Ya'll make it seem so much easier than it really is.....

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Driving a stick I mean.

I’m 28 and have been driving for almost 10 years now. I am buying my first brand spanking new car today. It’s a 2008 Hyundai Accent. I love it.

I finally decided that it’s time for me to learn to drive a standard. I think everyone should be forced to at least attempt it. The salesman said that if I bought it, he’d teach me to drive it.

He took me out this morning. He said I did really well. I think he’s insane.

After we got back to the lot, I spent an hour driving around in circles. Start, stop, start, stop, reverse, stop, start, reverse, stop, start, stop start, reverse… You get the picture. I finally had to stop for good when I felt like I was gonna hurl.

I still keep stalling when I start.

I know that everyone has issues with starting when they first learn. I can’t help feeling like a jackass though.

Please reassure me. Tell me that I’m not a jackass. Tell me that I’m not stupid for buying a standard when all I’ve ever driven before is automatic. Tell me how it took you weeks to stop stalling but how you’re now an expert and you wouldn’t drive anything else.

Tell me that I will still be able to parallel park like a pro.

Please!!!

2

It may take some time, some dinged body panels, burnt clutches and tears…

But you’ll eventually get the hang of it.

3

Strangely enough, this doesn’t make me feel much better. :smiley:

4

Set your fear aside and embrace the stick; the clutch and gas pedals are your friends. Familiarize yourself with them; take them to your heart and you’ll soon be speed shifting, striking fear into the hearts of all those around you.

Power is within your grasp; seize it by the stick.

5

I bought my stick on a Friday, and HAD to drive it to class on Monday. I spent all weekend in the car, learning to drive it; first in a school parking lot, then the local streets, then major streets, then the freeway on-ramps.

I was certain that I was going to burn up the trannie before a month was out.

Sure enough, 16 days after buying the car… BANG! :eek:

Turned out it was me getting hit by another car, rather than my trannie.

I never had the fear of the stick shift after that, oddly. :smiley:

Eli

6

I hadda learn to drive a standard when I was stationed overseas (Sicily). You get used to it, and if I recall correctly neither myself nor MrsChief took too long picking up the knack.
That being said, I’m not a “car guy.” I don’t care about styling. I don’t care about horsepower or torque. I just want something to start in the morning, not cost too much and not burn half of OPEC’s yearly production on road trips.

A car is a tool. It gets me from here to there. I don’t want to be shifting all the time so I always buy an automatic anymore.

7

I learned to drive a stick at 16, because that was the transmission on the car available for me to drive. It was a three speed on the column, a really old 1966 Valiant (boxy car but golly that thing had a trunk you could fit a house in).

I was dating a guy who didn’t have his license even though he was 18–I think maybe his parents told him if he paid for the car insurance he could get his license and he said no thanks–but really the only reason that’s germane to my story is because he didn’t know how to drive anything, let along a stick shift.

So we went to grab a soda someplace and I did ok driving there (even if things were a bit jerky). But getting out of that parking lot was horrible–I stalled that car for about 30 minutes straight, I could NOT get the car going. I was practically in tears and the boyfriend was no help at all.

I ended up turning the car off, and sitting there just breathing for a few minutes. Then I started the car up again, put it in neutral, then realized . . . it had been in third gear the entire time (which if you are not familiar with a three speed, is almost exactly the same as first gear).

I drove off just fine after that. I drove a stick for years afterwards by preference and only with this last car did I move to automatic, mostly because when I do get stuck in rush hour traffic, it’s all stop and go (first gear, second gear, stop, first gear, stop etc).

8

I feel the same way. I’m thrilled to be buying a brand new car and I’ve wanted an Accent for years. But, I want it because it’s ridiculously small and it’s so much less expensive than other small cars (Mini Coopers and New Beetles - or New Bugs, whatever they’re calling them these days).

