Driving Manual

[kovalchuk71 212]

I want to learn how to drive manual, and I was curious as to how difficult it is? I am left handed, so will I have trouble?

[RadioGaGa 162]

My GF is a leftie...she drives standard. Mind you...she's taught herself to exist in a Right handed world....Right handed mouse....right handed scissors etc...

No Leftorium for her.

[Rustpot 1]

I'm a lefty, I never thought that was an issue driving stick.

You just need a car to drive. My brother's Focus is standard and I took it for a spin once or twice. Driving it daily will get your left leg used to the motion in no time.

It really is a shame that it's becoming a lost skill today. The vast majority of Americans will never drive a stick or even be in a car with one.

My one horror story driving my brother's car- Everything else was blocked in so I took it to the store. Stopped at a light and stalled the car 5 times in a row trying to take off in the left turn lane. Finally realized I was still in fifth :D. Boy was the bitch behind me pissed.

[fatwabbit 93]

shouldnt be a big issue, especially for those side-challenged like myself (left footed soccer player, right handed everything)

[Spreedizzle 1]

Congrats on wanting to learn the quickly fading fine art of driving a stick. Every car that I have owned has been a stick, and probably will stay that way until my knee explodes again and I'm unable to push in a clutch. ;)

Once you go manual, the ol' slush box (automatic) just feels so underpowered and not in control.

Recommendation....try and find a low powered car (civic, corolla, etc etc) to learn on as it is harder to destroy someone's clutch with an underpowered car. ;)

[pantherfan 0]

The vast majority of Americans will never drive a stick or even be in a car with one.

Really?

I don't know anyone over here thats got an automatic licence, automatic car sure. It really doesn't seem a good idea to me when you can get a licence for both or limit yourself to just autos. (Assuming you guys have the 2 different licences aswell)

Besides that it's really easy, its just getting the clutch control and then thats about it. As for changing gear with your other hand it shouldn't be a problem as its as basic as it looks.

[Spreedizzle 1]

The vast majority of Americans will never drive a stick or even be in a car with one.

Really?

I don't know anyone over here thats got an automatic licence, automatic car sure. It really doesn't seem a good idea to me when you can get a licence for both or limit yourself to just autos. (Assuming you guys have the 2 different licences aswell)

Besides that it's really easy, its just getting the clutch control and then thats about it. As for changing gear with your other hand it shouldn't be a problem as its as basic as it looks.

In the States it is simply a "drivers license" which allows you to drive any form of vehicle that does not require a CDL (Commercial Drivers License).

Automatic....manual....it's all the same to the government here.

[whbd18 0]

It really is a shame that it's becoming a lost skill today. The vast majority of Americans will never drive a stick or even be in a car with one.

Only a couple of my friends have automatic cars, and they are driving suvs. Alot of people I know have standard cars and I for one dont plan on ever driving auto unless its an SUV or maybe a pickup truck. I really dont think its becoming a lost skill more so than automobile companys producing less and less options for new cars to have a manual transmission.

As for Kovy,its really easy to do. I learned in 15 min basically. The hardest part is getting into first gear, but once you have that down its basically nothing.

[DamnLocust 0]

It's ridiculously simple, yet takes a bit of a touch to get comfortable with it. I still remember the first trip I took in my old stick 89 legend (god I miss that car). I stalled a couple of times and was herky-jerky all over the place. Within a couple of days though, it was like second nature.

[english15x 3]

It takes patience and practice. I'd suggest starting in a parking lot for the safety of you and others haha. Using the clutch/gas correctly in harmony is the most difficult thing. My friend was an idiot and bought an 04 mustang with a stick and has never owned a stick car. He asked me to teach him how to drive it. He blew out the clutch and wrecked it once also in a month, so learn to drive in an underpowered car as stated above. I learned in a 97 Jetta.

Hope this helps.

[Rustpot 1]

One of the reasons I didn't get one was the fact that I won't be able to count on any friends getting me home if something happens and I need a driver.

I can count on one hand the number of friends who can drive stick, and I don't think I have any good friends who own one.

With that said, it's a very rewarding way to drive over an automatic. The connection to the car is so much nicer, and it's one less thing that can go wrong with your car in an electronic failure.

[Chadd 916]

The biggest problem is that I have to put my beverage down when I'm driving a stick. Other than that, I love mine. All of my trucks/SUVs have been stick and I really prefer the control you have with a stick.

[english15x 3]

yeah after driving a stick it seems like you could do paperwork in an automatic.

