aquajr

I concur. I stalled once on my way home, but it was right in front of my old high school during lunch. There were a lot of laughs. Plus my friends mom was right behind me so she told my friend who told everyone else.

CMcNam

Learned two days before I bought the car on a buddy's Honda Prelude. I wanted a Mustang and it had to be manual, just seemed sacrilegious otherwise. Drove an hour and a half to LA to pick it up and took at least twice as long getting back in LA rush hour traffic. I learned quick.

Bob_Young

Once you get clutch engagement, timing, and gear selection down, remember this: GET YOUR FOOT OFF THE CLUTCH BETWEEN SHIFTS. Put your foot on the floor with your toe OFF the clutch until ready to shift again.

Saves the clutch, the throwout bearing and the pressure plate.

Also, when idling at a light, put the transmission in neutral and let the clutch out.

Do these things and (barring other abuse) your clutch and clutch parts should last the life of the car.

I know, Capt. Obvious; still some people need to be told.

Gary Ugarek

I hate when people leave their foot on the clutch pedal in between shifts... ahhh that annoys the **** out of me.

I am guilty however, of keeping it in gear with clutch engaged at stop lights. I catch myself every now and again, but it is mostly after leaving work when I have a lot of other stuff on my mind.

dcarlinf1

There is no harm in having the car in gear with your foot on the clutch at a stop light. Just have the clutch pedal all the way to the floor.

I hate when people aren't ready to drive off when a light turns green because they aren't in gear yet. Yes, everything is a race to me.

Diabolical!

Ever been in a car with a stick driver who obsessively checks to see if the car is in neutral at every stop? My little brother shakes that shifter like Michael J. Fox every time he stops his truck. Drives me insane.

cerealkller

I drove a stick a couple of times when I first learned how to drive then had an automatic in every car I owned for about 15 years. I got into a wreck and the insurance only covered a rental for a few days, accident was my fault. Only vehicle I could drive till my car was repaired, which took almost two months because of part shortages, was my dad's truck which was stick. Relearned how to drive a stick on a Sunday and traded my car in pretty much as soon as I got it back. Been driving a stick ever since.

Rocket254

That's so wrong.

markag

I learned on a 1972 MG midget with a worn out throw-out bushing (yes, bushing, not bearing) and a 4 speed gearbox that liked to lock you out of shifting into or out of gears when it got warm. The car had ~65 hp when new, and it was 30+ years old when I was learning on it.
After that, I occasionally drove my girlfriend's (now she's my wife) Geo Metro 5 speed and then her Hyundai Elantra 5 speed before getting my my 08 GT. When I first started driving 5 speeds, I would tend to go from 2nd to 5th because I was used to how the old 4 speed shifted. I got over that. Then the mustang came, and I was having really jerky shifts. I was not used to the heavy clutch and how much it grabs. By day 2 though, I was already driving it smoothly. And now, a year later, I'm don't have any issues.

When I go back and drive my wife's Elantra, I think something is broken though. Her clutch seems like it has no resistance to it, it doesn't grab, and her shifter feels like a spaghetti noodle. She has to remind me that there is no problem with it, I'm just not used to her car

Norm Peterson

Hopefully by now you've discovered that electronic fuel injection is pretty tolerant of slight instances of clumsiness with the clutch pedal (lots more so than with the carbureted cars of 40 - 50 years ago especially on a dead cold start). EFI has a sort of "stall-saver" built in to cover for other accessories kicking in that helps you here.

You can still feel a hydraulically operated clutch start to grab, more so if you wear thin-soled shoes. No boots, please.


Norm