Teaching someone to drive a manual
 

I would like to teach my kids to drive a stick, but the only one I have is in the 03 Boxster S.......I learned in my parents '74 911, and dad always said if I could drive that stick I could drive any.

The Boxster only has 27,000 miles and is in perfect mechanical condition, I am just concerned about the "abuse" that learning could put on it.

Am I being paranoid about it, or should I just wait and let them learn later?

I'd be leery of that approach...these cars are not the easiest to learn to drive a stick with. AND, clutches are pricey!

I'm sort of in the same boat. My girlfirend asked me to teach her how to drive my car.

I learned on a older Datsun and my next car was a 73 VW Beetle.

If you teach them properly, then it shouldn't be a problem. I've taught a lot of people how to drive sticks, no blown up clutches. This car is rather easy in comparison to my rally car, a 1994 Subaru Legacy with a race clutch and AWD, ha.

I used to teach people to shift at a dealership, lots of different people. The Boxster would be a more difficult car to teach someone on than say a VW. For starters the clutch is very grabby, can be an handful in a parallel park situation and will likely produce many a stall for the beginner. Furthermore, a missed shift and other unavoidable learning curve experiences are going to at the very least, beat your machine's transmission up in a myriad of ways. If it were my kid, I'd find a craigslist fixerupper Sbox, that could be resold as a winter rat and let it rip, might be cheaper in the long run and hey if you get stuck with it you can use it to learn speed shifting.

I taught my son to drive a manual transmission, but chose to have him learn on lesser cars, than the Box S. First we went out out in an older 3 series BMW...very easy to work mechanicals. Next we borrowed my nephews VW Golf; again very easy to drive. We finally went out in the Box S and he had a very difficult time, constantly stalling. I think he lost interest thereafter and has not been out since and prefers an automatic (he drives a Ford Focus).

Here is your answer:

01 2001 Porsche Boxster Clutch Kit - Clutch - Beck Arnley, LUK, OES Genuine, Sachs - PartsGeek

Sometimes you can find a manual box truck at the local Budget, Enterprise or Penske truck rental location (Penske being easiest but also usually highest priced). $20-50 for a day plus mileage is much cheaper than a new Porsche clutch. Plus they learn really quickly about vehicle size and how to properly use side mirrors. Thus you kill 3 birds w/ one stone. Then all you need is a big empty parking lot and you're golden.

Good luck :)

Oh good lord
 

Thanks guys, I kinda figured that. Looks like they will be learning on a rental car. lol

Where are you in Tampa? I am north in Spring Hill, but looking for a good shop.

Interesting. My wife still can't drive a stick, mostly due to mental issues. I have taught her in the past on my old Datsun 510 and later a Miata, but she's been too intimidated to go out on the street.

I was thinking the Boxster might be a great car for this ... the flywheel is heavy enough that you can get started really easy. I don't see why some above have said it's a bad choice to teach someone in ... to me I think it's probably the easiest I've ever owned.

The gears in a Boxster are pretty tall so I find it more difficult to teach manual shifting vs a Honda Civic/Toyota Corolla/VW Jetta.

Not sure what your bankroll looks like, perhaps it's not an issue and going forward with learning on a Porsche isn't a big deal. If t is a consideration than there's no way I'd subject mine to that abuse. To be honest, I think the Boxster is one of the hardest clutches to learn on even though the clutch pressure isn't bad at all. when I've let others try my car, even many with a lot of manual shifting experience, all have had problems trying to get the feel of it. (This is my second Boxster, first was brand new and this one I just had a new clutch installed so both were in new condition). Go learn on a borrowed Honda or cheap econobox as I taught my son on, you'll find it easier and much cheaper

I didn't know how to drive stick when I bought my boxster. I learned quickly.

I have personally driven over 30 different cars with manual transmissions.

To me, the Boxster is one of the easiest to drive. It is not easy to stall one. Even at a low rpm at 20mph in 4th gear, the engine does not stall.

Subaru Legacy's are pretty easy too.

The ones I had the most trouble with are Nissan 350z's and suprisingly some of the small sub compact and compact cars. Very touchy.

They should offer this at RMVs/DMVs. You go in. You pay for it and you beat on something they have for you to use to learn. Good idea for a gaming system too.

Just say "NO, NOT IN THIS CAR"

I taught my 3 kids (all girls) stick shift, first in my A4 and then in my Boxster. The biggest issue was with all of them "how to get the feeling", means how much power to clutch, how much slip etc.
To get started we hit a big/empty parking lot and I let them just operate the clutch, no gas. That way they get a feeling for the clutch, after that I think it was easier for them. "Burn - prevention" :)

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Anyone considering this should closely look at the rental agreement. Usually only insured drivers on the contract over 25 year old are allowed to drive the car you rent unless you add someone else to the contract specifically.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. The Boxster clutch is much easier to handle than most sports cars that I've driven. Fairly low force and plenty of friction range.

Try teaching a kid to drive a pre-964 911, now that's a tough clutch to learn on.

Not in my opinion, a direct cable clutch has tons more feel than hydraulic, as for Boxsters every one I drove I craved for the clutch to grab closer to the floor, they all release too high, makes them all feel like the need a disc.

