I will be picking up my 8 on monday and this will be my first manual car. The last time I tried to drive a manual car the engine kept turning off lol :p I'll get my dad to teach me, but can you guys give me some tips since i'm such a n00b, I don't wanna stall the car or anything and look like a fool

 

in first gear, hold the clutch only part-way off until the car starts moving, then let go of the clutch. NEVER let go of the clutch until it's already moving.

edit: you can feel the gears "catch" then you let go

 

Breathe deep and dont think about If people are watching. In my experience (I teached my wife to drive stick) most people stall their cars when learning because they are more nervous of looking like a fool in front of the people around them then of actualy not knowing what to do. Also take your time and dont let the cars behind you hurry you. If you need 2 minutes to start on a light, take it. When you hurry youurself is when you make mistakes.


BTW congrats on your new purchase, take good care of it and ENJOYYYYYYYYY

:-)

 

i'll add that i learned to drive stick on my friend's jetta, and i found that holding the clutch about 1 inch down was optimal for not stalling, speeding up the gears catching.

also, practice in a parking lot first, so nobody rear ends you or anything.

 

Even the most experienced drivers sometimes stall the car.

Hey, I remember Schumacher stalling his Ferrari a few years ago, so it happens to the best of us.

I taught myself to drive manual so with time, your technique will improve with experience.

Who cares what others think, just relax and remember the fundamentals of driving a manual, afterall, it's not like you're driving a manual Ferrari.

 

You will need to take it to approc 1.5k - 2k rpms with every take off in 1st. Just drive the car for a while, you will get the hang of it. Because the car revs so high even experienced manual drivers like me had to get used to the 8.

Enjoy and welcome the the cult.

- Irish

 

ok, sorry for multiple posts, but i keep remembering stuff... hold down the clutch when stopping, or go into neutral before you stop. it sounds basic, but a friend of mine almost rolled over a car in spain because he didn't know that (apparently the brakes in cars there don't even work unless the clutch is down).

 

What sort of piece of s*** was he driving?

 

Prolly a Pugeot or a Citroen!! POS either way.

- Irish

 

lol, i don't know. all i heard were the stories. i'm too poor to go there. luckily his friend is a duke, so they didn't get in trouble for anything.

 

You for real??????
I've never driven any of them but if that's what they're like, I'm glad I haven't.

 

Don't worry! You'll get the hang of it. I got my 8 about 2 weeks ago and have never driven manual before. I'm driving ok now, still a bit nervous when coming to lights. I made sure I read up on the theory first. I think that there are some good posts on the forum on learning manual. It really helped me out to hear from other 8 owners, as opposed to people with other cars (each car behaves differently). A good site to go to is www.standardshift.com ... lots of theory and info on driving manual in general.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...driving+manual
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...driving+manual
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...driving+manual
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...driving+manual
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...driving+manual
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...driving+manual
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...driving+manual

 

first...RENT A CAR FOR A WEEKEND...before you even touch your 8...let your dad drive it home

go to some POS rental place like rent-a-wreck and get a beater car for $35 the whole weekend and just practice NON-stop all weekend long

the reason why I say this is the 8 has a very responsive (those who drive american manuals call it touchy) transmission...you'll have a hell of a time learning on it but most importantly you could run your transmission into the ground or turn your clutch into a pita sandwitch

oh and CONGRATS on your new 8!

oh and read all of these sites/articles religiously, they are repetative yes but that is the point...practice in your mind:
http://www.standardshift.com/index.html
http://cssdrivertraining.com/manualprimer.htm
http://www2.stlu.com/static_html/lea...556&navbar=yes
http://www.ehow.com/how_3234_drive-car-with.html

here is a technical background to it...lets you learn about the process...but not as helpful for technique:
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/tec...9/article.html

 

The RX-8 is definitely not the easiest of cars in which to learn stick driving. It can get jerky at very low speed if you're not used to the clutch.

 

This is the biggest piece of BS I've ever heard!

 

I'd say they are better than American cars nowadays. They used to be POS until a few years ago but they've made great strides forward in the last few years.

 

I bought my car, a 2000 Mustang GT before knowing how to drive it. Before I bought it, I made sure to go to all the sites people are recommending. The best thing you can do for yourself and your new 8 is to know exactly what is going on inside your engine and tranny when you do anything. Know what clutch plates are and do and how they act when you push the clutch or let it go. Know what the gears are and how the synchros help mesh them. Make sure you are a technical expert on the internal workings of the manual transmission.

I didn't even test drive my car. I signed for it, got in and was a bit shaky at first. I took it slow and easy and I didn't care what people thought of if I staalled (I didn't). The reason I didn't care was cause I had a cooler car than them Seriously, since I knew what was going on underneath the metal, I drove off almost like I've driven stick before. Got right onto the highway with no issues (unless you call shifting from 2 - 5 an issue... if you've ever driven a late model mustang, you know what I'm talking about! 3 is IMPOSSIBLE to find!)

So, my advice is know the car and get in and drive the damn thing! Gratz on your 8 and go have fun!

EDIT: One more thing... if you find yourself bucking or any other unpleasant stuff, push the clutch down and try again. The clutch is your friend! Good luck.

 

Another good reason to always clutch when you brake is that you want to be ready to get into the right gear immediately if, for example, that red light you're braking for suddenly turns green and you want to be ready to GO. Either way, don't worry, it takes time to learn to drive a manny tranny and you'll still goof up sometimes (I still do after driving them exclusively for 30 years), but soon you'll get the feel. I can say that this is the best manny tranny I've ever driven. Like carpediem, I didn't even test drive my car before it was delivered to me, but I almost instantly felt like I was glued to the transmission and it's been (almost) smooth sailing since.

