Is manual difficult to drive?!

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Small hint (you sometimes hear of people not used to manuals doing this): When driving around in highest gear, don't even accidently shift into R(acing) mode, the R means something slightly different 🙂

 

[superkeith]

what's the landscape like where you live?

learning standard in flat los angeles was pretty fast. i remember crying the first day, but i was comfortably on the freeway for my 20 mile work commute within a week. i was still very focused on my shifting and footwork for the first couple months. everything comes with experience. so expect to feel initially uneasy, but one day it will strike you that shifting has become instinctual and you will not give the stop sign atop the hill a second thought.

 

[Scootin159]

<< Small hint (you sometimes hear of people not used to manuals doing this): When driving around in highest gear, don't even accidently shift into R(acing) mode, the R means something slightly different 🙂 >>



It is physically IMPOSSIBLE to throw it into reverse when moving forward. Not only will you never get it in gear, but most cars have a lockout on it as well. About as far as you could even get is to grind the syncro's a little (which is still bad, but not as bad as it could be).

 

[Rallispec]

<<

<< Small hint (you sometimes hear of people not used to manuals doing this): When driving around in highest gear, don't even accidently shift into R(acing) mode, the R means something slightly different 🙂 >>



It is physically IMPOSSIBLE to throw it into reverse when moving forward. Not only will you never get it in gear, but most cars have a lockout on it as well. About as far as you could even get is to grind the syncro's a little (which is still bad, but not as bad as it could be). >>



is it just impossible at high speeds or all the time.. becuase i know when i'm reversing out of the parking space i can throw it into first when i'm moving backwords... i'm only going 1-2 miles per hour though. 😛 And does it work the same for going from reverse into first... could i be going backwords and throw itno gear and start going forward?

I just got my new car last week and its the first stick i've ever had-- so i'm still learning also. after one week i can drive around without stalling and manage on hills okay-- however i still have to think and watch everything i do and i'm very not smooth at it... its going to take a while before i become good at it.

 

[HappyFace]

<< what's the landscape like where you live?

learning standard in flat los angeles was pretty fast. i remember crying the first day, but i was comfortably on the freeway for my 20 mile work commute within a week. i was still very focused on my shifting and footwork for the first couple months. everything comes with experience. so expect to feel initially uneasy, but one day it will strike you that shifting has become instinctual and you will not give the stop sign atop the hill a second thought. >>

For the most part there aren't many hills here!

Flat road = usually
Slight incline = sometimes
Hills = hardly ever
Mountains = you be smoking crack, yo! :Q

 

[Nemesis77]

Manual is better. Better gas-mileage, better performance. And it's not difficult to drive.

This whole thread reminds me of a story my friend told me. His girlfriend was visiting USA, and she wanted to rent a car. She specified that she wants one with manual transmission (since about 90% of cars sold in Finland are manual, she had plenty of experience in driving one). First, the person she was talking to repeatedly asked her "are you sure you know how to drive a manual?". Then, as she was picking up the car, an employee of the rental-company arrives, and teaches her for 10 minutes on how to drive with a manual transmission. All that despite the fact that she kept on saying "I have been driving cars with manual transmission for about 10 years now!".

honestly, they made it sound like driving a manual is about as difficult as performing a open-heart surgery 😀.

 

[Thegonagle]

Reverse gear is not synchronized in most cars, except for really, really high dollar ones. This is what causes some drivers to grind briefly while shifting into reverse from neutral. If you always shift from neutral, into any forward gear and then into reverse, you will prevent this grinding. The forward gears are synchronized, so by shifting into a forward gear first, you are synchronizing the input shaft of the transmission to the speed of the car, which should always be zero before shifting to reverse.

Most cars have a lockout of some sort that prevents you from accidentally shifting into reverse (such as directly from 5th to reverse, if R is to the right and back). It is still very possible to attempt to shift into reverse (such as by going from 5th to neutral, then reverse) when you are going at a high rate of speed, but this will result in a horrible high frequency grinding noise, and unless you apply a lot of pressure, you are unlikely to succeed. If you do succeed that means that you just used an unsynchronized gear to bring the input shaft from 2000-3000 RPM forward to 8000-12,000 RPM backwards, and that?s not going to happen without consequences.

 

[Moonbeam]

Stick shifts are for cars that were built before anybody could figure out how to make an automatic. They are for people who require the illusion that they are doing something signifigant to make the car go. They are a comp[lete waste of physical effort and a pain in the neck. In traffic you will find yourself constantly having to shift and hold the clutch in which eventually produces a right leg twice the diameter of the left. Get yourself a coffee mug and set it on the seat beside you and enjoy carefree effortless one hand driving. If you need to do something, put your hand on your girlfriend's knee where you will be able to let it wonder without the constant distraction of removing it and putting it back and removing it and putting it back as you shift and shift and shift. Why make where that hand is glaringly obvious every second. Geez After a while you will find it extremely irritating that you have to shift into reverse.

 

[ThaGrandCow]

I taught 2 people how to drive stick over the course of 3 hours

 

[Thegonagle]

Hey, Moonbeam it's about control, or perhaps the illusion of control. But if it's only an illusion, don't tell me about it and spoil my fun! 🙂

 

[jarfykk]

I bought my first car, a 5-speed (manual) 1995 240sx without knowing howto drive the damn thing. Had the guy I bought it from drop me off and my roomate teach me. Two days later I drove from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley (ala the mighty 405) during rush hour. Think 'sink or swim.' Not too much fun, but made it. I actually stalled on the freeway, luckily we weren't moving more than ~2mph. Anyway, buy a car as its condition, while a manual if more 'fun', and auto will do just fine.

 

[Nocturnal]

you arent going to learn on your first try. you'll probably get it on your second day of training if you know what i mean.

it isnt hard, nor is it easy.

you need a good teacher to teach you too. i taught two of my friends how to drive stick within a day.

 

[HappyFace]

Woohoo! A friend of my sister agreed to teach me how to drive stick. We're going to use her old beater 🙂

shweeeeet! 😎

 

[Zenmervolt]

First manual vehicle I drove: 1982 Honda CB450SC motorcycle. Took me less than two days to get it all sorted out. After one week I wasn't even thinking about it anymore.

First manual car: 1976 914, within a week I was fine, though the synchros are shot so I'm now trying to learn how to double clutch, this is taking longer.

ZV

 

[SCSIfreek]

I'm too lazy to drive a stick. Especially driving in S.F., where there is lots of hills and stop signs. Also its a pain in the A$$ to seat through traffic in a stick. Nonetheless stick is more fun to drive. Learning it would be a good experience though 🙂.