Self Help Tutorial: Manual Transmission for Beginners

[tbarber87]

Originally Posted by Lucky SOB

The only way to get good after someone has taught you the basics is to go out ALONE and just drive drive drive

This is 100% truth, I am one of the first time manual drivers, and when I first got mine, i was terrible. My dad tried and tried to teach me and I couldn't get it, I handed the keys over every day for a week and let him drive it to work. One day my mom refused to drive me around like a child and forced me to drive my car. . .all alone. . .I mastered it that day! I still lug and jerk from time to time, but I am MUCH more comfortable driving now, I've even stopped altering my routes to avoid uphills

[tbarber87]

Oh and I use my leg. . .not heal toe

[Lucky SOB]

Originally Posted by tbarber87

This is 100% truth, I am one of the first time manual drivers, and when I first got mine, i was terrible. My dad tried and tried to teach me and I couldn't get it, I handed the keys over every day for a week and let him drive it to work. One day my mom refused to drive me around like a child and forced me to drive my car. . .all alone. . .I mastered it that day! I still lug and jerk from time to time, but I am MUCH more comfortable driving now, I've even stopped altering my routes to avoid uphills

Nice work! I hope it helps others as well!

[The_Blur]

Everyone who has discussed learning the manual with me has said that they learned it in a day or less. I still have yet to learn for lack of a car to use as practice.

[whaleblueprs]

I have a 1980 El Camino with a 4 speed (just put it in this past summer, was a factory 3-spd on the floor) and a 93 Beretta with a 5-spd. The car before was a 95 Pontiac Sunfire with a 5-spd that someone T-boned. (Boo hiss!) That's just the last 8 years, there were others before that...

Here's how I learned:

Put in first gear with clutch all to way to floor on level ground.
Start car

Let clutch out as slow as possible and F E E L the clutch grab. (NO gas yet.)

When RPM start to drop, push clutch to floor again.

Do this a few times to get a good feel for where the clutch engages. (Don't worry if it stalls, just start 'er back up.)

NEXT:
KEEP clutch to the floor - don't let it out yet at all.

Gently press gas pedal until RPM rise. (Obviously best if you have a tach.)
Repeat a few times to get a good feel for the acclerator linkage and throttle response.

Once you have a good feel for the clutch and gas individually:

Let the clutch out, just before it starts to grab, gently press the gas.
Let car move, but don't pull out and drive yet.
Push the clutch to the floor and repeat the previous two steps.
Do this a few times.

Once you're confident, put it in gear, engage the clutch, give it some gas and drive it a bit. (And yes to above - the first to second gear transition can be the hardest.)

The object to all this is S M O O T H transitions. If you take your time, you'll be well on your way to driving a stick. You'll have plenty of time to get your first speeding ticket later. For now, your only goal is learning your car and how it feels and responds.

My first time with a stick was exactly this process. When I pulled out for the first time, I stalled the car. The second time I chirped the tires. The third time I pulled out and have been driving a stick ever since. That was 1987. I've logged about 300,000 miles with a stick and never willingly go back to an automatic if I can help it. (Incidentally, I've never had a speeding ticket - and there were a couple that I REALLY deserved. I had some VERY gracious policeman pull me over a couple times. I thank them sincerely for giving me a second chance.)

On another note, here's what I'm shooting for:

2LT, M6, Yellow with black stripes. As few options as possible.
Basic, simple and fun. I've never bought a brand-new car before and have been saving towards a 4 - 5 year old used Corvette. I've now decided to do this instead. If all goes well, I'll order it in the spring!!

[tradosaurus]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

Everyone who has discussed learning the manual with me has said that they learned it in a day or less. I still have yet to learn for lack of a car to use as practice.

Let go of your hate and use the force.....

[vernal]

When I was teaching my sister, one tip that really helped her was the idea of moving her foot higher or lower on the gas pedal, so a given amount of effort produced the right rpm increase. She was having trouble modulating the pedal, but after that she was much more in control.

[whaleblueprs]

Before my mini-novel post above, I almost posted, "Do or do not, there is no try." (I love the picture of Luke and Yoda!)

