How long did it take you to learn to drive a manual? (manual transmission, coupe)

[ElkHunter]

I was born and raised on a farm. I was driving manual transmission vehicles by the time I was 6 or 7. If you want to hear the funny part, I was 21 the very first time I drove a vehicle with an automatic. It was a really bad learning experience because that vehicle also had power brakes.

[Ultrarunner]

Taught myself on my Grandparents farm with their old tractor... I was doing windrows at age 5 and mowing by age 10

I also worked in the family auto business and was parking cars around the lot starting at age 11.

More than a few times I had to get a car back to the Dealership on test drives because the potential buyer simply could not drive a stick on the hills... this is before I had a license.

Taught all my friends how to drive sticks in High School in the Church Parking lot... if you can start, stop and park with a stick... road driving is a piece of cake.

The old tractor and an old VW Bug I had for a short time also needed to be double clutched...

It's not hard to learn and some actually enjoy it... plus, sticks often sell for less which is a plus!

[victimofGM]

Back in 1987 I bought a 1984 Buick Skyhawk coupe with a 4 speed manual. My dad use to drive 18 wheelers. He spent a few hours on a weekend working with me on an empty subdivision road (houses hadn't been built yet). The clutch was tricky. Once I got the feel for the clutch it was fine. Most important thing he taught me was don't rest your foot on the clutch. Hard part was hill start without rolling back into a car behind you. Even a good start could result in a few inches roll back. Not good when someone stops within inches of your bumper. As a teenager, first thing I learned on my own was how to "pop the clutch" to spin the tires. Well, with that car's power, it was more like a chirp than a spin. On a nice winding country road, manual is fun. It's a PITA on stop and go city traffic.

[Professor Griff]

I watched others drive stick and taught myself. I bought a 5 speed Nissan Sentra, had a friend drive it home for me, and then I drove it around myself. I had the basic idea from watching others and putting it all together. It took a few days to get comfortable enough to drive to work; I live in Baltimore and there are a lot of hills, including the steep hill next to my office. I had to learn how to pull off from the traffic light at the top of the hill without rolling back too far. I had a harder time going in reverse on a decline without rolling forward too much. I used the e-brake trick a lot. After a couple of months, I barely stalled. At this point, I can't even remember the last time I stalled. All of my cars have been manual since. When I drive my wife's automatic Camry, I feel so disconnected from the car that its annoying.

[DJDeadParrot]

My father taught me on a road trip from Indiana to Connecticut in a ~1983 Honda Accord. Thing is that highway driving on extraordinarily flat terrain doesn't afford a whole lot of practice with shifting and changing gears. At least not until you get to Pennsylvania...and the toll booths that lie in wait for hapless 17 year-olds trying to simultaneously downshift, steer, roll down the window, dodge big rigs, merge into the cash only lane, and shut the radio off while dad is shouting "CLUTCH IN!", and you gotta hope to God that you can grab the ticket while rolling through at 30 mph. We had to stop for dinner in Harrisburg, and I was having a hard time getting the timing right between letting go of the clutch and hitting the gas, and finally had to relinquish the driver's seat.

Fast forward 15 years to my wife putting me in the driver's seat of her Dodge Stratus coupe on I-65 in Alabama. Again, highway driving on almost perfectly level terrain. All went well until we had to exit onto I-85 in Montgomery.

If I'm being completely honest, I've always wanted to learn if for no other reason than to know how to operate one if I ever needed to. Plus, I've had my eye on a Ford Fiesta ST.

[Hemlock140]

My father had a 1964 Chrysler Wagon, big V8 and 3 speed on the floor. We had gone to a store about 30 miles away and when we got back to the car he handed me the keys. By the time we got home I had learned to drive a manual. No hydraulic master/slave on that thing, mechanical clutch with a really heavy spring. I would think that driving it daily one would have a bigger left leg than right.

[louie0406]

I knew the concept but had never actually applied it until I purchased my first car which was a 5 speed 1987 mazda rx7. I got my first real world experience driving it home from the guy I bought it from. Man was that an experience! Lol

[C8N]

I think it took a solid 3 months for me to get to the point where it became 2nd nature.

[Felix C]

Same day. Big block torque application so it was easy. Clutch engaged immediately and off I went. Did not use the tachometer to shift only listened to the engine.

You know in direct engagement transmissions you were not supposed to rest your hand or apply pressure on the shifter unless changing gears but it was so cool to do while driving.

[Checkered24]

My first attempt was a short period of time behind the wheel of a beat on Nissan Sentra at the driving school I attended as a teen. That did not go too well. In retrospect, I blame the car for having a clutch that was well beaten by driving students.

Years later, I learned on a V6 Pontiac Fiero in a rather short period of time. It didn't take me too long to pick it up. Happened that day, but I cannot give a "minutes" timeframe anymore. Too long ago.