Learning to drive stick [Archive]

JovianGhost

10-31-2009, 06:44 PM

One thing I would like to do, that I keep saying EVERY year, is learning to drive a manual transmission. It's not because I want to get a manual car (although then I would have an excuse to buy the Speed3 :chuckle) but I feel it's a useful skill to have in life.

Now, I know the basic concepts of driving stick, but I have no practical experience. For example, I wouldn't know the exact point to shift gears. I was thinking of just getting a rental for one day and practicing on that, although I don't know if that's such a good idea-- for a completely inexperienced person struggling to teach themselves the workings of a manual transmission. I'm afraid of burning the clutch or damaging the transmission itself.

Anyone have any tips?

Dante

10-31-2009, 06:59 PM

Honestly, I didn't know how, I just got a brand new car and learned in literally 1 week. Ive stalled about 4 times in that 1 week. Now, several months later, it just comes naturally. If your constantly riding the clutch every day then youll eventually grind it to a point where no gear goes in.. I really dont think you should worry about damaging anything. Newer cars are a bit harder to stall..

froggy

10-31-2009, 07:27 PM

first gear and reverse gears from a stop, and hill starts are the only real hard part that you have to know for driving a stick. The other "hard" thing to know is when you downshift is to rev match to make it smooth and not jerky. Rev matching is not 100% needed but it's a good skill to know. First thing to learn is to find out where the friction point is on the clutch. Start on a level surface clutch in, and in first gear. Now very slowly, let me repeat, very slowly let the clutch out until you start to feel the car begin to slowly creep forward. don't worry it won't stall and you won't have to use the gas as long as it's not to steep uphill. Then once you know where the friction point is when your driving regularly you just give it a little gas, about 1200 revs is good for most situations and start releasing the clutch. once it gets to the friction point you can start giving a little bit more gas and let go completely. from changing gears from then on it's just:
off gas
on clutch
change gear
off clutch
on gas

as you get more comfortable it will become almost simultaneous

maybe i should offer manual driving lessons in the lend a hand section.

stormin84

10-31-2009, 08:38 PM

take a young drivers course for a day....

SirWanker

10-31-2009, 09:27 PM

take a young drivers course for a day....

ditto with this recommendation but you really need daily practice before you can shift smoothly. Unfortunately, shift/clutch feel varies wildly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Personally the best manual is Honda, circa 1992 Civic Si.

froggy

10-31-2009, 10:00 PM

ditto with this recommendation but you really need daily practice before you can shift smoothly. Unfortunately, shift/clutch feel varies wildly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Personally the best manual is Honda, circa 1992 Civic Si.

disagree e34 series bmw 3 series had a better gearbox/clutch combo

slam525i

10-31-2009, 10:19 PM

disagree e34 series bmw 3 series had a better gearbox/clutch combo

E34 = 5 series
E36 = 3 series

-former E34 owner

SirWanker

10-31-2009, 10:27 PM

disagree e34 series bmw 3 series had a better gearbox/clutch combo

Never driven that so I'll take your word.

froggy

11-01-2009, 06:33 PM

E34 = 5 series
E36 = 3 series

-former E34 owner

that's right my bad I always screw those stupid alphanumeric series numbers up

SSmoked

11-01-2009, 06:52 PM

its honestly not that hard. i learned how to drive stick on my pops 69 camaro. u guys dont know what a clutch feels like until u drive a 40+ year old car. not to mention changing gears is like 1/2km long lol. i dont drive standered daily but i can get into pretty much any standered car and drive it along with ease, well if u dont account for the small jerk going from first to second lol.

crystal8484

11-01-2009, 06:59 PM

i learned to drive stick in high heels, in less than an hour. i'm sure if you know what you're supposed to do you'll be fine. getting out of first was tricky, but feel around for it... when you begin to ease up on the clutch slowly, step on the gas more... you will honestly be able to feel it out. As for knowing when to change gears, you'll be able to hear it in the engine itself, and common sense. you'll know you need to change gears if your engine is screaming at you. hahaha

dont worry too much about down shifting, that comes afterwards.

when in doubt neutral is your friend. if you also feel like you're gonna stall, just push the clutch in quickly.

practice, and you'll get it... just dont think about it, and DRIVE. have fun!!!

dentinger

11-01-2009, 07:14 PM

i just went out and bought a standard car, and learned on that.

i wish i could forget how to drive stick, and re-learn it. it was so much fun.

gibbons3

11-01-2009, 07:21 PM

i dont think you can rent cars that are standard, my second time i drove stick was when i got my car and i was leaving the dealership, i kept stalling it and didnt know why, the sales person came out and said i had it in 3rd lol:chuckle, i mostly learned on my friends car before i actuially drove mine

JovianGhost

11-01-2009, 07:30 PM

Good advice.
It seems that everyone is saying the same thing-- manual is an easy thing to learn. I guess we'll see if and when the time comes for me. :)

dragons4life

11-01-2009, 07:34 PM

Car rentals don't have standard cars, and are all automatics for customer convenience.

if you want to learn stick. go to www.Shiftnation.ca (http://www.Shiftnation.ca) and book an appointment.

STeeLy

11-01-2009, 08:07 PM

I need to learn how to drive stick too... I'm really bad at it... and horrible for riding the clutch...

