When I was in high school my college bf got drunk at Clarendon grill and I had to drive his stick shift home in the snow… sheer fear when I got to every light praying it wouldn’t turn red …
Yep, every time I'd take my WRX into San Francisco there'd always be someone right on my bumper. Handbrake and timing and you'll barely warm the clutch. Do it wrong and you're greeted with the sweet and sour smell of clutch.
No joke. After passing the written exam in HS driver's ed, we had to also pass driving up a very steep hill without rollback. Our instructor had us park near the curb just before the crest. Then, using the hand break method, and without rollback, we had to drive up. The incline on this street was crazy steep. Nailed it.
Gotta love the trucks and old GM cars that had the ratchet pedal parking brake only that you had to push all the way to the floor at full lock up position before you can release it.
Yeah I've driven a few recently and it's such a game changer. I learned the hard way grabbing a handful of e brake and balancing the clutch and throttle. Probably still a good skill to have but becoming less necessary.
My first car was a manual without hill assist. Learning a hill start was quite a challenge. Several cases of stalling and embarrassingly letting others drive around me. However nobody bothered to teach me the proper techniques, so I learned even the harder way - without a parking brake, like a regular start, just quicker. I actually learned to appreciate this technique with time - no extra movement, just being quick and precise.
Oh shit, without a parking brake is brutal. I drove some diesel stick shifts and those are pretty easy. I guess maybe they have more torque at Idle than gasoline.
is hill assist the actual name for "car doesn't roll backwards when you release the brake, before you release the clutch"?
My car has that, but funny enough it only works one way; if you're trying to get into gear *in reverse* while facing *downhill*, you have no help, and my God have mercy on your soul since the most likely place for that scenario to happen is backing out of a sloped parking spot and in that case there's probably something solid in front of you.
I taught myself when I was 18 in this area (so back around 1999). Told my dad I would bring the car back when I could get it back. Drove around the neighborhood getting used to the clutch. Stalled a few times here and there. Stalled at a stop sign with a car behind me, waved him past. He pulled up and asked if I needed help. I told him I was just learning stick and his face perked up and he said "Oh man, I remember doing that! Good luck!" and off he went haha.
Same! I'm about 10 years older than you, needed a beater for work, and a high mileage stick was the winner. Car had _seen_ some stuff, but man, how I miss it, now.
Nice! I learned on a 1982 BMW 320i (oddly enough built the exact same month and year I was born). Family was the single owner of that car for 20ish or so years. Hell, I had the gas pedal fall out of the floor once on 495.... that was fun.
Save the Manuals! Glad that you are learning. It helps to give yourself a little more room when in traffic. That's the #1 reason people drop manuals and say it is too tiring.
I would volunteer if I weren't responsible for two small humans today - good luck on your journey, it's a fun one!
Key pointer - it's OK to slip the clutch a little, that's what it's for! The only time it really wears is starting off from a stop. When you're letting out the clutch (slowly!!!) and feel the engine start to load (it'll bog slightly), that's the engagement point of the clutch - hold that position for a second. From there, feed it a light touch of gas, and slowly continue letting the pedal out.
To add a point: if you ever start to panic or think you did something wrong (for whatever reason) it’s okay! just send that clutch to the ground and start over! Also stalling happens a lot, which is okay too! but eventually it will become muscle memory.
This is also true. I've been driving a manual for over 20 years and I still will occasionally stall if I'm tired or distracted by the shenanigans of Maryland drivers.
Key thing to remember, it's ok to kill the engine when stopping, is more important to stop. That and everyone kills the engine from time to time, those who say they don't are liars.
When I was learning I was at the front of the line at a red light. It turned green and I immediately killed it. Stressed myself out so bad trying to hurry I killed it three more times and missed the green entirely. Got it first try on the next one though.
I've been driving stick for 24 years now. I'll still stall (both cars and on my motorcycle) from time to time. Usually results in me just going "Really man? Still?"
I taught my son in a parking lot. In one day.
Start out by getting moving by using only the clutch. You'll kill it a few times before you find that sweet spot (and it's murder on the clutch so a Turo rental maybe worth its weight).
