York

haha, yeah. I learned to start on a hill in a ford ranger. It only has a foot-parking-brake with a release handle so that wasn't really an option for me

bse50

I don't see a problem in starting uphill... Rome is hilly as hell so you have really have no choice other than learning quick

Agent XY

iTrader: (1)

+1 for hand brake

We taught one of our friends who moved to cali on his driveway. He eventually got the hang of it. His parents didn't not appreciate the rubber he left from dropping the clutch though.... It is all part of the process.

terch1

iTrader: (2)

As others have mentioned it really just comes to practice and knowing when the clutch engages. I sometimes don't use my brakes on hills and simply balance the proper amount of gas with the clutch so the car holds its postion. Keep practicing!

dmedz8

iTrader: (5)

it can be very intimidating though when there is a large truck up your ***

Roidz

Yeah, no kidding. Yikes!

RX8Lovah

Thats how I learned. Its not really something someone can "Teach" you how to do.. Its really all about "feeling" it. hills in stop in go traffic just **** me off =) which is why i stay out of washington dc in the 8 as much as possible!

zoom44

keep your heel on the floor and press the pedal with the ball of your foot. best advice i ever got about stick driving, got it from my friend Scott's dad. for the week prior to that while trying to learn i had been sort of stomping the clutch pedal with my whole foot.

use the hand brake too

Mr.ThunderMakeR

Get a Jeep and go rock crawling, best way to learn clutch control I swear! Seriously in a few hours of rock crawling my Jeep (almost stock mind you) I learned more about driving a stick then in years of driving on roads.

One thing I learned is that the grab point for every manual transmission will get you moving forward, even on hills, without having to apply any gas. I always thought you HAD to apply gas once the clutch grabs or youre gonna stall. This simply isn't true. You just have to keep the clutch balanced exactly at the grab point. It takes practice to find this point and then remember where it is. Find a decent hill with no traffic and practice, practice, practice!

The trick to learning your tranny is to IGNORE the gas pedal, just play with the clutch and brakes. Keep your foot on the brakes, let out the clutch slow, really slow! Once you hear the engine start to strain a little, let off just the slightest amount of brakes. If you start to move forward youre at the clutch grab point. If not you will either start to roll back or not move at all, in which case you are really close. Either way, press the brakes back in, let out a tiny bit more clutch, and rinse and repeat. The key here is never, NEVER press the clutch back in. If you stall, you stall, oh well. This is why youre practicing in an area with no traffic. IF you stall, that means you had passed the clutch grab point, you already let the clutch out too far. Once you find the grab point for the clutch, keep the pedal at exactly this point (will be tiring on your leg at first) and use the brake to control the motion of the vehicle. At this point it will feel like you are driving an automatic. The car will want to move forward, and you are using the brakes to stop it. Letting off the brakes will make you move forward, just like in an auto.

After a good amount of practice, you will start to know the clutch grab point instinctively. Now you can do it in traffic. Anticipate the light changing and start balancing the clutch/brakes before the light changes. When the light changes, let off the brakes. Just like you practiced the vehicle will start moving forward. Now that you are moving forward, NOW you can apply gas to accelerate with traffic, NOT to keep you from rolling backward.

Eventually this will all become instinct. Until it does, use the handbrake trick.

-WILL-

you just have to learn where the friction point is ( this is where the clutch engages). you need to be able to let it out fast until you get to the friction point then pause while giving it the gas. if you just let it out all the way really fast its going to jerk.

ken-x8

I bet the clutch sales people love you.

Ken

sh0gunshin

e brake is the best way. i learned it on my 2nd week of driving stick. when u get to the hill, pull the e-brake. let off the clutch about halfway then give it some gas. you'll feel like ur car wants to move. release the ebrake

yoluun

Start learning it with hand brake. I used to practice at midnight up a very steep hill.

Try to feel when the clutch engages, give it some gas, release the brake and let go of the clutch slowly. Giving it too much gas(in fear of stalling) may happen if you're not used to hill launches, but you really want to focus on releasing the clutch slowly. Then, work on minimizing the gas required to take off.

When you know the engage point, you don't have to use the hand brake anymore.

Have fun learning!

RufusVonStorm

It could be tough in the 8. Especially stop and go up a steep hill, that is a real bitch!
(got stuck in a line of cars climbing up to big bear one time)

fuztupnz

iTrader: (4)

When you have to stop on a hill, put the car in reverse while you sit. I promise you cars will not get up on your ***.

There's a lot of great advice here. Practice, practice, practice.

mazdaspd8

iTrader: (1)

thanks everyone for the good input.

jasonrxeight

make sure you get out of it when you want to go forward. slipping off clutch in reverse can be fun.

T-von

Handbrake trick works like a charm. I hold the button in so it doesn't lock. This way it's like your using the brake pedal but only with your hand. Clutch pressed in, shifter in 1st, parking brake pulled up with button pressed in. Release clutch, press gas, and lower parking brake all at the same time. You will never roll back once you get the hang of it and your clutch will love you.

dmedz8

iTrader: (5)

you know if we had 3 feet.....
and 3 arms....

driving a standard would be that much more enjoyable

bse50

Or 1 more neuron...

usnidc

Hand brake works. Starting on Hills 101.

After you get more practice, you can master the trick of sliding your brake foot over and reving the gas while still pressing the brake peddle, then as the clutch starts to grap, role your foot off the break and onto the gas, but that is a 200 level class.

lateralus

iTrader: (1)

One good thing to do is practice starting as quick as you can (from having your foot on the brake) on a flat surface like a parking lot or something. Just practice going from having the foot on the brake, to moving, and try to get it going as quickly as you can... That way you will get a good feel for where the clutch catches, and you will get in some good repetitions of moving your foot from the brake to giving gas quickly (and do so in a situation where doing it too slow doesn't mean rolling back into another car haha)... Once you are able to do that quickly, you just have to do the exact same on a hill (except give it a little more gas because of the hill, and maybe letting off the clutch a slight bit slower)...

But once you can get your foot from the brake to the gas quickly and find the friction point on the clutch quickly, the rest is easy... So practice!

jasonrxeight

^+1 what he said.