I have a secret. It’s a terrible, dark secret that an automotive diehard would normally never reveal. I … cannot drive a car with a manual transmission. [Ed Note: You’re fired! /s -DT]. No one in my family has had a car with a manual transmission during my time as a viable driver. And the family friends who once upon a time did have cars with a stick shift have either since lost them to accidents or traded them in for a better family hauler.
This has also been a problem while shopping for performance. In 2021, I found a 1994 Mazda Miata in mint condition with 60,000 miles for less than $4,000. But I couldn’t test drive it because I didn’t know stick and the seller, understandably, didn’t want a random stranger to burn out their clutch. Hell, the only experience I’ve ever had with a stick was a college roommate’s Ford Focus. They’d park behind me, blocking me in. And to make things even better, they’d be passed out on the couch and needed to get to class. He wouldn’t wake up for anything less than fireworks. Only once was I successfully able to get the Focus in reverse gear and move it into a different parking space.
So, this has been a shame for a long time and I think it’s about time I rectify this. My hope is to find a shitbox, or something slightly nicer. Cheap is key. I don’t want to feel bad about burning out a gearbox in my quest to learn stick. It would also be nice if it is fun to drive.
2008 Honda Fit – $5,000
I’m always a sucker for a hatch and have been a bit whistful about parting from my beautiful blue Hyundai Elantra GT to get my Ford Maverick. This 2008 Honda Fit has 120,000 miles on the odometer and looks to be in good working condition. There’s no noticeable rust on the exterior and barely a touch underneath. Not bad for a car in Pennsylvania!
It sold for a reasonable $5,000. However, my significant other already owns a red 2012 Fit so getting another one might be redundant. But with its Tardis-like storage capacity and a lift kit, it could be a lot of fun for the Gambler 500.
2000 Toyota Celica – $1,000?
This Celica might be more in the price range I’m looking for. I knew a kid who had one of these back in high school. In good condition, and in black, it felt like an affordable Toyota version of the Lamborghini Murciélago from The Dark Knight.
I’m now waiting for Adian to strike me down for even mentioning these two vehicles in the same breath but the general lines both feel like they’re knives that can cut through the air. Speaking of whistful, now I’m sad neither the GT-Four nor TRD M Sport were sold stateside. At least we only have to wait one more year to import this beauty.
2008 Pontiac G5 – $650
Shifting back to stateside, can I offer you a not-so-nice egg 2008 Pontiac G5 in this trying time? The current owner has already proclaimed it a shit box and their description is endearing.
Shitbox for sale. This car has been super reliable, has never left me stranded anywhere. It’s been over the bridge into the UP and driven down to Detroit multiple times recently. I’m not afraid to jump in this thing and go anywhere. Had new front rotors and pads last fall along with new tires. New alternator, belt, tensioner, and battery last year. On eBay coilovers, so it’s low, but rides like shit. Rockers are pretty well gone. Car has 275k and is a 2.2l with a 5 speed manual. Clutch acts a little soft sometimes, but I usually just baby it, it’s not a race car. It will slip if you beat on it. Have driven it this way for a few years now. Someone come bring me $750 and drive this thing home.
2000 Ford Contour SVT – $1,075
Yours and my favorite Pontiac Vibe enthusiast suggested a 2000 Ford Contour SVT over on The Autopian’s Discord.
At this angle, the damage doesn’t look too bad But upon closer inspection, woof.
Well, a windshield is easy enough to replace. If it runs and drives, who cares how a shitbox looks from the outside? At least the interior looks good.
As an owner of a 90’s Mustang, there is a soft spot in my heart for the SVT vehicles. It would be neat if it came back as a package option. Do you want a Maverick SVT? Of course, you do.
[Ed Note: I learned to drive stick on a 2005 Saturn Vue with a 2.2-liter four-cylinder sending 143-horsepower through a Getrag long-throw five-speed. Learning to manage the clutch on a vehicle that underpowered helped me become a proficient stickshift driver. -DT].
The Search Begins
This is where you fine folks come in. What car would you suggest for someone to beat on while they learn stick? Or better yet, is there one nearby that you want to bless or damn me with? If it’s $3,000 or under and within 250 miles of Flint, MI, it just might be the one!
It doesn’t matter. Manual cars are all different, but they (generally) are not harder or easier, just different. Engines that make lots of torque at idle may be easier for the first ten minutes of learning, but i don’t think it matters beyond that.
And i mean it, too. Any vehicle. Tractor, semi truck, Honda Civic, any of my old jeeps and pickups, literally a dirt bike, whatever.
