Tips for driving stick/manual?

[NutBucket]

Sad but true. Oh well, I'll still take the MT.

 

[EXCellR8]

I'm not against EV's, not at all really, but in order to charge that EV you still need to get power; that power still comes from the grid. The grid isn't completely clean in how it's energized--so it's not a flawless system. Sure, more and more people driving EV's wont hurt in helping to lower overall emissions but it still doesn't completely cut out the need for other energy sources.

I mean, at the end of the day, the planet is kind of screwed unless w find alternative fuels. Electricity still has to be generated somehow, and not all of it is clean.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

driving a manual isn't very hard. Getting smooth at it to the point where no one can tell its a manual VS an auto is another thing.

Many people just ride the clutch a LOT when they learn to drive. If your willing to learn then its just a matter of minutes/hours til your good at it.

It was an art I mastered with the hand-me-down family Volkswagon. Eventually, knowing that you don't want to wear down the clutch plate while wanting a smooth ride, it becomes a sort of ballet exercise.

And this is all fine . . . Until you arrive at an age around 50 or 60. Then, the arthritis and minor sprains of youthful marathon hiking trips catch up with you, adding the cramps and soreness of using the clutch for 3,000-mile epic journeys across country crammed into three days.

So you learn how to use the "kick-down" feature of an automatic transmission when you need to downshift and accelerate. Better! -- you discover "Cruise-control", as you say to the little lights on the dash-panel -- "Where have you been all my life?!"

Anyway, if you're going to red-line the accelerator pedal and "Pop the clutch" -- do it in someone else's car, or a dealership's demo model . . . Unless you have a sponsor who puts you into a $200,000 race-car to be the next Danika Patrick or Mario Andretti. In those circumstances, you can burn up all the clutch-plates you wish. Just don't punch out in a ball of flame and twisted metal . . .

 

[mopardude87]

I found out at least for me that learning how to drive a auto worked out much better then trying to learn how to drive a car first thing with a stick. My first car never put in name i drove was a 86 tercel 5 speed and i nearly backed into a $60k Benz. Yeah i handed my buddy who was a driving instructor for years the keys and he bought it off me. Eventually bought a $800 4 door 1968 dart slant 6 with a cracked exhaust manifold that sounded like a m4 sherman and well drove that into the ground. Eventually got behind the wheel of a 1982 datsun 280z 5 speed and stick became MUCH easier. God i miss that car. 🙁 miss both the dart and 280z.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I found out at least for me that learning how to drive a auto worked out much better then trying to learn how to drive a car first thing with a stick. My first car never put in name i drove was a 86 tercel 5 speed and i nearly backed into a $60k Benz. Yeah i handed my buddy who was a driving instructor for years the keys and he bought it off me. Eventually bought a $800 4 door 1968 dart slant 6 with a cracked exhaust manifold that sounded like a m4 sherman and well drove that into the ground. Eventually got behind the wheel of a 1982 datsun 280z 5 speed and stick became MUCH easier. God i miss that car. 🙁 miss both the dart and 280z.

Interesting.

I would guess that most people -- including me for the longest time -- think that a manual stick-shift transmission gives them "more control" over the car. And even when I was 42, I made a cross-country beginning in No. Virginia in my Super-Civic with the 5-speed Accord tranny. By day 1, I was stuck in a Little Rock traffic jam. I was gobbling popcorn to stay awake. I finally took a motel room in Oklahoma City, slept for six or seven hours, and then resumed driving. A hail and slush-ball storm on the Mogollon Rim gave me a great scare, but late that afternoon I was rallying with a Corvette just outside Kingman AZ as the sun was going down. As I drove through Essex, CA, I had the worst cramp in my left ass to my life-long remembrance. Pulled in to the family home in Riverside that morning, limped upstairs and fell asleep. I think I was "out" for 12 or 14 hours.

It took me another two days to get rid of that cramp.

Now, 30 years later, I have great appreciation for a decent automatic transmission. And I really miss my 1964 Chevy SS Impala 3-speed, which I foolishly let go in 1977. I should've kept that beast . . . .

Well I've been warped by the rain. .
Driven by the snow . .
I'm drunk and dirty, don't you know . . .

 

[mopardude87]

I would guess that most people -- including me for the longest time -- think that a manual stick-shift transmission gives them "more control" over the car. As I drove through Essex, CA, I had the worst cramp in my left ass to my life-long remembrance. Pulled in to the family home in Riverside that morning, limped upstairs and fell asleep. I think I was "out" for 12 or 14 hours.

Yeah if you ever drove a 97 auto corolla then a stick then its another experience. I constantly am able to do burn outs with the stick from take off lol. I got back issues so sometimes the stick isn't something i care to drive cause of cramps that idk somehow get my back going. I can relate to the cramps for sure. I do prefer the stick on the open road over a auto but in town i prefer the auto in the 2016 versa.

I know i saw a video of a old dodge dart and they had this console shift stick that acted also as a automatic. You put it in third and keep it there or just shift the gears as a regular stick. Was a nice thing and one i would love to reproduce but like with a 383 or 360 magnum. Get the best of both worlds but honestly its hard to beat a 727 auto tranny though. Some people race those things, they are certainly good enough.