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My dad taught me how to drive a stick.. Took me to the steepest hill he could find, made me stop half way up and start again... over and over. I think he’s got some permanent whiplash over it. Lol
We had a fun adventure today and ended up 60 miles from home deciding whether to buy a new vehicle or spend upwards of $2k rebuilding a transmission. Not a hard choice, given the shape the poor car was in, though we had been hoping to make it a couple more months to President's Day sales. So it goes.
The only vehicle that fit our needs and was available to drive off the lot was a 2013 Scion. As the salesman was starting it up and I was installing the carseat for the baby, he asks "Oh, do either of you know how to drive a manual?"
Well. The last time I drove a stick was in driver's ed in 1997. I have for a long time wanted to refresh my memory, but hadn't found the opportunity. The salesman (because of course he wants to make the sale) said I could try a couple of laps a around the lot before taking it out on the road.
Quite a few false starts later and one instance of forgetting to shift back to first while stopped at a light, we decided to go for it. Didn't have any trouble on the way back home until we stopped to pick up something for dinner; I stalled out while pulling into a parking space and was having trouble getting started again because I was afraid of lurching too far forward.
So, if you can drive a stick, what are your best tips? How can I find that sweet spot between stalling out and shooting forward (or backward) uncomfortably fast? Any fun stories about how you learned this dying art?
Familiarize yourself with friction point, different on every vehicle. Put the car in first and get your foot of the gas pedal. Let out clutch slowly and get rolling without using gas pedal at all. Harder on AWD/4WD, sometimes not really feasible to get the car moving smoothly without any gas. That's 90% of it and a routine I go through every time I drive a car for the first time.
The hardest part for me was learning to start out in 1st on a hill, but it really just comes down to finding the balance between clutch and gas pedal. Once you can master that, no hill will be a challenge.
You can use the parking brake to hold the vehicle if it's hand operated to disengage it but you are also introducing another operation, shouldn't be too difficult if you have become familiar enough with the clutch's operation. I used to drive a truck and used to do this all the time if I had to stop on a real steep hill. For me it really wasn't a matter of getting it going or even drifting back, just easier on the equipment. Also a lot easier to do in truck with air brakes because it's a knob on the dash to disengage
Driving stick is relatively easy if you have a good teacher(I learned by getting yelled out...not a good way to learn) and you are patient, don't get frustrated, relax. Sad that everyone wants to drive auto, its definitely not for everyone but at least imo driving automatic. is ......well, boring! Driving takes us point A to B, which many times feels like a chore after your initial love for driving as a 16-18 year old, manual transmission driving brings engagement and fun back to driving. Anyway, seems like you aren't doing too bad and as everyone else said once you drive it a bit more you'll get it.
For your parking situation, you just do clutch control. You're in 1st or 2nd, pull into the parking spot, adjust your foot on the clutch and throttle as needed. Its as simple as that. Lurching happens when you release the clutch too fast and of course there is no need to release the clutch all the way when parking.
When I say I learned how to drive a manual in high school, I mean just enough to pass driver's ed; I never got any regular practice after that, so I was never particularly proficient. I understand what you're supposed to do and the mechanics of it, but never got a feel for it.
I'm already feeling more confident and had a couple of smooth, non-lurching starts this morning. Everything's pretty covered in ice and snow right now, which makes getting started significantly harder. I like the suggestion to find an open lot and just get used to the clutch, and I will try to find some time to do that.
I'm really glad we took the plunge and that I'll be able to teach my son to drive a manual when he's old enough. Driving has become so mindless, what with cars that do everything for you and nanny state regulations that keep drivers from having to think about anything. I'm excited about turning my driving into more of an engaging activity!
My dad taught me how to drive a stick.. Took me to the steepest hill he could find, made me stop half way up and start again... over and over. I think he’s got some permanent whiplash over it. Lol
Stopping on hills are the worst, especially if someone is right on your bumper...pressure!
