Scrib

I helped my buddy clean up his BMW 330Ci today. Out of the kindness of his heart, he let me take it for a spin.

Damn do I need practice. Didn't stall it, but my timing on coming off the clutch and giving it gas sucks. Especially when starting from a stop. Couple of jerky starts... And the whole transition between 1st and 2nd gear, etc. just blows.

Is there some kind of a secret to driving a manual tranny??? I've only had the opportunity to drive one a couple of times... I guess it just takes practice.

Shawn S

Yea…PRACTICE, lots of PRACTICE.

Shawn S

Six Shifter

try going back and forth between the clutch on the CL-S and the one on an M3 ... this is a treat, as both have their own personalities!

Zapata

Scrib,
Yes. I'll agree with shawnS here. Practice. As you drive the car more the better you get with it. You'll know it's quirks etc.,

phil2

sounds like adam the first time he took out my old teg, but hes come along way since then and actually has skills now!

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Scrib

Are there any rental car companies that have manual tranny cars in the US? If I actaully get a 330Ci, I'd rather learn on a rental rather than a $40,000 BMW...

phil2

well if you ever go to vegas you can rent a viper, 355, or diablo for the day (600 to 2300) and they are all stick and im sure it wont matter if you fuck em up!!!

Scrib

I was thinking more like a POS Escort or something...

o snap its eric

but you do have to pay for damages

phil2

why dont you just buy some shit out of the want ads for like 1000 and beat it into the ground! once you learn stick you can have fun with it in the snow by broadsiding snowbanks and hitting unsuspecting trees and pedestrians

Shawn S

How about a nice 24-Foot U-HAUL ?

phil2

hes got a point there!

its only 19.99 a day. but spirited driving is out of the question!

Zapata

Scrib,
There is a place in philly. I'm not sure if they have it by you. It's called rent-a-wreck. If you call some of the REAL small car companies they'll have something for you.

Scrib

This coming from the mouth of the tool who wanted to destroy his own car...

Scrib

It's not like I want to get in a manny tranny car and beat the piss out of it. I just wanted to get a better feel for things before I were to jump into a car like a BMW and drive it home.

I'll figure something out...

chikai

hmmm...yeah

might want to be more careful next time when typing your thread subject lines.

I heard the Uhaul trucks have some of the most horrible manual trannies. My buddy has been driving a Wrangler w/ 33inch tires for the past six years and that car is not easy to drive (i've driven it multiple times). He said the Uhauls are near impossible if you've never driven a manual.

Crazy Bimmer

Dude, you will learn once you get the car.

I got my 330 without even knowing how to drive a manual.. i got in it and learned. I didnt grind any gears, but i sure as hell stalled it a few 100 times. But i dont see how stalling it can hurt the car. I mean you werent even stalling it, so i say you will be fine with going to the 330 right away. Oh and the bmws clutch is different than most cars... i drove my buddys civic, and holy shit was that easy to drive.

So my advice is to learn on the car you plan to drive/buy.

BigPimp

It's about the concept. If you understand the concept of clutch, you will pick it up easily. It will take you some time to learn the quirks of the clutch in that particular vechile, but overall, from what you wrote, you should be fine. 2 weeks tops and you gonna be ok. I would say the toughest part is starting, especially uphill. Other than that, you should be ok.


I perfected my stick shift driving this summer in Spain, using Volvo S40 and Renault Laguna as my practice vehicles. It was a total blast. I put over 4k km while rolling through spain. This was an adventure and a half.

darrinb

i wanna learn how to drive a stick on a viper

Good Ride

Take off a week and go to evey car dealer in the midwest who sells anything with a stick and get test drives! By the time you're done you'll be pretty good and I doubt you'd have any responsibility for any car you trash...Hehehee...

Chief F1 Fan

Coupla things: why would you wanna suck a driving stick?? LOL
and, Darrin, if you learn on a viper at least you'll know you won't stall it since it won't matter what gear you're in when you let out the clutch w/ a hUUUUUUUge V10 under da hood.

JRock

Hahaha worst thread title typo ever.


Anyway, I really suck at stick too.

I've driven maybe seven stick cars across a parking lot and I just couldn't get the hang of it well. Well maybe by the time I can afford a next car all cars will be CVT or paddle-shifted manuals.

6speedctrlfreak

****** This is funny thread ******** Ok, I will send you round trip air tickets, then I can pick you up at the airport, then I will turn the drivers seat of my new CL-S 6speed MT over to you and you can drive around new york city for a few hours; let me know.....

