[dan1son]

So I bought a new car about a week ago and it's my first manual transmission car. I've driven a number of them in the past, but I probably only had a total of 20 hours in them prior to buying one.

This car has a 6-speed manual and a fairly stiff sticky clutch. I'm having some issues keeping shifts smooth and still get fairly nervous when I have to start out. I tend to over-rev when I'm starting out. I'm wondering how long it took most of you to get comfortable and how long it took before every start was as smooth as an automatic... not to mention the shifts. My 1-2 is still pretty clunky sometimes.

Also does anyone have any tips for the newbie stick shifter?

 

[A<aA?]

just don't let the clutch up too quick.

 

[ZenFountain]

it will only take a week or two i'd say. unless it's a corvette or something with 300+ horsepower and a very grippy clutch, you'll get the feel of it very quick.

 

[Arainach]

6 Speed as in a truck with a creeper 1st gear or 6 Speed as in Sports Car?

Either way, enjoy. Once you go to Manual Transmission you probably won't be going back. It makes driving much more fun instead of just boring.

 

[NightWoundsTime]

I actually started driving a 12 speed dump truck with very little experience on any manual transmissions. Needless to say it took a little while. I still get in cars and make pretty much the same mistakes you do, especially with over-revving. It's so hard to feel when the clutch is really pulling on a small car. If in a couple weeks you still feel uncomfortable try and find someone who has more experience to drive you around a little bit. You'll understand more what to change in your driving.

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZenFountain /img/forum/go_quote.gif it will only take a week or two i'd say. unless it's a corvette or something with 300+ horsepower and a very grippy clutch, you'll get the feel of it very quick.

uh..took me longer

am I dumb?

anyway. the dealer was like " here is ur new car" and I said " ok..now teach me how to drive a stick." and dealer was like " what? you can't drive a stick?" ....and rest, they say, is history. I had a grippy clutch and a turbo engine with some lag...not fun for the 1st 2 weeks.

My advise: as a new stick shifter is this: just work on pressing and releasing the clutch in 1st gear WITHOUT applying any power. Try to get a feel for the clutch, see if you can get the car to go about 10mph without any power applied. And always find a hill and stop the car on the hill with clutch only (make sure the hill is not too steep..lol)

 

[dan1son]

It's a 6-speed as in a 270+hp turbocharged sports sedan...

So it's on the, oh crap it died again, grippy side... or the, oh crap I just lunged forward into the back of that tracter trailor, side.

I appreciate the help. I've been driving if for about a week now and have gotten considerably better, but I'm still a little rough and I've killed it a couple times.

I'm probably expecting too much too fast. I want to drive it so well it feels like an automatic to the passengers.

 

[Cousin Patty]

Yeah definitely get a feel for the point at which the clutch gets the car moving on its own without gas. Very important for traffic situations. And also i think its really important to be able to be stationary on an incline without using the break...just a balance between clutch and gas. It wont take you a couple of weeks to get really comfortable i dont think. It will take sometime.

 

[Borat]

A really good way to speed up your learning is to put yourself on an incline and just practice shifting into 1st without too much gas and without going backward. The fact that you started this thread makes me assume that you may be worrying/thinking about this too much. Don't. Soon driving a stick will become like second nature to you. Have fun with it.

 

[Bob_McBob]

Keep it up, at least you're making an effort. I'd say 90% of the people on the roads here with manual transmission cars should be driving an automatic. You can always spot them. I hate driving in cars with friends who can't handle a manual transmission. Jerk, jerk, jerk, jerk, roll back, roll back, etc. etc.

 

[Dzjudz]

Americans

 

[brian183]

I generally never drive manual trans cars but whenever I do I always try and idle in neutral (best to be in a lot for this) then I put it in 1st and I slowly let the clutch out to figure out what point the clutch catches the gear. I do that for a little while until im comfortable with it. Then it usually takes me much less time to get smooth gear transitions down and it makes inclined stop to go easier for me.

 

[dan1son]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dzjudz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Americans

It's actually harder to buy a stick shift here. Unless it's a sports car chances are the only cars on the lot have automatics. The last car I bought new was a 2002 Saturn and they wouldn't even get me a manual... they ended up giving me an automatic for the price of a manual since they had the automatic on the lot. Looking back I really should've stuck it out and bought a stick so this car wasn't my first

.

 

[cire]

I'm also still learning to drive a stick smoothly, although it's not in a 6speed, but a 1.6 Golf. I find it helpful to apply slight amounts of power just before releasing the clutch entirely, like when you're at the last tenth of clutch, give it juice.

But most of all, you have to be calm. As a beginner, you will stall out in traffic and you will be honked at and flipped off. The most important thing is that you have to ignore and shrug off the angry drivers behind you.

The other day while I was pulling out of a parking lot, I forgot to hit the clutch before shifting into reverse. There weren't any grinding noises, but the car stalled out immediately. I think I damaged my reverse gear because now when I'm going in reverse, there's a "cha-cha" metal on metal rubbing sound. Oh well, manual gearbox FTW! You know it's manly

 

[kontai69]

What I found to help is to repetitively practice the "clutch in->shift->slight stepping on the gas->clutch out" motion while the car is parked with the engine off. Therefore, when you finally get out on the road, you would be already use to the motion and would less likely fumble around and stall the car in traffic.

I actually learned and practiced driving a stick on my own in my dad's brand new Porsche 944 back in 1983. I did this even before I got a driver's license. I would sneak it out and drive it around the neighborhood when he was not at home.

I lived in a quiet subdivision in a small podunk town so there was no traffic to worry about.

I personally would never own an automatic trans if I had a choice. Manual shifting takes part of the boredom out of driving. However, I would opt for a SMG or F1 system in a BMW or Ferrari.