YACT: Drove a manual car properly for the first time today!

[V00DOO]

Manual rocks til you get stuck in traffic!

 

[Platypus]

I've owned both, they each have their benefits but I just like driving a manual more, it keeps me more alert on my speed and gives me better control, especially when weather conditions are sh!tty (like every day in the midwest).

 

[pray4mojo]

Originally posted by: Twista

Originally posted by: Xyclone
I drove my friend's Mini Cooper S after school today, and because of its very heavy flywheel, it was extremely easy to drive stick. My takeoffs were sometimes as smooth as a manual, and I never stalled. It's surprisingly easy and extremely fun! Then he taught me heel-to-toe downshifting and all that, and that wasn't as easy as I thought. Anyways, I definitely want my next car to be a stick!

flywheel??? You mean his clutch lol???

Anyways congrats.


For a Daily driver ill get an automatic. For a sporty car like my car ill stick with the 5spd manual.

Actually flywheel is the right term.

 

[Dunbar]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo

Originally posted by: Dunbar
I drove a BMW 335 6-speed today, now that is a fun car.

335xi? The twin turboed model?

I've been trying to find one of these locally - have found a model of it with an automatic transmission, but that doesn't interest me.

300HP twin-turbo but not AWD. I was shocked to see a 6-sp at this particular dealer in SoCal. It was silly fast but even at "only" $41k sticker probably too much for me.

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: SampSon
heel-toe driving on the streets is for people who want to think they are a racecar driver, but are really just rocking an econobox.

meh...you can do the same thing as a heel and toe without being all ricerlike. I wouldn't dream of letting the clutch out with my foot on the gas so that I can match RPM to speed.


Learn to shift without the clutch....helps with my lazy streak!

 

[Staples]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
No offense to the OP, but I just don't get the manual transmission worship that seems to go on here. Manuals are better suited for some things, autos for others. I've gotten equal amounts of fun out of each.

This is the only forum where the manual trasmission fanboys outweigh any other type of fanboy. I think I am just going to be an advocate of automatics to spite these fanboys.

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: V00DOO
Manual rocks til you get stuck in traffic!

I like a manual in traffic more...let a bit of a gap build, first gear, no gas, no brake.

I hit traffic everyday in my manual, and it's fine. I love being able to throw it into neutral and not have to hold the brake.

 

[ballmode]

you can learn on a motorcycle next

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: Ophir

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Driving our automatic is kind of weird for me because I don't really know what to do with my right hand and left foot.

So now I dangle my leg out the window and fire a rifle through the sun roof while driving.

Ok, so I made that last part up. Our car doesn't have a sun roof.

Yeah. The worst is when you go to brake and your left foot instinctively looks for a pedal to mash. It once caught the brake and we slammed to a stop. The left foot only knows to go straight to the floor. Since then I always keep it on the dead pedal, though it doesn't seem to happen anymore.

guilty of this too....especially if it's a car I haven't driven much, and it's a "sudden" stop. Hello nose, meet windshield.

 

[Xyclone]

To clear things up, I didn't actually heel-to-toe... he showed me how, I tried it once, and I was horrible at it, so I just stuck to perfecting my launch, and then practiced launching at higher RPM's. And it is a heavy flywheel by the way, as I don't see why a heavy clutch would make driving stick easier at all. By the way, my current daily driver is a 2003 Toyota Tundra, and is an automatic. But, because my high school is so close, and I might stay at a dorm/apartment at college, I really don't see how I will be sitting in traffic at all. I'm pretty sure the MCS is weak compared to other cars, but it was the fastest car I've driven, and hearing that supercharger spool up was great. :thumbsup:

 

[MazerRackham]

Originally posted by: nweaver

Originally posted by: V00DOO
Manual rocks til you get stuck in traffic!

I like a manual in traffic more...let a bit of a gap build, first gear, no gas, no brake.

I hit traffic everyday in my manual, and it's fine. I love being able to throw it into neutral and not have to hold the brake.

I totally agree. I have no problems even in the WORST LA traffic with my manual.

 

[cirrhosis]

Bought a black 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 (manual) last month - it's awesome, tons of fun to drive.

