Need some stick shift driving tips

B

Blackmirror

New member
I went to practice on my friends car. Only thing I have to practice on is getting the car moving without stalling in 1st gear. And the hardest for me right now is being on an incline with my left foot on clutch and right on brake. Then when I put my right foot on the gas the car will of course drift back. Sometimes I apply too much gas(maybe because I just paranoid) and let off the clutch too fast making the car buck or stall. Hate it when that happens. Can you give me some tips on driving on an incline?
 
On inclines, some people use the parking brake while they try to get the right "mix" of gas and clutch. Then when you think you got it--you'll know--you disengage the parking brake. This is more of a safety thing, like on a steep incline or when you don't want to hit anything behind you. I don't use it myself except in extreme situations. While learning, I'd stick to flat lands...



Driving stick is just one of those things you just have to practice because all cars are different. Some have "grabby" clutches, while some are smooth and real easy to get right away. What kind of car were you practicing on?



Good luck! :cool:
 
Let the clutch out slowly until you feel it start to grab. Then just give it a little gas. If you got a decent clutch, you should be able to SLOWLY let it out and the car will actually start to roll without giving it gas. (on a flat surface)
 
I said use the parking brake is a good method, altough it is very dificult to practice if your car is mercedez that have a foot parking brake.

Another method to learn is to try to learn how to make your vehicel stop by combining the foot pressure on your cluth pedal an accelerator pedal. You can now step on the gas and try to release the cluth pedal slowly until the car start to move. Once you have the feeling, it is very easy on will turn to be automatic to you

:)
 
The best tip ever is to practice, practice, practice . . .

I am not a fan of the e-brake method, you must learn the right way. As stated earlier release the clutch slowly until you have a feel for where it cathces, quickly move from brake to gas but DO NOT romp the gas pedal, despress it slowly while releasing the clutch. I have taught quite a few people how to drive a stick but and the most important thing is that you not over think the whole process, you are trying too hard.

I learned the hard way, a 1989 Porsche Speedster - Porsche clutches are notoriously tricky and to teach me how to drive it my father parked on a slight incline, got in the passanger seat, gave me the keys and said "Drive, and dont ruin my clutch or burn my tires".
 
tdekany said:
another way is to kepp tapping (revving it just a bit) the gas pedal while you let the clutch out slowly.
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That works perfectly....especially on incline if you have good foot control. But yes, practice is the best way to learn. Go do a few valet parking jobs and you'll learn, that's how I did.
 
Blackmirror- They're not BSing you, it really is all a matter of practice. The only "trick" is that you gotta practice doing the right thing.



You oughta get a book about this stuff. Explaining it is tricky, especially stuff like learning to match the revs/double clutch. It's best to learn this stuff from a good instructor, but you *can* learn it from a book (I did). Maybe Bondurant's book, available from Motorbooks International. Really is worth the money.



I'm with MS22- I too would avoid the e-brake thing, you don't need to do that and it will just delay your acquiring the skills you need.



Definitely practice on flat ground so you get the basics down. Doing it on inclines is just a matter of doing it faster (foot moving from brake to gas) and with greater control (tougher to get the "stall vs. bucking" thing right). Doing it under easy conditions (flat ground) will help you get a feel for what's going on. Try to *feel* the instant the clutch engages, feel how the little bit of gas you give it makes it all happen smoothly. It's all about being smooth.



Generla Lee- Yeah, *some* cars are pretty much foolproof and will let you engage the clutch with little or no gas, but I've only driven a few cars like that and I've only owned *two* of them that I can recall. And I've driven and owned a *lot* of different cars.



MS22- Heh heh, yeah, I too was basically told to "drive it and don't mess it up" with no real instruction :rolleyes: Cars with light flywheels can be a royal pain to drive smoothly, let alone to learn with.



Project "2"- Heh heh, hope we dont scare Blackmirror off with talk of such stuff ;) Yeah, it's only when you start doing things like heel & toe that you really take advantage of a manual's advantages.



I wouldn't rev match though, except maybe at first when still leaning. Or maybe on a track when things are happening fast, but most of the time (and always on the street) I'll double-clutch to save the synchros. Too many used manuals have worn out 2nd gear synchros, and double-clutching is becoming a lost art :( Heel & toe double clutching is *driving* ;)



Heh heh, I know some old-timers who think that having to double-clutch *up* shifts is no big deal :eek:
 
Put the car on a flat piece of land



put it into first



no foot on gas, just slowly let the clutch out and you should do well.



Please tell us what car you have, it will help

good luck
 
xfire said:
Put the car on a flat piece of land



put it into first



no foot on gas, just slowly let the clutch out and you should do well.
Click to expand...



