if you had to teach them how to drive a manual?

[Edited on August 4, 2006 at 10:45 PM. Reason : .]

8/4/2006 10:45:27 PM

you're a dick if you charge somebody for that.

8/4/2006 10:46:45 PM

i wouldn't charge her anything since she's hot. of course, i wouldn't waste time with a fat chick or a dude.

8/4/2006 10:49:54 PM

it's probably not a chick, cause most chick wouldn't want to learn how to drive a stick anyway.

8/4/2006 10:52:06 PM

i want to learn bad

8/4/2006 11:11:14 PM

how long does it take to figure it out?

8/5/2006 3:05:02 AM

my girl drives a stick better than me

8/5/2006 3:05:57 AM

I taught many people how to drive stick over the years. The last one drove my new M3 into a curb last Monday, not related to driving a manual (several brackets/ducts, etc. on order). Mom did the same thing to one of my Porsches last year, again, not related to driving a manual. I'm... probably not going to let too many people drive my cars anymore.
Ahmet

8/5/2006 6:30:30 AM

i wouldn't charge anything

8/5/2006 8:23:36 AM

Quote :

"how long does it take to figure it out?"

Yer a guy and you don't know how already?

Actually I've met quite a few fellas who haven't ever had to learn how to drive a stick, so that's kind of understandable.

My advice is to find a friend that will let you play with theirs for a little bit in a parking lot. The only reason I say this is so you can acquaint yourself with the gears and the extra pedal. I don't recommend trying to drive, just orient yourself. You might try cranking the engine and putting the car in first and letting the clutch pedal out gradually just to feel where it starts to grab. Just do this lightly. Don't actually try to load the engine down like this.

8/5/2006 8:37:51 AM

I've never really had any experience driving a stick. I played around in couple. But mainly I read up on it, and really payed attention when I was riding with someone who was driving a stick. Not too long ago I got brave. I went to carmax and test drove manual Jetta. The course they take you on is pretty simple. All right turns. I was kinda surprised at how well I did. I stalled quite a bit trying to take off. The salesman asked if it had been a while since I drove a stick. Of course I said yeah. Once I got out of first I did pretty well. I'm hoping that my next car will be a stick. I'm really interested in becoming proficient at it. So if anyone is willing to give lessons let me know.

8/5/2006 8:58:00 AM

the problem is to find a person that willing to let you drive his/her car.

8/5/2006 9:16:35 AM

its not so much lessons. once you know how, it is just doing it and getting practice.

Quote :

"how long does it take to figure it out?"

all depends on the person. I never had anyone teach me how to drive one. I moved my brothers car in the driveway once when I was younger and of course stalled it a lot. But then my parents got a 5 speed and I just took it out one day and drove and didn't have any problems.

[Edited on August 5, 2006 at 9:22 AM. Reason : ]

8/5/2006 9:19:03 AM

^yep, that's why i said the main problem is to find somebody that you can borrow a car from. My advice is if you want to drive a stick, might as well go ahead and buy a manual car so you can practice whenever you want.

8/5/2006 9:20:22 AM

driving stick has to become intuitive. Lessons can help you in the beginning but then it's just learning to master it on your own. What helps even more is driving different vehicles with manual transmission to get a feel for how the clutch, gas, and shifter feel for each one.

8/5/2006 9:32:52 AM

I would recommend just mastering driving one vehicle first before you go try different ones.

8/5/2006 9:35:13 AM

i never really had to learn but when my dad tried to teach my twin brother how to drive a stick using my car i thought it was the end of it..........hell he drives a manual now and sucks horribly at it

so it takes different people different amounts of time

8/5/2006 9:49:11 AM

^^ Oh I agree, I just meant after you get the hang of doing it on one care.

8/5/2006 9:54:21 AM

I didn't really learn how to drive a stick in a car, I did it via videogames. My dad used to have a truck that was a stick that I was supposed to learn on, but by the time I was old enough to drive all the cars in the house were autos. If I drove a stick now, I'd probably grind gears like a motherfucker for a little bit.

