<p>Thanks for the added tips. Question to somemom – how do you get the car to move if you do not tap (even lightly) on the gas pedal? Be on a slight slope?!?</p>
<p>I drove manual transmissions for many years but years of running and tennis took a toll on my knees (and sometimes ankles and feet). The other annoying thing about a manual was driving up a hill with stop and go traffic - the old Southeast Expressway in Boston in particular.</p>
<p>Some heavier cars have a stiffer clutch. I found shifting pretty easy on small Audis and BMWs. Shifting on larger cars required more precision.</p>
<p>It’s been a year or two since we read that trip and tried it with DD, but if you release the clutch extremely slowly, you can finesse a start in first. It was a trick that worked quite well for DD. I would imagine a tiny incline would help a bit.</p>
<p>Just got back from first lesson and it was a success! I think the hardest part in L.A. is finding practice space, so I did a google map aerial search and found two good spots – adjunct college next to Santa Monica Airport and the Inglewood Forum parking lot. Chose the latter, since my son needed a Titos Taco fix and it was on the way in Culver City.</p>
<p>Got him familiar with the gears, the pedals, the emergency brake, and the importance of neutral. He got up to third this time around. He loved it! No stop, stall, hit the windshield AT ALL. He just GOT IT. I was completely impressed!</p>
<p>Next week we’ll try 4th & reverse. Then I’ll take him to drive the cemetery to get in some off road hills.</p>
<p>He’ll get it. The army trains lots of kids that age to drive stick for their vehicles. It takes a little time to get used to it, but he will get it. My son got a great deal on a stick shift car which is why he has one.</p>
<p>I just bought a used Saturn from a local dealership that is manual. Good deal on it because no one wanted a “stick”. Their loss was my gain. It really makes you pay attention when driving. No multi-tasking. Will try to teach S2 on it.</p>
<p>Driving a standard is becoming a lost art … S only knows two other kids at school who know how to drive one. My first car, a Mustang II that I got as a HS senior, was a standard - I think I stalled it out three times the first time I drove it to school. Our Chevy S-10, which S usually drives, is a standard and I taught him to start on hills in a friend’s subdivision. Here in West Virginia, that’s a vital skill.</p>