Drive A Stick?

[AndyC]

I tended to avoid driving stick after the two driver ed lessons I had in a manual Dodge Omni in the mid-80s (the rest of the course used an automatic). I couldn't seem to get it into first gear without the car stalling on the first couple of tries. And by stalling, I mean hopping around for about 20 seconds then stalling.

When I met my wife, she had a manual Cavalier. Up until a few years ago, I managed to avoid driving that too. Eventually, however, we found some practical reasons why I should use the small car to commute and leave the minivan at home. My wife's attempts to teach me didn't go much better than the earlier efforts.

What finally did it was just driving the car to work every day. I've come to the conclusion that driving stick is something that can't really be taught. It's done almost entirely by feel, so the only way to learn is to do it for a while, until you develop a feel for it. Today, I can honestly say I can drive a manual transmission almost as easily as an automatic. I have to admit, I like being able to control the shift at those times when I want to accelerate really quickly.

There is only one pitfall. When I do drive the minivan, I sometimes forget I'm driving an automatic. Usually, that means reaching for a shifter that isn't there when approaching a turn, but occasionally, I jam my left foot hard on the brake pedal. Whoopsie.

[Ash]

I've come to the conclusion that driving stick is something that can't really be taught. It's done almost entirely by feel, so the only way to learn is to do it for a while, until you develop a feel for it.

I agree.
I've taught two people (male and female friends of mine) how to drive a stick and the best I could do was to give them a broad outline as to how it all works.
Then they put it in 1st gear and killed the engine.  

Once they got the "feel" for it, they had no problems.  We drove around until they felt comfortable going out into heavy traffic.
They did well, except for the couple times they killed the engine again at a stop light or sign.

Someone else mentioned being stopped or parked on a hill when driving a stick. 
I hate when I think I'm gonna back into the car behind me.  Those of us who know how to drive one know that when you give it gas on a hill, the car rolls back a little bit.  It's especially nerve wracking in winter when you're on a slick hill and someone pulls up extra close. 

[Patient7]

I'm only 16, I can barely drive at all, let alone you're nutty stck shifts.  I do hope to learn how one day, as it may come in handy, maybe after I can get a job I'll be able to find one really cheap and it wont matter if I completley destroy it.

[schmendrik]

I'm only 16, I can barely drive at all, let alone you're nutty stck shifts.  I do hope to learn how one day, as it may come in handy, maybe after I can get a job I'll be able to find one really cheap and it wont matter if I completley destroy it.

It's just one more pedal. You get so you don't notice it. Of course, the hand that is busy with the stick shift is not going to be available for texting, playing with the CD player, drinking from the open whiskey bottle and flipping through the novel you're reading while you drive. But for some reason driving teachers frown on that stuff anyway.

[Patient7]

I'm only 16, I can barely drive at all, let alone you're nutty stck shifts.  I do hope to learn how one day, as it may come in handy, maybe after I can get a job I'll be able to find one really cheap and it wont matter if I completley destroy it.

It's just one more pedal. You get so you don't notice it. Of course, the hand that is busy with the stick shift is not going to be available for texting, playing with the CD player, drinking from the open whiskey bottle and flipping through the novel you're reading while you drive. But for some reason driving teachers frown on that stuff anyway.

That was my main worry is that I'm not the best multitasker, so I may have trouble focusing on what my hand is doing along with concentrating on the road.

[Raffine]

When I was in college the clutch went out in my Datsun B210. My dad told me that with practice I could drive without the clutch.

It was a bit tricky, but he was right.

I also periodically had ignition trouble so had to learn to start the thing by letting it roll and 'popping' the clutch.

It used to burn through headlight fuses like nothin' so I'd buy them by the box - and could change the fuse when it blew without stopping or even really slowing down.

Mine didn't look quite this good.

[AndyC]

Yeah, I knew guys who could drive without the clutch, back at the age when showing off was reason enough to learn the skill. At my age, I need a better reason to grind the crap out of my gears figuring it out. I did have the fun experience of having a cable come loose, changing the position of my gears. Totally baffling, until I figured out what gear I was in and where the others were.

The Cavalier has actually not been out of the driveway in a little while. Needs front bearings (which I have), and a couple free hours when it's light out and not raining (which I don't have). Decided about a year ago that it just isn't worth the cost of paying a mechanic to work on that thing.

[CheezeFlixz]

What is a "3 on the column manual transmission"? 
I've never heard of one before.

It was/is call "3 on the tree" a floor shift is "4 in the floor" or "4 in the floor and a 5th under the seat"


I never had anything but sticks, mainly because I've never had anything but 4X4's and a automatic 4X4 is just stupid. All my tractor are manuals, trucks manuals, cars manuals, motorcycles manual, the closest thing to a automatic I have the hydrostatic drive on my John Deere lawnmower.

[Eyesore]

 I've always had stick shift 4x4's as a primary vehicle and it was difficult for me to trust anything "new", like when I didn't have to get out of the vehicle and lock the front hubs by hand, etc.. 2 years ago, I bought a Jeep XJ with an auto tranny. I now trust them. I'll be putting ARB lockers on it this winter for rock crawling come spring. I saw no place for an auto either until I had one, and rock-crawled with guys who had auto's in their Rubicon's. It allows you to pick different lines and approaches for obstacles.