dx316gol

Well, I've been driving my friend's car, which is stick, and it was my first time ever driving one. I didn't stall at all and I shifted really smooth he said, except for getting into first. I keep practing with his car and I can't seem to get into 1st smooth. Any suggestions to help me? How much should I rev it to before I start letting out the clutch?

fxdsconv2000

Practice moving the car in first with out touching the gas. From that point all you have to do is gauge how much gas you need relative to the position of the clutch. Pretty soon it will be one fluid motion.

FYI. In normal street driving when I launch from a stop I rarely go above 2k until the clutch is fully engaged. I adverage 1500 rpm while engaging the clutch.

dx316gol

You guys have any other quick tips or suggestions for a new stick driver that I may need to know?

rx-cars_rock

practice just moving the car from one end of the parking lot to the other only using the clutch. You will learn exactly where the friction point is. Then begin using the throttle and clutch to get the precise amount of throttle needed to move the car forward smoothly.

dx316gol

If say im going in 3rd gear and I start to come to a stop sign, do I put it in 2nd and go or put it in first or what? Need help with this.

TownDrunk

There's excellent advice above. Learn how to drive without gas first as others mentioned. As you become accustomed to driving a stick then you can worry about down shifting. For now when you come to a complete stop, pop the puppy in first after you stop. If you're still moving and have to go (like slowing down for a stoplight), use common sense and select a gear accordingly. More than just a few miles an hour? First probably isn't the best choice. It really just depends on the car and how you're driving at the moment as to which gear to drop it into when slowing for a light, but not completely stopping.

Be nice to the car, it will be nice to you. As others mentioned, however, parking lot practice is the best. Speeds are slow, and it's really hard to screw things up. Parking lots with inclines are even better so you practice how to go forward without rolling backward 20 feet first.

Good luck.

Aratinga

If you're approaching a stop sign (and you do intend to come to a complete stop), you have two choices.

1. You can engage clutch, downshift to second, release clutch, and let the higher revs and engine compression slow you down; then when you need to actually stop, depress the clutch (keeping gearshift **** in second) and just coast to stop using your brakes; or

2. You can depress the clutch, leave the gearshift in third, and just coast toward the stopsign using your brakes to slow and stop the car and keeping the clutch pedal depressed.

Once you're stopped at the light you can then put the shifter into first and take off. It's easier to put the gearshift in first when the car is completely stopped, or only moving forward very slowly.

I know lots of folks who do #1, but they tend to wear out their clutches a lot sooner than folks who do #2. Brakes are cheaper to replace than clutches, so I do #2.

The exception would be when you're approaching, say, a red light that you know is likely to turn green before you come to a complete stop. Then you can sequentially downshift as you approach the light, letting out the clutch in each gear so that if the light turns green you're already in gear and can just accelerate through the intersection (but watch out for all the @#$%^&* morons who will be running the red light to get through).

dx316gol

If you put the car in 2nd and let go the clutch then start pressing gas, does the car stall?

TownDrunk

Yes. The car will stall miserably. If you poor a beer in your radiator it will cause it to relax though, and will likely not stall until you come to a complete stop, put it in gear, then let out the clutch.

rx-cars_rock

once you are moving it is impossible to stall the car. But if you are stopped and pop it into 2nd and try to go, you aren't going anywhere fast. Learning to rev match is the hardest part about learning to downshift. You will learn eventually. One last thing- if you are approaching a green light and it turns red before you get there, engage the clutch, put the shifter in neutral, and release the clutch. This allows you to coast to the light in neutral giving your leg and clutch a rest. Just remember to watch the other traffic light to see when its going red so you can get ready and put the car in first and be ready to go once your light turns green.

camaro194

I know I'm bringing this one back from the dead, but I was looking it over and had a question for you all. Is it safe once your stopped (at a red light for example), to put it in neutral and release the clutch? I didnt know if the car would stall just sitting there in neutral without using the clutch or the gas. Thanks!

rx-cars_rock

Holding the clutch pedal down is neutral. Having the gear selector in neutral is the same thing.