Learnt? Tractor. Actual driving dads 2.4
Turbo diesel 4Runner. I started off just driving around our orchard in low range. I got used to shifting through the gears, at less than 20kph. So once I was legally allowed to drive I knew how to operate a car, when I sat my driving test in it, the clutch was on its way out and the syncro on 4th wasn’t playing ball. It doesn’t actually matter, all you need to work out is how to balance the clutch pedal, they all have different bite points. I think you are pretty well on the money with a celica, you need less mechanical sympathy with a Toyota.
You are a car enthusiast, I assume you understand the basics of how a transmission works. I don’t think you’ll have any trouble whatsoever. The one thing I will say is that it’s not as daunting a task as everyone makes it out to be.
Nissan Xterra with a manual trans. I taught my son to drive on one about 3 years ago, during Thanksgiving weekend, in a mall parking lot, which had some nice hills as well. Once he got the hang of the flat areas, we practiced stopping and starting on the hills. We spent about 2 hrs total in learning / practice drills over two days. Not too much burning clutch smell, either. That truck was a tough monkey.
Why such an non-obvious pick?
The Xterra’s V6 has gobs of low end torque, with a relatively light clutch pedal. It is really hard to stall it, so it’s very forgiving for a new driver. I found the same characteristics when I had an old F100 with 3 on the tree many years back. Smaller cars with smaller engines usually need a lot more revving to feather the throttle in and clutch out so they don’t stall. I’ve taught several people how to drive stick and the Xterra was by far the easiest.
He drove it back from Florida to his home in North Carolina on Saturday, stopping at a friend’s house in northern FL on the way.
The only tricky part is finding one – Nissan sold very few Xterra’s with a stick. It was only available on the base model with cloth seats and steelies. I put over 240k on mine before I gave it to him. In all that time, it was the only stick Xterra my Nissan Certified tech had ever seen. He loved it almost as much as I did.
Bonus – The Xterra is a lot more fun to drive than any truck has a right to be. Especially with decent tires on it.
I learned on a G35, but that was, oh, twenty years ago, and I haven’t driven stick since. Am I still good? Was I ever any good? Not the questions we’re here to answer.
In my (clearly limited) understanding, a torquey engine is going to be more forgiving to a beginner. If I were going to re-learn, I’d probably be looking for a 80s – early 2000s Mustang or Camaro.
But of course those are things I’d be looking for anyway, so…
Any chance a driving school can help inpensively?
At least around here, no, unless you eliminate the term “inexpensively”.
I had no idea they were that expensive.
Old rear wheel drive Volvos have great stick shifts. They are delightful and you can probably sell it for what you paid when you get tired of it. The five speed ones are really a four-speed with a overdrive, don’t count on the overdrive to actually work in your price range.
I always thought VW bugs were the go to. That or an old mini-truck, S10/Frontier/Ranger, I learned on a Ram 50/Mighty Max. Well not entirely accurate, I first did on an old farm tractor but the throttle was a lever so not sure that really counts. My younger sister learned some on my old Isuzu P’up diesel, that thing’s first was also pretty low. I’d say regular sized pickup but there’s the general size of the thing so not as easy as a mini truck.
Good choice, learning to drive stick. I vote Fit: they’re great cars, drivable, engaging, & useful. Then find a good teacher, practice in little to no traffic, and listen to the car. No need to burn out a clutch.
I taught 2 sons to drive stick – we never had an automatic – on a Honda Civic & a Volvo Wagon. Every car we own is still on its original clutch, and the ‘01 V70 at 290k is still on its original clutch and in one son’s possession.
Better half is lobbying for an automatic these days though or, horrors, maybe even electric.
I learned to drive on a Ford 8n tractor. Highly recommend old farm tractors for learning to shift. Also learning to drive in general since you can see al the wheels and you quickly learn to plan ahead since the brakes aren’t really intended for stopping.
Oh, by the way, the secret to learning to drive stick is to figure out your seating position so that your upper body lurching around doesn’t transfer movement to either of your feet, so steering wheel and seat position are kind of a big deal starting out.
My dad who grew up on farms in Nebraska in the 50’s used to say that those old tractors had a thing where if you got the back wheels stuck, it would just kind of chug chug itself into slowly flipping over front to back, usually injuring the driver. Had a story of some friend’s older brother losing an arm from this.
Yes. thats why the new ones all come with roll bars. I got the front maybe two feet up in the air pulling a trailer. A lot depends on how the hitch is set up. Most implements attached to a three point hitch act sort of like a wheelie bar. Idiots attaching a chain to the back of the tractor and trying to pull something is how that usually happens. Tractors are actually designed to put as much weight as possible on the rear wheels and just enough weight on the steering wheel to steer them, but for doing real steering, you use one of the rear brakes.
All of my near death tractor experiences were from pulling a disc harrow in a walnut orchard, and having a tree branch get stuck on the nose of the tractor and then snap back, whacking me in the head and trying to push me off the seat and nearly running over myself with the disc, which would of course have chopped me up into 6 inch pieces. That would happen about every 20 minutes.