8/5/2006 10:28:19 AM

Short Story
Learning manual takes between 2 weeks - 1 month and you'll have it down pat. After a year you'll pretty much be an expert. Like other said, it just takes practice.

Just don't do what I did and learn on brand new dealership owned cars Unless you don't mind getting weird looks and salesman getting angry at you.

The Super Long Story
Read on if you are curious...

In September 2004, I got a job at IBM. In October, I decided to buy a new car since my old car kept dying on me and was very unreliable. I went and test drove multiple cars. All manual transmission cars.

Here's the catch: I read up online about the technique, but never actually tried it. I didn't really know how to drive manual.

Case #1
Mitsubishi Dealership, Hickory, NC [Lancer OZ Rally edition] - I got in the car and told the salesman, "I'm not that good at driving manual". I wasn't really lying, right? I really wasn't good at driving manual. Anyways, I forgot that you had to step on the clutch to start the car. He looked at me weird and then told me to step on the clutch first. Well, I actually started it, but I couldn't make it out of the parking lot. So we stepped out of the car and I was sent home

So, I went home and called a friend to let me try manual on his car a few times. He was very helpful and gave me a few tips and let me try on his car a few times. It was a 04' Passat wagon and the clutch and shifter was very smooth so it made it very easy.

Case #2
Subaru Dealership, Hickory, NC [Impreza WRX] - So, now that I felt better about myself, I went to the Subaru Dealership to test drive a WRX. To my surprise, the salesman didn't drive with me! He made me sign the waiver and handed me the keys! Lucky for him, I didn't get a chance to tell him I was a n00b

So my dad got in the passenger seat and my brother got in the back seat and we drove off. The WRX clutch is as stiff as a rock, but also super sensitive. And the shifter was sloppy compared to my friends Passat. That made it really hard. I managed to stutter out of the parking lot after about 5 minutes. And drove down the road like 2 miles. But, then I was having trouble getting it going again at a stop light. So, I got out and my dad drove us back to the dealership.

Case #3
Honda Dealership, Hickory, NC [Civic EX] - The Civic not as hard to drive. I had trouble getting out of 1st gear, but the salesman was very helpful. She gave me a few tips on how to drive manual. I grinded a few times and it made her cringe, but she was really nice. I didn't really like the civic after I had driven the WRX.

Case #4
Subaru Dealership, Chapel Hill, NC [Impreza WRX] - I finally decided that I'd get the WRX since that was what I was eyeing ever since my new car search started. The salesman took me on a test drive. He drove me to a remote parking lot and did some slaloms around the islands in the middle of the parking lot. It scared the crap out of me.

Anyways, he handed me the keys and again I forgot to step on the clutch. I figured it out after the 3rd key turn. I stuttered out of the parking lot once more and onto a busy street with stop-and-go traffic. Not good. But, I was able to make it after a few stalls. The hardest part was when we got onto the highway and then back onto the 15-501 exit. That's where I struggled the most because of the slight hill. People kept honking at me and the guy behind me was right on my tail. This made me VERY nervous and made me lose concentration. I was sweating bullets (along with the salesman and my friend in the back seat). Grinded a few times and stalled a few more times, but finally I was able to get up the hill and get back to the dealership. After this ordeal the salesman was pushing the car on me hard. Mostly because he thought I probably fried the clutch and tore the transmission to pieces.

Final Case
I decided to get that WRX since it was the last one on the lot and only $23k. Driving it home was horrible. It took me almost an hour to get from Chapel Hill to Raleigh. But, after a good week of driving I started to feel more comfortable, but still having troubles. I can say that after 3 months of driving I was pretty much comfortable with driving it. After 6 months I was pretty much an expert. At 8 months, I went out to a couple of autocrosses.

I've had it for almost 2 years now and I can do advanced techniques like heel-toe/rev-matching. I'm no expert, but I can pretty much drive any car, even my cousin's stock integra with stage 3 clutch . I don't know why he even did that, stupid ricers.

