I might need marriage counseling after yesterday...

I took my wife out yesterday and did my "best" to show her how to drive a stick shift. After about 20 minutes - I figured out that marriage counseling would be cheaper than a new clutch.

I feel your pain. My wife learned to drive a 4 speed when we were in college together. I had a 1960 Bug-eye sprite. I was unable to drive back to campus due to an over indulgence in alcohol. She ground a few gears at first, but picked it up quickly.That was in 1969/70 first time she ever drove the car.

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Buy a $1k Honduh and sell it back after you're done with it. That's what I did.

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This. A lot cheaper than counseling and you can avoid the abyss. It will be worth the effort.

My wife won't even give it a try, which I suppose is a good thing.

Every guy who has ever taught the women in their lives to drive a MT can relate ... but stick with it and she will love you for teaching her. I taught both my wife and daughter to drive a MT ... my wife in a VW GTI and my daughter in a VW Beetle. They are both very proud today to boast how they can handle an MT ... but my wife still won't drive my MT 911 4S.

My wife has been driving MT for a long time, so no issue there. I rented a Toyata Versa with a stick to teach my kids how to drive a MT. Cosy $40 for the day, a lot less than a Porsche clutch Also much easier to learn on, lighter clutch and a lot less power

I have four kids (all grown and gone). I told each one that if they did the best they could do in school, stayed away from drugs and alcohol I would buy them a car for their 16th birthday. All four kids got cars and each one was a manual transmission. Teaching a 16 year old to drive and to drive a stick was a challenge. But, I have some great memories from the experience. One of the daughters got stopped by a police officer when she stalled out at a red light. The officer approached and immediately figured out what we were doing. I told him we all went thought this while learning to drive a stick. He stated, "not me, I never learned to drive one". It is a dying art with the new generation.

My wife told me 2 or 3 times to "stop yelling at me..." I said I was not YELLING I was just using a loud voice... What would you have done, if you saw your car being shifted from 1st - to 2nd then to 5th gear... Also, I can't tell you how many times she asked "which one is the clutch and which one is the brake..."

My Dad was teaching my Mum to drive a Lambretta scooter back in the 50's. Pushed her off so she got up to speed then they found out stopping and braking had not been discussed - guess who needed marriage guidance then. O_Sr

My SO is scared she is going to wreck the car, so she has no interest in learning. Problem solved

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I waited until my kid had been driving for about a year before driving a MT. I figured a new driver has enough to deal with without adding in shifting

First car was an autostick VW Bug. So I learned the motion and process of shifting but didn't have a clutch to worry about. Then I got an '83 GTi and learned how to deal with a real clutch in that one. It was still a process but eventually got the hang of it. Now I don't even think about it when driving. Hope my daughter will let me teach her, my wife thinks I won't have patience with her so she hasn't even taken me up on my offer of a lesson. But when the time comes I'll probably just buy or rent a beater and teach on that.

Instead of buying a $1K manual beater, spend the $1,000 on a vacation to Cozumel and rent a crapbox car for a week. Your wife can practice the manual transmission, and you'll have a designated driver to haul you between restaurants, snorkleing spots, and your hotel. Win/win.

Man, I tried this once.

I taught my wife to drive a stick when she was 8 months pregnant. Driving my then new 1981 Fiat Brava. She still prefers a stick to this day.

Well I had my First wife learn to drive a stick shift on my Triumph GT-6. At a red light on a small incline she could not drop the clutch without choking the engine. She just got out and walked away leaving the car there. Well I paid for a driving school. Still got divorced.She now drives a BMW M3 manual transmission.

Friends in college almost came to divorce over this very thing. In their case, she could drive a manual, he could not. Wife & I have same dilemma. I prefer to find a lonely road/empty parking lot & practice myself with the wife's flappy paddles (double entendre not intended!) in her Benz. T

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Just once.

For approximately 7 horrifying minutes I attempted to teach the were wife how to drive a 300ZX I owned at that time. That was 15 years ago. She is still mad at me. I like the rental car idea.

I'm gonna go the conzumel route or $1k Honda. I can relate though via two different experiences. I taught my wife to snowboard and will never teach anyone else again. (A Jamaican teaching a mainer how to snowboard) I also let her drive when we were in Jamaica and I was tired. After almost going over the cliffs multiple times. I as so pumped up on adrenaline I took back over.

