Never, Ever, EVER let a girlfriend drive your MS3

i got a little clutch smell when working out my launches at the track a few weeks back. she probably just heated it up a bit; it doesn't take much for organic discs to make some stink. i'm sure it's fine; to damage it, or make hot spots on the PP or flywheel, you'd have to do some pretty aggressive abuse!

if it drives fine, it's a-ok ; )
 
I don't even let my wife drive my cars. I tried teaching her how to drive stick shift once in a Miata about 9 years ago when we were dating and it didn't work out too well. I haven't attempted that again since and I'm on my 3rd stick shift car since. She's bugged me to buy an automatic car or teach her how to drive stick, but she's got her car and I've got mine and if there's one thing I will not give up, it's my love for cars, so I buy what I want. :)
 
khoney said:
One Sunday morning, about 6:30AM, I awake to hearing a rather throaty engine revving real high. That's real odd, I think to myself... who would be doing this at 6:30 on a Sunday morning? Besides, no one on my street has a car that sounds like that, except... ME!!!!

I go downstairs and out to the garage, just in time to see my 17-year-old son pulling in with my MS3. His license had been revoked (by me) a month earlier (for wrecking one car and totalling another within a 24-hour period), and his car (a regular automatic Mazda 3) was taken away. Apparently, he decided he just HAD to see some girl at about 3AM, so he took my car. I had been questioning whether I ever received 2 sets of keys when I bought the car, because I could never find the 2nd set. Well I found out that morning where they were!

After tearing him a new one, I went back to bed. When I went back out to the garage later that morning, it absolutely REEKED of burned clutch. You see, we have a 65-foot driveway on an incline that ends in a left-hand garage. Apparently he had some real trouble getting the car in the garage - I had given him a couple of lessons on driving stick, but he certainly hadn't gotten the hang of it.

He is now 'carless' until after he turns 18 - I have no intention of reinstating his license.

Hope you enjoyed my 'clutch' story ;)
Click to expand...

That kids deserves a whoopin! I'd never do that type of s*** back when I was 17. Kids these days(uhm)
 
When I read this story it reminded me somewhat of my girl...who has never driven a stick before. I relayed the story to her and she was all confused, so I had to explain what a clutch was and its purpose. The funniest thing about the entire conversation was the 10 seconds of dead air when she found out there was a third pedal on a manual transmission that you have to push in with your left foot to shift gears.

It was a long conversation.

DAK
 
i think everyone should know how to drive a stick. my wife is excellent. i bet with alittle instruction, i can teach her to heel/toe. she never ever smokes my clutch. i have already, in the MS3 and her turbo forester. so she thinks she i better than me. maybe she is right.

from a practical standpoint, i would hate to be drunk somewhere and not be able to let my wife drive a car home. (all of our cars, are sticks)
 
I agree. All my cars are stick as well. My wife is good. She can heel toe decently and regularly clutchless shifts. I am in the process of showing her how to clutchless downshift and trail braking.
 
It really is a whole different world on that side of the pond... Over here in the UK, 99% of people learn to drive a manual and the vast majority of cars are equipped with manual transmissions. True automatic's (torque converters with epicyclic geartrains, rather than automated manuals like SMG, DSG, F1, e-Gear etc.) tend to be fitted as standard only to large executive cars and are a cost option on most others. There are more sporting cars fitted with automatics, such as AMG mercedes, Maserati Quattroporte, or Jaguars, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

If you take a driving test in an automatic car, not only do your peers consider you to be a bit of a retard, but you are henceforth only qualified to drive automatics. If you want to drive a manual, you have to re-take your driving test.
 
khoney said:
One Sunday morning, about 6:30AM, I awake to hearing a rather throaty engine revving real high. That's real odd, I think to myself... who would be doing this at 6:30 on a Sunday morning? Besides, no one on my street has a car that sounds like that, except... ME!!!!

I go downstairs and out to the garage, just in time to see my 17-year-old son pulling in with my MS3. His license had been revoked (by me) a month earlier (for wrecking one car and totalling another within a 24-hour period), and his car (a regular automatic Mazda 3) was taken away. Apparently, he decided he just HAD to see some girl at about 3AM, so he took my car. I had been questioning whether I ever received 2 sets of keys when I bought the car, because I could never find the 2nd set. Well I found out that morning where they were!

After tearing him a new one, I went back to bed. When I went back out to the garage later that morning, it absolutely REEKED of burned clutch. You see, we have a 65-foot driveway on an incline that ends in a left-hand garage. Apparently he had some real trouble getting the car in the garage - I had given him a couple of lessons on driving stick, but he certainly hadn't gotten the hang of it.

He is now 'carless' until after he turns 18 - I have no intention of reinstating his license.

Hope you enjoyed my 'clutch' story ;)
Click to expand...


That is around reason #5 why I do not want kids! I am the least violent person you may ever meet, but I think I would have had to restrain myself in that situation.

Tried to teach my wife as well a few times. Last time we are in a dead subdivision regarding traffic. Unfortunately, a car comes up behind her at a stop sign. She freaks out, kills the car twice, then proceeds to absolutely PEEL the tires on the third try, pulls around the corner, and stops. She states she is done and does not want to try again and that that is why they make automatics. Oh well, I tried!
 
GSB said:
If you take a driving test in an automatic car, not only do your peers consider you to be a bit of a retard...
Click to expand...
(rofl2)
Funny, I don't know what would make the difference between the markets.


