Best car to learn to drive a manual?

[Wings]

Thanks for all the input. I still have some time before I make my decision and i'm still tryin to find someone with a manual so I can learn on theres before I buy my own.

[Lagonda]

Seriously? Personally I've found diesels to be very easy to drive, and would be easier than most to learn on. They'd be very forgiving to a learner, as they are pretty damn difficult to stall and provide adequate torque even if you time your shifts badly.

Exactly. You can lift up the clutch without pressing the accelerator in a diesel and it starts rolling. All driving schools use diesels here. But then again..everbody drives a diesel here
Diesels are certainly NOT harder to drive. Quite the contrary.

[Ferrer]

Exactly. You can lift up the clutch without pressing the accelerator in a diesel and it starts rolling. All driving schools use diesels here.

Only driving school diesels do that. Normal diesels don't do that...

Oh and by the way, I've seen some odd cars used by driving schools here. a Volkswagen Golf GTI, a Volkswagen Touareg and a Mercedes-Benz G400 CDI...

[fpv_gtho]

Seriously? Personally I've found diesels to be very easy to drive, and would be easier than most to learn on. They'd be very forgiving to a learner, as they are pretty damn difficult to stall and provide adequate torque even if you time your shifts badly.

Now of course if you're talking about a truck it's a different story, but that would be because it's a truck, not just because it's a diesel.

Well i done the majority of my learning in an 80 series landcruiser diesel and an early 90's land rover v8, both v8's. the disco had absolutely no clutch feel until you adapted to the car and the landcruiser's clutch pedal would shake your knee out of its socket

[clutch-monkey]

Only driving school diesels do that. Normal diesels don't do that...

Oh and by the way, I've seen some odd cars used by driving schools here. a Volkswagen Golf GTI, a Volkswagen Touareg and a Mercedes-Benz G400 CDI...

lol i learnt on a gutless lancer, but there is a 300zx used by a normal driving school too for some reason lol, mazda 3's seem to be popular

[Lagonda]

Only driving school diesels do that. Normal diesels don't do that...

All diesels do that...

Or am I missing a joke here ?

[Ferrer]

All diesels do that...

Or am I missing a joke here ?

Well I was being semi serious there. I know that diesels are much easier to drive than petrol cars, but I assumed that sligthlty releasing the clutch and moving forward only happened in driving school cars because the idle had been set higher than in normal cars.

[Lagonda]

Well I was being semi serious there. I know that diesels are much easier to drive than petrol cars, but I assumed that sligthlty releasing the clutch and moving forward only happened in driving school cars because the idle had been set higher than in normal cars.

Nope all diesels do this AFAIK. All the ones that I've driven do it anyway... I don't think you can even set the idle speed to something different these days without mucking about with the ECU. I know you can't on my Clio (petrol), it's completely computer controlled.

[Ferrer]

Nope all diesels do this AFAIK. All the ones that I've driven do it anyway... I don't think you can even set the idle speed to something different these days without mucking about with the ECU. I know you can't on my Clio (petrol), it's completely computer controlled.

You're very possibly right, as my knowledge and experience with diesels is very limited. I have only ever driven a diesel, and it was long time ago, it was an Audi A6 2.5 TDI Quattro, and I didn't notice it did that...

[2ndclasscitizen]

There's a driving school in canberra that has 2 WRXs and an S13 Silvia or 180SX, I can't remember which.

[whiteballz]

bastards.. all the learning schools up here have rolla's mazda 3 / 6's or simmilar generic boring codswallop

[Mustang]

1.9 diesel citroen BX estate... The end

[Ferrer]

1.9 diesel citroen BX estate... The end

Except I doubt there are many in the states...

[Mustang]

Except I doubt there are many in the states...

import one

[The_Canuck]

import one

Cant import something newer then 25 years, i think.