5CHN3LL: +Cozumel except for too many Motos driving crazy. We had a crapbox AT and I couldn't get the wife to drive. Besides she hates AT cars anyway. Still won't try to drive the 911. Too fast she says.

So, my wife taught ME to drive stick. On her Audi GT Quattro. Then we had kids and she won't drive the 996. She won't even drive faster than 60mph on the highway. Go figure.

I tried to teach my wife(then girlfriend) how to drive stick on an old Toyota that I owned...to no avail. I think it was all my fault, however, as my wife is no slouch athletically. Worked out in the end for me though as she was never able to drive any of my multiple stick shift sports cars...although I have to admit, it would be a turn on to see her successfully drive a stick!

The best thing is to tell them as soon as they sit in the driver's seat, "Look, you're going to stall the car. It's going to shake, shutter, lurch, then shut off. Stuff is going to grind. That happens. Push the clutch in and turn the key." I've taught about 8 people how to drive manual and most have picked it up within 20 minutes. Let them know you're not going to be upset, they'll calm down, and everything will be much smoother..

The vast majority of people can pick it up without any problems but there some people who just can't walk and chew gum at the same time. I used to teach people to fly helicopters, these guys and gals were career oriented so they were putting serious time and money into it. Just about everyone could pick it up at some point. There were a couple of students where you came to a point (after flying with other instructors, too) you finally had to tell them that it just wasn't happening. That was a very difficult conversation to have because you were crushing their dreams.

I taught my wife when we first got married. However, after the first automatic car was bought, she just refuses to use a stick. Simple, just refused. I taught both my kids to drive a stick, and a few others too. Imagine a whole generation of people prior to 1950s who learned not only how to drive a stick shift, but also how to change a tire, add engine fluids, etc. I have to say though, that modern auto trans are a magnificent achievement. They are efficient, and get almost the same economy as the standard trans. Pretty reliable too, except my horrid experience with a CVT. Never again will I get a car with CVT.

Update - My wife watched a few You Tubes over the past days and I can report that she can now drive a MT car !!! She told me that having someone on a video "show" her how to shift gears in a calm voice - what she really meant was me not yelling at her - was the key to her understanding the aspects of a MT car - YEA for her.

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Nice. Now can you stay calm as she approaches a lateral G along side that cliff? Marriage is an adventure

Next they'll want the vote. Maybe be allowed out of the kitchen or something. pfft

Growing up in Europe Automatic was a very expensive option. My mum that now is 70 has never driven an AT car....she still refuses even if I tell her it's like driving a golf cart. My wife loves wheeling our 993tt and have driven 996rs and 4.0! But doesn't like the all the noises in the RS.

"although I have to admit, it would be a turn on to see her successfully drive a stick!" Really? Are we all on the same page here?

My 17 year old kept bugging me to teach him how to drive a stick, so I finally gave in and we tried it on a Sunday morning when there was little traffic. Most of the most painful experiences I've ever had. I think some people are just not naturals at driving a stick and then put them in a high powered 911 and it makes it even worse.

I taught both kids in a 928GT. Not the most forgiving car. They did fine, and my son helped me change out the clutch after they were done. Bonus.

Growing up in NYC, I was impressed when I met my future wife (who also lived in the city). She was driving a 4 speed MT Nissan Sentra and later she purchased a 5sp Mitsubishi Eclipse. She still knows how, but she she rarely drives my MT C4S.

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Wow, i didn't realize it was that Hard to keep your kids off drugs/alcohol before their 16th birthday. I Guess it depends on how you raise them to start with. What kind of cars did you buy each one of them?

Do not try to teach a spouse to drive stick. Lessons from a school, using the schools car are a MUCH better option, both for the marriage and your Porsche......

I have the complete opposite (being a Brit). My wife refuses to drive an auto. I've tried to teach her, but she's not interested following one disastrous "lesson" in an empty car park. She won't drive my C4S either, but that's because the controls are heavy and she is worried about damaging it. She's spent too long driving Toyota's.

As an aside to this conversation, I consider my manual trans to be quite a theft deterrent these days. :-)

The only place I ever valet my car is at our golf club and only one of the kids that work there can drive a stick. Great hires...valet's that can't drive a manual. If the kid called in sick, or quit...I'm not sure what they would do.

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Got me there. I guess I could have done a better job when they were young/younger. Oh well... next time around perhaps. Honda Prelude VW Bug Toyota Celica VW Jetta