I am looking into buying a new car but most everything i want is standard. i would like to get used to them more too. i have never driven a true standard, but i know how to for the most part. i have driven semi automatic a bunch of times. so would anyone be willing to “teach” me? pretty much i just need to get the basics down and I can learn from there. i just dont want to break someones car when i test drive it. thanks.
You’d be best having someone who already knows how to drive stick do the test drive. Then they could tell you stuff you wouldn’t know, like if the clutch is slipping or if the synchro’s feel worn.
As for learning how, there’s not a lot to it other than get a basic understanding of what to do and then practice practice practice. It’s not really something that needs to be “taught.” You just need a sacrificial clutch. :lol:
i was never really taught. :gotme:
my aunt and dad just threw me into her new mazda 6, and told me to go to town. I picked it up within 10 minutes.
Same thing with swimming. My dad would just throw my 2 year old self into the pool. And I eventually caught on.
:word: I just found a broad with a standard Sentra that liked me and I made her let me drive her car all the time. :pimp: Haha I got to learn standard and beat on someone else’s car!
…Then I ended up buying the Sentra.
…Now I’m engaged to that broad. 
i wish i had a cute story to tell…
Trial by fire for me. Bought the car, learned that night. Stalled a few times that week but its been great ever since. But i agree with letting someone who knows try the car then they know what could be wrong if there is a problem.
Yeah same bought a car from someone on here, learned on that…no one ever really taught me more just told me what to do.
I learned with a 1977 F150.
It was swell!
I have a story… Make sure you find sombody with alot of patience…
Monday July 10th 2006:
My cousin announces to me that hes going to buy a Scion TC in a 5spd manual. Reason being that he can’t drive a chick car in an automatic. He tells me he has no idea how to drive one and is unsure of the concept of driving one. But he knows he wants one. He wants me to come over to teach him how to drive.
Tuesday July 11th 2006:
Cousin tells me that his dad is violently opposed to him getting a 5mt cause his dad thinks its inherently dangerous. They get into a long argument.
Wednesday July 12th 2006:
Ultimatum is issued. If my cousin gets a Scion TC in a 5mt his dad will take him off his insurance policy and make him pay for his own gas. He will recieve ZERO assistance funding the vehicle.
Thursday July 13 2006:
Cousin decides screw it this is my first new car im gonna do what I want. He goes to Toyota and orders a Scion TC in black with a 5mt. Deposit is put down and the deal is made.
Friday July 14th 2006:
Another arguement ensues and now my cousin is shopping for insurance. Cousin’s dad is genuinely scared and thinks that it is inherently dangerous to drive a 5mt.
Sunday July 16th 2006:
I arrive in NJ to visit my cousin. He tells me he went ahead and bought the car and it will arrive some time next week. He admits he is shaky on even the basic concept of driving a stick and that he needs my help. I agree to help him.
Monday July 17th 2006- Sunday July 23 2006:
I freeload off my cousin for the week eating his food drinking his beer and playing his X-box.
Meanwhile I do what I can to familiarlize him with the concept of driving a stickshift car. He still seems shaky on the concept and does not understand. I tell him to wait till he gets the car so I can illustrate.
I cannot teach him on my car cause I flew down from Buffalo. Not that I would let him drive my car anyway .
Monday July 24th 2006:
The car arrives at the dealership. Payments are made and paperwork is signed. His dad went with us to pick up the car still notably pissed that he is buying a 5mt.
His dad tries to make a scene at the dealership openly expressing his objection to him buying a 5mt insisting that it is inherently dangerous. He actually gets into an argument with the salesman. Salesman gets notably irritated and probably weirded out.
My Cousin asks him why he has to get involved and an argument insues in public at the dealership. I stay out of it notably embarassed.
The deal proceeds anyway. I drive the car home for him and tell him that the cram session will begin tomorrow morning.
Tuesday July 25th 2006, Lesson 1 begins:
10:00 AM: I drive the car to a deserted industrial area and demonstrate some basic concepts of driving a 5mt car. He is attentive but a bit confused.
10;30 AM: Show and tell is over its time for him to take the wheel and show me what he can do.
10:35 AM: He asks me if you have to push the clutch in to put the car in gear… I smack my head and question what the hell Ive gotten myself into.
10:40 AM: He asks do I have to push the clutch down when shifting out of gear. This is gonna be a disaster.
10:45 AM: He asks do I have to push the clutch down all the way complaining that the clutch is too long and asks if he can only push it down half way. I contemplate slitting my wrists with the paper from his owners manual.
