Tips for Stick?

Most modern cars won't allow you to shift into first if you're driving over a certain speed. 1994 is iffy though. No point in trying to power shift when you're still just learning to drive stick. When you come out of second gear, push the shifter out of gear and let go of it, the shifter will center itself and you'll push it straight up for 3rd or straight down for 4th.
 
Just step on the clutch and on the accelerator, then release the clutch and grab the wheel. Be prepared for the awesome launch control without control, thought. :D
 
Since I learned relatively late in life (mid 30's), I've been meaning to put together a guide or a blog post on this topic. Maybe this will be my template.

TIP #1: Learn on a powerful car such as a V8. You will have to learn to use your left foot to work the clutch, and it takes time to build sensitivity. You've been using it for nothing up till now, now it has to do some actual work. On a powerful car, you can worry about working the clutch by itself. On a less powerful car, you will later have to learn to get the revs up while working the clutch and if you're just learning how to work the clutch pedal, you're going to stall out a lot because you're not used to working both feet simultaneously.

CONCEPT #1: When you drive an auto, you're used to stepping on the brake and then getting off the brake when you're ready to go. The car is always "in gear". In a manual, you must remember you can and will stall the car if it's in gear and the clutch is engaged (unless you have a really powerful car).

CONCEPT #2: When in neutral, the car will roll backwards/forwards, so learn to use the brakes and lean on the e-brake for help.

CONCEPT #3: The clutch is not an on-off switch. Go slow and you will learn the "engagement point", where the clutch and flywheel make contact and engage, and it's a curve not an immediate engagement. So getting into 1st is not a button push, but a gradual application of the clutch pedal from 0% to 100% engagement. If you put the car in gear and just release the clutch all the way, you will stall most cars because the transition is too harsh. Learn the engagement point and make your clutch release gradual but quick.

TIP #2: Do not preselect gears when you are in neutral. E.G. you're in fifth gear cruising and then take an off ramp and decide you want to be in 3rd at the apex, you might think you can depress the clutch, take the car out of fifth and immediately put it in 3rd, and keep the clutch depressed until you are ready to engage 3rd. Don't do that. You would think that having the clutch depressed is the same as being in neutral but it isn't. Even with the clutch down you will still have partial engagement and you will grind the gears. Keep the transmission in neutral until you're ready to engage the new gear.

TIP #3: Practice your shift gate pattern. Most cars have reverse on the lower right, but some cars like BMW put it in the upper left. You shouldn't have to worry about accidentally hitting reverse (I think most cars prevent this at speed, and they usually make it difficult to get into R). I had the hardest time finding 3rd (nervous about rowing up and down, hitting 3rd instead of 1st or 5th, for example). My tip for hitting 3rd is to open your palm and push the stick forward, you'll hit 3rd in the middle every time.
 
One of the best things I can say about learning to drive a manual (having passed my driving test less than a year ago), is depress the clutch all the way when changing gear (unlike what some people are told when learning which is to put it just below the 'biting' point, or 'slipping' point whatever you want to call it, as it is different in all cars and below in one car may result in crunched gears in another).

Also just take your time when doing it, as others have already said, it will just click and become second nature to you then, the position of all the gears, the timing of the pedals when starting, stopping, changing gear. And finally go at a pace which is comfortable for you in terms of learning.

Piece of cake.

epp_b said:
2. You will stall it. Many times. I guarantee it. Don't get discouraged, everyone stalls it when they're learning.
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And once you have passed your test too :p
 
Even after i learned the basics of manual driving, once you get onto real roads of different varieties you realize theres still a learning curve to get past. for the first week or so i would still stall at least once or twice a day, then for the rest of that month i'd stall at least once every week, and then after that i'd stall every once in a great while if it was an usual situation, or i was tired or simply being clumsy with the clutch foot.

Plus every time you drive in a completely different car every clutch/MT has a different feel and character and takes a little time to get used to. Hondas have some of the best/balanced manual transmissions around in modern cars and are great to learn on, Subarus on the other hand are much more difficult for newbies to learn on and the clutch friction point is often harder to find for some reason
 
yoshi_ said:
This is one thing you do NOT want to fuck up: when you are in 2nd gear, revving high, and shift up, make abso-I-shit-you-not-sure that you are in THIRD gear and not FIRST gear. I feel so sorry for my (old) first manual car.

