Help with stick shift!

[PtheLoo]

I just got a stick shift car and its been 3 days and I can't stand driving it although the car is a beauty. I have to do a 90 degree turn into a small parking space while going on a slope. I can't make it in one turn and when I am on the slope I have so much trouble getting into gear without hitting the wall. Will I ever get use to it? Help! It is a 98 prelude and the distance you have to catch the cluth is so small. I know most people here can drive stick shift like it was auto but are there anyone here who never got use to it? arrrr

 

[saxman]

eventually it will become almost unconscious. Its tough at first for everbody.

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

practice and patience. It will come to you grasshopper.:)


late.


TDP

 

[Passions]

Dont worry after a while it will be easy, and plus autos are for women.

 

[PtheLoo]

During the day when im not driving and sometimes I think about it and it makes me nervous. I really hate to bump that car or wear out the clutch. If you are reving high and holding down the clutch it is very bad for it right? I need to do that when going up slopes.

 

[Sacotool]

Lord, I can only imagine what shape that poor Preludes clutch is in:Q

 

[callspread]

You don't have to use high revs when holding the car on the clutch - try to keep the revs about constant as you set off. The greater effort required from the engine is made up by using more gas for the same revs on a hill, not more revs. Don't worry about damaging the clutch - you will do much more damage by bad 1st to 2nd gear changes than by holding the car on the clutch.

 

[amb#cog]

You'll get used to it. I deliver pizza's in my 88' Mazda MX-6 5-speed, and love driving a stick. I've borrowed other cars to use that were automatics, and couldn't wait to get back to the 5-speed. Oh, and if you're having trouble with such a new car, don't play around with a finicky older car like mine. There's very few people I trust to drive it, do to its,tempermental nature.

One good thing I've found about owning a stick is that nobody wants to borrow it, because they either don't know how to, or haven't used one in a long time. A bad thing is I always end up driving both ways to wherever we travel to, because they either don't know how to, or haven't used one in a long time.

 

[nickdakick]

Bobby Ribs: damn you got me confused for a moment. Cuz "auto" means "car" in german, for a moment I thougt WTF is this moron talking about "cars are for women" ? After that I realized...

 

[PG]

PtheLoo

You will get the hang of it. It just takes time and this is true for everyone, not just you.

Just try to let the clutch out slow and don't rev the engine up so much. You just need more practice and you need to relax as you drive. Try to drive around in your spare time if you have any.

When you get better you will find out that you don't need to hold the car with the clutch on an incline at all. It does wear out the clutch eventually. Just hold the clutch and the brake when at a stop on an incline. When you need to take off you can get going without rolling back much at all, but this will take more time and practice.

Here's a good tip for you: When you are coming up to a red light just use the brake and don't touch the clutch. There will be a point where you can pull the shifter into nuetral without even using the clutch. For some reason, some people shift down through every gear or simply push in the clutch when braking and this is not necessary at all. You don't want to be in nuetral if you need to get going again, but if the light is red you don't even need to touch the clutch.

Also you might want to learn to double clutch for downshifts, it will make them smoother. Or at least learn to blip the throttle to raise your engine speed before you let out the clutch on those downshifts. You need to match the engine speed so you get a smoother shift. You don't need to learn to heel and toe, but you might want to read up on it. It might help you understand things better.

PG

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Heh, try learning in a 20' long truck with noone to really teach you.

 

[loup garou]

If you can't get it, I'll trade you my car with an automatic transmission for it. J/K...seriously though, good luck, once you get the hang of it, you'll never want to go back to auto. I know I didn't!!

 

[thebestMAX]

Hey,

This may sound simple but what about using your hand brake to keep you from rolling backwards?

I dont know the set up in your car but mine has a pull up lever. Just co ordinate releasing the brake with engaging the clutch. May sound complicated to you now but you will get the hang of it. Practice in San Francisco if you can. HAHA

If you have a pedal hand brake (oxymoron) then Im sorry I wasted your time. Good luck. Driving a car with a clutch is much more enjoyable and rewarding.

 

[Farbio]

that's a good idea tbm, his prelude has a hand parking brake, so he should be able to do that one easily.

what i have always told people to try and get them more comfortable w/ the clutch when i'm teaching them is to just let it out slowly until the car starts to shudder a bit. at that point, give it a bit of gas and let off the clutch a lil more as u start to slide forward. hopefully that will help a lil bit

 

[PtheLoo]

Today for some reason I can handle slopes then I can on flat road. Go figure. BTW, what is a hydraulic clutch?

 

[Soybomb]

If the clutch is hydraulic thatjust means its activated by hydraulic pressure like your brakes as opposed to a cable.

 

[Impact55]

I just turned 16 and it took me about 2-3 hours to drive a stick and do it without paying attention, it's a lot more fun and feels like a race car and gives you something to do

 

[PtheLoo]

wow 2-3 hours. I think the car depends a lot. On my friends 95 civic I drove it once for the first time and never stalled once. The distance you have to catch the gear is a lot less in the prelude. Same with an integra, first time I drove it a few months ago I couldn't get it going either. But the civic was a breeze.

 

[ThurzNite]

Don't performance cars have "tighter" clutches? The grabbing point is very small so it jerks more, right? At least that's my observation. Anyways, hand brake is great for learning hills, but eventually you'll do without. Good luck.
Jay