I partly wanted standard because I felt I needed to learn. Also for the simple fact that it was $3000 less than the automatic. It doesn’t even have A/C, which is not something I feel is necessary. No anti-lock brakes (hate them), no power windows, power locks, cruise control - it’s just not necessary. I am getting a remote starter though because I live in the very top of New York and I work nights. It’s friggen cold when I leave for work and I hate going outside to warm my car. It also has about 50 different air bags but that was not something I actually asked for. They’re just there.

This car is so simple, it reminds me so much of my Geo Metro. God I miss that car. It was perfect with it’s simplicity and size.

9

Driving a stick is an excellent life skill to have; props to you for choosing to enlarge your life thusly.

I learned to drive a stick one summer as a young woman, in an old rusted-out holes-in-the-floorboard 1964 Ford pickup, on gravel back roads in the Thumb of Michigan. My husband took me out there, showed me how the clutch goes UP at the same time the gas goes DOWN and vice versa*, let me practice a bit, and then we (I) drove us back into town, and the truck was my wheels for the rest of the summer. I spent a lot of time driving around on gravel back roads, and pooting around the tiny town.

So when we bought a Mazda GLC with a stick that fall, I was ready.

*That was the main trick, for me: you keep from stalling it out by remembering that the clutch goes UP as the gas goes DOWN and vice versa. And you reserve your left foot for the clutch only; hopefully you had a good driver’s ed instructor in high school, like I did, who insisted that the left foot was reserved for the clutch at some point in the future, our behind-the-wheel Chevy Impala not being equipped with a stick, and refused to allow us to use our left foot for braking. And so we learned to alternate “brake” and “gas” with the right foot, which is good as they’re mutually exclusive. And that frees you to plug “left foot” into the memory slot for “clutch”.

ETA: On my inaugural trip down the gravel road, I impressed my hubby mightily by catching on immediately to the whole “friction point” concept, and not rabbiting the truck down the road in a series of hops. He said, “Wow, most girls don’t know how to do that.” Nothing in my young married life had ever made me prouder. :smiley:

10

Something that’s occurred to me: people who’ve never driven stick, do they feel when their automatic changes gear? When I drive an automatic, I’m really conscious of which gear the car’s in. I wonder if automatic drivers even know that their car is changing up and down?

11

Yep. And I’m glad, even though I’ve never driven manual. (One time I convinced my friend to let me try learning in his manual-shift car; for some reason he only let me once. Can’t think why…)

12

Gives me an excuse to not talk on the cell phone when I’m driving.

13

I actually had that realization about 10 minutes after I started driving. My problem is making the clutch go up at the correct speed. I keep either letting up too fast or too slow.

I didn’t have driver’s ed. My friend taught me to drive. Her dad taught me to drive on highways. My grandfather taught me to do three point turns. My cousin taught me to parallel park. My ex-brother-in-law taught me to back up in a straight line. I spent about 1 hour on each-spread out over a year and then took my test about 6 months after the last time I had driven. Passed the first time. The State Cop looked a bit annoyed when I told him (after the test) that I had spent fewer than 10 hours driving up to that point and that I hadn’t been behind the wheel of a car in over 6 months.

Of course that might be why I’m panicking now. I spent a bit over an hour driving today. Shouldn’t I be perfect now? :smiley:

Um, who the hell uses their left foot for the brake? Do people really do that? I have never used my left foot for anything except in the case of emergency - such as a severely painful itch on the sole of my right foot. The kind that makes you squirm if you can’t scratch but you’re going 65 MPH on the Mass Pike. Only in those circumstances has my left foot ever left the floorboard of my car.

jjimm Yes. I have always been conscious of it. I can hear and feel it. I can even hear and feel it in my sister’s brand new car - when I’m not driving.

Duck Duck Goose What’s the “friction point”?

