I can't drive a stick and I still love em'

Factual Questions
1

I am just learning to drive a stick shift. It’s being handed down to me, so I don’t really have a choice. I’d have to say though, just starting out, it is extremely frustrating. Trying to figure out exactly what you have to do. I’ve been told it takes 1-2 years to really be able to drive a stick w/o thinking. Of course, my first driving lesson ended with smoke pouring out from under the hood. I realized I hadn’t taken the E brake off. But when I did get over that 15mph mark and shifted into 2nd, wheee! I’ve driven an automatic breifly, which was definately much easier (eh, hm… foot on gas to go forward.) Getting onto what I had to say that pertained to the OP, a majority of my friends drive automatics, and I’ll be happy to mock them once I learn how to drive a manual.

2

newbie mistake

3

1-2 years ?? Forget it, 1-2 months more likely. FWIW, most Europeans learn to drive a stick shift in less than 20 driving lessons. You’ll be fine.

4

1-2 years? No freakin’ way!
When I got my car, i was still a little shaky driving standard (i learned on my friends car), but after a couple of weeks im sure it was second nature).

My tips (i was frustrated as hell when i first started, as well):

1: Cover the clutch, meaning be prepared to press in the clutch at any time. If the car’s about to stall, or you lurch forward by giving too much gas, the clutch will always act as a safety valve.

2: Find the “friction zone”. The friction zone is the place where the engine “catches”, and the car begins to move. The main difficult part about driving standard is starting from a standstill (especially on hills). There is a certain point where the clutch is partway up where it starts to accept the gas from the gas pedal; give very little gas until you feel it catch (so as not to peel out or anything).

5

I learned to drive a manual transmission car in 10 lessons, but I had not previously learned to drive an automatic so I was not trying to un-learn or re-learn habits I had already acquired.

My three tips, FWIW:

  1. It’s much more important to hear the engine sound in a manual car; try driving around without the radio on for the first few weeks to get used to the noises it makes when you need to change gear.

  2. You will stall it from time to time, everybody does. Don’t let other drivers harass you when you do: apply the handbrake, re-start the engine and move off again.

  3. Practice hill starts. This is a compulsory element of the test in the UK, so I practiced over and over again and found it very beneficial. If you can stop and move off again smoothly while going uphill with a reasonable degree of consistenncy, you’ve pretty much mastered the gears.

6

Probably the most difficult thing to learn when driving a stick is finding exactly where in the pedal travel the clutch engages and disengages (that’s the position you have to ease the clutch through as you apply the gas). To learn a stick, the Car Talk guys suggest you find a flat parking lot and practice starting forward without using the gas; i.e., slooooowly easing off the clutch, engaging the engine without stalling it. Once you can do that, finding the right time to ease in on the accelerator is easy.

7

Since this thread was opened in error, I’ll just go ahead and close it.