My dad taught me on a 1974 911. It took a minute....lol

I'd teach someone to drive a clutch in my Boxster, no problem. I've taught several kids to drive a clutch before. I taught several people to drive a clutch in my TR8. I always find a big empty level parking lot and make them learn to engage the clutch without using the gas pedal. After a few tries when they get that, we start applying a little throttle. Once they have it mastered we head out on the road and I show them how to use the parking brake on an uphill start. I have never found it to be hard on the clutch as I don't let them burn it up.
I also find it helps if you spend a few minutes to explain how a clutch works. Draw some pictures so they understand what they are doing.

I'm teaching my 16 year old learner son at the moment in the Boxster. He is mastering it well. I have taking him hills driving where upshifting and downshifting while braking etc are the norm. He loves it. Plus, when your son is older he can say "I learnt to drive a manual in a Porsche".

I taught my daughter on our 94 Camry - the same car we used to bring her home from the hospital. The car had over 250k on it and the clutch had been replaced at 180k. She definitely put some wear and tear on the clutch, and I'm glad it wasn't on the Boxster.

Unfortunately, there just aren't that many manual transmission cars around anymore that you could beg or borrow and use as a substitute for the Box. When the Camry became uneconomical to fix, I bought her a Civic with a manual, but it seemed like there were 5 or 6 automatics for every manual I could find on Craigslist. The Honda clutch is much lighter than the Boxster's and to be honest, the shifter is more precise.

Way back in the 60's I was teaching my girlfriend to drive a standard shift (we were in our teens) and we were out in the country. It was a Morris Minor.She started doing this lurching thing with the gas and the clutch while we were both getting whiplash. Next we hit a pothole at the same time. After that was over I took over and drove back to school and the right front wheel collapsed. Apparently the stub axle broke.
We held up traffic for a long time till the Morris was towed away. Teaching somebody to drive is tough. Stickshift is tougher:confused::confused::confused:

The Boxster was my sister's first Porsche and first manual car, ever. I had to drive it home for her from the dealer (with her in the passenger seat, of course). I taught her how to drive it in 3 days, and yes, she stalled it several times, but she picked it up fast. I was certainly concerned about her ruining the clutch if she didn't pick it up quickly, but it was the only available manual car at the time.

You could always go and pick yourself up a $500 Neon with a stick that no one could care less about before or after the learning process.

Timely thread. I too am in the process of teaching my 18 year old son how to drive a stick. After one lesson he's said, "No way, I'm only going to be driving automatics". Luckily, I have an F-150 and other than the long throw, it's very easy to drive. Easy clutch, broad engagement point, and torquey engine. My Boxster on the other hand is somewhat hard to drive. I learned on a manual and have driven them for 35 years, but stopped on a hill, I'm nervous in the Boxster, especially if someone is right on my ass. So my kid will not be driving my Boxster, even if he masters the Ford.

Yeah, those are good points. It also makes a big difference WHO you're teaching it to. When I got the Box my older son had already learned to drive a manual (my old Camry---the only one of many Camrys at the dealership with a stick, even back then: 1996) . He picked up the technique of driving a stick easily---I think he'd have done fine learning on the Box. (Predictably, his transition to the Porsche was seamless, almost effortless: 2 or 3 runs through the gears and he had it.) His younger brother was tougher. I started him out on the Camry, too, and that took awhile. Unlike some on learning to drive a stick, he thought too much about what he was doing, about what was happening with the clutch and gears. He tried to be perfect with every shift and clutch engagement, ended up being the opposite. Now? He owns a 2005 Acura RSX and runs up and down the gears smooth as silk. And, of course, at this point he has no problem driving the Box as well.

On reading this thread and giving it some thought, I guess maybe I've changed my mind to a degree. I find myself starting to agree with those saying the Box isn't really any tougher than, say, a Camry would be. It IS different: the clutch engages at a different point, has a different feel when that happens, and (at least in my Box) the shifter is much less precise. But harder to learn on? Maybe not. Just...different.

That's funny---the older son I was talking about? He's 24. Just the other week I heard him say that it was his intention to never own an automatic transmission car. He seems pretty resolved on that point.

Taught my oldest son to drive a manual in my 930. Now he can get in any manual car and drive it..

That's the way I see it. If they can learn to drive a stick on a car like a Porsche they can really drive anything.

When my sister drove my mother's Alfa Romeo Graduate, now being a seasoned manual driver, she had no trouble at all, and was singing all sorts of praises to the ease of the Alfa's clutch compared to hers. :rolleyes:

I dunno, I kind of appreciate the slightly unforgiving nature of the Boxster's clutch...I get rather sloppy and lazy driving the more domesticated sticks in many other cars.

I would use my Boxster to teach someone to drive stick in a minute. Its a modern car so its not that hard to learn on and its not that hard on the clutch.

Here is how to teach them: make the new driver get the car going using just the idle. When they can do that they have learned how to slip the clutch so they "feel" the engagement point. Then just have them do it faster with a little throttle and off they go!

Usually the first thing I have them do is just lift right up off the clutch and stall the car so they know what that feels like, and understand that if they start to feel that sensation that they need to depress the clutch to keep from stalling.

I happened to find a parking lot of a place that had recently closed down at the time that the car was bought, and part of the lot had a very gentle slope to it, so I started her off pointed down the slope so the clutch would very easily engage, then turned her around so she could practice a (very) gentle hill start.