11:00 AM: We have not moved more than 100 feet he keeps stalling the car. I feel that I am about to puke from all the bucking going on. I start to feel bad for the clutch and the car. However under the abuse of all this newbiage THERE WAS NO FOUL CLUTCH ODOR YOU HEAR THAT SUBARU.
11:30 AM: We finally get the car sort of moving. We still stall out 15 million times. Cosuin complains why is this so rough. Cousin questions his own decison to drive a 5mt. He then proceeds to misshift the car from 2nd to 1st. The car attempts to eject us through the front windsheild. I tell him to pull over and practice shifting the car through the gates when its not moving. I clarify the point not to force the car into gear and let the self centering action bring him into 3rd.
12:00 PM: Lunch: I drive him to Taco Smell for some lunch. He is genuinely worried now he questions his ability to drive the car to work on Thursday. He does not think it can be done. I assure him that we will get through it and that there is a steep learning curve and he must work through his frustration and keep going on.
1:00 PM: we drive to a new location a semi empty parking lot. His clutchwork is still a disaster. Bucking the car around and stalling it everywhere. I decide to do some clutch drills with him. I tell him I want him to get the car moving without even touching the gas. Just let the clutch out slowly until you feel it engaging then hold it there until the car moves. When it is moving I tell him to slowly let the clutch out.
4:00 PM: He finally gets the concept of the clutch and how it operates after 3 hours of drilling. We take a break.
4:30 PM: We try to integrate clutch modulation with adding gas. Lots of cluch slippage ensues as well as bucking. Guess what NO CLUTCH STINK… Subaru must use cow manure for its friction material.
6:00 PM: We have actually proceeded enough to get the car moving around decently in Right hand circles in the parking lot with alot of Jolting and Stalling but ALOT better than before. He is acutally mobile. I joke that this is all that needs to be done cause you arent allowed to make left turns in New Jersey anyway. We break for dinner.
7:00 PM: We find some hills and he is genuinely scared. I tell him hes gonna have to learn how to do this anyway. I show him how its done as he watches avidly.
7:30 PM: Its his turn. I pray.
7:35 PM: His first try we roll back around 15 feet while having his engine bounce off the rev limiter while slipping the clutch. Mild clutch stink… But barely noticable. This is when I realize Toyota’s clutch material > God.
7:40 PM: I decide to teach him the handbrake trick until he is comfortable and faster with his clutchwork. He asks why dosent the car move with the handbrake on. I smack myself on the head and tell him he has to disengage it when you are ready to move.
8:00 PM: All is going fairly well until he decides that it is a good idea to pull the ebrake while still moving bringing the car to a screeching halt. He apologizes and said he overanticpated the hill. I fear for my life.
We practice driving the hills until we end at 8:30 pm.
8:30 PM: Its getting dark so we decide to turn in for the night. We get a bite to eat and I drive him home. Cousin is worried because he thinks he is not progressing fast enough.
DAY 2: Wednesday July 26th 2006:
10:00 AM: We decide that its best that he learns how to back out of the driveway and takes us to the driving site. His clutchwork had surprisingly improved overnight after sleeping on it. He feathers the clutch out of the driveway. A bit jerkey but not too much drama.
10:05 AM: He proceeds to hold up a line of traffic while he is in the middle of the street taking his time trying to get some forward motion in first gear after backing out of the driveway.
10:10 AM: He approaches his first hill. Douchebag behind us decides to pull up about 5 inches from our bumper. He gets nervous and stalls it out, he rolls back slightly.
10:11 AM: The douchebag behind us decides its an excellent idea to move even closer. I tell him to just give her alot of gas and be quick on the clutch.
10:12 AM: The light turns green and he proceeds to leave 2 lines of rubber down the street. All thoughts of buying a front wheel drive car in the future just vanished from my thoughts.
10:30 AM: We arrive at a hilly residential area to practice driving hills. Cousin decides that peeling out is better than rolling back 15 feet. We leave multiple lines of rubber up hills as people in the neighborhood give us blank stares.
11:30 AM: He finally sorta gets his clutchwork good enough on the hills not to peel out like a ricer.
12:00 PM: We decide to break for lunch I drive us to Chilis for a sit down lunch. Things are taking longer than usual. Meanwhile the waiter told us that he apologizes for the delay and that the computer system is down and they are having major problems. We are seated.
