!

 

I can't think of a worse car to teach anyone how to drive a stick
With the electronic throttle so disconnected to the engine, the hydraulic cutch with the delay valve and all the hard to replace sheet metal one has towonder if it is a good idea.
NOTE; the Blue book value ratio vrs repair cost of the Crossfire is so bad that a decent ding means the adjuster writes a total loss!

You have cahones!

I would teach non mechanical students in my '95 Dodge Cummins Pickup. They can't kill the engine and will destroy whatever they run into. The truck is so battle scarred now it would not know the difference.

And neither would my insurance agent.

Very funny story. Can't wait for the next chapter.


roadster with a stick

 

Great stories!

I learned to drive a stick in my dad's '73 Satellite with a 440 six-pack and 4-speed pistol grip. I remember so clearly dad putting a cup of coffee on the trans tunnel and telling me.... "Don't you dare spill my coffee!"

I didn't spill the coffee, but I also didn't do the clutch any good.

 

My dad taught me how to drive a manual on a '94 Dodge Ram 3500 dually with the Cummins diesel engine. It was geared really low so it was good to learn on. However, he parked it on a hill and told me if I stalled I could never drive again (I was 12 so I believed him). I did not stall but dropped the clutch and spun the rear wheels a little. We had a lot of land so I had been driving automatic cars by myself since I was 10.

The main reason I did not buy an SRT was because it did not have a manual, and living just 2 hours north of the Dragon you HAVE to have a manual on these roads.

 

Of course. Many of us suffered that dilemma.

I learned the manual shift on an Allis Chambers tractor at the age fo 6. Two clutch pedals and two separate pedals to operate the questionable brakes.

I was driving the REO around the farm at 9 and the "Fastback" inline 8 Pontiac Chieftain to town at 11.

Grandpa didn't think an automatic had any purpose on the farm. He died in 1982, having never owned one.

roadster with a stick

 

My first car had a manual gearbox, all my friend's bought automatics. They all wanted me to teach them how to drive stick, and I thought one was going to break the thing he was so inept - I made him stop and get out from behind the wheel. One of my friend's girlfriend wanted me to teach her too, so I figured I'd give it a go. She was a natural! Not a single lurch, clunk, gear crash or anything like it. Yeah, the guys weren't too happy about that.

 

I learned to drive a stick on a Ford F450 pulling a hydro-mulch trailer. The truck also had manual steering. I was working a summer landscaping job while in college. Talk about a tough way to learn to drive a stick.

 

I have NEVER owned an automatic in my life till the Roadster.

I still sometimes wish I'd bought a stick, but the two XF's with sticks I drove this summer were just WEIRD to drive. Now I know why.

Besides, the priority was a RED ROADSTER with LOW MILES. Mission accomplished.

 

I taught two 16 year old girls to drive a stick. The first was my wife to be in my brand new '66 Fairlane. This was painful but true love conquers all. 23 years later I got to teach our daughter in an '85 Mustang GT. This time I got to yell when the failings got to be too painful.

I can remember having something very similar to the described conversation, twice.

 

Back in the late fifties, a friend of mine was given a pre-war car. Excited, licensed and insured he had his father give him his very first driving lesson.
Once around the block in first gear and it was time to get into second gear, losing control of his brain he pushed the gas pedal to the floor instead of the clutch and froze. His father sensing pending doom grabbed the steering wheel to yank the car back on track, the steering wheel broke of at the spokes leaving the car to carry on up the curb where it glanced against a brick wall. The car continued, still at full gas, to cross a lawn until it ran into a hydro pole dead center in the grill.
His father never said a word, opened the car door and walked home still carrying the steering wheel. My friend sat there stunned, ignoring the man complaining about his cracked wall, finally in a daze he left the scene as well. The car went to the wreckers less than an hour after he drove it for the first time.
My friend finally told me this tale after I had sworn not to laugh. He continued to tell me the tale as I rolled on the floor laughing in agony. This story is true, there is more to it but the basic facts are here.
I doubt that the speeds exceeded 10 mph and no one was hurt other than a little bruising.
My wife asked me to teach her to drive the Crossfire, she's still waiting.

 

[quote=blackcrossfire07]My wife hates my crossfire and I think it is because she never drove it because she can't drive a stick. She has been pressuring me to let her drive it so she can learn to drive a stick but I won't teach her on my car. quote]

I always use the autostick to shift when the wife is in the car(s).
She thinks it's a "shift" car and doesn't want to drive it!

 

(I always use the autostick to shift when the wife is in the car(s).
She thinks it's a "shift" car and doesn't want to drive it! )



I'm calling your wife!!!

 

23 year old daughter learned on my 2002 Vue.
19 year old son learned on his 2007 Crossfire (but had driven my Audi A6 and roadster).
17 year old daughter learned on her 2003 Audi A4 MT6 (but had driven my Audi A6).

You got away easy with the abuse they gave you. I put up with crying, stalling (especially when I found a steep driveway and attempted to teach the youngest to start on a hill), yelling, etc.

But all three are very competent drivers and none of them would trade their standard for an automatic ever. They consider it a badge of honor that they can drive what most of their friends cannot. And many times my oldest was the designated driver because she was the only one who could drive a stick.

 

Hear! Hear! Excellente'

 

I first learned to drive a stick on my brothers middle 60's WV Karmann Ghia. It was easy to learn on that car. Tought my wife to drive a stick ( before we were married ) by taking her out of town, showing her how to operate it then after she was done crying told her the only way we will get back is if she drove it back. Seemed to work. Now she loves driving a manual esp. the Crossfire.

 

That is just awesome

 

Sooo glad my girlfriend learned to drive manual before I did.

Still don't trust her completely with my crossfire though. ;-)

She's a very competent driver, just that I don't trust anyone besides my Grandfather with it.

Can't wait til I have to teach my kids how to drive stick, and they WILL learn. It's essential to life and to having a lot of fun while driving.

Good tip on the designated driver thing, Goldwing. I'll remember that for later.