Learning Manual and Test Driving Cars?

[Fenixgoon]

I'm strongly considering getting a new-to-me car in the near future and I'd like to get one with a manual.

The problem is is that I don't really know how to drive one - in theory yes, but my feet are stupid when it comes to clutches, so I can't actually drive a manual car in practice.

For those of you with manuals, did you learn on another car before you got your first manual car, or did you basically learn as you drove it away from buying it?


edit: FWIW, i'm looking at a 2004 Pontiac GTO. yes i know i'd have to be careful with the gas

 

[ecom]

A little of both. I knew enough to test drive and get it going. Drove about 50 mi home without stalling.

 

[jhu]

A little of both as well. If you know mechanically what's going on when you're pressing the pedals, it'll make more sense as to why you need to do things in a certain way. After that it's just a matter of practice.

 

[tontod]

I practiced on my friends car for a bit. Then I bought a car with a manual, lurched a few times, hah. Then I drove it home about 25 miles or so, just stalled once. This was last April. I've pretty much got the hang of it now, but still stall/lurch sometimes, esp. when I'm not paying attention, in an unfamiliar area, etc. I had a friend drive the car who said my clutch was very difficult, said he was surprised I was able to figure it out, so I dont feel too bad

I test drove a volvo recently, and the clutch is much lighter/easier than my current car (forester).

It is hard to learn, since you cant find a place to rent a manual too easily, friends are not going to be too willing to have you learn on their car. Only reason my friend allowed me was he was looking to sell the car, it was a geo prizm with 230k miles on it, and the clutch was on its way out anyway.

 

[Eli]

Learned on & drove a 4 speed manual 1/2 ton chevy pickup.

After driving that, everything else was cake.

 

[Fenixgoon]

FWIW, i'm looking at a 2004 Pontiac GTO. yes i know i'd have to be careful with the gas

 

[Eli]

Really, it's just something that takes practice. After a day of driving, you should be OK, and after a week it should feel natural.

 

[marvdmartian]

Not sure if they even have anything but automatics anymore, but I learned how to drive a stick on a U-haul truck! I reserved the biggest auto transmission truck they had (this is back in '88), showed up to pick it up, and they'd run out of that size........so gave me an "upgrade", to a bigger truck with a manual transmission.

I had about 100 miles to learn how to drive it, though I had tried learning in a car previous to that, so at least knew HOW it was supposed to work.

My oldest sister learned while she was in the Navy, stationed in Australia. A SeaBee buddy of hers had her jump in a 5 ton truck and drive it til she had the basics down, and THEN let her drive his car.

Big trucks with bullet-proof manual transmissions, FTW!! :awe:

 

[jhu]

FWIW, i'm looking at a 2004 Pontiac GTO. yes i know i'd have to be careful with the gas

Cars with more torque are easier to learn than those with less.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Learned the clutch/throttle action on quads.

Then learned in practice on a F350 4spd stick 4x4 with 33" tires. Had to double clutch for reverse and you always started out in 2nd gear. Passed my driving test at age 16 in that truck.

From then its been manual cars ever since.

If I was a dealer or private party I would allow you to stall the car once, after that I would kick your ass out of the drivers seat.

 

[angry hampster]

I learned on quads and motorcycles. First manual trans full-size vehicle I drove was a big diesel farm truck when I was about 14. Whenever I got the chance, I'd take out my grandpa's 4-cyl, 5-speed mini truck just to practice as well. Got my first man-tran vehicle back in September. Don't plan on going back to automatic.

 

[HarryLui]

Learned the basic on a friend's car. Practiced on my own car.

 

[thescreensavers]

I so want to learn but no one I know other then my cuz drive a manual lol.

 

[hans007]

I so want to learn but no one I know other then my cuz drive a manual lol.

same here, i drove a friends car in college and i know the basics, but there is nothing to practice on.

one of these days i'm going to just buy some old beater and consider the money burned on learning. its one of those things i want to learn how to do before manuals completely disappear.

