Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.
Trending News
How bad is it to stall a manual transmission car?
5 years ago when I bought my first manual car I promised my gf that I would teach her how to drive it. Well, I've postponed and lagged it for this long and mainly because I didn't want her to stall my brand new car.
Now I just bought another car, a much nicer car, a BMW and she is now holding me to my promise. So how bad is it for the car if she stalls it several times in a row? The car has a much stiffer clutch and accelerator so it's actually harder to learn on than my previous car. Any long term damage from stalling it a couple times?
Thank you everyone! Yes I plan to keep my promise and I do have an empty lot in mind. My old car was a Honda, so fairly soft clutch and accelerator. The BMW feels a bit more challenging to learn on.
I'm a car guy but by no mean a mechanical engineer so all that violent shaking during a stall can't be good, I just don't know what is being affected though.
7 Answers
- ELv 68 years agoFavorite Answer
Keep your promise. It won't kill your car. Riding the clutch causes more wear than letting it out too quickly and killing the engine. Teach her in your high school parking lot.
It takes time to let the clutch up gently and give gas gently. Practice that without shifting gears. Just start and stop and start and stop until she has that down. Then introduce shifting gears. Let her get a feel for the 1-2 shift with the engine off and clutch depressed so she knows how much or how little effort is required.
Source(s): 2005 325i 5 spd spt pkg; 2006 530i automatic - Anonymous8 years ago
I really have to wonder what the others are smoking. Learning to drive a standard is just plain brutal on the driveline of the car. The clutch takes a severe beating and stalling the engine repeatedly is torture on the rod bearings in the engine. If I were you I would go out and buy a crap box standard car, teach on that, and then sell the crap car when she's confident. This is not a girl or guy thing either, it's just the learning process. A BMW is not a cheap or easy car to repair.
- 8 years ago
No problem. If all she does is kill the car, she wont hurt a thing. I'd worry a lot more about her getting all freaked out and losing control. Find a big empty parking lot to practice in until she gets the hang of it. ou do not need to get it checked out. Worst she can do is ride the clutch and maybe scorch it a bit, you'll smell it but it's no worse than taking a few hot laps. BMW's aren't wimpy cars.
- Willy PLv 58 years ago
Stalling it out is no big deal. Shouldn't hurt anything I hope your going to find a big empty parking lot. I tried to teach my Girl friend and must be a terrible teacher I was unsuccessful. The starter could get overheated if you crank it too long but if it starts right up shouldn't be an issue. That would be the only thing I could foresee causing you a problem. Make sure the battery is in good shape for its work out.
- How do you think about the answers? You can sign in to vote the answer.
- BLv 58 years ago
If you don't do it consistently, it will be fine. If she doesn't get it the first two times. wait for a little while,,best way and place to practice is in a large parking lot until she can confidently roll the car in first gear.
