...and fear is finding the clutch spot, while giving enough gas for the FIRST TIME EVER driving a manual transmission!

AAAAAAAAA!

It made me its b*tch, I wanted to go running back to my autotrans and live in my happy little rose-colored world of no clutch pedal.

How long did it take you all to learn how to drive stick? I was so afraid of breaking the car! Eeep!

The winter beater I want to buy is a manual trans, of which, until tonight, I have never driven before...

Should I give up and just make my life easy and go buy another auto?

Heheh,
Daniel

PS -- The car is a turbo, so it will be tuned if/when I buy it.

 

Manuals are fun, I learned to drive on a truck. I love them but a good set up Automatic will run right with them!!!

It is fun to bang gears even if its a 4 cyl and bark the tires!!!

 

Geez, ICULOKN, you're up real late...


With my old man teaching me, took me forever to learn....one ride with my mom, and took me a few hours.

When I had my 99 Camaro I used to teach all the hot girls in high school how to drive my stick...

They all got it down in a few hours....so I guess you just need the right teacher.

 

These pain pills make me sleep at weird times. I sleep 4 up 4 or something like that!!!

 

My cobra was the first manual I ever had and when I test drove it, it was only about the third yime I had driven one. I had it about a month before I headed for the track. By the time I was on my third tranny, I had it down pretty good. It was like second nature... until I got stuck in a few hours of stop and go Houston traffic.

 

I only drove it for about 15 minutes tonight, didn't have enough time... but man, that 15 minutes made me second think it, lol. I'd say after the 5th stall I was begning to wonder if I should still buy it. lol...

I'm wonder though if maybe I should pass on it because I also wanted to use it to sometimes drive to work, which is traffic...I wonder how much I hate myself if I buy a manual car and drive in traffic.

Daniel

 

Been driving manual cars for 12 years now (all mustangs) Once you get the hang of it, you dont even think about it when driving. Just practice, it will come to you.
Jeff

 

Makes me think of the time in my 65 Mustang when I put in a Zoom clutch and pressure plate. A very short release point and a VERY stiff feel! In traffic your left knee would begin to shake, while holding the clutch down, along with your eyes burning from the cam loading up at idle........boy that was fun Just remember pratice...pratice...pratice And then driving a clutch becomes second nature

 

pawn....hang in there. There is exceptional satisfaction being in control of your own gears....and women but thats another story. hehe. Dont give up...it gets easier. We have all been there and done that. Remember this...the older you get the more embarrassing it's gonna be when you stall, start, serge forward..etc. Besides who wants to tell a girl...I can't drive a standard. You will have it down in one month...tops.

 

Definitely hang in there. I learned on a 91 Silverado with a broken motor mount. Let me tell you, i'd get that engine jumping off the frame when I first learned to drive stick. I had one horrible day of sputtering, lurching, and dying. The looks from my dad were horrible. The next day he drug me out to the truck with my head down and I drove it with out stalling or jerking once. Now i'm going through the pain of teaching my wife to drive standard. YIKES...my poor baby (the truck that is). I can hardly keep from biting through my lip. Oh well, but there's nothing better then having complete control of your truck.

Ok, sex beats it...
winning the lottery...yeah that could do it too.

But hell, it still feels good. kinda like when you've had to go to the bathroom for a long time, and you finally just let it go. Yeah, it feels kinda like that.

~Mark

 

Well, got my first license in 1956, weren't many automatics out there then and most were in more expensive cars of the day and certainly not in the cars high schoolers drove.

Wonder if any of you remember the "vacuum assist" shifters on 1941/1942 Chevvies? What a bitch to try and speed shift those were. Then there was the Chrysler families "Gyro Torque" trannies. You had to use the clutch to get started but after that you could shift between modes by just letting off the gas. They had sort of an "accelleration gear" and a "just get it going gear".
Buick had Dynaflow, which basically was a one speed trannie in Drive range although it had a low range as well. Can you spell slooooow takeoff. The Olds vehicles with Hydramatic were about the only quick automatics in the 1949-1955 era as they used what I guess was a badge engineered Chevy body/chassis in the lower end cars and with a 303 V8 and four speed automatic that could be "built" and they would chirp the tires going into second.

My first "real car" was a 1951 Mercury with three speed and overdrive. With a mildly built flathead and a killer clutch, it would chirp the tires in both second and third. Also got 23 mpg on the road.

Sad to say, virtually no one does a decent manual anymore with the possible exception of the Germans and maybe some Japanese sporty vehicles. My 1956 F100 with 3 on the tree shifts like a dream as long as I adjust and lube the shift rods regularly.
My brother's new Saturn shifts like a dump truck.

Keep at it, it's a lot of fun except in heavy traffic.
Bill

 

Hey Dan,
Hang in there, as all the others have said, practice,practice,practice. Learned how to drive a stick with the greatest vehicle to learn on. A 72 VW bug. No matter how hard I tried, I could not hurt that car. Then one day, I went and tried to smoke the tires and dumped the clutch and nothing. Found out what it was like to have to replace a clutch cable in one of them things. Also had lots of practice on a 68 Corvair with sand bags in the fronts and glass packs underneath. Got that baby up to 100+mph before feeling a little light in the front end. You'll never regret learning manual shifting.

Just my .02



Steve

 

RILOATM - You need to get out more... LOL

Daniel - I learned in a 3 speed 6 cyl hunk of Pontiac crap from the early 70's. Drove around the snow covered neighborhood 3 times with Mom in the pass seat stopped in front of the house and Mom got out and Dad got in and he Said " We're going to the office You want to drive ? " Well the office was 25 mles away across town in about 8 inches of upstate NY snow.

I was scared out of my mind but we made it...

I have been driving Autos since 92 and really miss driving a stick occaisionally. I think a winter beater is a great choise to learn on ... You can beat the hell out of it and not really care.... Sometimes I fantasize about driving the Lightning with a clutch.. It would be a REAL TRIP...

Have fun

Doug

 

Tried to teach my wife to drive a stick once. We decided to stay married instead. If you have a hand e-brake, use that to help you start on the hills. As you release the clutch lower the brake and away you go.

 

Dan - give it a day of driving it around. All you gotta do is get 1st gear and the rest are easy.

Now if you decide to give up, give me a call and I'll go look at your buds car. I still haven't found the winter beater I want.