12:10 PM: I see that the source of the problem is Windows as the BSOD flashes on all thier cash registers. Our waiter takes the order by hand.
12:30 PM: Customers notabaly irritated as I observe them STILL trying to get the computer working so they can process CC transactions. Our food arrives.
1:15 PM: We finish eating and they are still having computer problems by then they have resorted to using the old school CC machines and using calculators to do math. I joke about how many crashes there are gonna be in F1 when microsoft gets a hold of the PCM’s. We decide to drive to Montclair University to use thier back lot.
1:30 PM: We arrive at Monclair and I take 2 laps around campus pretending to be lost just so I can stare at the young and supple poonami. My cousin has no objections as he mentions that the F:M ratio is 4:1.
1:45 PM: We reach the back lot which has alot of slopes so he can practice. He is still peeling out but not as bad. We decide to do some drills NJ DOT just happened to leave a bunch of cones in the parking lot so i took the liberty of borrowing some.
2:00 PM: We decide to do some drills where I set up a cone 6 inches away from his bumper and he has to start from a stop up a hill without peeling out or hitting the cone.
4:00 PM: After 2 hours of practice he is acceptable. He can now start on a hill without hitting the cone or peeling out. We take a break.
4:30 PM: I decide to help myself to the NJ DOT cones and set up an auto-x ish course in the shape of a Jughandle just to simulate 99 percent of the driving situations in NJ. We discuss and practice the concepts of downshifting before a turn. Surprisingly he picks it up quickly.
6:30 PM: After more practicing I am happy with his skills for a beginer. He has become relatively smooth and understands the basic concepts. He is still very rough but for 2 days who is to complain.
7:00 PM: We decide to hit the surface roads and play in traffic. Stalls a little bit and a bit rough but not bad.
7:30 PM: He is now confident enough to play on the highway. I tell him to watch for douchebags and avoid them. He tells me that avoiding douchebags is impossible as Northern NJ has the highest proportion of douchebags in the universe.
7:45 PM: We arrive at his workplace as he shows his co-workers his new car. We drive around for a bit more then go home for a bite to eat. Overall I am happy with his ability to get where he is going at this point. Tommorrow we shall review.
His New Car:
THERE WAS NO FOUL CLUTCH ODOR YOU HEAR THAT SUBARU
I roffled at this!
Seriously though… Subaru must purposely put foul smelling shit in thier friction material to prevent n00b tranny abuse. I have owned a wrx and currently have a legacy gt and both clutches smell like shit in mildly agressive manuvers. Absolutely no foul odors in other cars.
yeah same I mean I beat the shit out of my trainer cars tranny/clutch…and it rarely if ever smelled…
If i did anything slight to the wrx you’d think it was completely toast
Then when it was completely toast the smell wouldn’t go away, ask Don when he was swapping it out…
teehee i hate driving 5sp tc’s. the box is so stiff and the gears are so close together its like… meh.
edit: mazda clutches smell as well. :fyi:
it came natural to me…10 minutes in a parking lot…I just used to watch my brother drive before i got my lisence and tried the mimic what he did…of course everycar reacts different but the basice are the same…lil gas let off the clutch with progressively giving it more gas…shifiting is easy off gas clutch shift off clutch gas…I taught KrazyJon aka Locutus how to drive stick…
heres how i learned to drive stick:
i had my Porsche 944 sitting in my driveway. my current truck/winter beater took a shit, so i had to put the Porsche on the road. this is what happened: “well, i gotta get to school…shit.” my high school is prob 2-2.5 miles from my house and its all side streets. so i drove to school. my friend talked me into going to Quizno’s for lunch that day, so i drove it down Mian St. though the village durring the lunch rush hour. i learned pretty damn quick.
its not hard, if u get your car or need some1 to test drive it for u and then teach u how to drive it, let me kno. i’ve taught a coupple people how to drive stick and i’m told im a good teacher :gotme:
my parents only owned 5 speeds when i was learning to drive and thats how i learned
I learned it on my 89 Taurus at NYIRP at the beginning of the day I was running high 16s low 17s, by the evening I got it down to mid-15s. :tup:
i’m not trying to come off as a know it all, but it seriously just came natural to me. at work, the conveyor belt was down and i had a ford escort with no tach in a MT. i hopped in and moved it up. probably used a little more clutch than i was supposed to but hey, whatever. i never asked anybody to show me. it’s not that hard.
Dude … call Jamey. he’s got a stick and might teach ya
oh and what other cars you looking at?