The most forgiving manual I’ve ever driven was my old 2003 Tacoma with the 2.4L 4cyl in it. Plenty of torque and pedal feel so you knew when it was engaging. The clutch also engaged very linearly so it didn’t stall easily either, so that was another bonus. However, learning a clutch this easy might not leave you prepared for every car on the road.
The worst manual I’ve ever driven was a ’82 Plymouth Horizon TC3, that’s the “sporty” version of one of America’s worst malaise-era crapcans. The TC3 certainly didn’t stand for “Torque Control” because it had no torque to control. The clutch was also very vague so you had no idea when it was engaging and when it did it was an on/off switch. Experienced drivers stalled that car all the time, if you could learn to drive that car you could handle anything with 3 pedals forevermore.
Exactly! I posted a similar point as well. Trucks, with torquey engines and low gearing, are simply much more forgiving for someone to learn on.
The answer is a Mazda 3 of any vintage. I’ve always found them very easy to drive and forgiving for the learner. The clutch is light but has a good feel – it isn’t an on/off switch.
A word of warning though, Mazda’s shifters are so good you’ll be spoiled for almost anything else. Only Honda can match them imo.
Just choose the car that you like the most and will actively want to drive; stick shifting isn’t hard, you can learn it in virtually any manual if you practice enough. Maybe try to make sure you get a car with a clutch that isn’t on it’s way out, and perhaps also check that a clutch job for that specific model isn’t a nightmare. One’s first clutch does tend to take a beating from the learning journey alone.
it’s more about the teacher than the car. I taught my ex in my old Focus ST and the clutch/brake pedals are both like light switches. On or off, nothing in between. And you definitely can stall it
I broke down each element to its finest particles and had her practice each minute things for a few minutes all on its own. Then we added one new element. Then another. In half an hour she was bombing down back roads having a ball. There were a few hiccups, but no horrid burning smells
I learned on a Suburu Loyale that was geared in a way that pretty much required getting to 4th at anything about 25mph – so it was a lot of shifting! Then again, I’m only a decent stick driver IMO.
I drove my parent’s 2000ish Accord w/ a M/T for a stretch a few years back – that was a pretty easy manual. A Honda seems like it would be a good choice.
If you can’t find anything…hit me up (I live in Oakland County) and you can give my Frontier a go. I need to teach my wife at some point, so I could probably use some practice on that front.
We were just behind a “new driver” placarded Honda Fit that definitely was a stick as they were squealing the tires at every stop sign. We were proud of the new driver getting out there and learning.
A vehicle in which the clutch is easily and cheaply replaced.
I taught my stepson using a 2007 MINI Cooper. Manual transmissions are not hard to find, but avoid the turbo models, because they are very unreliable. The normally-aspirated ones are not Toyota reliable, but they’re not bad.
Fe powered Ford truck with low gears. You won’t stall it, the notchey transmission is easy to shift and find gears.
Anything diesel. You almost can’t stall it. I’ve had several Peugeot and a couple Mercedes diesel cars with a clutch. They really just don’t care.
That being said, just get the one you like (I’m voting Toyota, but the Pontiac could be a good beater to just moto around, go off curbs, ‘fuck it I don’t care’ car). It won’t take that long to get the hang of it if you daily drive it.
I learned in a ‘69 Squareback (not diesel) that I got from my dad for $700 in 1990. Not very powerful, but not super finicky.
My German wife has been living in the US for 14 years now and still doesn’t trust auto-trannies. I got her to drive our 2011 Golf around the block once (clutch not offered on a Golf in the US that year, VW clearly knows this country is filled with incompetent drivers), it took a while to convince her to just put in D and press the gas pedal .
Diesel torque is kinda mostly a myth. Ive driven diesel Volkswagens that were much easier to stall than my gasser Jeeps and Fords.
My roommate in 1992 had a crappy gold/brown diesel VW pickup. It was also hard to stall. Put it in first, let off the clutch with no accelerator pedal and it would just start chugging forward, just like all the diese cars I’ve owned.
Every single vehicle I’ve ever driven, gas or diesel, was very capable of taking off at idle without throttle input. Some of them better than others, but all could do it.
The only vehicles I have ever driven where I routinely take off without throttle, even in traffic when I want to take off quickly, are Jeeps with the AMC 258 straight six. Definitely torquier than a diesel VW.
VW diesels stalling is because VW’s are designed by complete simpletons, not because diesel torque is a myth. For whatever reason (I’m sure they thought they had a really clever one) VW calibrated their diesels to shut off fueling if the RPM dipped below 500, even for an instant. That’s the exact opposite of how most diesels operate – they usually have a low idle governor, so that you can gradually let out the clutch and drive away without touching the gas pedal. Instead VW made the only diesel on the face of the planet that you have to rev and slip the clutch to avoid their own fuel cutoff setpoint. Idiots.