RXE16T

Here check out this thread for some tips.

daddyg

hey guys.

well, picked up my new 6spd gt yesterday! yeah!
The only problem is I don't drive manual yet. I'd practiced on my friends Audi for about 15 minutes. So, I had my friend pick up my car and I practiced a bit in a parking lot (which still wasn't empty, so not ideal). I did improve a little, but still stalled it quite a bit getting into 1st. I still feel pretty awkward, after 15 years of driving auto only. And because it was a small lot, I only got up to 2nd gear.

Question :

1)Reasonably, how long does it take to get better at this? Days, weeks? I don't want to get discouraged.

Thanks!

hotpot

Congratulations on your new toy daddyg!
Keep practicing, that's the only way to get better.
It should take you a couple of days to get the hang of it. A couple of weeks to get good at it. A couple of months for it to become second nature. Meanwhile you WILL stall every now and then.

daddyg

well, spent a few hours on the weekend in a big parking lot. Finally got the hang of it, and was able to get into first with fair accuracy (only a few stalls). Still have to get smooth at the whole process, as right now, I'm having to think about each step.

However, the next day, I took the car out on my own and it was like I'd forgotten where the friction point was in one day. I stalled it several times again.
Very frustrating. I hope I get better at this soon.

Lyer

-When I first learned to drive stick, it took me about 2 hours to learn how to drive it on the streets, and 3 days to learn how to drive it well. :D

My advice to you is learn how to "creep" first. (i.e. as if you were in traffic). That really helps u out with the 1st gear takeoff (I had trouble with that and my car would always jerk, or i would peel out lol). Upshifting and downshifting is easy beans. Just dont put too much pressure on the gas, and slowly release the clutch. You'll get used to it, I think my right leg is much stronger than my left one due to pushing down on the clutch all the time.

The best thing to do is just drive, you'll get the hang of it.

daddyg

Hey guys. back again. Well, i finally seem to have gotten the hang of getting the car moving! Very seldom do I stall.
However, my shifts from 1-2 and 2-3 are still inconsistent. Sometimes it's easy peasy and it just glides, but a lot of the time, the car jerks when I hit 2nd.
I seem to be having problems with the right RPM when I come out of the shift into 2nd. I think I am either too fast off the clutch, or letting off the gas too much and the RPM's drop too fast.

Any advice? Do I need to rev match? And how is the best way to do this? What is the ideal RPM to come out of the shift at?
Thanks!

philodox

I only rev match when I down shift to prevent the car jerking. Once you get more miles under your belt you'll get the hand of downshifting properly. Just remember.. NEVER downshift into 1st if you're doing 20MPH or greater.

As far as you jerking the car when you are UP shifting, when you're driving just normal day to day, try shifting at 5-6 RPM and you shouln't have a problem, by the time you shift into the next gear, the RPM's should drop down to about 3k which is healthy for the tranny. If you have too much RPM when you up shift, the car will jerk.

Red Devil

20mph or greater? I never downshift into first if I'm going above 6mph, from that point on I use 2nd gear.

philodox

That 20MPH or greater was direct from the owners manual When I autocross I find myself downshifting into 1st doing about 15-20 MPH or so just because 2nd gear has no power at those speeds. You just have to be very careful and make sure you rev match so your transmission doesn't get angry with you. But, I am not condoning or recommending downshifting into 1st like that for normal driving.

Genesis

Totally agreed....feather the clutch if still moving and stay in second.

Red Devil

Not trying to argue with you, I was always taught in practice to avoid shifting into first past low mph. The argument was that it was too hard on transmissions because of the typical torque bias in gearing for 1st. But the NA rotary has such little torque that now that I think about it I can't see that argument standing up to it. I'll have to take a look in the owners manual, what page is it on, do you recall?

hotpot

Above 6 mph? I never shift into first unless I'm at a complete standstill, or almost. Autox driving is a different story. Sometimes you need to go into first around a hairpin curve to get more control and power as philodox pointed out. But not in everyday driving.

Red Devil

I don't know where I came up with 6mph at. Most likely from experiences with my cars previous to the 8, which were all stick shifts. Habits can be hard to break.