If you find one, I highly recommend it.

 

[krunchykrome]

Try driving a manual as a daily driver through stop and go traffic.

Tell me if You still want a manual.

 

[b0mbrman]

Made your penis feel good, didn't it?

I still remember the first time I drove a manual...haven't owned an automatic since

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Try driving a manual as a daily driver through stop and go traffic.

Tell me if You still want a manual.

Shifter in 1st. Clutch up, clutch down, repeat.

Not bad at all...

 

[Mellman]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
You learned to drive stick today, and then rev matching with heel and toe in the same day?

If you want to see if you really learned how to shift into gear properly, push the clutch in, put the shifter in first, and try getting the car in motion without using the gas pedal. If you can do this, you know what you're doing.

agreed... + do it on a hill, then you REALLY know what you're doing.

 

[DougK62]

The only good thing an automatic has going for it is that it's easy to eat and drive at the same time.

I'll stick with the manual.

 

[psteng19]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
If you want to see if you really learned how to shift into gear properly, push the clutch in, put the shifter in first, and try getting the car in motion without using the gas pedal. If you can do this, you know what you're doing.

Sorry, that says nothing about knowing how to drive a manual, or as you say it "learn how to shift into gear properly."

All that means is you can release the clutch slowly.

 

[psteng19]

Originally posted by: nweaver

Originally posted by: V00DOO
Manual rocks til you get stuck in traffic!

I like a manual in traffic more...let a bit of a gap build, first gear, no gas, no brake.

I hit traffic everyday in my manual, and it's fine. I love being able to throw it into neutral and not have to hold the brake.

Except when guys in other lanes see your opening and cut in front of you.
You end up going nowhere and the people behind you get pissed off and throw crap at your car.

I personally find going uphill IN traffic to be worst case scenario.

 

[Xyclone]

If I won't be hitting traffic at all (I will only be going on the freeways twice a week or so, and the first 2 years of my college education will be at a local college, then do you recommend a manual? I live in Los Angeles btw, we invented traffic.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: psteng19
I personally find going uphill IN traffic to be worst case scenario.

Not quite. Uphill, in stop and go traffic, on ice and everyone is honking at you is the worst case scenario.

After years of that, I switched to auto and I never want to go back.

Plus I've always wondered, what is the fun for all of you who are driving on a freeway/highway and you aren't shifting anyways?

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: psteng19
I personally find going uphill IN traffic to be worst case scenario.

Not quite. Uphill, in stop and go traffic, on ice and everyone is honking at you is the worst case scenario.

After years of that, I switched to auto and I never want to go back.

I've been driving a manual for the last 4 years and my next car is definetly going to be an automatic....unless it's a $100K sports car.

 

[Aikouka]

See, this is why my Altima is a CVT with Manual Shift mode, so when I want to feel like a super duper Jeff Gordan wanna-be, I just pop it into manual shift mode and have a bit of fun to quell the inner Nascar racer* in me . Manual Shift mode is like all the fun of a manual without the clutch .

*Note: I don't actually watch Nascar at all.

 

[dmw16]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
You learned to drive stick today, and then rev matching with heel and toe in the same day? Take it slow and do it properly, too many idiots running around burning their clutches because they didn't give themselves a chance to learn how to properly drive a car with a manual transmission.

If you want to see if you really learned how to shift into gear properly, push the clutch in, put the shifter in first, and try getting the car in motion without using the gas pedal. If you can do this, you know what you're doing.

This isn't really true. This is just a matter of how fast you can let out the clutch. Also a function of how much torque the car has. In my car (S2000) I can only get going a few mph with no gas, in my friend's camaro I can get up to about 20mph.

A better test would be hill holding with just the gas and the clutch.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: Aikouka
See, this is why my Altima is a CVT with Manual Shift mode, so when I want to feel like a super duper Jeff Gordan wanna-be, I just pop it into manual shift mode and have a bit of fun to quell the inner Nascar racer* in me . Manual Shift mode is like all the fun of a manual without the clutch .

*Note: I don't actually watch Nascar at all.

Agreed. It's fun to shift gears during normal driving, but it's equally as fun to shift up or down in a sport-shifter.