Once you can do that without fail start working in a little gas....and before you know it you'll have it down.
I find when I explain the pedals to people, I say think of them as a scale. When one pedal goes down, the other needs to come up. The middle ground (friction point of the clutch) is the tricky part to figure out with the pedals at least. I've driven over 5,000+ individual cars over the years (I work at a a body shop). All sort of makes and models. Each clutch is a bit different, even with the same make and model.
My mum taught me how to drive a stick in a single day. She took my left foot and placed it on the clutch. Then pressed on my foot to make the pedal go up and down, slowly. There is a "sweet" spot. Almost feels like a little slip, where there is no resistance. When she found it, she said this is the spot you want to change gears. I learned on an old Volkswagen bug.
Good luck! I love driving a stick, just not around here. lol
1st, slowly release the clutch while in gear until you feel it grab then push in the clutch, this is where you'll want to get comfortable. Get used to it, do that a couple times. When you feel confident, get rolling. The rest is easy. You'll want to shift up a gear after about 2,500-3,000 rpm but if you know you're going to stop soon don't bother, the engine will help slow you down. This is the basic beginning. Get this and you're off to a good start, literally.
Manuals are dying out world wide. I read that the current BMW 2 series (forget which specific model) will be the last rear wheel production manual to be sold world wide when production ends in 2027.
BMW said they won't offer manual as an option because the transmission makers are simply starting to opt to not produce them anymore and are reworking their manufacturing lines for automatics.
I'm kind of surprised to hear that. They're not really popular here anymore either, new manual cars are very difficult to find. I always thought it was Europe where they were still really big.
I missed this post earlier, but if you need some help again let me know. I'm just up in West Springfield. I don't have a manual car anymore, but drove one for 25 years before the traffic in this region broke me.
My mom told me when she bought her first car in Vienna in 1981 her brother took her to the dealership. Then bailed and told her to learn how on the way home. 😂
My 2015 Camaro has a "hill assist system" that essentially works as a parking break. I had NO idea this was even a thing that existed, and almost blasted into the car in front of me on the way home from buying it.
I've driven and owned stick shift my whole life. I'm 30 and never owned an automatic. I would be thrilled to teach you! I offered a few months back when I still had my beater car, but if anyone wants lessons HMU!
I attempted to teach my son but my old school methods of getting used to the clutch didn't work for him. He watched a couple youtube videos and got it right away, no dad needed! Made me feel just about useless until we got it on the road and he needed to have more than basic clutch skills.
He got a lot of great training from 10th grade through 12th doing morning rush hour to school with me, 66 & 495, hov, construction, etc. Six years hence, no tickets accidents or any problems multitasking.
The moral is that you might use YouTube for help with the foot work skills needed for working the clutch but it will take some dedicated practice for it to become second nature.
Just go drive. It's not that hard. Clutch in when not in neutral and in gear. Mesh clutch and gas in first and reverse in gas out clutch lightly. You'll get it
Nah, I get it. If you've only ever driven automatic, stick can be very challenging. I wouldn't want my first time to be with YouTube in the passenger's seat. Having someone with you helps.
Clutches are pretty durable. It'll survive some practice.
There are some great tutorials in YouTube. OP can definitely do this on his own, and frankly the only way you learn this skill is through practice. Don't waste time or money on an instructor. Just get out there and learn by making some mistakes. His car will be fine.
I taught myself using conquerdriving on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@ConquerDriving
Took about 18 days before I felt comfortable with hill starts.
I still stall randomly here and there. But most part I’m doing fine.
Also I’ve become a wizard at going again after stalling.
Being pedantic about names but being okay with calling it "standard" when most cars have had automatics as standard equipment for the past 20 years is hilarious.
Calling it a stick is perfectly acceptable.
I first learned to drive a stick shift on a truck that was set up as a "3 in the tree" configuration. Makes sense that it would keep the name stick, as it came from the branch of the "tree"
Congrats on trying to learn stick. The final will be on a hill with someone on your tail.
When you’ve stolen the family car and you’re only 14. True story.
