hey NECCer’s.
I have a question about Manual Transmissions,
I’m just starting to drive one, I’ve driven automatic for 3 years,
but never a manual…
is it just me, or was it really difficult for everyone getting started driving Manual?.
I found the Sentra’s manual to be easy to learn on, and it was my first one EVER. I literally learned how to drive stick with my first new car. 
I didn’t find that it was all that hard as long as you keep your wits about you and pay attention to what you’re doing. Do yourself a favor and practice panic stops so you remember to clutch in during heavy braking so the car doesn’t stall on you. I find myself bored with automatics now and wouldn’t go back unless I had to, so stick with it!
Anyway, the key thing with the Sentra is to avoid hurrying shifts, as it doesn’t like it and can be a little clunky. Don’t focus on rev matching or fancy downshifting for the first little while. Focus more on launching the car properly and shifting up smoothly without jerkiness.
A few tips:
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Don’t ever let the car go under 1500 RPM in any gear at cruise unless you are passing through it to get to a higher engine speed. It can cause engine bearing damage in our cars.
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Practice launching the car in a parking lot without using the gas pedal - it IS possible. Just slip the clutch out slowly and try not to drop the revs too much so the car will stall. If you let the clutch out slowly enough, the car can get going under its own power, which comes in really really handy in bumper to bumper traffic.
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When you are ready to start trying to downshift smoothly, clutch in and give the gas pedal a little tap to raise the engine revs, and then let the clutch out to engage the lower gear. If you aren’t driving the car hard, 2-3-4-5-6 are all about 500 rpm apart, either up or down. 1-2 is about 750 rpm apart. This will make more sense as you downshift and pay attention to the revs.
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Don’t be afraid to keep the car in gear and revving a little higher than normal. If you’re in traffic and stopping or slowing down right away, there is no point shifting up if you’re just going to have to stop or slow down right away and then downshift. You don’t ALWAYS have to be shifting, it won’t hurt the car to run at relatively high revs (up to 3K RPM).
If you have any specific shifting issues, please post them here and then I can offer suggestions on how to get around them. One thing you might want to consider doing once you get used to the gearbox is to get a short shifter. They incrase accuracy and feedback immensely and make it much easier to drive the Sentra. Hope this helps!
I’ve been driving standards for work for a couple years so I learned on diesel trucks which in IMO are the easiest to learn on. The first vehicle I ever owned that was standard was my 180, lol try jumping into a RHD for your first standard car.
It takes some time to get it down path. The just remember to work on your hill starts, its a little odd to let the car roll back. If you think you had it hard this is what I learned to drive stick in:
Now try dumping the clucth a little early on that beast and you would think you are leaving the ground when it bucked.