Slithy Tove I live in New York. The threat of a huge fine is all the reason I need. :stuck_out_tongue:

14

My twin brother and I learned to drive stick on a 1984 Honda Civic hatchback with a dead battery. You had to push start it. Here’s how it went: Push start car, drive around the neighborhood. If you stalled, you pushed and forfeited your drive. Worked quite well for me. The big key to smooth clutch technique is learning how to HOLD the clutch in position while the car moves forward, THEN releasing. If you’re stalling a lot, you’re not holding.

I drove that Honda into the fucking ground too. Loved that car.

15

Not only will you get the hang of it, but you’ll never forget it once you do. All but my first car have been manual and on the occasions that I’ve driven an automatic it feels very awkward and I don’t know what to do with my left foot. Trust me, in no time you’ll be shifting without even realizing you’re doing it. Good luck!

16

My first car was a stick, three-on-the-tree. The first day I had it I picked up a friend and headed into town to run around. Please note, I’d driven the car (or any stick) all of once before, for about 10 minutes.

I was stalling so much that traffic was rerouting itself around me. Not just going around my car, but actually changing routes to escape my path.

By the time we got to our first stop, we were laughing so hard that I could not get out, much less drive any longer. (It was either laugh or total breakdown, and my friend started laughing so I went with it.)

I parked the car and we got out and walked for the rest of the day. This is in Oklahoma - nobody ever walks anywhere.

I’ve been driving sticks for almost three decades now. It’s a regal pain to find a car anymore because no one has sticks, but I’ll do what it takes. I’ve owned one automatic in my life, for three months. I’ve had people not realize I was driving a manual because they didn’t notice the shifting.

On the other hand, I stalled my car leaving a stop light this morning, because I wasn’t paying attention.

When I see someone obviously stalling a stick, I sympathize because either they’re just learning or they’re having a really bad day. It’s kind of like a brotherhood on the road.

You’ll get there. Just relax and keep practicing.

My recommendation for learning is to take off your shoes. It’s much easier to feel what’s going on barefoot. If you’re having trouble getting the shifter in the right spot, shift with one or two fingers instead of your whole hand. Finesse is what makes it all work, baby!

Go back to your parking lot and get in a big, clear, level space. Start the car, put it in first, then slowly let out the clutch. Don’t mess with the gas - if you do it slowly enough, you can start the car rolling without accelerating. Let the car pull itself along, put the clutch in, come to a stop, and do it again.

It will take you a few tries before you manage it without killing the car. You’ll learn where the clutch point is, you’ll learn what it feels like when it engages. Do it until you’re comfortable, then add in the gas pedal. I’ve taught several people to drive stick this way and it helps a lot.

I still miss my Chevy Sprint, too. It was the precursor to the Metro, and was actually a better car. Although the little Metro I had was pretty nice, too. I love small cars!

17

So, you let off the clutch just enough for the car to start rolling but hold it there? THEN finish releasing it WHILE pressing the gas?

So, what you’re saying is don’t ease off the clutch at a steady pace and try to time the push down on the gas when the car starts rolling and you’re still easing off the clutch? (Did that make sense to anyone but me?)

18

Try starting out in second gear instead of first.

19

redtail23 I’m sure the shoe thing was part of my problem. When I’m at work, I have to wear steel toed shoes. So, when I’m out of work, I ALWAYS wear heels of some sort. I do this so much that I wear them out in snowstorms without even thinking that I could break a leg. So, this morning as I was getting ready, I didn’t even think when I put on my boots with the heel. The heel was only about 2 inches so that didn’t give me trouble. But, they were tight, stiff boots and I couldn’t flex my foot like I would have preferred. Next time I drive it, I’ll wear flats. I would go barefoot but it’s winter and the floor is going to be filthy as soon as I get in. And cold.

garygnu really? Why? How does that help? I didn’t even think that was possible.

20

It’s the point where the clutch engages. That’s what you need to learn to feel when you’re letting out the clutch. Once you’ve got it, you’ll be able to drive that stick. (You’ll still stall some at first, but less and less as you practice.)