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How long does it take to learn manual?

M

Martin

Lifer
I have a bit of money and some free time, so I want to take a little road trip through southern Spain. The problem is that in Spain I might not be able to rent an automatic and I've never driven a manual.

So, assuming I read up on it beforehand how long would it take me to be able to drive down a street? Just good enough to get around is all I need.
 
It won't look pretty at first, but you'll be able to get around with an occasional stall after a few minutes' practice.

Everyone will laugh at you, of course, because driving stick is macho, and you can't do it.😛
 
Learn here first before going to Spain I'd say. Just find a friend/neighbor/co-worker who doesn't mind. Shouldn't be that bad, but better safe than sorry, right?
 
If you call in your reservation, I think they should be able to accommodate you with an auto. My parents got an auto when we went to Scotland when I was younger, though most of the cars were obviously manuals. Actually, it was the most amazing car rental experience I've ever seen. Their mid-size car was the size of a Honda Fit, and we realized we couldn't fit into it with our luggage, period. So they upgraded to a larger car for free, no questions. It was a decent Rover with leather and a V6.
 
In some places in Europe, for example the UK, you can't drive a manual unless you have taken a test in a manual car, i'm not sure if that will apply to spain but you might want to check.
 
While places do have automatics, I can't afford to actually rent one, since only the major companies have them and they all charge extra for under 25s like myself. I reserved a Hyundai Accent from Dollar for $25 CAD a day, with budget/alamo/europcar etc it would have cost me $40-50 plus $20 under 25 surcharge.

Anyway, I'm gonna ask my brother-in-law go "test drive" a manual car and spend ~15 minutes showing me tonight. I guess I'll have to manage...
 
Reminds me of an incident at Myrtle Beach.

Myself and some friends are sitting on the porch of our rented beach house watching the girls and the cars pass by and generally goofing off.

A block over, a car pulls up from the side street, getting ready to turn left onto the main drag and pass in front of us.

We notice it's a 2002tii and it looks like it just came out of the factory, and there's a hot babe at the wheel. There's also a guy in the pax seat.

She pulls out and makes a few chirps and jerks and chug a lugs and goes by and turns left at the next street.

We all feel sorry.

A couple minutes later, there she is again at the first corner. They've gone around the block. Oh no, the poor car!

She goes by again, doing a little better this time.

It dawns on us that the guy is teaching her how to drive with the manual tranny.

Here she comes again. We all shout encouragement at her. "You can do it!" "You're doing fine!" etc. They both wave and crack up.

This happens a few more times.

About the 5th time, she does it perfectly, with no detectable trouble, and we all stand and cheer for her.

So, it only took her about half an hour to get it right, I'd say.
 
To learn? About 2 minutes in a parking lot and around the block.

To get good and be qualified to say "I can drive stick"? All depends on you.

Over there you can probably get a nice torquey turbo deisel and a 6 speed. Having closer gear ratios and/or grunt down low is more forgiving in your ability to stall or chug it. Far less embarrassing to break the tires loose off the line than to look like you can't drive stick 😛

Contrast to me, I learned on a 2 bbl carbed 318 with a 3 speed. Not fun for a beginner having a 3000 RPM drop between shifts combined with an uninspiring engine that can't rev too high to begin with and doesn't have the low RPM torque to keep it spinning when you shift too early and let off the clutch in too high a gear.

And when you master one car, you can turn around and stall another car like a n00b. Every car is different and takes a few stop and go events to adjust. Even a new clutch in the manual you've driven for years can surprise you.
 
I bought my new car with a manual. So I was learning while I was test driving it. Stalled like 4 times before I realized I left the handbrake on 🙂
 
I would say it takes a couple weeks to get really comfortable if you are starting from ground zero.

might be worth checking around to see if you can rent a manual somewhere local, then find a little hill to practice your 1st gear launches. After you can do that reliably it's all gravy.
 
Depends a lot on the car. My Saab has a horribly touchy clutch, I'd hate to learn on that. But on most cars after 2-3 successful starts you're 95% there. After that, it's just a matter of building your confidence.

Remember this, though-replacing clutches is expensive. It's a lot better to go through the "humiliation" of stalling the car every once in a while then to burn the clutch out by slipping it too much.
 
In addition to what others have mentioned. Driving in a secluded parking lot and driving in rush hour traffic are two completely different things... You want to get to the point where shifting gears is mechanical to you; doing it without thinking about it.

Good luck, it is really nice to be able to control the car and have it do what you want it to do (relatively speaking).
 
Originally posted by: Thump553
Depends a lot on the car. My Saab has a horribly touchy clutch, I'd hate to learn on that. But on most cars after 2-3 successful starts you're 95% there. After that, it's just a matter of building your confidence.

Remember this, though-replacing clutches is expensive. It's a lot better to go through the "humiliation" of stalling the car every once in a while then to burn the clutch out by slipping it too much.
Click to expand...

he's renting the car... i don't think he's going to worry about the life of the clutch 🙂 his BIL might though.. haha
 
Seriously, it doesn't take long. I never drove stick until I bought my Camaro. I test drove it in the parking lot for maybe 5 minutes and got a feel for the clutch after stalling it out a couple times. The next day I drove it home about 20 miles or so and stalled once or twice. After a few hours you should be fairly comfortable. Shifting gears is easy. The hardest part for me was taking off.

The worst part was the girl who was selling the car was a hot little blond (who could drive the car) and every time I stalled the car it felt like I was on the verge of having my man card revoked.
 
EDIT: OOOPS I Misread the OP. It'll take a couple of hours.

It took me ~10 minutes just to learn how to get my car to move, and about 2 hours, I was able to get the car moving in traffic. Upshifting is easy once the car is moving.

I have had my car now for 2 months, and I am relaxed with it. Every so often I will accidentally try to take off in 3rd (and actually make it!) but for the most part, I don't even think twice when I am driving my car.

For the 1st month, I was a nervous wreck in traffic, scared to go into intersections and super scared of hills.

I am also almost at the point where I can drive as aggressively with my stick shift, as I did with my auto.

So I'd say ~2 - 3 months to get comfortable enough to not think about it. I still have issues downshifting, but I am getting much better at that too.

 
So my problem seems to have been solved - my mom just called and said she wants come with me (plane leaves tomorrow at 6!), so I guess she can drive it off the lot and teach me on some quiet street/lot.
 
In an earlier life I ran a car rental office for AVIS and rented a '79 Fury to a couple from Germany. They had limited English and I had limited German but, I showed them the basic controls and sent them on their way. Three days later, I get a call informing me the breaks were bad on the car.

I was puzzled because the car had just been in for 3000 mile maintenance. I took another Fury out to them and sure enough the brakes were worn and squealing on the first car. The woman asked if Fury's were "delicate" cars?

After a bit of conversation, I discovered that the couple had never heard of an automatic! They were sure those crazy Americans had somehow combined the break and clutch functions. I explained carefully and took them for a short drive demonstrating how I never moved the shift lever and only touched the brake pedal except when I wanted to stop. They said they understood and apologized for the trouble.

I helped them put their luggage in the new car and watched them drive off into the west with brake lights glowing merrily. 🙂
 
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