Naboolou

Ok, so I'm 20 years old and don't know how to drive stick. Please don't hurt me

I asked my friend to teach me and we went for my first lesson. Let me tell you, I consider myself pretty intelligent and a fast learner but I felt like the biggest spaz trying to learn stick.

I stalled a couple times and had some jerking movements a few other times. I guess its just the oddness of using the left and right foot and shifting all at the same time.
I don't know but I left the parking lot feeling pretty low.

Is it more than likely that I will get better?? I mean you can't really learn the other gears until you get on a highway and do it and I can just imagine the accident scene if I were to jump on a highway with the way I did in a parking lot.

Anybody have any pointers, suggestions, or hope for a depressed manual driver wannabe?

jlukja

You just experienced the worst it could possibly be. It will get better from here on. Your first time, so you didn't know what to expect. You were probably doing standing starts in first gear which are the hardest ones for a noobie to do. All I can say is practice, practice, practice. I guarantee you that after a few weeks it will be second nature to you. Keep at it.


...or, buy an AT and sportshift.

Lung Fu Mo Shi

When I learned it was the same way. You'll screw up a few times, but trust me...you'll get it.

dabuda

the first gear is always the hardest, the others come easily...the quickest way to learn is get an old beater and practice on an isolated hill facing up...you'll feel the gears catching when you depress the clutch and press down on the gas steadily

you'll eventually get it...no worries

Naboolou

I already own one but I want to be able to do both.

btw....my friends car was a G35 coupe

corbs

Just like he said 1st is the hardest, everything after that is cake. If I could learn at the age of 13 you can learn. I've even managed to teach 2 of my ex-gf's how to drive stick (no pun intended). :P

gsclifton

iTrader: (2)

Learn the brake/clutch/shift controls on a motorcycle first. That makes shifting a manual car very easy.

Dan Martin

The first car I learned to drive stick was a 911 twin turbo! I was a car detailer as a summer job in highschool and my boss threw me the keys to the car (a customer's of course) and said "well you've got to learn someday." I stalled it three times just backing it out of the garage!

Don't worry, the business folded a long time ago....

vwong

If you really want to master driving MT cars, do yourself a favor. Buy a MT car and make it your #1 choice of car to drive everyday. Best would be to get rid of the the AT car. The reason is if you don't have a car to practice on everyday, you're most likely to have that jerky feel whenever you try to drive a MT car. For some people, this will NOT build any confidence to themselves, and sometimes these people will never drive a MT car again.

My wife, for example, was just like that. When we were dating, she wanted to learn how to drive MT. So I taught her with my old Prelude, but I could tell that she had the "if I can't master the MT, I can always drive my AT Civic" mentality in her mind. So she didn't go too far from there. Then later, we traded her AT Civic for the MT Integra. With that, the whole mentality changed. She couldn't go anywhere if she couldn't master MT. So it forced her to learn quicker, and she could practice everyday. Now she's very good at it.

jlukja

In all seriousness ... the hardest thing for a new MT driver to master is the contact point on the clutch. It would be best to practice on a beater car, or a rental, because the suggestions outlined below tend to really wear on the clutch.

Find an open area. From a standing stop, with the clutch in, give it throttle to around 2000 RPM and keep it there. Now ever so gently begin releasing the clutch. As the clutch begins to make contact you will feel the car move forward and the RPMs will drop. At this point stop releasing the clutch and press it in again. Keep doing this until you can easily anticipate where the clutch makes contact. Once you get comfortable with this you can move to an area with a slight incline. When your car is facing "uphill" do the same thing a few times. You will roll backwards a little with the clutch in and then move forward when the clutch makes contact. After you are comfortable doing that then its just a matter of practice of gradually incrasing throttle as you release the clutch completely.

