Finally drove my first Stick, Boring for many of you, but exciting for me! Options

[solidxsnake]

Ever since I've been looking to drive, I've been hell-bent on getting a stick (being the kind of person I am, there's just no other match).

My dad wasn't too keen on the idea of me getting a stick for my first car. I wasn't too keen on getting a slushbox =_=

He won out luckily enough, because my brother was nice enough to go buy himself a new car and give me his '95 Celica ST (he decided on a brand new '09 Corolla SE). So I'm not going to complain about my first (free) car's transmission.

Still, finally got behind the wheel of my friend's '08 Corolla S 5spd yesterday. It was only for 5 minutes or so just to get the hang of taking-off and shifting (small parking lot, couldn't even get to 3rd), and only stalled it twice. I can see why sticks are so much better just from that. I'm not sure if it's just the ST's auto trans., but it is incredibly sluggish in comparison.

So, excitement for me, annoyance for (most) of you. I just felt the need to share =_=

When did you guys learn to drive stick? When you first started driving, or later? I feel like I'd have been better off learning stick at first, as when I was driving the Corolla yesterday, I had some trouble breaking the habits of driving an auto. I consciously knew about the clutch pedal, but my muscles were a different case.

This post has been edited by solidxsnake: Aug 15, 2009 - 11:30 AM

[lagos]

It's the only way to drive a car. Period.

[tomazws]

It's the only way to drive a car. Period.

Agree.


And I hate when people say driving stick in traffic is hell. It is not, they just need to keep a slightly further distance and you can just glide in one gear.

[SwissFerdi]

Agree.


And I hate when people say driving stick in traffic is hell. It is not, they just need to keep a slightly further distance and you can just glide in one gear.

Agreed on that one, I haven't driven in traffic very much but it never bothered me. The only reason I could see it being a problem is if you're in a big city (NYC) and your commute consists of busy traffic every day.

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Aug 17, 2009 - 1:00 AM

[tomazws]

Agree.


And I hate when people say driving stick in traffic is hell. It is not, they just need to keep a slightly further distance and you can just glide in one gear.

Agreed on that one, I haven't driven in traffic very much but it never bothered me. The only reason I could see it being a problem is if you're in a big city (NYC) and your commute consists of busy traffic every day.

That's true. I've never drove my car to downtown LA... oh man, I wonder how it is like driving up and down San Francisco hills.