I bought my car last year in August, but it was parked all winter while I drove a company car, so I'm just getting the hang of it back this week. Last year at my buddy's wedding (was in September some time) I had to valet park the car, and it came back reeking of a sickly sweet, burning smell. Apparently I'm a newb, cus I did not immediately associate it with clutch, despite having smelled plenty of burned clutches before, otherwise I would have had that punk's ass as a hood ornament... I suspect he just rode the clutch for a while coming out of the parking ramp.

Anyhow, it smelled all winter whenever I let the car idle in the driveway, and now that I'm driving it again and it heats up, it still smells! although it is getting better. So mine has got to be at least as bad as the job your gf did, but you'll be pleased to know my clutch still performs just fine. I'm pissed, but there's nothing I can do, so I just go about my driving, as someone mentioned earlier. (Imagine if I took the car to the valet garage after six months and explained the situation (hah))

Only time will tell if the logevity of the clutch will be affected...
 
Last edited:
bacarl said:
Anyhow, it smelled all winter whenever I let the car idle in the driveway, and now that I'm driving it again and it heats up, it still smells! although it is getting better. So mine has got to be at least as bad as the job your gf did, but you'll be pleased to know my clutch still performs just fine. I'm pissed, but there's nothing I can do, so I just go about my driving, as someone mentioned earlier. (Imagine if I took the car to the valet garage after six months and explained the situation (hah))

Only time will tell if the logevity of the clutch will be affected...
Click to expand...

Wow I would be PISSED if I a valet cooked my clutch. That's why I avoid valet at all costs. As a side business I shoot weddings (shameless plug: www.GmElliottVideo.com) and many of the upscale venus have valet parking only. Back when I had my STi I pulled up to one reception venue where the valet staff was a bunch of pimple faced teenagers, barely old enough to drive in the first place. I flat out refused to have it valet parked and drove back and parked it myself.

About my gf- most of her previous cars have been sticks though her latest car isn't (a Mazda CX-7). She even drove my S2000 with out issue (with me in the car of course) but I think the MS3 is a bit more tricky especially with the TWM SS installed. It's got a good deal of shifter resistance and the syncros are pretty tight. I'm assuming when she felt the first stop of "resistance" coming down from 1st to 2nd she thought it was in gear and let the clutch out. Still- going over it in my head I don't see how that would burn the cluch so much as thrash the tranny. Though tranny damage is an even worse speculation.

Again thanks for all the stories, and input. It's much appreciated.
 
khoney said:
One Sunday morning, about 6:30AM, I awake to hearing a rather throaty engine revving real high. That's real odd, I think to myself... who would be doing this at 6:30 on a Sunday morning? Besides, no one on my street has a car that sounds like that, except... ME!!!!

I go downstairs and out to the garage, just in time to see my 17-year-old son pulling in with my MS3. His license had been revoked (by me) a month earlier (for wrecking one car and totalling another within a 24-hour period), and his car (a regular automatic Mazda 3) was taken away. Apparently, he decided he just HAD to see some girl at about 3AM, so he took my car. I had been questioning whether I ever received 2 sets of keys when I bought the car, because I could never find the 2nd set. Well I found out that morning where they were!

After tearing him a new one, I went back to bed. When I went back out to the garage later that morning, it absolutely REEKED of burned clutch. You see, we have a 65-foot driveway on an incline that ends in a left-hand garage. Apparently he had some real trouble getting the car in the garage - I had given him a couple of lessons on driving stick, but he certainly hadn't gotten the hang of it.

He is now 'carless' until after he turns 18 - I have no intention of reinstating his license.

Hope you enjoyed my 'clutch' story ;)
Click to expand...

Not driving, no problem. If it was me he probably wouldn't be walking either.
He isn't supposed to be driving at all.
He stole your car.
He probably thought he was going to get lucky, so I can't fault his motivation, but still...
 
My MS3 is my first stick since a Toyota Pickup last driven in '87. My wife and I both grew up driving sticks, but having automatics for the last twenty years sure made me a bit rusty. Don't know if I wanna invite her to try this one or not (dunno). She'd probably rebel anyway. Her last venture into a stick was a turbo-charged Isuzu. She did OK, even impressed the salesman by winding it up pretty tight before shifting.
 
My wife has been driving stick since she was 16. When I met her she had a 2000 civic EX in stick.

I used to have a 255 WHP MR2 turbo as a fun summer car. It started as a NA 5 speed but I did a JDM Motor swap on it soon after i got it. A few months later I got an upgraded ARC Intercooler and upped the boost quite a bit. First time my wife drove that car after the new IC was when I was on my way home from a national MR2 meet in Kansas. I was sunburnt and had no AC in the car. It was 90 and raining when I left Kansas, she was at her parents house and hour away from us, which was on my way home. I stopped there for dinner with her/them and I asked to swap cars, as I was tired of no AC and being sunburnt, etc. She proceeds to leave me in the dust in her car. When I got home she told me she raced some guys in a turbo 2G Talon (with injen plate frame and exhaust on it she told me later) on the highway in my MR2. From a roll @ 70-80 she took them to 130. . .3 times in a row they came back to loose to her again. LOL

She took the MS3 out a few nights ago and when she came back was "your car IS fast!" LOL

gotta love a woman who properly knows how to drive stick. LOL
 
I think a BIG reason for the difference in auto vs stick between here and europe is the level of tax levied on fuels for automotive purposes.

extremely high fuel cost vs. here in the US means they have been driving smaller vehicles for quite some time compared to our SUV and truck orgy that has been going on for years now. This combined with their very narrow urban streets in the older cities dictates the use of smaller cars. Smaller cars = less HP = standard shift being the transimission of choice. Nothing sucks worse than a power sapping slushbox on a small displacement 4 cylinder car.
 
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