POLL: manual drivers, do you wiggle the stick to make sure your in neutral?

[Lifer]

i don't, but i've seen a couple of ppl that do.

 

[blackdogdeek]

all the time actually.

 

[Czesia]

It's habit

 

[Spamela]

when i drive a manual i do.

 

[Lifer]

do u really do that to make sure your in neutral?
or is it just a habit becuz u did that when u were learning.

 

[bolido2000]

Yes I do it to make sure I'm in neutral without having to look. It might be more of a habit tho

 

[blackdogdeek]

Originally posted by: Lifer
do u really do that to make sure your in neutral?
or is it just a habit becuz u did that when u were learning.

both. sometimes i do it to make sure and sometimes i do it while not even thinking.

 

[thomsbrain]

i don't usually need to check but if i realize i don't know if i'm in gear, then i do it.

 

[StageLeft]

I do. I wiggle it to the right as opposed to left, in some vain effort to ease up on the springing to the left, since most manuals are stiffer to the right and I want to even it up as much as possible

 

[bigd480]

yeah i always tap it to the left and now the bushings on my shifter are getting looser every day - when it gets to the point it feels like neutral when I am in gear I'll change them

 

[Hoober]

Yep, I wiggle it both ways.

 

[Aharami]

i do it all the time, cuz if im goin on a downward slope, i just put the car in neutral and let go of the gas (that is, if the angle of the slope is enough to sustain my current speed) --> save as much gas as possible

 

[NFS4]

I usually let someone else wiggle my stick

 

[Jzero]

No, I hate that. I just try to know if it's in gear or not. I may push it left or right if I'm unsure, but I don't wiggle it.
In fact, when I started teaching my fiancee, she did that a lot and it drove me nuts and I asked her to stop doing it.

 

[WHipLAsh13]

I wiggle it but not to make sure its not in gear. Its just something to do while you are waiting in traffic.

 

[freegeeks]

Originally posted by: NFS4
I usually let someone else wiggle my stick

heheheh

 

[Dedpuhl]

yep

 

[Electric Amish]

Yes I do.

 

[conjur]

Yep...every time before I take my foot off the clutch when I'm parking or at a light.

 

[Sid59]

it's more habit and something that's instinctive .. passes the time.

if you don't know that you shifted into neutral and do it to check .. you shouldn't be driving.

 

[Thegonagle]

Yes. So I know by feel that everything is "right."

I don't really wiggle it, but I do move it one time to the right toward 1st and 2nd when I do a "neutral check."

 

[HiTek21]

Its a habit to check to see if its in neutral

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
i don't usually need to check but if i realize i don't know if i'm in gear, then i do it.

Exactly! Driving a stick for many is so automatic ( ) that we don't think about it, and when we do, it's when we're settling in for a long red light or something and realize we want to take out foot off the clutch. We want to make sure we're out of gear before we snap out of auto-mode and take our foot off the clutch, so we check the stick to make sure we're in neutral.

 

[Dufman]

Originally posted by: Spamela
when i drive a manual i do.

 

[Toasthead]

yessir