1st - 2nd shifts be easier than standing starts and the shifts beyond that are gravy.

xizor

don't sweat the jerkiness for your first time. the only way to get better is by practicing. All this advice here is great, but its nearly impossible to apply when you are driving, you just have to feel it yourself. If you ask most MT drivers how to use the clutch or when to shift, they'll just say its natural. Its really a muscle reflex that you can only learn through experience. So get out and try some more.

Your friend let you learn stick on his G35C!? That's some friend, I barely let people try on my old 92 Accord. No one will touch my TSX!

freudy

My advice: Find your car's G-SPOT and hit it as often as you can.

ecsw

Still remember the first day I learn MT at 17. No one teach me how to, but I figure it out by myself since I ride sports bike all the time.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Learn through practice. Every car will be different, but once you've mastered the feel of the friction point on one clutch, you'll be able to figure it out pretty easily on other cars. I learned to drive MT on a stiff-clutched race car and had no trouble transitioning to a street car (my Integra). You just have to practice. Someone mentioned buying an MT car as your daily driver and I think that's a great idea. You'll learn it in a day if you do that.

captainjack

Relax, Nab. driving stick isn't mental, it's physical. You'll sense and feel what's supposed to happen. Kind of like Luke learning to use a light saber with his eyes covered.

Once you DO get it, stick is REALLY fun. Worth every second of feeling spastic.

An example: My daily commute is 75 miles. 65% of it is crawling through stop-n-go, 1st-gear nightmare traffic. Lots of shifting. Lots of waiting. But I STILL have a MT car. Wouldn't dream of having an auto.

You'll be fine. Good luck and enjoy.

Naboolou

LOL.....I don't know if you saw the meaning of my screenname but that's a good comparison. I'll be sure to use "the force" next time

duugk

Please pay close attention to the "get an old beater" part...

Naboolou

I know I know....I'm looking for someone with a beater car to learn on.......

gfxdave99

Learning Manual is an artform.

Its something you have to feel instead of think about.

I leaned on a beater killed it about 10 times.

One thing that helped me is riding the clutch a lil the first few starts. Dont hit the gas, just slowly let the clutch out feeling where it grabs. If you do it right you can put the car in motion without stalling it or blipping the gas.

kaikai114

Does that make having sex an artform too? Since it's art... they should have that course in school, Sex The Artform to Master, hell I'm going back to skoo full time then

But hey Naboo, good luck on the MT training, dont give up no matter what, it's always hard at the beginning, just think of the enjoyment to come after you've master it.

rshah

It just takes a bit of practice,
My wife fell in love with a red MT TSX with a spoiler (I couldn't say no, even though I didn't know how to drive a MT, and the car was for me)
Well after a couple of hours, I now feel comfortable driving myself around and my left leg is tired. (I hope I didn't hurt my TSX too much).
Just find someone who is patient to help teach you (in my case it wasn't my wife, her idea of teaching me was just putting me on a hill and trying to get me to figure it myself).
It really is a bit more fun driving a MT
so get out there and practice!

DEVO

don't be surprised that you will need a new clutch soon. it happens.

Ajax4ever

I though all Americans drove automatics? Good 2 see that there are also lovers for the real work...

wumarkus

Seriously, if you're a male, you need to know how to drive stick or nobody will have any respect for you... especially the ladies.

That's kind of a joke, but in some ways, it's true.

I convinced my g/f to get a manual civic when she got a new car a few years back. She struggled at first since she had never driven stick, but now she realizes it was the best decision she made. You'll NEVER regret buying a stick once you learn, even if it's tough the first couple weeks.

vwong

I agree. I replaced the clutch in my 90 Prelude (the car I used to learn from) at around 35k miles. I also replaced the clutch in my 99 Integra (the car my wife used to learn from) at 48k miles.

Just for comparison, I replaced the clutch in my 98 Prelude at about 107k miles, and this car has been used to auto-x and track days since it was new.

gfxdave99

Yes.. sex is also an artform. :0

I think learning stick should be a requirement when you go to driving school.

And yes... (regarding posts above)

A REAL man knows how to work a stick..

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Totally agree here!