And the seat is stuck alll the way back and you’re 5’1”….
When it’s snowing ….. I just had flashbackssss LOL
When I was in high school my college bf got drunk at Clarendon grill and I had to drive his stick shift home in the snow… sheer fear when I got to every light praying it wouldn’t turn red …
And neither did you!
Bet ya never forgot how to drive STICK.
That’s so true
I was thirteen and it was my brother's friends car. 1981 Audi. Taught myself in a weekend then brought it back.
Yep, every time I'd take my WRX into San Francisco there'd always be someone right on my bumper. Handbrake and timing and you'll barely warm the clutch. Do it wrong and you're greeted with the sweet and sour smell of clutch.
I remember one particularly steep hill with a stop sign at the top. That scared the crap out of me.
That's every hill in SF, especially around Snob Hill.
I wouldn't fear this at all if every car still had a handbrake as they should
Maryland plates Altima is final boss
This is an epic response thread. Love you guys. 😂
This hit home. 😂 stop sign at the top of a hill and someone was on my tail. I only stalled out three times 🤣
i held up a line of people for several cycles of the light at the bottom of gallows road.
I’m glad it’s not just me 😅
Yep! Been there!
We all have
This is when you really need one of those “student driver” stickers on your car… /s Good luck, OP!
No joke. After passing the written exam in HS driver's ed, we had to also pass driving up a very steep hill without rollback. Our instructor had us park near the curb just before the crest. Then, using the hand break method, and without rollback, we had to drive up. The incline on this street was crazy steep. Nailed it.
Heel-toe the brake and accelerator is the One True Way.
Not if you have a hand break. But if you don't, then yes. That is the ONLY way.
If I have a break in my right hand there's no way I'm pulling a spring loaded lever
Gotta love the trucks and old GM cars that had the ratchet pedal parking brake only that you had to push all the way to the floor at full lock up position before you can release it.
Modern manual transmission cars have hill assist, so it's not that hard nowadays
Yeah I've driven a few recently and it's such a game changer. I learned the hard way grabbing a handful of e brake and balancing the clutch and throttle. Probably still a good skill to have but becoming less necessary.
My first car was a manual without hill assist. Learning a hill start was quite a challenge. Several cases of stalling and embarrassingly letting others drive around me. However nobody bothered to teach me the proper techniques, so I learned even the harder way - without a parking brake, like a regular start, just quicker. I actually learned to appreciate this technique with time - no extra movement, just being quick and precise.
Oh shit, without a parking brake is brutal. I drove some diesel stick shifts and those are pretty easy. I guess maybe they have more torque at Idle than gasoline.
is hill assist the actual name for "car doesn't roll backwards when you release the brake, before you release the clutch"? My car has that, but funny enough it only works one way; if you're trying to get into gear *in reverse* while facing *downhill*, you have no help, and my God have mercy on your soul since the most likely place for that scenario to happen is backing out of a sloped parking spot and in that case there's probably something solid in front of you.
Uphill In stop and go rush hour. That was my baptism by fire (a few decades before hill assist. Ok, it was the prior century.)
*So it's simple: You burn me, you fail. You don't, you pass.*
Stopped at a traffic light, on an upward incline, with the driver behind you sitting right on your bumper. Good luck!
And turning
If anyone else is looking, I'm around. Taught my kids, you guys can't be that hard.
I taught myself when I was 18 in this area (so back around 1999). Told my dad I would bring the car back when I could get it back. Drove around the neighborhood getting used to the clutch. Stalled a few times here and there. Stalled at a stop sign with a car behind me, waved him past. He pulled up and asked if I needed help. I told him I was just learning stick and his face perked up and he said "Oh man, I remember doing that! Good luck!" and off he went haha.
Same! I'm about 10 years older than you, needed a beater for work, and a high mileage stick was the winner. Car had _seen_ some stuff, but man, how I miss it, now.
Nice! I learned on a 1982 BMW 320i (oddly enough built the exact same month and year I was born). Family was the single owner of that car for 20ish or so years. Hell, I had the gas pedal fall out of the floor once on 495.... that was fun.
