jasonbegin

Well from your first post you sound 14!

Keep trying![/quote]

toeknee123

Same here... i wanated to get a MT but my parents made me get a AT. They said it was not "safe". Chinese parents are paranoid haha.

sportmaned

yeah im only 16, got my tc a week before my license, we argued alot about getting a stick or a auto, i won, they let me get a stick, they proved me wrong for the first copule of weeks complaining how stupid i was for getting one, well about 3 months now, i drive it perfectly, only stalled once or twice since the first couple of weeks being careless after parking and realising the clutch, i guess my concern wasnt if i would get it or not, but if i was doing my car any damage, i can conclude that this is one hell of a car, nothing wrong, im happy with stick, dont think i will ever get an auto after this, keep on going man, you'll get it in no time!

Lynch_Scion_CT

my ma drove a stick 1990 honda civic .
she used to go to florida every year for a 2 weeks and leave me at home by myself, so when i was sixteen, i searched high and low for those keys (she was smart enough to hide them)
and then taught myself how to drive
easiest way to do it ---teach myself

picked her up at the airport in her own car with 300 new miles on it.
she freaked

go by yourself, its easier than if someone yells how to do it at you.
i tried to teach a couple people, and i thought i was gonna have a stroke cause i knew i couldn't afford a new clutch -- 93 celica gt --- so now i just get out and walk away and let someone else teach them, cause i don't wanna be there for it... its painful -- 2000 celica, should not need a new clutch so soon, but i'll let anyone drive it... unfortunately
i'm rambling

get out of the ebrake habit
someone snapped my cable in my old celica, and i couldnt park on hills for the last 6 months or so i had the car, it sucked,

uncompiled

If you're doing powerslides and bumping gears, you might just be a little too aggressive with your driving, but I didn't say anything.

As much as other people say manuals are better, some people are just better suited to driving automatics. It's not hard to drive a manual transmission, you just have to think about things that you don't have to think about in an automatic... and that's probably why you're stalling. You're not paying attention to the car when you should be. While you're learning, keep the stereo turned down and actually listen to the engine. Pay attention to how fast your RPMs increase when you step on the gas and remember how fast your RPMs drop when you press in the clutch pedal. That kind of stuff gives you feedback on how fast you should let out the clutch and how fast you should be shifting.

its_ikon

i hope you don't give up on the stick. it is a lot more fun to drive then a auto since you actually get to drice the car. once you get it down, it will come natural. the key is to practice when you can. if you get stuck on a hill, use the e-brake so you don't roll back and then take off.

91Mike

Here's a tip I usually start out with when I'm teaching someone to drive stick. When you want to move faster, most of the time you don't drop the gas pedal all the way to the floor. And when you want to slow down you don't drop the brake pedal to the floor either. There is some kind of in between setting that you're comfortable with. Given any situation, you know what that is without even thinking about it, and you make small adjustments also without thinking, just based on how the car feels. Think of the clutch the same way. For some reason new drivers tend to think of the clutch as an on/off pedal with nothing in between. If you think like that, almost every start you make will either stall, make the car jump like crazy, or you'll start moving smoothly but only because you revved your engine up to a few thousand RPMs and burned most of your clutch off doing it. You're better off giving it a small amount of gas and taking your time letting off the clutch. If you let the clutch out rediculously slowly with only a small amount of gas, I promise you will not stall or bog down the engine, it will be a smooth start every time. Unfortunately if you're in traffic you don't have that much time, but this is the best way to practice, and once you're familiar with where the clutch starts to catch, how quickly you can release the clutch at that point without bogging the engine, and how soon you can completely let go once the car starts to move, you'll have no problem driving anywhere.

Xer0

Just keep at it , it will become second nature in no time

toyota_scion_tc

Practice makes perfect. It takes time to adjust driving a stick compared to auto. It also takes a little to adjust from a cable style clutch to a hydraulic style clutch. Timing is the key.

hondaxhonda

stick shift really isnt that hard. i got automatic in my tC just because i couldnt tell much of a difference between the two. you'll get use to it. ive driven stick for years, and when i started i stalled anywhere all time time for any reason. you'll do fine, dont let the scion know that u want to trade it in.. then it shall betray you!

Jessman360

Exacty! I've always thought manual driving is the most overated thing in world.

Whoohooo I can go faster by wiggling the stick!

I'd rather just cruise and concentrate on the music and the scenery instead of how the car shifts.

rAndal

Not everyone buys manuals because they think they can shave a tenth of their quarter mile.

Grow up.

MesSCIah

lol....right on.

MesSCIah

Jessman, you should be concentrating on the road instead of your 5spd envy......

blastedat9

I drive a car, not a windshield wiper. Performance aside, I prefer stickshifts because they're more fun. I've spent lots of time driving both, in traffic and out, and I can't think of any time I wish I'd bought an auto.

91Mike

Good post.

shinkuu

in a few months, your gonna laugh at this thread.

daemonite

tips...

getting off the line.

clutch all the way in, gas your car slightly to a bit over 1000 rpm then SLOWLY release the clutch until all the way out. You should be moving now without stalling. Repeat until you can do it smoothly 10 times in a row without stalling. This does wear your clutch slightly so keep trying to reduce the amount you gas and how slowly your let the clutch out. Eventually you'll be able to do this quickly without holding the clutch in too long or wearing your clutch out. Shouldnt be too bad considering even burning the clutch a lot the clutch will still last 35k miles or so. So GET better with in the next 1000 miles and drive smart and you're clutch should last almost 90k miles.

As for hills...use your ebrake, clutching and gasing to stay steady or sliding back and gassing up the hill ruins your clutch.

Patience and repeating is the only way to learn. Don't worry about quickly shifting or anything, just worry about being so smooth no one can tell you shifted. I can row through all 5 gears without anyone noticing.

WarrenSteve

real men drive sticks? no male btwn ages of 16-30 shouldd rive an auto?

come on, no need to insult. I drive an AT, and i know how to drive a MT. and i have, and yeah it is fun... but its not for everyone. I mean this is my daily driver, this car isnt a damn porche or vette. I like to eat, and talk on the phone, and just blare music while i drive.

if i had a weekend car, i would certaintly have a MT, but for me, for my daily 100miles of commuting, id rather roll in the AT. PERSONAL PREFERENCE!

Setarcos4131

About the hill parking and starting thing I don't know if I'm the only one but i sorta hold my toe lightly on the brake and give gas until i catch and release my brake.