i learned on a 80's Jetta, which is pretty tough, but it's been a while, and i don't have nearly enough experience in real world driving.

 

sure.

acura/honda manuals, IMO, are the best to learn with.


im certainly not a beginner... but im no expert... and i havent driven standard in years....


yesterday i spent half the day driving my friends 5-spd '02 325i... the other half a 6-spd '02 RSX....

id take the RSX transmission any day... its like slicing butter with a hot knife. top rate...

the bmw is like driving a truck.

 

Yeah what this punk said, I learned to drive on a Porsche and it was the hardest fucking thing to learn on in the world. Then I drove my friends Accord 5 spd and it was so much easier to shift. IMO the Honda/Acura manuals are much easier to drive. i think the CLS should be a little tougher just cuase it is more a luxury car and heavier of a car too. But won't be much difference. Beats a manual Bimmer and def. beats a Manual Carrera or Boxster.

 

The hardest part about the CL is the close gear spacing. Very easy for even an experienced driver to hit the wrong gear.

 

I just learned how to drive stick yesterday on my buddies 2002 Civic Its was easy as hell! Fun little car too

 

Scooter,
You gonna trade in the red rocket???????

 

I've worked Valet parking for about 2 years now. I've driven pretty much every single car in stick you can imagine. In terms of learning stick here is the break down:

Acura/Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru, Mitsu, Mazda, Kia, & Toyota/Lexus(even the IS): They are very easy to learn on and the clutches are soft as hell.

BMW, Audi/VW, are stiff, but not the toughest. The M5 has a clutch which you wouldn't expect to find in a BMW. It's not has soft as a Honda, but it's much softer than a standard BMW clutch. Audi's for some reason seem to be stiffer than VW, but not by alot. Personally I love VW tranny. Driving a bettle is more fun than driving a vette. LOL.

Volvo: Seem to be pretty soft, haven't driven many, most people get auto.

Saab: I personally don't like the clutches of Saab, they are strange, I can't explain it, but the clutches are both hard and soft. It's soft, then it gets hard.

Mercedes: If you want to learn ona Mercedes, the SLK 230 can come in stick. I got into one and i was like WTF. Most old people don't get stick. The SLK clutch is very similar to that of the M5.

Porsche: Don't even get into one. These are so damn stiff. They pop back up like a rocket. They are good for racing. YOu can slam through the gears on a porsche in no time. But don't try learning on one.

GM: The corvette is not that hard. The SS is actually very soft, not something i expected from that type of car. The shifter sucks though.

Supercars: Let's hope you don't get a chance to screw one up.

SUV: I wouldn't reccommend learning on a truck they are so annoying and the shifter is long as hell.

I don't mean to sound arrogant, it's just that I don't get to put much into this forum, and everyone else has a topic they know really well. This is the only thing i can really talk about that I have experience with.
Good luck learning.

 

I learned to drive stick on my brand new 1987 Mustang GT.

I drove it home from the dealer (12 miles) without EVER driving stick before. I did, however, have my Dad in the passenger seat, just in case I spazzed out or something......

Needless to say, my tires had about 5000 miles worth of wear by the time I got home. That car has a serious combination of low-end torque and gearing.

Other than my CL (RIP), Escape, and current SMG M3, ALL my other cars have been stick shift.

I don't think I'll ever go back to another automatic tranny again, unless it's in an SUV.

 

i need to train for the Z-Roadster 6-sp

Zapata:
don't think im trading in...i'd much rather do a private sale when i wanna get the Z...so my intention is to keep the exterior as flawless as possible (doin good post 3M thanx to dorkus malorkus Adam ) while preserving the interior (and original tranny too) as best as i can and sell my baby, possibly on here...God know everyone here has seen my baby at least once or twice

 

gear specing wasn't a problem for me

 

Hey Man I think you did a good review, where I haven't driven all these cars in Stick, I have driven a few different ones. You nailed the Porsche dead on, I learned on a Porshce and wanted to give up I thought driving stick was the biggest pain in the ass, then I drove my friends Accord and I was like umm this really isn't bad.

Either way, nice write up man.

 

While Honda/Acura manuals are great, the best car to learn on is probably a Mazda Miata. Great shifter and great clutch...just my $.02.

 

I've driven stick twice in my life. The first was in a 96 GT 4.6 and that clutch made my leg sore as hell. The next time was like a year later and it was on the last of the 280zx NA. It was 10x easier than the Stang thats for sure.

 

Tom2, How do you like the SMG tranny??? Those seem to be the best of both worlds. Real manual control without a clutch. I'd like to see Acura/Honda come out with one.

 

welcome aboard. I agree with PgaTour, your post was good and informative.