[scythezo6]

I drove stick once about 9 years ago because my friend got wasted at a party and I had to drive us in his eclipse about an hour across town... nightmare.

9 years later this is the 1st stick Ive owned. I couldn't buy such a beast with an auto. No justice there imo. So like 2 weeks before my car came in I started youtubing the hell out of "driving manual" and some of the videos were really helpful, especially the one with the kid driving the audi tt.

When my car came I was thrilled but worried as hell since the dealer ship was 1/2 hour away from home and I went to get my car right before rush hour... I get my car and drive it over to where I work and just play around in the parking garage. The most troubling times as a newb were going from standing to moving in 1st gear without jerking or stalling. And programming my left foot to stop being a lazy ass was tough.

My sister figured out I didnt know how to drive and kinda forced me to drive her around xmas shopping... so I was kinda forced to drive in pretty good stop and go traffic with impatient people on the road.

Once you figure out moving in 1st gear from a stop, upshifting from 1st to 2nd etc. and shifting to neutral while braking to a stop - just go out there and drive. Some people say go during the day, but at night there is no one on the road and you can stall or roll through a light as slow as you want.

Drive, drive and drive some more. Don't get impatient. Don't get frustrated. Don't give up. Everyone stalls, even experienced drivers. Sometimes. Right? Don't worry about what others think of you when learning in public (they probably are wishing they had your car rather than how bad you drive it lol). I actually was feeling really down my 1st day because I thought I made a mistake and should have just stuck with auto. Driving was so stressful and I would avoid it. But, when you feel like this, go talk to a friend who knows how to drive manual and they will cheer you up and make you feel like it will get there. Now I drive the car with out thinking about shifting, with music on and windows down. lol. Yes, it was that bad.

Not sure who this post is directed at just started typing and here we are. >.>

[DarricSS]

Originally Posted by Captain Awesome

Here's a question:

Who here clutches using their foot/ankle only (Heel on the carpet) and who here clutches with their upper leg muscles?

For a beginner a good way to visually picture clutch engagement and to mentally practice. Have them sit in a chair and put a phone book on the left foot. This will be the clutch all the way in. Lift your left toes as high as you can keeping your heal on the floor, when you can't lift any higher this is when your right foot will press the gas pedal slighting to simulate pressing slightly just push down with your right big toe.

Now with the left toes up and right big toe down in the same motion lift your left heal of the floor and press your right foot down on the gas slowly...away you go. Shifting is pretty straight forward once you get moving...

Down shifting is a whole other ball game and comes with practice once you get use to rev-matching …


And to answer your question, when moving from a stop i use my heal to engage the clutch once moving i lift my leg. When shifting fast after first gear it's all upper leg... Downshifting i use both heal and upper leg...

[robertway]

Originally Posted by Captain Awesome

Here's a question:

Who here clutches using their foot/ankle only (Heel on the carpet) and who here clutches with their upper leg muscles?

During normal (easy/traffic/etc) driving I work the clutch with my heel on the floor, during more "spirited" driving my heel is on the floor at launch and off the floor after that running through the gears.

[nuptualnemesis]

Originally Posted by Captain Awesome

Here's a question:

Who here clutches using their foot/ankle only (Heel on the carpet) and who here clutches with their upper leg muscles?

Remove foot from clutch after shift. To easy to put weight on the clutch after or getting ready to shift. This is a problem at the track or hot rodding on the street where high RPM and torque will burn up the clutch if you have bad clutch habits. Might as well learn the best way

[tightchevelle69]

Originally Posted by tradosaurus

Let go of your hate and use the force.....

correct phrasing would have been...

use the force, hate let go of you must!

[WayneBrady]

There should be a meetup forum by location. I cant make a thread, but i would like to meet up with man trans owners in my area to help me learn better handling skills. Just driving isn't fun. Just driving involves honda or toyota....except for the 93-97 supra cuz they r just sexy. Any one in Northern Va, who knows advance driving techniques, can help me learn proper launch, rev matching, and double clutching? I saw a post and I was interested in the fact that I would want different pads for heel toe such as racing pads or lingerfelter pads