The friction point is the point in the stroke of the clutch where the flywheel engages/disengages to allow the engine to transfer power to the wheels. A clutch is not an on/off switch, but it’s not effective over it’s whole range of motion, either. There’s a point, depending on the vehicle, when the clutch is pressed about half way down, where it begins to disengage power. If you’re at a stop and give it more gas than it needs, and slowly lift up on the clutch, you’ll find where the friction point is when the car starts to move. Does that make sense?
I have fond memories of my dad yelling at me for not being able to smoothly take off, and more memories of teasing my mom when I was 14 because she couldn’t get the hang of it, and I had already figured it out.
I worked at an explosives testing company for a long time, where we had to do a lot of test set ups. In one day, for example, I might have driven a pickup, a dump truck, a flatbed, a wrecker, and operated a forklift and front end loader. These days, I can hop into any truck and have zero problems. Cars are a little trickier for me, at first, because the friction point is usually near the floorboard, and much farther down than in a truck.
ETA:
It’s not a good idea for general driving, but I’ve found in most of the manual cars I’ve driven that second gear is much more forgiving with bad clutch work.
I think you’re getting the idea. Timing is critical.
Although I think the holding is more a Honda thing. Maybe you do it in all cars, but I’d never noticed it much until I got my Civic a couple years ago. I stalled that thing constantly for the first month or so, until I got the hang of the timing, which requires a hold on the clutch. Although maybe the Hyundais have it too, I’ve never driven one.
If you weren’t half a country a way, I’d come show you. If I’d had you driving stick for an hour, you’d be rockin’ and rollin’.
Thanks! The whole letting up and pressing down thing makes a hell of a lot more sense now. I was under the impression that I was supposed to continuously ease up on the clutch while pressing down on the gas. No wonder I kept stalling. It’s very hard to time it correctly when you do that.
Just curious–how does this work on a car with a clutch? Do you leave your car parked in neutral? Any car I have driven with a clutch, you either are in gear or neutral to start it—never thought about how a remote would work.
I haven’t a clue. When I got home last night, I was wondering the same thing. I found out this morning that there’s a special remote starter for a standard vehicle. I’m going to have to have them teach me before I drive off with it tonight (I am still waiting for the paperwork to be finished and the radio to be installed). If no one else answers this by the time I get my car, I’ll be sure to let you know what I find out.
One of the earlier vehicles I drove was a 1983 Ford full size van, built on a truck frame. The clutch was nearly as long as my leg. (My inseam is only about 29 inches, so a taller person probably wouldn’t have much trouble)
If I can handle that, you can learn to drive a stick shift Hyundai.
Yes, it does. My roomie didn’t understand why I was so adamant about not using a cell while driving until she borrowed my car one day.
I swear there was a post earlier about revving the engine and then letting out the clutch to find the friction point, but now I can’t find it. That will work too. The idea is to learn just the clutch and finding the friction point, without confusing yourself by trying to do both at once.
That friction point is the key.
I didn’t know you could get remote start on a stick, man that would be nice! I’m also curious just how cruise control works on a stick - most of the cars I’ve driven with cruise were automatics and seemed to change gears a lot while cruising.
My son had a devil of a time learning to drive stick. He took a motorcycle driving class and learned the clutch that way, and driving a manual car was much easier. On a motorcycle you can really feel the “friction point.”
I learned on an ancient beat up car, and used to stall every single time at this one intersection onto a highway. I finally got the hang of it.
I drove a stick when I used to drive in rush-hour-and-a-half. That bites big-time. I love my automatic!
congodwarf, do yourself and all of Driving World a huge favor. Don’t go out into real traffic unless you’re sure that all of your stops will be on flat roads. In upstate NY I know this will be difficult.
Find an empty stretch of road or a parking lot with a hill. Go part way up then stop, then start again. You’ll find this hugely frustrating. The trick is to move your right foot from brake to gas really fast, and to give it a LOT of gas. It’s one smooth motion with both feet.
