I have an '07 on order and now my daughter thinks she wants a GT. She's been driving an SUV but she's always wanted a Mustang convertible. She's 24 so it's not a question of experience behind the wheel but she's never driven stick shift and I told her that a Mustang GT wasn't the car for a first time manual trans driver. Does anyone have any input?

 

My wife learned on her O6' GT. She was made to drive a stick when she was learning for her licence...but that was 18 years ago so she didn't really understand what she was doing. So this was the first real standard transmission vehicle she had to really drive. It was best for me to not be the one doing the teaching as it only made her nervous. She has become very efficient in the 6-7 months since we picked it up. Still not 100% but who is. Best of luck with the decision.

 

I picked up the car only driving a manual once about 7 years prior...

... Its an easy car to learn on, as long as you don't panic and dump the clutch

 

i just turned 23. this mustang is my first stick ever. I learned to drive on my buddys old VW Jetta when I was 17 going on 18. it took a good hour to get the hang of it and a good cruise to really feel the clutch. all and all, I learned with in a day. then my father got a 350Z as a toy car, and it was a 6 speed. so my father took me out a few times and right then and there, it all clicked. then i bought the stang and never looked back!

its not hard to drive a stick, as long as you learn the foot coordination, your golden!

 

i am 24. i got the car when i was 22 and i had never driven stick before, save a 1 hour lesson about a month before i picked it up. it is extremely easy to learn on this car and she should have no problem.

on a side note

a chick my age driving a stick mustang GT? where you live? she got a boyfriend? lol

 

It should be fun....

I would recommend learning on a car that is less powerful. There may be an intimidation factor. Also, I would recommend first going to a big parking lot

Either way, here is a suggestion on how to teach her, which is how my dad taught me (hated him at the time, but quickly realized he was a genius):

1) Teach her the basics of the clutch (press in to shift, press in to stop, don't ride the clutch, etc.)

2) Show her how to move the car with NO GAS. Just smooth clutch work will move a car...no gas is required (assuming no hill). This will help her figure out the catch point, and not be worried about half gas, half clutch, etc. Do this for forward and reverse!! (reverse is different b/c of gear ratio/synchronizers)

3) Once she gets where the catch point is, then get her slip the clutch and let the car start moving, and then upshift, again using NO GAS through this process.

4) Now, teach/show her that using gas just makes the car accelerate faster. So, have her slip the clutch in first with NO GAS. Then, let her accelerate using the gas and let her upshift and downshift to get a hang of that.

5) Now, just let her become a better clutch driver through experience. She will see that more gas means coming off the clutch a little faster, resulting in quicker acceleration. don't forget to teach how to compensate for hills

Make sure you reassure her that each car is different. For example, the catch point on my 05 is just above fully depressed. But, on my 2000 that I had, it was high up/about midway depressed. So, when I went from the 05 to the 00 (when I still had both), I would be slipping the heck out of it. But, it just takes some quick compensation, and thats what you should also teach her.

Once you learn how to drive clutch, you learn to compensate for catch points on others.

 

Hey, my only experience was a 1 hour lesson about a week before I got mine ('06 GT). 28 years old, but I've never had a stick shift car or the chance to learn, but, oh well, whatever...

Anyway, no problems. I can't really say if it's a good or bad car to learn in, because I can't compare, but I can say I had no problems. Sure it's a lot of power to learn with, but that's your job as a dad, right, to teach her well?

I say go for it, she'll be fine. Once she's been driving it a month or so it'll all be second nature anyway... That's how it was/is for me. Hope that helps.

 

Given she is an experienced driver, then I don't think its a problem. The clutch pressure on these new cars not like in the "good old days" when it would kick your left leg back. Guess since your in snow country, would do the teaching in dry condidtions.

 

Make sure she really wants a stick shift. Some men and women couldn't be bothered. They see it as extra work. I have not driven the GT w/auto, but looking at the gear ratios, its looks pretty sweet.

 

I have taught 3 people how to drive stick with my 06 GT coupe. With a cold air intake and tune, you don't need to touch the gas pedal, just lower the clutch really slow to take off. Once they get the hang of that, they can try to keep the RPMs at 1500 while lowering the clutch. The whole process takes 15 minutes and then there's no issues.

If your daughter is going to be stuck in traffic at all, she may want the convenience of an automatic. I have a manual 06 and my wife opted for the auto 06 Vert simply for convenience and resale value.

 

On pretty much any car, you don't need to touch the gas. I learned on a 93 mustang 4 cylinder, and no gas was needed to get going. My first manual was a 87 beretta, and once again, no gas needed.

The only time you have an issue is with a car with low torque, because it will shutter in higher gears. If you have a car with high torque, it will not shutter as bad and will gain speed. For example, with my 00 V6, I could go into third with no gas before it shuttered. With the 05 GT, I think you can go into 4th.

 

I learned on my '89 4cyl 5-speed! The first time I was ok, and the second time I was a whole lot better! I'm still not perfect but I still find it a lot more fun than an auto.

 

I learned on my 00 V6. It took me few hours.

 

The clutch catch point/friction point on my 07 GT is slightly below fully released. Pretty much 3/4 of the clutch pedal travel is "wasted".

 

Mine's the same way.

 

Make sure you spend a lot of time teaching her how to go from a stop to a start on an incline in traffic. Always scary when you are behind someone on a hill and they start rolling back when they attempt ot take off.

 

Yeah, I did that learning in a 67 Camaro SS. Policeman was behind me and my brother was trying to teach me to drive a manual. I freaked out, punched it and laid a nice strip of rubber. I looked back expecting to see trouble, cop was laughing his *** off.

 

#2 is the most important basic lesson and should be the first thing to master. Most cars its no problem getting to 3rd with your right foot flat on the floor in a parking lot. This basic no gas technique teaches clutch engagement while not risking any damage to the clutch nor violent frogging. It also teaches you that you can put around at 3mph in gear with no clutch so they don't develop the terrible habbit of putting the pedal in neutral while braking.

Explain how it works in basic terms(i.e. virtually the exact opposite of a brake pedal and its modulation, with nothing elaborate). Hopefully you get a good handful of big frogs in the parking lot to get used to it so you don't panic and forget you are still on the road with traffic if it happens later. Funny enough, when I teach someone to drive one and try to get it to frog for them as a demonstration-I can not for the life of me get it to do it on any vehicle anymore-my brain automatically fixes it as a reflex.

Hills should be the last thing you try, if it is a slight incline in a parking lot, you can 'hover' in gear with no gas imput as a good practice technique. If you do too much at a time you get sensory overload. Its like learning to do full-lock turns in a parking lot in a motorcycle-try it to many times in a row without a break and you'll dump it.....

 

When I ordered my 06 i had attempted a few times but never drove a manual. I didn't even get to drive it home from the dealer, i had to bring my dad up with me. I took about 2 hours the next day but i got it. really didn't have any trouble getting into the gears just mainly giving it too much gas when i started moving lol.

 

Kevin posted that information about learn to drive a manual car before I bought mine, and it proved to be a worthwhile lesson.

I was also a newbie when it came to manuals when I bought my car. Because the engine is so torquey, its actually quite forgiving.