Ok, i've been drivin an automatic for a while now even though i don't have a license or even a permit (not on public roads though) and i want to learn how to drive a stick. Tried it on my friend's truck the other night and all i did was got it into first and stalled it like 484785058 times. I gave up on askin him to drive a stick because he's a bad teacher so i've turn to u guys. Any tips on how to learn how to drive a stick? I really want to learn how because my very first car will most likely be a 5th gen HOnda Prelude Type SH. I'll be gettin the lex after the prelude. ANy tips? Please and thank-yous of course.

 

Not all clutches are created equal. Ones for sports cars are very hard to learn on. They engage very fast and are very touchy. Try using Grandmas "grocery getter" to learn on. Clutch will be smoother.

If you're stalling, you need to work on your foot work. Try sloooooowwwwly letting the clutch out and carefully applying enough throttle to get keep the rpm around 1200. If you concentrate, you can feel the transmission engage and the the car will move. DO NOT GUN THE ENGINE AND DROP THE CLUTCH.

It is difficult to learn (I worked at a car wash and practiced on other peoples cars when I was 16). I was pretty much self taught. Good luck.

 

i learned on a porsche 996, my dad nearly **** his pants but i think its funny because he actually let me do it. after many burn outs and stalls i found the easy way is to learn where the clutch catches without giving it gas. slowly let off the clutch and wait to feel the car slightly move. dont give it any gas till you find that spot, then let the clutch all the way out and go from there, every gear from there on is so much more easy to hit because the higher the gear the more giving it is. oh yah and dont pracitce down shifting untill you got your 1st gear down. nothing worse than downshifting at hight rpm

 

My suggestion is to drive the manual transmission car on the street. You learn REAL fast. Watch out for the crazy launches since you might accidently drop the clutch by accident a few times. I learned how to drive a manual on a RPS stage 3 clutch! If I can do it, anyone can.

 

Yep, on the streets even though I can see that it could be dangerous.

I hit the road and was whippin that car around in 15 minutes! I loved it!

 

As others have said, different clutches different cars! i hate to say it, but I learned on a 86 Porshce 944 Turbo and that thing had one of the easiest shifter/clutch combos out there! Honda easy!!! LOL

The letting out clutch until the car moves a little method works, but it puts strain on the clutch over time. Try this, feather the throttle lightly (like vroom vroom vroom) while holding the clutch all the way down. While your LIGHTLY revving, start letting the clutch go sloowwllyy! You will feel the car start to move, then you can smooth out your inputs and get rolling. Rember to rev, but not like your a rice racer, just give it constant gentle revs. Driving a stick is all about feeling, you just have to do it for a while and get the hang!

Good luck

 

Thanks for the advice guys, i see where i'm totally makin my mistake and why i'm stallin out. I"ll try your tips later on today. You guys are a great reliable souce of infomation, THanks

 

Practice repeatedly & you will get the hang of it soon. Try feathering the throttle, then release the clutch slowly - you'll notice that the noise of the engine goes down as you release it, then it's the time to really step on the pedal and disengage the clutch totally.
But once you switch to another car, it will take some time to adjust to a different clutch. It took me a couple of weeks to adjust to my G35 coupe when I got it. It's a fun car, but it's not as easy to drive as a BMW or Acura.

 

If having a teacher ride with isn't helping, maybe you could borrow a stick car and try it yourself with no one watching for a few hours.

on another note, i got a funny related story. back a while ago my coworker, whose only experience with stick shift at the time was his own 280Z, had to drive a customer's R34 Skyline with a triple plate clutch on the street while our boss tuned it in the passenger seat. He had so much trouble getting the car to roll from a red light.....it's all just funny now though.

 

good way to learn.....

find your clutch's engagement zone

in my car, i can ease off the clutch using no gas at all and get the car into first gear without pressing the accelerator

push the clutch to the floor, and ease off until you see the rpms start to rise (dont know if you can do like mine and come up all the way without stalling, its an audi thing)

when the rpms begin to rise, use the accelerator to get the rpms to about 2-3k

ease off of the clutch more and more while keeping your rpms steady

thats all there is to it

 

If you decide to learn on your own make sure you're in a private lot, the less obstacles the better.

Don't do what I did when I was 16..........

I told myself I knew how to drive stick from watching others and had everything down pact in my head as far as clutch engagement and shifting points. So thinking I was big dog, I went out and brought a 5spd Civic, when I never had actually drove a stick before. I learned that thinking and knowing are two different things...... let's just say I scared myself and countless other people on the road, I'm a quick learner and this lasted for about a week or so. Luckily in that "break in" period I never got into accident.


Seven years later though, driving a manual is like second nature, although each car is different.

A tip for smooth shifting is to match RPM's.

 

Southernnsc had the same concept. The best way to learn at 1st is to avoid the gas pedal.

And don't learn on a triple plate or kevlar clutch. The stories of those that did that are not very bright. And trust me, Kevlar clutches can be forgiving. I have a 468 rwhp 513 rwtq F body with a Star Stage III Kevlar Clutch and I can get moving w/o touching the gas pedal, but don't learn on one. Stock clutches are very forgiving, they are the best type to learn on.

I learned on an old Datsun B210 (lol), a girlfriend in college let me borrow it to go see a concert. Little did she tell me it was a stick nor had I ever driven one. The damn thing was parallel parked and packed in! The construction crew at 4pm had a good laugh trying to watch me leave that parking space...LOL

Let the clucth out slowly, finding the engagement zone and learn how to gently give it gas from there. The revs, burnouts, donuts, and everything else will come from there. Trust me, patience will be rewarded. Don't get yourself into a situation that creates only bad options. Like Technics says, find an empty lot and mistakes will be forgiven with minimal consequences.

I also usually find for any stock vehicle, 2500-3500 is always a good shift point (2-3, 3-4, 4-5). Won't bog in the next gear and the car won't jump as it accelerates. Also learn slowly at the downshift game. At lower than 2500 rpms you can downshift one gear as you are decelerating. Feel how the vehicle responds and learn the concept of drag slowly, otherwise motors go BOOM!

Of course, overtime, with the right clutch and gears you'll be droppin' it at 4,000 rpm from a dead stop, just give it time and don't try to be Tony Stewart too soon.

 

Practice shifting even when you're not in your car

 

haha in that case you are not a fast learner at all i learned stick in 3 hours and my wife did that in about 4 to 5.

the critical point is clutch engaging. make sure you find out where it engages. i agree with southernsc, no gas, no brake, level ground, first gear, let go of clutch slow. feel where it engages and teh car start to move. that's the point to get a hold of

start in empty parking lot with very few poles (for obvious reason), and once you are good, go out to residential area with TONS of stop signs. once you take that as well, you are good to go

and you definitely need a good teacher to sit with you for the first hour to give you all the instructions. that's what i got and i was able to get a hold of it very quickly. then i taught my wife in the is300 and let's just say she didn't burn the clutch

 

LOL, I'm sure you didn't master driving a stick in 3 hours!! In that case I learned to drive stick in 5mins on residential streets, I never went to a parking lot to practice first!! Learning on the street with traffic all by yourself and in an empty lot with an instructor are two different things...LOL. It took a good week though before my shifts were seamless.