I visited the Honda dealership today, and there was a 2002 S2000 in silver/grey on the used lot, so I walked over to it and was checking it out. Well, the guy there saw me, and introduced himself. Well, after that he asked me if I knew how to drive a stick, and I said no. He's like thats too bad, but I can give you a ride in it if you want. Well of course I said fuck yeah, and off we went. He started that boy up, and off we went. He turned into this long straight residential area that was pretty wide, and empty. He accelerated hard, and got the car up to about 70mph! I couldn't stop smiling, I could feel the wind ruffling my hair around, sun shining, and that sweet ass engine screaming it's heart out! Best experience I ever had, and right now I still can't stop grinning. I'm going to be saving every nickel and dime I get, and hopefully I'll be able to afford a used one in a year or two.


Cliffnotes: Got a ride in an s2000 (top down), salesguy showed me what it can do, and now I'm here with a huge grin on my face =D

btw, I got to sit in the 06 Acura TLs, and 06 TSX, both equipped with navigation. TL blew me away, the interior was so nice, and the voice commands were so cool. TSX was nice too =D.

 

Learn to drive stick, it will blow you away even more...

 

You should sit in an NSX next (or test drive one)...

My testdrive of a 92 NSX last year was in one word: sensational.

 

<--------doesn't like being driven fast



driving fast on the other hand

 

Just wait until you get to screw around in "better" cars.

I was lucky enough to drive a 993 Turbo when I was 17 and it took at least a week for my jaw to come back up.

 

rule #1- learn how to drive stick!

 

i'd love to but where? noone in my family owns or even knows how to drive a stick. any car rental place let you rent stick?

 

Find a buddy with a POS and sober drive for him.

Thats how I learned....except my buddies were older frat brothers.

 

yea just buy a 600$ bucket with a 5spd

my boy just picked up a toyota corolla fx gts for 600$, we;ve been toyin around in cheap buckets all the time

 

Learn to drive and save up your pennies. You'll catch the bug the rest of us have

 

If you can get your first car as a stick then go for it. Once you learn how to drive stick you'll never forget. It's like riding a bike. You may get a little rusty but you'll have the hang of things.

 

 

I would've but I got a hand me down 1988 Camry thats auto. How fun it would've been if it was stick though =D.

One of these days I'm going to go to a used car dealership, and offer $20-50 bucks to see if they're willing to teach me on one of the old crappy cars.

 

My biggest regret when my parents gave me the option to buy my TSX was not choosing stick. While I still love the car to death in its auto form, stick is just that much better.

 

stick shift is the way to go. went back to manual tranny with my a4 and i cant be happier

 

Go to MANY car dealerships (domestic, foreign, etc) ... and say you can drive it but get really nervous when other people are in the car. I'm sure with the state of car sales right now, there will be many who will let you drive a Cobalt or whatever econobox they have on the lot. Seriously, if you keep a little gas on the throttle before you shift, clutch all the way down, shift, and gently let go of clutch with a wee bit of gas -- you'll never stall. Finding the 'friction point' is key.

And instead of knowing 1 car fairly well, you'll familiarize yourself with how other cars work and you'll get better a lot faster. Practice makes perfect.

(PS Don't listen to the fool who wrote this -- I barely know how to drive stick ... enough to go for test drives but not drive like a mad man.)

 

Read below. I can appreciate the experience.

 

Hey Derreck, will they let me do it alone? (without my parents)

Basically getting the car to go is this right? This is my understanding so far

1. Car is usually in 1st gear when parked, so shift into neutral before you turn on the car.

2. Clutch down, turn on the key.

3. let go of clutch (gently?) and wait for car to warm up

4. Clutch in, shift into reverse, release clutch, and then you can reverse normally?

What is stalling a car, and how do you do that, or avoid it.


Oh and Kurt_bradley you're one lucky dude!

 

Wait till you get in a fast car if the s2k left your breathless, a vette may leave you dead...

 

Doesn't matter what gear the car is in, press the in clutch to start the car. Throw it in reverse with the clutch down, press the gas pedal to get some revs, and let the clutch up very slow and you will all of a sudden find yourself rolling backwards. once you're in the street, throw in in first and let the clutch out very slowly and you will find yourself driving a stick. Once you reach teh limits of 1st, throw it in 2nd..

 

I know.

 

I test drove an S2K also, great car. The 6MT was by far the easiest manual I have ever used. I swear i felt like i was doing tiptronic, the ease of use of the clutch was amazing. My friends 350z is much more demanding on the left leg.

 

Arent there driving schools that can teach you stick?

When I was going for my license, Ontario essentially makes you take driving school before you can take your test, When I was asked if I wanted to be in a standard car ar auto car, I immediatley said standard...Its bad enough I have to drive around with 4 people I dont know, have to keep both hands at 10 and 2, and do the speed limit as people pass me on both sides, might aswell have some fun and make it a stick... It was a mid-90's Corolla...It had no balls...

 

911 Turbo makes me still smile 2 years later. One of my dad's friends has 2 GT's (couldn't decide on black or silver-must be nice). While I've seen both, every time I go to his house, the weather is always crappy. He claims that once I get over there when the weather is nice, I can take it down his driveway and back. Im not counting on it though.

 

I can definetely identify with the original poster. Test drove an 05 S2000 back in OCtober, and after that welll....

if all goes well, i should be picking one up during the course of this year, preferabbly in the summer! Nuff said.

Its a brilliant car, one of the most direct, precise shifters ive used, and an AMAZINGLY rev happy powerplant.

 

I had a similar experience, but I ended up actually driving an STi .. oh man .. Almost had to have my smile surgically removed even though I didn't go all out on it. I can only imagine what it's like whipping an S2K or an NSX around a corner.

 

I've ridden in an NSX, and even though I wasn't driving it, cornering in an NSX is like nothing I've ever felt on this earth. It was almost ghostly how it went around the corner.