if i can do it, any retard can =D

 

I was in your shoes back in August. I have a lifetime of watching others driving stick and knowing the complete science behind it, but nothing prepared me for it more than just jumping in head-first. I spent two days driving on back roads, then come Monday, I drove to work on I-95 and had to do it right or else. Just find your friction point, and remember to give it some gas. I find that 1000 rpm's do the trick when I first let out the clutch. It is a dance between the clutch and gas, and you will be a pro in no time. I will never buy another automatic.
--Chris

 

funny you should say that..

you can actually get a very smooth launch from ANY rpm,, it just requires different levels of clutch slippage

if you time things right, you can 'get going' from idle, to anywhere higher in the gear

1000 is simple enough cause its a nice flat spot on your tach, so you can find it, then start balancing..

you know youve got it down when you start from a dead stop with no sound of the engine revving, and no jerking while letting out the clutch b

 

They way i learned worked all right. Try it in a big lot or something for awhile then hit the strees. Making a fool of yourself is actually a great way to learn.

1. ON a flat surface, let the clutch out REALLY slowly.
2. When you start crawling foward, hold the clutch where its at.
3. Give it a little gas.
4. Slowly let the clutch out all the way.

Basically, for the first little bit of driving, let the clutch out as slowly as possible. Leave the radio off and listen to the engine. Also, take your shoes off (i know it sounds wierd). I drove a few times over the summer in bare feet, and i actually got a much better feel of the clutch and throttle. It might help you learn faster/better.


Matt

 

mvr's pretty much summed it up....BUT once you get quick on the shift you find that you can push it to the floor, shift, release and barley see a rev down. Myself I end up nearly to the floor each time just from a comfort standpoint (easier to just push than push..oops, little grind..push a little more)

 

put the pedal to the ground and dump the clutch!

















what thats how i learned......

 

[sm=funnypostabove.gif]

 

stick shift is a piece of cake.

Likethey said go find a hill but i say late @ night (by yourself!) where mostly everyone is in for the night. On steep hills you can use the E-brake to hold you till you get the hang of the clutch. practice, practice, practice.

I made a big fool of myself when learning [:@] I took my car out on the busy streets @ rush hour with the covert top down! Boy, i had my friend with me and i was stalling the car every start. People sure was getting pissed at me because i kept stalling. Sometimes i got nervous and rev'd the engine to much while slipping the clutch and smelled a lovely sulfer smell. Let me tell you.. once you do this.. you should get the hang of it in acouple days. It was all trial and error for me ;]

I learned on my stang also and at time i felt i was hurting the car. All the clunks i heard coming from the transmission and rear end made me even more nervous.

To start off with no gas do this:

1st gear
slowly let off the clutch
once you feel the car starting to move (listen to the engine tone also) HOLD THE CLUTCH RIGHT THERE!!!!!
hold the clutch there till the car is rolling than add gas to goooo

I also took the car out late @ night with the headlights on the highest. I notice when the car was about to stall the headlights would dim to almost off. At the point i would add alittle rev to keep the car going on starting off ;].



For parking between cars slip the clutch instead of fully releasing it.

In little to no time you'll be starting on hills with no problem. I got to the point were was i able to bring the clutch out very fast and stop right @ the catch point and just add gas on the hills with little to none rolling back.

 

just to add... you dont need to use the break to release the ebrake lol... so if ur on a hill you dont need to try and hold in the break after uve already engaged the ebrake.. can just kinda take off lol...

damn i love the info you guys are giving... i think although i can drive a stick.. (im not amazing as i drive my car once every 2 months just about so each time im readjusting to driving again), but i think ill go try some of your ideas sometime by myself to make myself a better driver...good advise fellas... hell ill say it.. thanks..

 

It's really not bad. As said, start by learning your clutch by starting on a flat hill with no gas at all. You can gently let out the clutch until you roll, then slowly let the clutch out the rest of the way so you're going with no gas at all. Also, when you're shifting through your other gears, don't be afraid to give it a little gas before/as you let out the clutch. For a while I would just let the clutch out slow and then give it gas, but I finally got to where I could smoothly give it the right amount of gas to a point where i could basically drop the clutch in as hard as I wanted and the RPMs were close enough that it was still perfectly smooth. The longer you take to put the clutch in, the more you're slipping, and the more you're wearing your clutch, so you want to get to a point where you can let it out quick and smooth.

I learned my first gear the most on my driveway. My driveway is a little more than a 90 degree turn off the road, and it's RIGHT after the entrance of the neighborhood, so you don't want to sit there while someone else is behind you or you might get rear ended. To make it worse, the entrance of the driveway is a pretty good bump, so you have to go slow, but then it's uphill a little and narrow. Combine all this and it's pretty precise driving to park next to another car while going in fast enough to not get pushed in from behind, but slow enough not to bottom out at the start of the driveway, and slow enough to make sure I wasn't going to hit another car in the driveway. It was quite a handful to get right, and the first several times I pulled in I stalled, however after a little while I was able to pull in and pull right up with no problems. One thing new stick drivers love to do is coast when at all possible. That wasn't possible on my driveway which was why it was a challenge. I was slowing down from going about 40 on the road, and with the gate on 1st gear at about 20mph, I wasn't able to put it into first until I was going up the driveway, and then I had to give it a little since I'd slowed down enough not to bottom out or hit the other car.

Anyway, I just say all that to show that it certainly can be a handful, and at times it can be nerve racking when you're new and not wanting to make a mistake, or worse, not able to make a mistake, but if you give it practice and just stay calm you've be a pro in no time.