 

[yh125d]

I would not recommend buying a manual til you've learned and are comfortable with one

 

[brblx]

the first manual that i bought, i brought a friend and let him drive it while i rode shotgun. he's intelligent enough to give me feedback on anything that might be off, and i was free to pay attention to other things.

it's not like i couldn't drive a stick at all, though, i just hadn't ever daily driven one, and that's what's needed for it to really become second nature. if you can't even pick the car up (i.e. no experience whatsoever), i'd want to learn on something else first. i drove away in my new purchase without incident, although i think i did kill it at a light on the way home...'least i owned it at that point, though. killing the engine isn't likely to ever harm anything or add much appreciable wear, but it's going to rub a lot of sellers the wrong way (excessive clutch slippage, even more).

 

[Raduque]

Learned on & drove a 4 speed manual 1/2 ton chevy pickup.

After driving that, everything else was cake.

This, except mine was a Ford 3/4 ton with a granny first and a HEAVY clutch. I miss that truck, was my first vehicle ever.

Edit: My dad bought it used, it was already 17-18 years old when we bought it. I just jumped in and started driving. Stalled it many a time, grinded even more, but that old beast took it all and kept on going, and now I can quite competently drive a manual transmission car.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Had my dad do the test driving and drive it home for me. I drove it around the neighbor hood for a couple days till I got the hang of it before going out on the real roads.

 

[basslover1]

I learned on a mid 90s eclipse when I was 15. It was a family friend of mine that was willing to teach me to drive, although it was a lot to take in still learning to drive in general and couple that with learning to drive a stick.

Bought my first manual when I was 18 and had to drive it 25 miles home, stalled once which wasn't bad since I hadn't driven a manual since I was 15 or so.

I've tried teaching two people on my car, never again. Maybe it was because they were both women (one was my sister and the other my gf at the time), but they both sucked.

 

[PricklyPete]

Learned the basic on a friend's car. Practiced on my own car.

Same here. If you don't have a friend with a really old beater that you can learn on... here's a thought:

1) But a $500-1000 piece of crap car that you drive for 2 months. Learn how to drive it smoothly. Sell it for $500 after those 2 months
2) Get yourself the car you want.

Either do that, or just learn on the car you buy...but that will keep you from really getting to test drive the car...plus put a lot of wear on your new "baby".

 

[Chapbass]

I bought a 1997 Trans Am without knowing a single thing about manual cars. My dad had to test drive it and bring it home. That night we went to a parking lot and mashed through it for a while. Let me tell you, trying to sleep that night with my childhood dream car in the garage below me was very...very difficult.

Started driving it the next day and never looked back.

 

[kalrith]

I got some practice in my brother's car for a couple weeks, and then I drove my wife's old car for about 3 months and got pretty good at it, but was still inexperienced. I didn't drive a manual for 7 years and then test drove a manual Pontiac Vibe last year when I was considering getting one. It was a bit of a jerky drive, but I was pretty impressed with how quickly it came back to me.

If you can't practice on a friend's car, then you might consider letting someone else test drive the car while you ride in it. That's less than optimal, but you might not get much of a feel for the car if you're fighting with the clutch the whole time.

 

[stash]

I watched a bunch of videos on YouTube and spent a lot of time reading the forum on standardshift.com. I had only test driven the auto model of my car before picking mine up and driving it 35 miles home. I stalled once in a construction zone, but otherwise it was pretty smooth.

 

[SnipeMasterJ13]

The LSx engines are pretty forgiving when driving manual because they have so much torque. I had only driven my friend's little 4 banger sundance a couple times before I bought a 2000 Trans Am WS6 with the 6 speed. The seller actually test drove it for me, but I drove it home 250ish miles without any problem.

I had a couple second thoughts in the first few days just because I wasn't comfortable going through town when it was busy, etc. That feeling went away instantly when standing on the gas pedal, though.

I say go ahead and do it. I highly doubt you'll be regret it!

 

[fbrdphreak]

The GTO is a piece of cake to learn driving stick - it was the first stick car I'd owned, and the 3rd I'd ever driven.

You can start up in 2nd in the GTO, to help you get the feel of the clutch in a more forgiving gear. Thanks to Marlin for that tip

There's no way to get a manual transmission car to practice on, unless you have a nice friend or are lucky enough to have a rental car agency nearby that has some (good luck).