Better yet don't go over 3000 RPM just in case you do make a mistake.
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Bah the gearbox will survive. I went from 5th to 2nd once in my old Escort and it took it like a champ. As long as you don't do it constantly (you won't) you will be fine.
 
argatoga said:
Bah the gearbox will survive. I went from 5th to 2nd once in my old Escort and it took it like a champ. As long as you don't do it constantly (you won't) you will be fine.
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Well part of the reason is you drove an Escort with (presumably) not a huge amt of hp or tq. A larger or more powerful engine with that kind of mistake my produce more damage to the transmission.
 
You can go down from say 5th to say 2nd but you have go to match the speed vs the revs (and press the break hard) - not to be tried for some time 'till you are very experienced and confident. As I said good luck - do not aim too high on your first go at it.
 
Just reporting success.
Only stalled it ONCE, when he made me start on an incline (So I was rolling backwards). Now I know what you guys mean by "bite point". I'll admit I'm not great at it, but for just about 45 minutes of practice I thought I did rather well. Did manage to get 3rd without missing and getting 1st instead, so that's good.
Overall I thought it went pretty well. Now I'm ABSOLUTELY positive I want a manual when I buy a car.
 
edkwon said:
Hondas have some of the best/balanced manual transmissions around in modern cars and are great to learn on, Subarus on the other hand are much more difficult for newbies to learn on and the clutch friction point is often harder to find for some reason
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LOL I can vouch for the Honda transmissions - stupidly easy and very forgiving after not driving a manual for so long. The only manuals I'd driven before that were in Hyundais, and boy was relieved that I didn't have to squeeze the clutch to the point my left leg was hurting to make it engage anymore. Haven't driven any Subarus, not yet.
 
no tips. Just drive the bloody thing and you will master it in no time.


: )


Good luck
 
Sounds like you did fine...good job. The first time I drove a manual on the street was in city traffic at rush hour in a car I'd just bought...it got interesting, to say the least. I learned that too little gas meant a stall, and too much gas meant a nice smoky burnout, which was much more fun
:lol:
Poor car.
:edit: and once you do start daily driving one, even then you're likely to make a silly mistake from time to time...it's okay...it happens to all of us.
 
All I can suggest is make sure you get the clutch on the bite before taking the handbrake off, or they'll be no stopping you going backwards. :D
 
edkwon said:
Hondas have some of the best/balanced manual transmissions around in modern cars and are great to learn on, Subarus on the other hand are much more difficult for newbies to learn on and the clutch friction point is often harder to find for some reason
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+1
I drove a Legacy wagon once and it was a piece of cake; then tried my friend's modded WRX and just couldnt shift smoothly :(
 
Every single car is different. So a manual from one spefcific car will be completely different from another manual.

Just get the hang of it by trying annd trying. You probably will stall it several times (or maybe not!) but you'll have to keep practicing till you get the hang of it.

As many here said, just give a little bit of throttle and release the clutch VERY slowly till you notice the car starts getting the movement.

I had a hard time learning to use my old Escort specially when the clutch is a VERY sensible B**ch. But thankfully now I can drive whatever manual they give to me because all of them are much easier to use.

Just practice and above all ENJOY IT! ;)
 
Well i'll tell you what usually happens when I try to teach someone:

1) they apply gas and hold it
2) they start to let out the clutch but when it doesn't engage right away they start pushing the gas in even more
3) then they start letting the clutch out real fast because the higher revs freak them out and stall it

I have no idea why, but everyone does that. Solution:

- just sit there not using the gas, slowly releasing the clutch until it engages. Repeat until you're comfortable with the engagement point, then start playing with 2 pedals.
 
Oh yeah, if anybody is ever lucky enough to drive a Ford GT, what you think would be 1st is actually 3rd and you will stall the car. The shifter is mounted diagonally. To hit 1st you have to jam the gear shift into your leg. Even worse, the GT has reverse in the extreme left, left of 1st gear, so that requires amputation ;)
 
A good tip for hill starts is the raise the clutch until the nose of the car lifts (you should now be just on the "bite" point) and then release the Handbrake while keeping the gas steady.

Works for me very time.

:)
 
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