Drove a stick for the first time...

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exhaust_note

exhaust_note

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So i went out tonight, and where chillen and we begin to talk about my friends civic. So he says, u want to drive it and im was like are u serious, (since i only have my permit and his car is a stick,) and he was like here ya go and handed me the keys.
So I get in the car, put my foot on the clutch and start it up. I Throw it into first, give it some gas and left off the clutch easily but my dumb @ss forgets the e-brake is on so it stalls. The i start it up again(this time with the e-brake off) and im on my way. I made the left out of the development and when through all the gears cleanly.
Since it was my first i was a little bumpy starting off but once i was moving i was fine. He said i was shifting a bit to early but really didn't hurt anything, i think he just wanted to listen to his big exhaust. I had so much fun, and he was so cool about it for letting me take his car for a spin.
 
Cool. Glad you had a good time with it. Make sure you get a chance to fully learn how to drive a manual. Manual is the best, except in heavy stop and go traffic. :irked:

First time I drove a stick was on a 1988 VW GTI. I can still remember how hard I thought it was to turn and shift at the same time.
 
Originally posted by boombexus
Manual is the best, except in heavy stop and go traffic. :irked:
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That's the best time to learn to use the clutch, although I learned on stick and I find it second nature now. Stupid me having troubles with using an auto for the first time. :D

Congrats. :D
 
I first tried out a stick in a 2000 Hyundai Elantra. I did pretty well I think. I stalled it once, but other than that it was easy. I peeled out too!

It's a lot more fun that just using an auto.
 
i had so much fun in that 10 minutes... it made my month... 3 hours ago and im still excited, i can't got to sleep. im so wierd...
 
Originally posted by MistaY
That's the best time to learn to use the clutch,
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Ha, that might not be the best time for a n00b to learn to use a stick. I remember Beltway traffic outside Washington DC and drivers there get rather violent if you suck at driving. 👍

You'll definately grow tired of a manual if you drive in heavy traffic on a regular basis.
 
Originally posted by exhaust_note
i had so much fun in that 10 minutes... it made my month... 3 hours ago and im still excited, i can't got to sleep. im so wierd...
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Well then we're both weird 'cause I used to get all pumped up after even 5 min of just going back and forth in my dads old Beetle. :D
Damn the clutch on that car was touchy, and the lack of power-steering... :boggled:
 
Originally posted by boombexus
Ha, that might not be the best time for a n00b to learn to use a stick. I remember Beltway traffic outside Washington DC and drivers there get rather violent if you suck at driving. 👍

You'll definately grow tired of a manual if you drive in heavy traffic on a regular basis.
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Heh, I suppose so.

I meant when you've mastered shifting it's a good way of finding that exact biting point which makes the gearshifts allot smoother. I suck at explaining things like this though.

I would have been shot or something if i'd had to learn in mah Escort, the clutch is very heavy (because it's an old car), when I first got it, my moving off/shifting was so jerky. But you get used to it after a while.
 
yeah, i wasn't aware of the presure that needed to be exerted on the clutch pedal... all new to me
 
I'm glad you had fun. Driving Stick > Driving Automatic :)

I learned to drive stick in my dad's WRX hehe. It wasn't too bad since I'd been riding dirtbikes for a while and I understood how to use the clutch and gas etc..but it's a lot different than a bike. (learning to clutch with your foot is a lot harder than clutching with your hand) The second time I drove it I got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. After about 10 minutes I was ready to kill people...you'd think I would've gotten good after that..but nope. I still suck. I've probably only driven it a dozen times in the last year and I still stall it every once in a while..but it's tons of fun. You also have to understand that I drive an automatic 130hp Accord...so to me, driving a WRX is like driving a formula one car.:lol:

-Mark
 
Well done on driving a stick. I drove an auto for years after i got my licence on a manual and it was only after I got my current manual car that I appreciate the difference. Manual feel more like 'driving', compared to an auto.

Of course if you live in a high traffic environment, auto may be the logical choice, but even then, I would try stick it out with a manual ;)
 
Originally posted by boombexus
Cool. Glad you had a good time with it. Make sure you get a chance to fully learn how to drive a manual. Manual is the best, except in heavy stop and go traffic. :irked:
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No way, shifting gear is fuggin fun! :D

First time I drove a stick was on a 1988 VW GTI. I can still remember how hard I thought it was to turn and shift at the same time.
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Downshifting for a corner, getting though it then upshifting away is the best part of driving in my opinion. :D
 
That sounds like a good first time.

My first stick shift cars I practiced on were...

1992 Chevy S-10.
1988 Honda accord.
 
i still dont know how to drive a stick, though i was offered to be taught by this chick, that she'd teach me in her topless jeep, but that was like three years ago and we hardly saw each other, but i saw her a while ago so maybe if everything goes well ill learn one of these days, im tiered of driving an auto, plus i drive with my left hand anyways so the whole shifting/turning thing shouldnt be that hard.
 
Makes me sick to see how many cars now are completely unavailable with a stick. I'll never own another automatic again (short of a truck), and will personally protest any manufacturer dropping manuals. :)

And to SandStorm - oh yeah - now, get your heel-toe downshifting perfected (I'm getting there), and it's a beautiful thing. ;)
 
My first car was a 71 VW beetle. I loved that car. I agree, learn how to drive a stick early on, it's the best way.
 
Manual is the only way to go. I learned on a BMW Z3, heavy clutch, ive never been good at driving lighter ones.
 
In America, do you have to drive a manual car to be qualified for both manual and automatic driving? And then if you learn automatic, you can't drive a manual?