PCLoadLetter

11-01-2009, 08:50 PM

It's a breeze to learn how to drive a manual car. My first car was a manual, I drove off the lot with zero experience driving one (and didn't stall!).

Some good things to practice while learning. Perfect these and you'll be golden:

- starting from 0 on flat.
- starting from 0 on flat without pressing the gas pedal and ending up in a coast.
- starting from 0 on hills with little to no rollback.

She_Prime

11-01-2009, 08:54 PM

Car rentals don't have standard cars, and are all automatics for customer convenience.

if you want to learn stick. go to www.Shiftnation.ca (http://www.Shiftnation.ca) and book an appointment.

^ was reading their website and they offer a $5 discount if three or more people sign up at the same time. If a few people on here are interested it may be beneficial

JovianGhost

11-01-2009, 09:40 PM

In the Lend a Hand program thread (http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=38243&page=2) froggy is offering his services to teach people to drive manual. Let's hope the demand doesn't outweigh the supply! :chuckle

casperwonder

11-02-2009, 12:14 AM

This is a great thread. I vote for a sticky!

Gizzmo_jr

11-02-2009, 12:34 AM

Flagrum_3

11-02-2009, 01:16 AM

^ was reading their website and they offer a $5 discount if three or more people sign up at the same time. If a few people on here are interested it may be beneficial

Heck, I'd give anyone lessons for 1/4 of that price, but you have to use your own car lol. :chuckle

_3

towelsnap

11-02-2009, 08:46 AM

my old Jeep was NOT forgiving worth shit. You either did it right or you got bucking bronco that feels like its gonna wheelie. Needless to say, I learned quickly.

When I taught my g/f, you start with the basics. Feel the fiction point without gas then with gas. Learn to go from 0-20km and stop nicely. Then progress into 1-2 shifts and slight hills.

hahahahaa I miss the Jeep . For me I learned how to drive standard in a RHD VW polo had to drive it for 6 months. Now that's a small challenge to get use to , I've driven standard here and it just takes practice and patience .

Borrow a friends car and offer to buy him/her beer lol cheaper and have them teach you in the country , than move to a sub division than go to city driving that's what I did with the RHD. .... lol yes the first standard car I have ever driven was a RHD.

nsh

11-02-2009, 04:11 PM

I wanted to know how to drive a stick too, but I didn't want to purchase one. I ended up taking a bunch of lessons from Young Drivers.

The woman was a total knob though. But I did end up learning quite a bit. I haven't driven once since, unfortunately - which was 2 years ago. Hopefully it's like riding a bike and you never really forget how to drive one. :/

mazdaskit

11-02-2009, 04:25 PM

my old Jeep was NOT forgiving worth shit. You either did it right or you got bucking bronco that feels like its gonna wheelie. Needless to say, I learned quickly.

haha thats what i learned in a 1994 jeep tj its like u hit the gear you feel like a milkshake and but i learned to get it in about 15 mins

jaimie08mazda3

11-02-2009, 04:29 PM

The Best car i learned how to drive 5 spd on was a 2008 mazda3 GS :chuckle

froggy

11-02-2009, 08:25 PM

my first car learning to drive stick was a Renault 5 turbo, that car was fun

crystal8484

11-03-2009, 08:58 AM

I learned on my friends sisters civic, which was insane. The clutch was so sensitive! But the most fun i ever had driving stick was renting a suzuki sidekick in Greece and being the only one to know how to drive from the girls I was with... so booting around Santorini with the music blasting, with the roof off was unreeeeeeeeeeeeeal. TALK ABOUT driving a stick up a hill is hard... try doing it in Greece.. LMAO.

RBoy8

11-03-2009, 09:16 AM

First car I ever touched a stickshift in was an Acura TSX... went with my dad to "test drive" one at Acura 2000 lol. Only drove that one around in a parking lot though.

The car where I actually drove stick on the roads and got used to it was with my uncle's Acura 1.6EL. I stalled a couple of times (mostly when coming in and out of the driveway and at a couple of stop signs) but other than that, it only took me about half a day to a day to get it down.

project_axela

02-06-2010, 09:00 PM

I learned to drive stick on a 240sx :)

froggy

02-07-2010, 01:34 AM

those cars are supposed to have a really nice gearbox on them, hopefully it was still in good condition when you started learning

DualSoul

02-07-2010, 03:39 AM

Learned to drive in my current Mazda 3. Had to drive my car home from the dealership with literally no experience. Slightly harrowing, though I eventually made it. Stalled twice at a light though...

IMO, nothing trumps experience, so if you have a friend with a manual transmission car, I'd get to know that friend better and possibly ask if they're willing to lend it for you to practise. Or just take froggy up on his offer.

froggy

02-07-2010, 12:55 PM

That offer is still on the table if anyone wants to learn/practice

STeeLy

02-08-2010, 01:58 PM

Might take you up on the practice offer at some point in time.

optiklenz13

02-08-2010, 02:30 PM

back in the day when I was learning how to drive, I did learn from this back home.

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/4073/12042009jpg.jpg not the actual car (if it qualifies to be a car), but you get the picture. :chuckle GHETTTOO!!!!

and then I mastered it from a Mitsubishi L300, mind you the shifter is by the steering wheel.

http://images01.olx.com.ph/ui/3/01/16/61749516_1-saleswap-mitsubishi-L-300-.jpg