[Dat 0]

If you can borrow a manual car to practice for a week, you should be confident and fluent by the end.

First, it's good to learn what it is that the pedals and shifter are doing, with the engine and transmission. Howstuffworks.com has a good explanation.

Driving stick requires learning awareness of the engine, gears, clutch. From that you learn to make decisions from the motion of the car, sound of the engine, reading on the tachometer, and feel from the pedals to make the car do what you want it to do, without upsetting the car.

When I teach people how to drive, I intentionally tell them to slowly let the clutch out with no gas and stall the engine. That way they can see what it's like, see that it's no big deal and get used to it, since it's going to happen as they're learning anyway. Once that's out of they way and they understand how to anticipate and prevent stalls, they're ready to learn the rest confidently, without being anxious about stalling.

[mrusse01 0]

If you can borrow a manual car to practice for a week, you should be confident and fluent by the end.

First, it's good to learn what it is that the pedals and shifter are doing, with the engine and transmission. Howstuffworks.com has a good explanation.

Driving stick requires learning awareness of the engine, gears, clutch. From that you learn to make decisions from the motion of the car, sound of the engine, reading on the tachometer, and feel from the pedals to make the car do what you want it to do, without upsetting the car.

When I teach people how to drive, I intentionally tell them to slowly let the clutch out with no gas and stall the engine. That way they can see what it's like, see that it's no big deal and get used to it, since it's going to happen as they're learning anyway. Once that's out of they way and they understand how to anticipate and prevent stalls, they're ready to learn the rest confidently, without being anxious about stalling.

Good advise. Learn to stall first.

Driving manual is pretty straightforward to learn the basics, but if you want to become really good at more advanced techniques like double-clutching or even heel-toe braking, it takes a LONG time.

When I got my license you were basically considered a pussy at my high school if you were a guy and you drove an automatic, so it was pretty uncommon to see a guy buy an automatic car.

[Thockey17 1]

As for Kovy,its really easy to do. I learned in 15 min basically. The hardest part is getting into first gear, but once you have that down its basically nothing.

Theres no doubt that it takes everybody a different amount of time to learn, but there is no possible way you could be comfortable driving it in 15 minutes, and especially not on the streets.

Lets face it, learning on a completely flat parking lot is completely different. Barely any roads are going to be as flat as the lot, so you will definitely feel uncomfortable should your car start to roll backwards(and it will).

Dat has a great piece of advice. Purposely stall the car to get a feel for it. Every clutch is different and starts to grab at certain points. Once you get that down, it shouldnt be a problem.

Lastly, dont THINK you have to rev at to a certain point, or THINK of where the clutch grabs. Its all about the feel. The only way to get better at driving it is by repetition. If you are getting very frustrated, the best thing to do is get out of the car and try it at a later time.

[A_Steeves12 0]

I own a auto but have driven manuals and one problem I always had and could never figure out was stopping up hills and how not to roll back.

[pantherfan 0]

Handbreak bring the clutch to biting point let the break off and drop the clutch. ^^

Or just the handbreak if you mean stopping on a hill in general

[english15x 3]

I think he means stopping on a hill on a red light or something. You have to let out the clutch enough for it to grab and start giving a little gas, all right after you let go of the break. :lol:

[GoHawks 0]

My first car was an auto, but when it died, i got a manual. I'm not looking back until I'm too old to drive it safely. Like it was said earlier, it makes the connection to the car so much better, you as the driver have much more control over the car, and with repetition it becomes second-nature. I deliver pizzas in a really hilly town, so i get plenty of practice stopping at uphill red lights. Clutch slowly out, when the revs dip, blip the throttle with the toe, keeping the heel on the brake, then release brake and drive off. It's kind of intricate, but the finer points of driving a stick are. When you're learning, really focus on making everything smooth. When I was first learning, I hated seeing the passenger's head jerking back and forth when i made bad shifts, but as said before, practice makes perfect :D

[lawryde 0]

Here is a forum dedicated to manual transmission driving. It has pointers and advanced techniques as well.

I found that the best way to learn starts is to be on a very slight incline, one where if you let off the brake you will very slowly roll back. You can really feel where the clutch engages when you are moving backwards very slowly.

[hockeysc23 0]

My first car I purchased w/my own $$ was a manual car. I couldn't even test drive it my mother did that for me haha.

I loved driving manual and will be going back because ordinary driving seems so boring with an automatic. I like having more control over my car.

