OP, I was in the same boat.

I bought mine without having ever driven a manual. When I picked up my car, I had my uncle drive it to his restaurant. He then taught me the basics of clutching and starting in 1st. I practiced in the empty parking lot for about 30 minutes, then (with him in the car) I drove 10 miles home that night.

You're going to stall a lot, but that's part of the learning process. In all honesty, learning to drive a manual really isn't that hard. No regrets here.

Go for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B59-pWSPoZU

I watched that about 20 times before I even picked up the car.

 

Wow, I was just watching this yesterday. It really is a great video. I think I will love this purchase.

Thank you everyone for all the input.

 

Once you get used to starting off in 1st and feeling the shift points you'll be fine. That and not letting it die and roll backwards on a steep hill lol

 

start by feeling where the clutch starts to engage,like is it at half pedal or 2/3rds then practice just a shot of gas just before clutch engagement....honestly...do like the guy above and hit a walmart parking lot....you will have the hang of it in 20 minutes....then you will never want another auto ever again....happy rubber melting

 

Thanks, but I am not too sure how soon I want to start melting rubber. Hopefully I don't melt too much in my parking lot trials. lol.

 

The biggest difference is that a manual has better resale value.

 

"I think I will love this purchase


Thank you everyone for all the input."


You'll be fine with it.

These days, there's probably some advantage in already having some road experience under your belt before you start driving stick-shift, as opposed to trying to learn that stuff along with getting the three-pedal co-ordination down. There's more traffic, less patience kinds of stuff out there now than there used to be.

My wife got her license on an automatic tranny car, but picked up driving stick very quickly a couple of years later. That was back in 1972, and we haven't bought an automatic tranny car since, not even the ones purchased to be specifically hers. Yeah, the math says that makes us a little older, and we already know that our knees aren't what they used to be - and those things still don't matter.


(damn HTML kept insisting on splitting your quote)


Norm

 

Depends on where you live. In the MD, VA, DC area, automatics are cherished. Most people are stuck on the beltway for a few hours of their lives each day. 2009 auto GT's were all gone, except for 1 demo car in spring of 2009 and manuals were still all over the place on the lots. This was looking at those regions I specified above.

 

I was never "taught" how to drive stick myself. I just... did. And at first like anyone, I sucked at it. My parents always had them growing up, so I spent many years observing them, which probably helped a lot.

As to your question, unfortunately nobody can answer that for you. As for the stick being "more fun", I completely disagree with that statement. To me, the stick is simply "more work". But admittedly, after having probably somewhere close to 20 cars with stick, I sort of burnt myself out on it. Its so "automatic" to me now, that its largely pointless.

The auto suits these cars really well, I love mine. It does however, need an aftermarket tune badly. The stock throttle lag / programming really does suck. Mine will chirp the tires now going into 2nd and 3rd gear, and responds to throttle input instantly with the American Muscle / Bama race tune. Its much punchier than the 09 manual I had with the supercharger, and even though its short by 140hp, I like the car more.

Chances are you'll enjoy the manual having never had one. I know I did for many years, and claimed I'd "never buy an auto". These days, I don't plan to ever buy a manual again, lol. Good luck man!

 

Go for it. I never drove a stick before, and I went out and test drove a 2006 Saleen S281. It was way easier than I ever thought, and driving stick is just too much fun!