My experience is not that VW diesels are any easier to stall than other diesels. When I say ‘diesel torque is a myth’, obviously most diesel engines make better torque than most gas engines. But that’s almost entirely due to the lower rpm range of most diesels, and not because of any inherent quality of compression ignition. Very low rpm gas engines(like the Jeep 258 or Ford 300, or any old truck) produce outstanding torque just like a diesel.
We had a 2012Jetta TDI with the 2.0 EA189 engine, and it always bothered me how easy it was to stall at low rpms. I seem to remember the older VW diesels didn’t do this. I was told it was an emissions thing – does anybody know whether this is true?
I don’t have any primary knowledge (I never worked at VW) but I do work in diesel engine calibration for emissions and fuel economy, so I can say with some certainty that this is true. My strong suspicion is that VW determined that idle governor lug down events due to clutch engagement were (probably) a source of soot and hydrocarbons that were threatening the durability and/or performance of the aftertreatment system on those cars, which as we all know now were marginal to begin with. But instead of re-tuning the combustion to clean up the emissions down below idle speed they ‘fixed the glitch’ by just turning of fueling below 500 RPM to ensure that the engine never ran there.
I’ve seen enough seasons of The Amazing Race to know you can easily and repeatedly stall a diesel engine.
Scroll down one post and buy a 1975 Ford F-150.
It’s not on the list, but in my experience the best vehicle to learn how to drive a stick on is a Jeep Wrangler. The height of the seat along with the upright angle of the seatback allows for easier modulation of the clutch pedal through its travel vs any sedan or sports car. (I worked at a full-service car wash and noticed this while driving the cars into the wash for the customers.)
Of those three, definitely avoid the one with the already-slipping clutch.
Maybe avoid anything with a super-heavy or finicky clutch in general. I had a Mazdaspeed6 that was absolutely brutal – even people who were very used to a manual struggled with it. Trying to learn on it would be incredibly frustrating.
I think the prices on them are at the point where they’re no longer the bargain they used to be, but if you want something fun and robust with lots of manual examples available.. Miata Is Always The Answer.
My take is the one with the slipping clutch is the one least likely to stall, and the easiest to learn on without damaging the transmission itself. I taught my friend to drive a manual on my 200k 1990 Ranger V6 with the original clutch; I could start that thing in 3rd without killing it.
Also, the one with the already slipping clutch is priced in the disposable range so that if you break it, it is probably going to get almost that much at the junkyard.
Yeah, but trying to get a feel for one that’s not working right is going to be tough. Plus it might train some bad habits with not actually disengaging the clutch to shift and just relying on the slip. I guess it depends on how badly it’s slipping. Only at high-speed high-acceleration? Maybe OK. When you give it a bit of gas in first? Probably not.
The best car for learning stickshift is one you actively want to drive. Don’t buy a miserable shitbox just to learn stick; you’ll find yourself avoiding it.
I learned stick by buying a cheap but good-condition unmodified Miata. Sellers tend to be appreciative if you’re honest: I told the Miata seller that I couldn’t drive stick and didn’t want to wreck her clutch on a test drive, so instead she drove it a few miles while I sat in the passenger seat.
Agreed. Everyone should learn on a <checks notes> Ferrari 250 SWB GTO.
I’d recommend learning on something close to what the person wants to drive. I learned on an old stepside Chevy pickup, and the first time I tried to drive a manual Civic, I was unprepared for a clutch without significant travel. It involved a bit of adjustment.
That said, the old Chevy may have been the easiest thing. Pretty forgiving.
Something with a V8. It’ll take most gears and not balk. Something like the Honda Fit is, from one angle, the worst thing to learn on. A weak af 4 cylinder with no torque requires some skill to rev match and stay in the power band. I learned on a C4 Corvette. It was friggin easy mode compared to my Fit
I dont know about the Fit, but my experience with small four cylinder Hondas is absolutely not that they lack in torque, or are difficult to drive in the slightest.
They are single digits above 100 lb-ft…
They weigh 3 pounds all wet though.
Please just get in a V8 and see which gears it will take at what RPMs and then hop in one of those Hondas and do the same. This is a dumb conversation
And my Accord is rated for 152 lb-ft at 4900rpm, and weighs much more than a Fit, so it should be almost as bad, right? You’d expect that it would produce very poor torque at idle, and would require a lot of rpm to take off.
Yet it will happily idle down the road in 3rd gear, can easily take off with no throttle, pulls from idle in all gears, and honestly feels like it has better low end torque than my f150 with the legendarily torquey 300 six.