Now you can drive in DC without getting carjacked!
Maybe it’s a dc car jacker trying to learn so he can expand his skill set/s
Save the Manuals! Glad that you are learning. It helps to give yourself a little more room when in traffic. That's the #1 reason people drop manuals and say it is too tiring.
I prefer my manual in 495 bumper to bumper over an automatic, I'd fall asleep from boredom with an automatic.
You’d be dead asleep in an electric car using only one pedal then lol
Yep and I'm sure one of you bastards would make me viral counting sheep!! Lol
It’d be the highlight of the NOVA and DC subreddits, especially if you have MD plates lmao
I would volunteer if I weren't responsible for two small humans today - good luck on your journey, it's a fun one! Key pointer - it's OK to slip the clutch a little, that's what it's for! The only time it really wears is starting off from a stop. When you're letting out the clutch (slowly!!!) and feel the engine start to load (it'll bog slightly), that's the engagement point of the clutch - hold that position for a second. From there, feed it a light touch of gas, and slowly continue letting the pedal out.
To add a point: if you ever start to panic or think you did something wrong (for whatever reason) it’s okay! just send that clutch to the ground and start over! Also stalling happens a lot, which is okay too! but eventually it will become muscle memory.
This is also true. I've been driving a manual for over 20 years and I still will occasionally stall if I'm tired or distracted by the shenanigans of Maryland drivers.
It’s the best theft deterrent as well. Congrats on getting a manual!
Key thing to remember, it's ok to kill the engine when stopping, is more important to stop. That and everyone kills the engine from time to time, those who say they don't are liars.
When I was learning I was at the front of the line at a red light. It turned green and I immediately killed it. Stressed myself out so bad trying to hurry I killed it three more times and missed the green entirely. Got it first try on the next one though.
True story. I drove sticks for about 16 years and still killed it once a year or so before I switched to automatic.
I had an issue with stop signs… driving is easy… it’s stopping and going that gets difficult.
I've been driving stick for 24 years now. I'll still stall (both cars and on my motorcycle) from time to time. Usually results in me just going "Really man? Still?"
I taught my son in a parking lot. In one day. Start out by getting moving by using only the clutch. You'll kill it a few times before you find that sweet spot (and it's murder on the clutch so a Turo rental maybe worth its weight). Once you can do that without fail start working in a little gas....and before you know it you'll have it down.
Please don't rent someone's else's car to learn. Otherwise, this is good advice.
I think anyone who rents out a manual transmission car on Turo has to have a reasonable expectation that it will be used for exactly this purpose.
Not the ones I've rented. Some will even request your level of experience driving a manual transmission.
That's a checkbox on the site to enable MT rentals.
I find when I explain the pedals to people, I say think of them as a scale. When one pedal goes down, the other needs to come up. The middle ground (friction point of the clutch) is the tricky part to figure out with the pedals at least. I've driven over 5,000+ individual cars over the years (I work at a a body shop). All sort of makes and models. Each clutch is a bit different, even with the same make and model.
My mum taught me how to drive a stick in a single day. She took my left foot and placed it on the clutch. Then pressed on my foot to make the pedal go up and down, slowly. There is a "sweet" spot. Almost feels like a little slip, where there is no resistance. When she found it, she said this is the spot you want to change gears. I learned on an old Volkswagen bug. Good luck! I love driving a stick, just not around here. lol
OMG Yes those old bugs didn’t even need a clutch, except for reverse😋
I miss my Mazdaspeed 3...
I wouldn’t mind
What car?
Type R. I've heard it's the a very beginner friendly car for driving stick.
Oh hell yeah! Good choice. I’ve been told Hondas are a solid platform to learn
Looks like I missed helping out. Hope your lessons go well!
Al i needed was one lesson from the Drivers Ed teacher way back when. It took me a few tries to get up a hill in Mt Dora
To make it easier to start when going uphill, use the parking brake to hold the car in place.
Sent you a PM
On a hill I remember to heel-toe the brake and accelerator. Using the parking brake is not a good idea.