 

I barely knew how to drive stick before I got my 8 and yes, it was a pain in the *** to learn. Here's how I did it. I had a few "lessons" in how to drive stick first. Just the basic theory.
1) Push the clutch down to start the car. Make sure the car is in neutral before letting go of the clutch.
2) Lift the clutch until the catch point (it's pretty obvious when you go slow).
3) Keep it there, hit the gas a little. Once you start going, let go of the clutch.
4) When you want to shift, push the clutch all the way in and then shift and while you slowly let go of the clutch, give it a little gas.

That's all I knew and I did it before about 2 times for a few minutes. I was horrible at it though. Then I just drove it around my neighborhood around 10:45-11:30 pm because it was pretty much deserted by then (it's a relatively new community). If I stalled I stalled. Just started it back up again. The first week I was horribly jerky, lots of stalls, lots of pushing the gas too much with the clutch engaged (essentially just revving the engine), and some squealing tires. No grinding gears though, thank god. I essentially just practiced going for a few feet, coming to a complete stop, then starting again. (The hardest part of driving manual). I just did this over and over (must've looked incredibly weird to people).

After about a week (like 3 days of like 45 minutes a day) I was still really bad at it so I went another week doing stuff like that so I was a little more confident. Then after the second week I took it out of my neighborhood and in the area surrounding the neighborhood. Again I had a lot of the typical problems (I was still really jerky and had those not releasing clutch enough problems) but my stalls were limited to left turns and parking mostly.

At the fourth week or so I could drive around but I was pretty scared of when people were behind me and I had to go from a stop. I did it anyways and never stalled (probably cuz I was gassing it early to make sure I wouldn't stall). Around the fifth week I was driving it regularly places and doing ok, with minor jerkiness and still a lot of panic when I was at a stop (or on a minor hill).

At the sixth week though I'm pretty confident with my driving. I'm still a little hesitant at first gear, but I'm not really scared of it anymore and I doubt I'll stall. The only thing I'm not sure I can do is handle someone pulling up right behind me on a very steep hill (so I avoid the steep hills that I know of). I probably can do it, but still got that worry.

If you're thinking it took me a long time for me... well
1) I REALLY don't want to stall on a major street during a crowded time.
2) I didn't practice that often because I was frequently busy (and I felt bad for beating it up a bit). So if I practiced every day for longer it could've only taken me 2 weeks to get where I am now.

But yeah one thing I do sometimes is I'll lift the clutch a bit and then start gassing it even though it was before the catch point. Not too much gas tho. Then slowly lift the clutch until you start going. You should be able to avoid stalls like that though ideally you wouldn't have to do that.

 

Great advice!!

- Irish

 

I don't own one but I have driven a few. The 8 likes to be revved. Don't be afraid to rev up the car a bit. You won't hurt the car. Grinding gears a few times won't be too horrifying for the car. It's expected. I know people who have been driving stick for 30+ years who learned on cars with no synchros and they grind sometimes. I still grind my stang every now and then. The tranny is one of the toughest ones I've seen in a sports car. It'll be fine. I try to avoid it only because it sounds worse than nails on a chalkboard. It's not even that loud outside the car so chances are, nobody heard it but you. So rev up that engine and go on! Worst that will happen is you'll get someone in a riced out civic thinking you're challenging him. You already know you can beat him and your car is faster so don't even think twice and let him stab his gas and try to look all cool and squeal off. Slow and steady...

 

Absolutely no shame at all in using the parking brake in these situations. I still do sometimes even with my long experience driving a manual. It may burn the brake a bit, but it beats rolling backwards into somebody's front end. In San Francisco, it's a virtual necessity at times to use the brake.

 

If anyone is wondering... what they mean by using the break is:

To get started again on a hill, hold the button on the parking break and pull it up. Hold it up there and start to let off the clutch while giving a bit of gas. 2k rpm's should be fine. You won't go anywhere till you let off the p-break. Slowly let off the p-break while giving a bit more gas. The first few times you do this, you'll spin the tires a bit but hell, it does beat replacing your rear end and thier front end. After you get the hang of it, you won't have a problem on hill starts.

If you don't want to use the p-break, start practicing on very small hills without it. You just need to know your clutch point and you need to be quick from the break to the gas.

One thing I do when I am stopped on a hill is when I see someone coming up behind me, I let myself roll back a couple inches to warn the person that I am driving a manual. Most people get the idea and stay back a bit.

 

wow! thanx for all the tips guys, much appreciated. I just had another question, how long should the whole process of putting my foot on the clutch and then taking it off after I get moving last?

 

however long it takes for you to be comfortable. if you do it slowly (ie keep your foot on the clutch catch point and hit the gas and let go after a few seconds) you'll have a smoother ride (if you lift it up too fast, you risk stalling or jerking like crazy) but you'll wear your clutch down faster. So just keep your foot on the clutch for as long as you feel like you need to. It takes me a few seconds - if I try to do it fast it's jerky.

Oh some other advice.
1) Be off the clutch if you don't need to be on it. If you're waiting at a stop light, shift to neutral and get off the clutch. Get on the clutch when you need to go again. The less you're on your clutch the longer it'll last. When you're not using the clutch, put your foot on the rest to the left of it.
2) Downshifting to slow down. There's totally contradicting advice about this so I dunno what to tell you. Like half the people say "do it, it saves brakes and the clutch is designed to be strong" the other half says "don't do it, brakes are much cheaper than clutches to replace."

yeah i know that trick but i sure as heck ain't gonna be driving my car to SF anytime soon if ever. i had problems with my automatic CAMRY and people pulling up directly behind me on the street leading up to lombard (my tires were almost bald). So yeah, not looking forward to that at all.