Thats how it is over here. I'm gonna learn a manual. I'm assuming they have the advent of more freedom of control :)
 
is there any learning to an automatic...just pressing the accelerator doesn't take much laerning to do... :lol:
 
you learn to drive on an auto, you arent required to do any training on a manual. In other words they let anyone on the roads over here. My friend hit a mailbox then promptly failed the written test, 1 week later they let him retake the SAME test which he passed and now he has a permit.
 
i haven't hit anything yet, but 2 of the girls in my class have hit something already... One hit a comcast van with a Mercedes and the othe backed up into her brothers maxima... Most girls can drive :lol:
 
I've only been driving a stick shift... In fact, I honestly don't have a clue how to drive an auto. :p (Oh sure, I know about putting it into the first few gears or into drive, but that's it... I wouldn't have a clue on what to do at a stoplight or after parking...)

Using a manual's easy enough, once you get a feel for where the clutch actually latches on. Once you know that point, you're good to go. :)
 
lol sage.. auto's are easy enough...
stick it into overdrive.. they shift for you...
At a stop light, you gotta have your foot on the brake...
After parking. put it into park and pull the handbrake...

But.. Here's my question:

How do you drive a manual without stalling, and what ARE the reasons for stalling?
 
I learned on my dad's '90 Integra RS, before I even took the permit test. He had the car about 6 months, and he was quite red in the face trying to communicate how to work all the pedals and move the wheel all the same time. I stalled about 15 times in a row before getting it right, but I never got the car to the point I wanted it. By the end of that session at an abandoned strip-mall, he proclaimed..."You're taking the driving test in your mom's Accord!"

I got the chance to perfect my skills on Atari's Hard Driving racing simulator arcade game (arguably the first Real Driving Simulator, and the only one I can think of with a clutch pedal). I drove my buddy's '85 GTI two years later, and figured it all out.

My dad bought a Probe GT the next year, and when I came down from college that winter, he was impressed how well I was driving stick. He wasn't terribly impressed with my cornering speeds, though. ("You idiot! If we're going to get killed, I'd better be doing the driving!")

By the time I bought an old Eagle Talon TSi as my Accord replacement, I was shifting like a pro. The only trouble is, I seemed to get too many tickets and always seemed to accelerate way too quickly when driving stick. It isn't all that fun when stuck in continuous South Florida traffic jams and straight-line roads.

Getting the Corolla was a bit of a shock; I wasn't used to driving while eating a sandwich on city streets, it was almost like a new concept to me to drive and do something else at the same time. My left foot still wants to hit an imaginary pedal that isn't there, and my hand reaches for a shifter that usually doesn't need to be moved.

It's funny, I wound up teaching at least a half-dozen friends and family how to drive stick, it's one of the few things I've taught people that they've actually remembered!
 
All it takes is practice, once you learn manual you will never want to drive auto again. Stalling usually happens when your RPMs are to low once the clutch engages or if you pull the clutch out to fast.
 
Originally posted by halfracedrift
lol sage.. auto's are easy enough...
stick it into overdrive.. they shift for you...
At a stop light, you gotta have your foot on the brake...
After parking. put it into park and pull the handbrake...
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Thanks! That'll come in handy when I take Driver's Training (required here), since they seem to only have autos... (Bastids!)

How do you drive a manual without stalling, and what ARE the reasons for stalling?
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Why it stalls: neon_duke or someone else more knowledgeable in the mechanics of cars would best answer that ;).

As for driving without stalling, like I said, it's just a matter of finding where the clutch grabs on. It's hard, and requires tons of practice - I needed about a month or two of practice before I could do it right (especially starting uphill... that's awful), but once you learn it, you rarely miss. Just find that catching point, and learn to balance the clutch and gas pedals. 👍
 
My first taste of stick was on my dad's old 88' Mazda 626. my dad was kinda going crazy because for a first time driver like me he said the clutch will be hard to understand, but i got it the first time. he said it took my bro atleast 4-5 try's until he could let go of clutch slowly enough. i've only been practicing in the alley getting realy good with the clutch and shifting gears. when im "TECHNICALLY" 15 1/2 i can take my permit written test. until then im just doing some little alley. not bad IMHO. the bad thing is my parents are going to donate this old piece of junk, but then i say waht car will a practice with once i get a permit, and they say maybe your dads car ("Camry 03") or maybe you borther will let you practice ("97' Prelude") and i doubt that :lol:, but ive been looking at old cars and i have my eyes on maybe a -260z. -77' Corolla. or maybe the really old -GTi.:D :D . i just half to wait
 
Well... add to what I said... Driving Auto..

When you're parking, foot on the brake, push the 'shifter' to Park, and lock the car with the handbrake.

At a stop light, stop like you would normally, except when you're stopped, keep pressure on the brake to make sure your car doesn't go ..

I don't know if it's different for Manual, but stoplight at uphill:

Foot on brake. When you're about to go, rev the engine a BIT. When the light turns green and you can go, slowly let up on the brake until you're back to driving. Or what my sister likes to do; on the hill, lock the handbrake real tight to make sure the car doesn't move. Then, press the gas and then let up on the handbrake.. To me, I'd use the brake *not handbrake* method because it's safer.
 
To me, I'd use the brake *not handbrake* method because it's safer.
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Or you could just take your foot off the brake and put it on the gass regardless of the size of the hill. No need to rev the engine or use the parking brake.
 
That could work too... but then you'd be burnin more fuel... and with gas prices these days.. every bit counts...
 
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