8/5/2006 10:30:36 AM

while we're on that topic, how do you find out which clutch-stage your car is?

8/5/2006 10:37:41 AM

Depends on who you buy it from... it varies from product to product. They are usually rated for torque capacity.

Example:
stage 1 = 240 ft/lb
stage 2 = 280 ft/lb
stage 3 = 325 ft/lb

8/5/2006 10:44:00 AM

well it's a E34 540. Would that be stage 2 or 3?

8/5/2006 10:53:46 AM

Your clutch is stage nothing unless somebody has put something else in it. Just call it stock.

It's just some advertising hype way of individual manufacturers ranking their clutches. It's easier for them to say Stage I or Stage III or something rather than saying "this is our 1700 lbs holding force model or our 2400 lbs holding force model or our model that holds 500 ft-lbs of torque, etc, etc"

It has no generic relevance to clutches across the board or in general. It's another ghey way for ricers to sound cool.

8/5/2006 3:54:24 PM

Quote :

"Learning manual takes between 2 weeks - 1 month and you'll have it down pat."

learning to drive a manual should take an afternoon

[Edited on August 5, 2006 at 4:18 PM. Reason : ]

8/5/2006 4:03:24 PM

yea, took me one afternoon (1 hour to be exact), but I did read up alot about how to drive a manual before hand.

8/5/2006 4:23:10 PM

yeah

if you cant figure out how to drive sitck within an hour you should just give up

the only thing i would consider tricky is engaging the clutch in first on a hill

then again my father forced me to learn how to drive stick before he would ever let me drive an automatic, so it's pretty brainless for me. if a 15 year old who has never driven before can figure it out, i think anyone can.

8/5/2006 4:23:16 PM

Quote :

"but I did read up alot about how to drive a manual before hand"

wtf

it's not that comlicated

8/5/2006 4:24:07 PM

You must be a fuckin' ace driver there, slick. I know plenty of folks that've taken longer.

Hell, I had a bitch of a time learning to drive stick on the road without stalling. Learned on a '70 Ford with a three on the tree. That was a field day, I tell ya. It took me a couple of weeks to master that motherfucker.

And I've since driven everything under the sun with a clutch. Everything from motorcycles to Mack trucks.

8/5/2006 4:25:23 PM

yea, i think I read too much into it. I basically read a bunch of stuff about the manual transmission, mostly technical stuff. Mostly irrelevant stuff when it comes to driving.

8/5/2006 4:25:50 PM

^^don't get me wrong, I still stalled once in a while 2 weeks after. Took me a while to get used to the clutch.

8/5/2006 4:27:15 PM

i mean what is difficult about it?

engaging the clutch and giving it gas is kinda hard i guess if youve never done it before, but i really dont see how it's rocket science

the only problem i really had when i first started driving was getting it out of first, but if you give it gas and let the clutch out slowly you're not going to stall...

they should force everyone to learn how in driver's ed

those who can't shouldn't be allowed to drive because they are going to be shitty driver's if they cant master something that simple

8/5/2006 4:30:12 PM

The best way is to not get lessons, but figure it out on your own.

I never figured it out when my dad tried to teach me, but later on I borrowed someones truck and 3 miles into it I was fine.

8/5/2006 4:37:25 PM

I learned by watching my dad when I young. Then I got to where I would sit in the middle and change gears for him. By the time I was 12, I was driving the 71 Chevy farm truck with a 3 speed on the column.

I've been driving a straight for so long that when I drive someone else's auto, I'll catch myself trying to change gears

8/5/2006 5:17:46 PM

I've never driven a straight before.

8/5/2006 5:19:53 PM

Quote :

"I've been driving a straight for so long that when I drive someone else's auto, I'll catch myself trying to change gears"

haha, i do that too. or i'll get in and go to step on the clutch before I start it.


^some people refer to a standard or manual transmission vehicle as a straight shift

8/5/2006 5:34:31 PM

You can always cheat on hills by holding up the e-brake to help get you started. I still do it on very steap inclines like coming out of Wendy's on to Western.