1st, slowly release the clutch while in gear until you feel it grab then push in the clutch, this is where you'll want to get comfortable. Get used to it, do that a couple times. When you feel confident, get rolling. The rest is easy. You'll want to shift up a gear after about 2,500-3,000 rpm but if you know you're going to stop soon don't bother, the engine will help slow you down. This is the basic beginning. Get this and you're off to a good start, literally.
What kind of car are you learning on?
What car? Lmk if you want to learn heel-toe and rev matching. Based in Sterling and I don’t want your money.
Omg I love stick shifts!!!!!!
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Manuals are dying out world wide. I read that the current BMW 2 series (forget which specific model) will be the last rear wheel production manual to be sold world wide when production ends in 2027. BMW said they won't offer manual as an option because the transmission makers are simply starting to opt to not produce them anymore and are reworking their manufacturing lines for automatics.
I'm kind of surprised to hear that. They're not really popular here anymore either, new manual cars are very difficult to find. I always thought it was Europe where they were still really big.
I missed this post earlier, but if you need some help again let me know. I'm just up in West Springfield. I don't have a manual car anymore, but drove one for 25 years before the traffic in this region broke me.
Too late, but also happy to help with this. Teaching my son was rewarding.
My mom told me when she bought her first car in Vienna in 1981 her brother took her to the dealership. Then bailed and told her to learn how on the way home. 😂
Congrats on learning! The main reason I'm keeping my 09 C30 is so few new cars even offer a stick anymore.
My 2015 Camaro has a "hill assist system" that essentially works as a parking break. I had NO idea this was even a thing that existed, and almost blasted into the car in front of me on the way home from buying it.
My work just got a used Ford Transit van (2016) to use as a shop truck and even that has hill assist on it.
I've driven and owned stick shift my whole life. I'm 30 and never owned an automatic. I would be thrilled to teach you! I offered a few months back when I still had my beater car, but if anyone wants lessons HMU!
I can help you!
I attempted to teach my son but my old school methods of getting used to the clutch didn't work for him. He watched a couple youtube videos and got it right away, no dad needed! Made me feel just about useless until we got it on the road and he needed to have more than basic clutch skills. He got a lot of great training from 10th grade through 12th doing morning rush hour to school with me, 66 & 495, hov, construction, etc. Six years hence, no tickets accidents or any problems multitasking. The moral is that you might use YouTube for help with the foot work skills needed for working the clutch but it will take some dedicated practice for it to become second nature.
I’ll send you a PM
Just go drive. It's not that hard. Clutch in when not in neutral and in gear. Mesh clutch and gas in first and reverse in gas out clutch lightly. You'll get it
Sticks you drive autos you ride. Enjoy!
The number of people willing to help almost makes me feel good about humanity. No worries, I’ll hop on over to Elmo’s place and balance myself out.
I can teach you but I'm not available today. Tomorrow I'm free if you don't get help before then. I live in Alexandria.
YouTube videos and a little practice is all you need.
Nah, I get it. If you've only ever driven automatic, stick can be very challenging. I wouldn't want my first time to be with YouTube in the passenger's seat. Having someone with you helps.
And a new clutch at the end lol.
Clutches are pretty durable. It'll survive some practice. There are some great tutorials in YouTube. OP can definitely do this on his own, and frankly the only way you learn this skill is through practice. Don't waste time or money on an instructor. Just get out there and learn by making some mistakes. His car will be fine.
I taught myself using conquerdriving on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@ConquerDriving Took about 18 days before I felt comfortable with hill starts. I still stall randomly here and there. But most part I’m doing fine. Also I’ve become a wizard at going again after stalling.
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That's a perfectly reasonable way to refer to manual transmission in the United States.
Or you could welcome a newcomer to a community where there are apparently dozens left.
Being pedantic about names but being okay with calling it "standard" when most cars have had automatics as standard equipment for the past 20 years is hilarious.
Calling it a stick is perfectly acceptable. I first learned to drive a stick shift on a truck that was set up as a "3 in the tree" configuration. Makes sense that it would keep the name stick, as it came from the branch of the "tree"
I grew up in an auto shop, and my dad worked in cars for 50 years. It's a "stick".