Shawn S

Depending on how fast a learner you are this is NOT a good idea.
While stalling the sucker a few times isn’t too awful bad on a car, bucking violently and/or sloooooooooow release of the clutch pedal at high RPM’s will cause premature wear of the clutch.
Neither is a good thing to submit a new car too.

Myself, I learned on a VW Rabbit and Ford Escort back in the 80’s.
This was about two weeks before I picked up my brand new 1986 Daytona Turbo-Z from the dealer.

I’ve taught many a people over the years, but I’ve never done it on MY cars.
The only exception was when I taught my sister on my Omni GLH-S back in the early 90’s.
It was kind of a “beater” car for me at the time and I was getting ready to sell it anyway.
A few weeks later when she got her new Mitsubishi Eclipse I got to drive it off the lot for her because she didn’t feel confident enough to drive it.
After some brush-up training in a nearby parking lot she took it the rest of the way home.

Shawn S

GreenMonster

Like alot of people said, it's all about practice.

I learned to drive a stick on a 1970 AMC Javelin (best $50 I ever spent).

It'll take you a couple of weeks to get the basics down. After that you'll improve on the "smoothness" of your shifting. Although my vw bus is a standard stick, it wasn't a daily driver. With my CLS, I've noticed that I'm still improving my clutching skills because I drive it daily.

After a while, you learn what RPM's to shift at by ear (not by the tach), and when to "blip" the throttle to do some rpm matching.

The more time you have behind the wheel of a stick, the better you'll get at it.

Scrib

I'm glad to see some of you have found humor in my thread title...


The only thing I'd be concerned about is the car "bucking" like Shawn S mentioned. I did it a couple of times, mostly when starting from a dead stop. I would give it gas, but once it was at 1500-2000rpms I would slowly let go of the clutch but NOT continue to give the poor car gas. Got some bull riding action...

I have NO doubt that I couldn't pick it up quickly. I just don't wanna lessen the life of the car by learning on it.

FTM-1

Here is how I learned about 23years ago.
I took 1 one hour lesson on a stick shift car with EASY METHED DRIVING SCHOOL even after already having my drivers permit for over 2years. I was driving almost everyday but on automatic trans,cars. I then went out & purchased a brand new 1980 HONDA PRELUDE with 5 speed. The car cut off on me at least 40 times on the way home from the dealership. It was bucking all the way home but I never once snatched or stipped the gears.
I was told by my uncle & the EASY METHED instructor to take the car to a hilly area that does not have alot of traffic & practice stops & starts in 1st gear going up the hill. They told me once you master the car not cutting off starting off on a steep upgrade you have it just about mastered. This worked for me & my sister as we learned how to drive a stick shift car. I owned the PRELUDE for 15 years & it still ran great & had the original clutch in it when I sold it. I must have did something correct but the hill start off in 1st gear will help you alot.

Zapata

Scrib,
Follow FTM-1's advice. Go to a hill so your car will roll back if you don't have the brake engaged. Then practice starting and stoping in 1st gear. Once you get that you are pretty much set.

joeshmoe

Two quick tips:

1) When changing gears you usually don't have to press the clutch all the way down to the floor. At least half way should be enought to allow you to change gears without getting any grinding noise. This also allows you easier application of the gas without getting all of that bucking motion.

2) WHen your on an uphill at a stop light and some asshole gets to close to your rear, It won't be your fault if you tap him because legally, he is too close and you are not in reverse gear so you have done nothing wrong.

JakeCL

i know you can rent a stick in mexico thats almost all they rent

Water-S

don't give up on driving a stick man.
at our station we got all sticks in our trucks for now.(in about a year or 2 we're trading for 1 automatic) we got 2 10 speed(which is a 5 speed with a spliter) and 2 4 speeds.
when I started driving them it was all i could do to find the right gears and not grind gears. but other guys on the dept took me out and taught me how to shift and when to shift.now I drive all but one truck(but that's cause everything so sensative on it)(you bearly tap the throttle and that thing revving up. and plus in the winter grease on the shifter linkage sludgey and it doesn't want to shift )(so your sitting there trying to slam it into the next gear) so with that truck i'm usually the radio man or sit in back:P

Scrib

Thanks for all the tips so far... The employment hunt is heating up so I may have job SOON. May have to put in the 330Ci order...

Trying to find a hill around here may be tough... Pretty damn flat where I live.