 

no.u might want to try a civic first..cause it is the easiest manual car to be practised.. i will not recommed trying on a new 6 speed cls...

 

If possible, find a weak RWD car to learn on. FWD cars are a lot more sensitive to the throttle position when you let out the clutch.

 

I have driven stick all of my life. I only test drove the 6 speed for about 15 min. I would not think that it would be the easiest to learn on. Just my opinion.

Here is part of my earlier post on the 6 speed:

Driving - Definitely not like any other manual I have ever driven. There is no easing on the clutch. It is either engaged or not. It grabs instantly. Very, Very, Very close and low gearing on the low end. You have to be ready to give it the gas in 2nd or it feels like you down shifted back to 1st, which is real good if you are racing but not good for everyday. I did not feel much of a different in the low end, but you can definitely feel more acceleration in the higher gears. The car pulls good 1st - 5th. 6th is just a cruising gear, which is good for gas mileage. The six speed is exactly what it needed.

But, it comes down to what you want. To shift or not to shift?

 

I've been driving sticks all my life, starting with a '75 Civic, and the last being the Legend. The CL was easy for me from the first test drive.

Some people find that the close spacing takes getting used to, and I have a theory: The proper way to hold the shifter is with an open palm. If you grip the knob, you reduce the help of the side-to-side spring action, which tells you which slot you're in--on the tight 6-speed spacing, that's a killer. With open-palm, you just lean left (tilt hand clockwise slightly and nudge shifter left) for 1-2, neutral for 3-4, lean right for 5-6. Do the people who have problems adjusting use the "death grip"?

I let my buddy drive the car yesterday, and he had absolutely no problem with it. He owns a automatic Accord and has never owned a manual (I've known him for 17 years since his first car--maybe he drove one as a teen before he moved here to Cali). He got in the car and gripped the shift knob at first, and I just told him "the slots are close--use an open palm and feel the spring". He did, and drove like he did it everyday, and I never said another word about it. It was in stop and go traffic and we hit every light on the way to lunch--a lot of shifts.

So I don't think the CL is bad to learn on at all. Some of the finer points, like double clutching take time on any car. I do it by habit without thinking, but it's really not very important on modern cars I suppose. The only tricky thing I can think of on a stick is the first time you find yourself at a stop on a steep hill with someone on you butt, and you think, "duh, what do I do now?"

 

At first, I loved the SMG. But now that I've had a chance to put more than a few miles on it, I have mixed feelings.

As cool as it is, sometimes I just seem to wish it were a true manual tranny with a clutch pedal.

By far, the coolest thing about the SMG is getting stuck in traffic.

 

How is that launch control feature? It looks awesome!

 

If you really want to figure out how to use a stick, get a POS manual with all of the syncros busted (user car lot or rental agency of your choice). When you can shift without grinding, you're all set. Get a car with a great manual; the gears and syncros should last for a long, long time (unless the factory took a dump in it)...

IMO, a new gearbox is a terrible thing to "waste"...

 

Well, i think i would be the best to tell you, i learned on this car, ive never driven manual before, and it came very easy to me. I drove my brothers e36 m3 after i learned, and that thing is like impossible to shift compared to the cl-s, its got a much heaver cluch, which i realy didnt like.

 

You can learn to drive a manual on any manual transmission. The clutch feel and shifter throw is different for each car, but as said, may be somewhat easier for a first-timer on a Japanese car as opposed to a Porsche. I don't think that the CL-S has the easiest clutch for a newbie.

But, as EricL said "a gearbox is a terrible thing to waste". I agree. I don't want a newbie trying out my new six-speed. For learning purposes, get a beater - a used car or a rental.

I learned stick on a crappy micro pickup truck - I think it was a Chevy Luv. I frequently 'rented' one of these when I was in college and needed a university vehicle for official business. Instead of getting a automatic, I got a manual. Had I used one before? No. Did I care about beating up a crappy Luv? No.

It worked out great for me. I learned stick without having to beat up my friends car. By the time I borrowed someone's car I knew how to drive it. Since then, I've never owned an automatic.

 

Exactly....

 

Contrary to popular belief, that's a European spec only feature.

 

Hey, if you ever screw you knees up, you be loving the SMG even more...

 

I learned to drive a stick on an older truck and it wasn't that bad. I've gotten into an Acura and a Honda and it was very easy.

 

Yeah, I read about the SMG tranny when someone brought it up on this board (as being superior to the 6-speed). At first it seemed like a cool idea (and it still is in many ways), but after thinking about it the flaw is that you select how you want to drive, and it works great unless the requirements suddenly change. For instance, cruising, fine, or racing a quarter mile, fine. But say mixing things up with some road racing and varying conditions or just going form cruising to racing and cornering and back--you can't beat having the continuous clutch control of a fully manual tranny.