How to drive stick shift? Options

[mrgrape]

k so im getting a new car soon
and no matter what its gonna be a stick bc i dont like automatic

anyone know where i can learn? so i know how to drive before the test ride?
my friends both have stick but they dont wanna teach me in their cars =[
camaro Z28 and golf gti

but yeah somewhere where i can get started
or if theirs a practice sesh

[Stambo]

learn in the golf. I dont know why people are so afraid of learning. I'm not saying you are but i know people who are. I really think the only hard part is getting used to the clutch.

[imper]

Yes teh clutch is the hard part. Every clutch in every car is different here are a few pointers that i've learned.

Learn at night. You will have to drive around town without looking down to see what gear your in. So best to learn at night when you cant see it anyway.

Listen to your engine. That will tell you when to shift. Yes you can go off of the rpms, but just listening is better.

First gear is a beyatch. way i got down at first was on a hill i held the ebrake while letting off the brake. so i wouldnt roll back. then slowing released it as i got some gas. then i figured out how to release the clutch a little bit till i can feel the engine trying to move the car. then you can let off the brake and give it some gas.

[Tigawoods]

i had it down mentally in my head before i even sat in a manual car. got it and it came naturally. your best bet is to take it to a large empty lot and practice with a person who is knows how to drive stick.

after you have that all down, drive on the streets (lightly populated area's)....and then step up your game and try hill starts

[stetsonaw]

i learned on a 78 chevy c/k, 4 on the floor (which included granny low). i can drive anything after that beast. Get your hands on an old pickup if you can.

[97celiman]

lol i learned in a 78 ford flatbed with a 289 mustang engine in it...just a crappy old farm truck...then i got in my dads 86 300zx...you wanna talk about a finicky clutch holy crap that thing is annoying and the shifter is like 2 ft high...then i got in the celica and everything clicks into place...its beautiful

[1bwilson]

Its easy, remember first is just to get you rolling and then you put it into second. You never downshift into first and rarly even drop down to second unless your coming to a complete stop. If yoru foot is big enough and the clutch is set low enough you can use your heel as a pivot point to shift. Its much easier to move your toes with your ancle then your foot with your knee.

Shifting is easy, your shifter will naturaly want to move into 2-3-4. 1'st 5'th and reverse are on a stronger spring so you will have to try and put them into that gear instead of a much more smooth motion with 2-4.

[Akira_g4]

If you were up here in norcal i'd teach you. but its really not that hard. just getting out of 1st is the toughest. im currently teaching my gf and she's almost a pro already!

[stetsonaw]

1'st 5'th and reverse are on a stronger spring

you wouldn't believe how many time's i've accidentally gone to 3rd when going for 5th.... going 120km/h into 3rd about puts my knees into the dashboard, ouch.

[1bwilson]

1'st 5'th and reverse are on a stronger spring

you wouldn't believe how many time's i've accidentally gone to 3rd when going for 5th.... going 120km/h into 3rd about puts my knees into the dashboard, ouch.

hehe ouch, Ive hit 5'th a few times going for 3rd but never the other way. I have had a trd shifter since day one too so maybe the springs are tighter.

[stetsonaw]

ebrake handle gets in the way of 5th over here on the right side of the car. i have to pull it into 5th while you guys get to push it, but lets not threadjack this guy. oh, when i did my tranny swap is when my short shifter got put in.

[goferris]

You should learn on a celica. I just pretty much taught my lil bro how to do it. I took him out twice and now he knows the basics. It's really not that hard.

[Rider]

You got plenty of advice, but the main thing you will need to learn is getting the car to move smoothly in 1st gear. First, I think you should start out WITHOUT using your gas pedal at all, on a flat surface. That way you'll feel where the clutch engages and how it works in that particular car. That's really the hardest thing about driving manual, 1st gear. After you mastered that, everything should be a lot easier to learn.

Other than that, make sure you're in an empty parking lot on your first few drives, haha.

[mrgrape]

thanks akira and fellow 6gcers....
the problem is i dont have a car to practice in unless i beg my friend who just installed a new clutch.....which i doubt it to let me learn on his car...
o well gotta start asking...
but yeah if there was a school on driving stick id totally take it
bc the problem is i need to learn before i TEST DRIVE my soon to be car that is tick

This post has been edited by mrgrape: Aug 30, 2008 - 6:06 PM

[RickJamesBish]

I'd say it depends mostly on the car you learn in, but like Tiga said, take it to an empty parking lot. Unless you really fubar it, you can't hurt anything.

Hell, I learned in a GLI, so the clutch pickup was pretty sensitive. Fun car to drive though.

[JonMarkos]

Just test drive standard transmission cars at car dealerships. Learning to drive stick is really tough on a clutch so take it out on random cars. Go back day after day to different salesmen at different dealerships until you have a good idea of what you are doing. And remember that too much gas is better than not enough gas

[forkee]

where do you live?

[mrgrape]

where do you live?

southern cali
sunny san diego
i dont mind paying to learn =p

[forkee]

oh ok. shoot id teach you but you'll have to come to cerritos.

[mrgrape]

oh ok. shoot id teach you but you'll have to come to cerritos.

thanks man ill pm u if i choose to head up there
right now my celicas rear end is squeeking everytime i slow down so i dunno whats up
but yeah thanks i might hit u up when i go up for nocturnal