Master that and you will have mastered all of stick.
Do NOT practice this in heavy traffic at, say, a stop light at the top of a hill. Guaranteed, you will cause a collision with the Beemer behind you.
You are definitely getting the idea. You will find, once you have some practice, that your foot will naturally feel that point where the clutch is re-engaging. It’s kind of a weird thing to learn, because it’s not really a smooth motion like accelerating or braking. It’s more like, let the clutch up part way…stop (just for a second, while the car starts moving)…slowly let it up the rest of the way.
I learned the same way as you…in a car I already owned…and it is quite frustrating when you know you have to figure it out or you’re screwed. But don’t worry, you will!
You’re not a jackass, you’re not stupid, you’ll feel like both the first time you get to a stop light and the car stalls and the people behind you are honking and screaming at you and with all the pressure you just can’t get the damned car to move forward. But it’s a temporary feeling, and it soon will pass.
But at least it won’t happen to you with your father sitting in the passenger seat yelling “ease off the clutch. I said ‘ease off the clutch,’ weren’t you listening to me?” and your little sister in the back seat mocking you.
The only suggestion I have is that you find a hill in a residential neighborhood that’s relatively steep, drive halfway up, stop, and practice starting from a dead stop on a hill - because as bad as the panic when you stall the car is, the panic when you start to roll backward into another car whose driver has pulled way too close is worse.
I have a 5 speed manual '95 mazda 626 with cruise control. I don’t use it any differently than I would on an automatic, but then again I’ve never tried to use it in any gear other than 5th. As long as you don’t go under around 40 mph I don’t think it would be an issue.
(Am I the only one who finds it pretty easy to talk on a cell phone while driving a manual? I swear I have no problem in DC stop and go traffic while talking on a cell phone. The legality of it on the other hand is questionable :o )
Call a driving school and arrange for a lesson. Just tell them you already know how to drive you just want a couple lessons on a standard transmission.
Friends and salesmen may mean well but they aren’t experienced in teaching this skill. There is no shame in getting a real instructor.
Good for you! Yeah, the first couple of weeks are… an adventure when learning to drive a manual transmission. Once you’re an old hand, though, it’s pretty cool. There are many reasons to drive a stick; lower cost cars and better gas mileage are two good ones. They’re also a lot more fun, when you’re driving a small, possibly underpowered car. My manual Corolla goes like stink off the stoplight. Plus, once you learn the finesse moves (gliding up to an intersection without ever braking, holding your car on a hill without brakes, scaring teenagers by undershifting), it gets even more fun.
And girls driving stick are always cool, my sister.
Sit there in the car, put it into first, then use NO GAS. Just ease up on the clutch until you feel it bite. You’ll stall a few times at first, but eventually you’ll feel it engage the engine with the wheels, and the car will start rolling. Keep doing this until you can confidently make the car start rolling forward each time, using the clutch only, with no gas.
Then gently start bringing the gas in with the clutch. You’ll probably stall a few times then, too, but eventually you’ll understand the clutch, and how the gas affects it.
Then you need to learn how to do a hill-start using the parking brake…
Better yet, pony up a little more $$, and find a track near you that has a performance driving school. You’ll have more fun, you WILL become an expert in in manual shifting, and you may even get introduced to the holy grail of performance driving:
I learned how to shift on a motorcycle and a truck around the same time. The fact that you don’t have to find the gear on a motorcycle (it’s either up or down) make it a bit easier. Which reminds me, I don’t like where the friction point is on mine, I’m going to have to adjust it now that it’s warming up! I’m also taking the MSF course, and it starts tonight!
There’s two ways to do it. The first is to hold the cell phone with your shoulder. I find it much easier to use your left leg to steer, while using your phone hand to hold the wheel. It takes some practice, but this thread is about learning to drive stick, so let’s take it one step at a time.