8/5/2006 5:44:25 PM

ive never done that before, but it sounds like it would be hard on your ebrake and clutch

8/5/2006 5:53:56 PM

dad bought me a manual 1991 mazda 626, we went out to a parking lot, an hour later i was on the road, another hour and I was on the highway.

took another couple of days before I didnt burn the clutch or have to search for gears, but i was road safe to drive it in a day.

8/5/2006 7:12:23 PM

anyone can learn in a few hours. it takes time to become fluid & consistent.

8/5/2006 7:35:28 PM

As long as were on the subject of stories of learning to drive a stick...

In HS, my boyfriend and I went to this church parkinglot and he taught me for about 20 minutes. I started getting frustrated, so I said, "forget this, lets go to dinner." He was like "ok" and I started to get out of the car... he was like, "where are you going? I'm not driving! if you want dinner, you get us there!"

And thus, in my extreme lust for Roxboro-Road-Ten-Ten, I learned to drive a manual and I've never looked back. I have trouble driving automatics now >_<

I need to teach my sister sometime soon. I figure i'll use the same method

[Edited on August 5, 2006 at 7:37 PM. Reason : cooode]

8/5/2006 7:35:32 PM

Quote :

"anyone can learn in a few hours. it takes time to become fluid & consistent."

THAT was my argument!

8/5/2006 8:25:08 PM

Like I said...

Quote :

"Learning manual takes between 2 weeks - 1 month and you'll have it down pat."

8/5/2006 8:30:39 PM

Quote :

"but it sounds like it would be hard on your ebrake and clutch"

Its standard practice

8/5/2006 8:44:14 PM

^ oh shit first post

I think the easiest car with a manual transmission I've ever driven was a previous generation civic. My friend has an '04 LX 5 speed and I was practically a pro at that thing before I bought a 5 speed rx-7 with (ugh) unsprung 4 puck.

It's funny, I had a lot of trouble learning to drive my other friend's 95 civic. Honda must have had much lighter flywheels on those early models. They revved much quicker and rpms dropped much faster between shifts compared to the 04 model. It felt more sporty but much more difficult to drive.

8/6/2006 2:32:50 AM

I learned on a '94 eclipse.

My dad had me driving it in about an hour.

But on that car, you barely even needed the clutch to shift. To this day I haven't driven an easier clutch than that.

8/6/2006 9:02:32 AM

I noticed that Japanese cars are much easier to learn than other cars. The clutch on Japanese cars are always very light (the ones I've driven at least), compare to other cars. Granted, the only "other cars" I've driven are the Ford Escort and BMW 540.

8/6/2006 9:11:18 AM

Quote :

"As long as were on the subject of stories of learning to drive a stick... In HS, my boyfriend and I went to this church parkinglot and he taught me for about 20 minutes. I started getting frustrated, so I said, "forget this, lets go to dinner." He was like "ok" and I started to get out of the car... he was like, "where are you going? I'm not driving! if you want dinner, you get us there!" And thus, in my extreme lust for Roxboro-Road-Ten-Ten, I learned to drive a manual and I've never looked back. I have trouble driving automatics now >_< I need to teach my sister sometime soon. I figure i'll use the same method [Edited on August 5, 2006 at 7:37 PM. Reason : cooode] "

you must be from durham too huh?

8/6/2006 11:39:45 AM

Quote :

"how long does it take to figure it out?"

Took an hour and a half for me to learn well enough to drive a car home from another state by myself (about 130 mile drive). After that the first week was a little jerky at times, stalled a couple times, but by the next week everything was smooth and no more stalls.

Oh and my friend showed me on a 98 Honda Accord, I drive a 04 Acura RSX. Can't really compare to non-Japanese cars, but like hgtran said, they seem to be easy to learn on.

8/7/2006 5:30:22 PM

M3s have stage 8 clutches stock, y0

8/7/2006 5:53:32 PM