I got into first gear with no jerky motion today ! :D Although I messed up a lot I am finally getting the hang of driving manual. The RX8 is such a great ride, absolutely love it!

One question though, how do you go about only moving a few feet in order to get into the intersection to make a left turn, should I only use the clutch to move forward or..?

But anyways, one of the best things that has happened to me is this Rx8!

 

Just don't let the clutch all the way out if you have to go really slow. Entering an intersection to turn left you shift into first to get some power and then put the clutch back in and glide to where you wanna go.

Cheers!

Congrats on the 8 and learning manual

 

with the almost useless torque at idle of the rotary engine, you just give a little gas and let out the clutch a bit then clutch in just to get the car moving.
I always give gas when letting out clutch getting the car moving.

 

My advice is to get driving lessons

brb facepalming

 

Well I picked up driving manual pretty quickly, I had someone sit with me and they told me that I already knew how to drive one, just need practice and experience to make the ride smoother.

I didn't try what Shumster did because I figured that would be riding the clutch, but I guess that's very miniscule as far as damage done goes.

I will take your advice into consideration!

Thanks.

 

Practice makes perfect.

 

Everybody starts at square one, there is nothing wrong with that. You didn't get in a car the first time and drive perfectly and know everything right away.

Driving a manual is intimidating for a lot of people because they make it a bigger deal than it really is. When my friend switched to a manual he started off pretty well but he had no way of knowing if he was driving it correctly without asking. I helped him out and explained what he should be doing because there is nothing wrong with asking simple questions and getting back simple answers.

 

Drive my rx8 and you'll feel like you're learning how to drive all over again.

Racing clutch and lw flywheel, it can be a pain sometimes but totally worth it.

 

Yeah but i didn't go onto a forum and ask people for a written explanation. I went and got driving lessons.

No body here, no matter how good your explanation is, will be able to teach this guy how to drive a manual correctly. It is something that must be taught in person

 

Seems like they gave him a pretty good explanation for the simple question he asked.

He didn't post this thread to be told how to drive a manual, he posted it to just say he was very happy that he is starting to get the hang of driving it. I remember when I first drove a manual and got into 2nd gear and it felt like a huge accomplishment. Seems stupid now that I have been driving them for so many years but at the time it felt awesome.

 

A thought, and something that really helped my daughter....

When you first start to let out the clutch, and it starts to engage, you will start moving forward. Even if you stop letting it out, and hold it there, you will continue to accelerate forward because of how the speed difference between the clutch and plates changes. To inch forward, you will want to let it out to start moving, then apply a tiny bit more pressure to the pedal to keep creeping along.

 

I did few ways:
1. feather the clutch--although it wears quicker; i.e., press the clutch ever so lightly while pressing gas until your chance to turn comes up
2. gun it. drop the clutch with the gas and revs going up (it will be quick)
3. practice.

with the linear torque curve, i always found the 8 to be the smoothest shifting car (for novices and pros alike)

 

If you have an 04/05 or early 06, has the MSP-16 reflash been done? The dealer will know from online records and should do it for free if it hasn't. It's a maintenence must anyway, but I found that the throttle response at low speed to be improved afterward, making starting from a stop easier.

 

I'll look on that HiFlite, thanks!

So today I went to school, driving stick alone and it was probably one of the scariest experiences ever. Sadly it seemed like my slight incline starts were more smooth than flat surface.

When I hit my engagement point, I bring my revs up to 2-3k, and then I continue to slowly let out my clutch and then I end up stalling since the revs dropped again. I'm assuming I am letting out the clutch too fast and/or not giving it enough gas when it starts moving?

Thanks, you guys are awesome.

 

Once the clutch starts to engage you need to give it more gas. I can't say if you are letting out too much clutch or giving it too little gas without being there but experiment and see what the problem is.

 

That must be it, I notice the car start to jerk and bog which is a sign of lack of throttle since it wants gas. Also, holy molly this car loves to drink gas, more than I thought! Still love it though.

 

Empty parking lot + practice... That's how I learned, 12yrs ago and I'm 22 ;-) not hard or impossible.

 

To get going you shouldn't need more than 1500 rpm or so. Technically the car can get going without any gas pedal input at all and that's how I teach most people when they first learn manual.

Just go to an empty parking lot (level surface) and stick it in first, slowly (and I mean REALLY slowly) let out the clutch until you feel it catch, then just hold it at that spot for a while. Once you pick up a bit of speed you can slowly start letting go again and eventually you can let off the clutch completely, you'll be in first gear and rolling without any gas pedal input. Once you practice that and get the hang of it, you can quickly find where your friction point begins, and start adding throttle while you feather to make it a faster process.

After you get the hang of that, the only other trouble spot is probably the 1st to 2nd gear shift. Most of the other shifts are pretty seamless as long as you don't wait too long between shifts.

 

Took all my kids to a descent hill and that is where they learned how to get going using the hand brake to avoid rolling backwards or stalling the car.

When you get good at this then you will eventually be able to start up without using the hand brake at all.

Old Subarus used to have a hill lock for the brakes and I think they just brought that back again = brilliant.

This is the hardest part of driving a stick = stopped on a steep hill.

Enjoy being part of the 5% of Americans who can drive stick!!