[sc37 0]

My one horror story driving my brother's car- Everything else was blocked in so I took it to the store. Stopped at a light and stalled the car 5 times in a row trying to take off in the left turn lane. Finally realized I was still in fifth :D. Boy was the bitch behind me pissed.

Heheh, I just bought my first car and had the same thing happen to me on my test drive. I'd driven stick before but not a ton, and combine that with a different feeling car on a slight incline....disaster :P Yeah, wound up not buying that car or from that dealer either, lol.

But I insisted on getting a stick just cause it was cheaper and more fun, and definitely more cool. Not to mention the gas mileage (37 MPG!!) Nothing like looking over at some guy in a really nice car, etc only to see that it's an auto or some stupid paddle shifter. Even in 'underpowered' cars, you get some kick out of driving with a stick since there's no torque converter and don't loose any power and you can actually reach the max HP and torque at the higher RPMs.

I'd recommend checking out this guys Youtube videos on learning to drive stick: http://www.youtube.com/user/s0ggyrice

I watched them after getting my car to iron out the kinks in my driving and make sure to fix anything I was doing wrong.

And don't listen to ppl who say your transmission will drop out if you do this or this, so don't be afraid of giving it a little gas when your launching(just dont do like a 5K RPM hard launch every time). Your clutch is a wear item so don't worry about killing it too bad. Everyone has to learn some where, some how and I haven't seen anyone have their car blow up on them. Heck, my dad's old Escort with almost 140,000 miles still is running the original clutch even after my sister and I learned on it.

As said before, learn the stall point and also learn how to recover fast from a stall. It'll happen, just learn to start it back up quick and don't panic. And if you want to be a cheater on hills, get a Subaru with their hill-assist transmission :D

[Chadd 916]

My one horror story driving my brother's car- Everything else was blocked in so I took it to the store. Stopped at a light and stalled the car 5 times in a row trying to take off in the left turn lane. Finally realized I was still in fifth :D . Boy was the bitch behind me pissed.

Heheh, I just bought my first car and had the same thing happen to me on my test drive. I'd driven stick before but not a ton, and combine that with a different feeling car on a slight incline....disaster :P Yeah, wound up not buying that car or from that dealer either, lol.

But I insisted on getting a stick just cause it was cheaper and more fun, and definitely more cool. Not to mention the gas mileage (37 MPG!!) Nothing like looking over at some guy in a really nice car, etc only to see that it's an auto or some stupid paddle shifter. Even in 'underpowered' cars, you get some kick out of driving with a stick since there's no torque converter and don't loose any power and you can actually reach the max HP and torque at the higher RPMs.

I'd recommend checking out this guys Youtube videos on learning to drive stick: http://www.youtube.com/user/s0ggyrice

I watched them after getting my car to iron out the kinks in my driving and make sure to fix anything I was doing wrong.

And don't listen to ppl who say your transmission will drop out if you do this or this, so don't be afraid of giving it a little gas when your launching(just dont do like a 5K RPM hard launch every time). Your clutch is a wear item so don't worry about killing it too bad. Everyone has to learn some where, some how and I haven't seen anyone have their car blow up on them. Heck, my dad's old Escort with almost 140,000 miles still is running the original clutch even after my sister and I learned on it.

As said before, learn the stall point and also learn how to recover fast from a stall. It'll happen, just learn to start it back up quick and don't panic. And if you want to be a cheater on hills, get a Subaru with their hill-assist transmission :D

First stick I had was years ago. When I was looking at it, they asked if I knew how to drive stick. Being a typical 19 year old guy and having a rough idea of the mechanics involved I said "of course I do." It wasn't too bad and I cheated on hills by using the parking brake. I still do when I'm being lazy or if it's absurdly steep.

[Thockey17 1]

But I insisted on getting a stick just cause it was cheaper and more fun, and definitely more cool. Nothing like looking over at some guy in a really nice car, etc only to see that it's an auto or some stupid paddle shifter.

How does being able to drive manual make you cool?

Nowadays, these so called really nice cars are being designed to be the fastest and most enjoyable with either an Auto or Semi-Auto transmission. The true manual cars will be phased out in the future since everybody wants to be the next Michael Schumacher.

I'll gladly take "stupid paddle shifters" in a true high performance car nowadays. Witnessing a car shift at 7k+ without lifting off the gas, in roughly 150milliseconds, or faster, is absolutely absurd. The shifts are so fast and hard that you think the differential is going to literally rip itself out of the car.

...And yes, i drive a manual car everyday.