There must be more cars out there that will allow this than I would've expected. Do that in a Porsche, Audi, 'vette, Subie, or anything else I can think of, and you'll stall it dead as a doornail. But then I've pretty much only driven stick shift cars of a certain "personality". You *could* do it in my Kormann M3, but that thing idled at nearly 1,000 rpms. Ditto for one of my old MOPARS, but those two were race cars with license plates.
 
Oppossed to the others, I am an advocate of the parking brake as aid. If inclines are part of your life and you have stick, use the parking brake as help while you get better. Once you get the necessary practice, you will do it like you were born with the skill, but for the learning process, help doesn't hurt ;)
 
On an incline, use the parking brake. Or to use its real name ;) the hand brake. Its not just for parking or emergencies, its for whenever you want control of your brakes without using your foot (except Mercs and similar oddballs of course!)



Without getting into a flame war, coming from a country where stick shifts are the norm not the exception, to say that using the the hand brake will delay you acquiring the skills is to be frank rubbish. On the other hand don't even think of trying inclines until you have the hang of the clutch anyway!
 
Accumulator said:
There must be more cars out there that will allow this than I would've expected. Do that in a Porsche, Audi, 'vette, Subie, or anything else I can think of, and you'll stall it dead as a doornail. But then I've pretty much only driven stick shift cars of a certain "personality". You *could* do it in my Kormann M3, but that thing idled at nearly 1,000 rpms. Ditto for one of my old MOPARS, but those two were race cars with license plates.
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While I never ever did this as a way to get moving, because it was very slow and easy to stall, I could do this with my 1987 Corvette. I'd do it occasionally just to impress myself with the torque available at idle (or at least that's what I thought).



However, starting out at 600 rpm doesn't seem like a very effective launch strategy, and I'd think it would annoy the crap out of anyone behind you.



I guess my advice would be to simplify starting out a bit. Bring the car to about 2,000 rpm or so, and then just use the clutch to get the car moving, not the accelerator. This way you are only moving one foot. If you have a fairly powerful car, maybe less revs are needed, if it's an econo motor, maybe more revs. Just a thought. :)



Accum, what book are you referring to that has shift principles in it?
 
Blackmirror, wish I was in the same boat as you. I rarely even ride in manual transmission cars. :o Just another thing for me to learn at some point and time one day.
 
When I was first learning to drive my stick, the easiest way I found to start out was to find a big open parking lot (like a church during the week during the day, or a college parking lot during summer) and just slowly let the clutch out. You'll start to feel the clutch grab, and the engine will start slowing down, and maybe the car will vibrate a little. That's your cue to start giving it gas, slowly at first. After a few ties, you'll get it. It really is a matter of practice. Basically, once you can get moving, its no big deal, and just a matter of time. My dad took my keys, removed the one to my car (the stick) and kept all the other ones so it was the only car I could drive for about two weeks. By the end of two weeks, its really no big deal, almost a mindless action. I still find myself going down the road and thinking "how the heck did I already get in 4th gear, I dont remember shifting?"
 
Accumulator said:
There must be more cars out there that will allow this than I would've expected. Do that in a Porsche, Audi, 'vette, Subie, or anything else I can think of, and you'll stall it dead as a doornail. But then I've pretty much only driven stick shift cars of a certain "personality". You *could* do it in my Kormann M3, but that thing idled at nearly 1,000 rpms. Ditto for one of my old MOPARS, but those two were race cars with license plates.
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There are. Most of the V8's will do it. NONE of the AWD's will do it however. I used to be able to do it all the work trucks I learned to drive stick on. However, when we got the WRX, forget it. I have to slip the clutch on that car than any other car I have ever driven. Almost as much as my motorcycles!
 
Once you've mastered the "hand brake" method of incline starts, then you're ready to try the "two foot" (for lack of a better term) method. This method works well when you're parked on an incline, eating a Big Mac and large fries, and simple don't have a free hand to use on the brake.



- Hold the clutch in with your left foot

- Hold the brake with your right heel

- Now give it gas with your right toe (while still holding the brake w/your right heel)

- Take a bit of your Big Mac

- Let out the clutch and release the brake and you're off!

:bounce
 
Dave N said:
Once you've mastered the "hand brake" method of incline starts, then you're ready to try the "two foot" (for lack of a better term) method. This method works well when you're parked on an incline, eating a Big Mac and large fries, and simple don't have a free hand to use on the brake.



- Hold the clutch in with your left foot

- Hold the brake with your right heel

- Now give it gas with your right toe (while still holding the brake w/your right heel)

- Take a bit of your Big Mac

- Let out the clutch and release the brake and you're off!

:bounce
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I'll practice that next time I valet. HA!;)
 
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