manual trannies

[Linus Toy]

Over the years, I've taught a number of people how to drive a stick,
starting w/ American-iron-auto-only high school & college friends to my
wife.  What mattered most, IME, was two things:  a torquey motor (vs.
weight of car) and an ability to hear the engine @ idle (more specifically,
when the engine slows down).

Beyond that, getting a clutch to hold up to learning-abuse is a matter of
good habits (i.e. no foot resting on clutch pedal).  FWIW, the first
exercise I teach people, in a large, flat, empty parking lot, is to get the
car moving from a standstill with just the clutch pedal.  Once they master
that, even the most ham-footed driver can usually learn without jerking the
car (and you inside it)

--Linus

At 12:31 PM 1/29/2003 , Brandon Rogers wrote:
>Hey Mark-
>Well, I learned to drive (way way way back in '88) on my dad's '84 4kq.
>Then my little sister learned to drive with that car a couple years later.
>He bought that car new and sold it around '95 or '96, at 175K miles w/ the
>_original_ clutch.  Granted--the 200 is much more powerful and will likely
>wear on the clutch more--but this is a comparison point, I guess, if clutch
>wera with a learnign driver is your concern.  hth.
>
>Brandon
>'98 A4
>'84 urq
>'91 200 donor
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Mark Trank" <MTrank at albemarle.org>
>To: <cpcycle at earthlink.net>
>Cc: <200q20v at audifans.com>
>Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 12:36 PM
>Subject: manual trannies
>
>
> > I'm more than curious about this.......I am committed to teaching my
> > children to learn how to drive a manual, but using the 200q20v as the
>guinea
> > pig worries the heck out of me, since it is my daily driver and will
>likely
> > continue to be for awhile.  Did you teach your kids to drive using your
>Audi
> > or another vehicle?  I personally remember that my Dad taught me using an
> > old truck and then I learned on a Toyota corolla, which seemed to hold up
> > while I figured out how to shift properly.  I have a couple years to worry
> > about it (oldest is 13) but never hurts to be prepared in advance!
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Mark
> > 1991 200q20v 99k miles
> > Message: 2
> > Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 17:15:17 -0800
> > From: Chuck Pierce <cpcycle at earthlink.net>
> > To: ferd154 at aol.com, 200q20v at audifans.com
> > Subject: Re: 20V tq as first car?
> >
> > Back in 1996 we had 195k mi on our 740 turbo manual, we went to the
> > Volvo dealer and found that anything with some zip was a automatic ( we
> > were looking at used cars still $27-30K ) we then checked out the BMW
> > dealer and found a 525i with a stick. I must admit Audi was not in the
> > picture at the time. I probably could have bought a 20v for $20-25k.
> > We people that must drive properly shifted cars are becoming a much
> > smaller piece of the pie.
> > I made a point of my daughters learning to drive a stick.
> >
> > Chuck
> > 91 20v avant still getting sorted out
> > 95 525i 5spd
> > 98 Acura 5 spd
> > 86 325e 5spd
> > 2 2002 both 4 spds
> > 96 Ford van  auto ( only choice with V8 )
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > 200q20v mailing list
> > 200q20v at audifans.com
> > http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/200q20v
>
>_______________________________________________
>200q20v mailing list
>200q20v at audifans.com
>http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/200q20v

*--------------------------------------------------------------------*
*  Linus Toy                      Insanity is doing the same thing   *
*  Mercer Island, WA              you've always done and expecting   *
*  linust at mindspring.com          different results                  *
*                                      - Roger Milliken              *
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