When I learned to drive, I didn't know anyone that owned an automatic. If all those people could learn stick, you can too. You will not become an expert overnight, but stay with it.
When I say I learned how to drive a manual in high school, I mean just enough to pass driver's ed; I never got any regular practice after that, so I was never particularly proficient. I understand what you're supposed to do and the mechanics of it, but never got a feel for it.
I'm already feeling more confident and had a couple of smooth, non-lurching starts this morning. Everything's pretty covered in ice and snow right now, which makes getting started significantly harder. I like the suggestion to find an open lot and just get used to the clutch, and I will try to find some time to do that.
I'm really glad we took the plunge and that I'll be able to teach my son to drive a manual when he's old enough. Driving has become so mindless, what with cars that do everything for you and nanny state regulations that keep drivers from having to think about anything. I'm excited about turning my driving into more of an engaging activity!
Hi OP,
I was going to reply earlier but figured I'd wait ... because what I was EXPECTING was that you would say that you "got it" pretty quickly, despite it feeling pretty awful at the start! And it sounds like that is what's happening ... yay!
I bought my first stick shift as a new car way back in the early 1980s. IIRC, it was a 1980 Dodge Colt, but holy crap, that was almost 40 years ago, so I could be remembering some things wrong. I was young (I was 21 in 1980) and working but not making much money and the stick-shift version of the car I was looking at was something like $500 cheaper than the automatic -- and that was a LOT of money to me, so I took a chance and bought it.
The dealer gave me a lesson on stick shifts, but I swear, the first time I drove it on my own I KNEW I would NEVER figure out how to do it right. I must have stalled a couple dozen times that first day on my own. I felt like taking the darn thing back to the dealer and getting the auto transmission version.
But by day 2, I was stalling WAY less -- maybe a few times that day.
By day 3, I was totally fine -- all that clutch and gas and brake action had already started to feel like second nature.
So it felt like I would NEVER get it at the start, but I kept practicing (and stalling!!) and I "got it" within a couple of days.
I bought my next new car in the late '90s, and my 3rd new car (I buy new and keep them a LONG time) in 2009. Those have both been stick shifts too -- I can't imagine buying anything else, although by the next time I am ready for a new car (2030??!), I fear they may not even MAKE manual transmissions any more!
One thing, though, that should have occurred to me but didn't. It appears that MOST people do not know how to drive a stick-shift (not sure what the percentages are, but maybe someone will chime in with some statistics). A few years ago I got stuck in snow in my driveway and I asked a neighbor to drive while I pushed (it didn't seem right to ask HER to push while I drove) -- but she didn't know how to drive a manual! My incredibly kind postal worker ended up helping me later that same day -- HE knew how to drive a stick.
Anyway, after almost 40 years of driving a manual, it's still fun to me. OP, I hope you enjoy yours as much!
"So, if you can drive a stick, what are your best tips?"
practice.
over and over.
"How can I find that sweet spot between stalling out and shooting forward (or backward) uncomfortably fast?"
revving the motor is better than stalling out.
the "sweet spot" is usually an individual car thing.
"Any fun stories about how you learned this dying art?"
yes.
here we go....
i do not count since i learned when the stick was standard.
but my son learned because i made him learn when he was 15.
in our state, 16 is the lower limit for Driver's Licenses, so i bribed him
with -driving- before then, Only If He learned the manual way.
that was the easy part. of course he took the bait. so i bought a Ford
with 4 on the floor for $600. for 6 months, we developed his skills.
church parkings lots on Tuesday. slanted loading docks on Sunday.
he learned enough for me to sell the Ford when he turned 16.
i parked it at the end of our driveway with a $600 price tag.
two people asked about it before i made it back to the house.
the third guy was Latino and pulled out cash money.
obviously, he bought it....and he gave it to his
daughter to Learn How to Drive a Stick.
Like the above poster said "listen to the engine", that is key. RPMs will tell you what gear you should be in.
.
As in, "Turn off the **** radio!"
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