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Sun Nov 09, 2008 9:16 pm

I taught myself in my Bug last year and every so often, my older brother lets me drive his '85 Mazda RX-7

Mon Nov 10, 2008 7:03 am

When I was teaching my oldest daughter, she stalled it in the middle of an intersection after the light turned green. She started it, then stalled it again. Then she opened the driver door and bolted out! I opened the passenger door, dashed around, started it up, and backed it out of the intersection. Four years later, she likes manual trans best. My younger one also drives stick; the boys at the high school are very impressed. I felt that if I didn't make them learn it, then they'd never learn. Today's drivers with their ever-present cell phones and Starbucks only have one hand to drive with, heard stick shift cars are down to about 8% of new. That will make it tough to find manual when I upgrade my truck to a used Tacoma some day.

Mon Nov 10, 2008 1:39 pm

Im still learning,all i have to practice on is my backyard and its all dirt and i it's not big enough to get into 2nd gear.Im just not sure when to release the clutch,it stalls if i release it any slower then 4mph because of the heightened gearing from the big tires.But im slowly getting better and it's fun.

Mon Nov 10, 2008 8:02 pm

I think I was 12 when I first learned to drive a standard trans. As of now, none of the vehicles both I and my dad own are automatics. But for my courier job, the vans I drive are all autos. Every time I come to an intersection I start reaching for the clutch and stick, to shift down. I kinda start to panic when I can't find either, then realize I'm driving an auto. :oops: :lol:

Mon Nov 10, 2008 9:30 pm

OK here we go N -1 gear give it gas release clutch give it gas, clutch 2 second gear easy on the gas pedal , clutch 3 gear whit easy on the gas pedal, clutch 4 gear whit easy on the gas pedal cruise 65 clutch down shift reverse order but down shifting using break back to N. :lol:

1-3
N
R 2-4

Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:25 pm

i prefer a standard over an auto.

Though, up until the other day, i'd only driven the older "spring" style clutch. and the other day, i drove a 90's or early 00's toyota that had a hydraulic clutch.. i prefer the spring clutch.. you can really feel where its engaging at, it takes a heavier foot to use it, but i still like the older style.

i went to push the clutch pedal down and almost put my foot through the floor.. >.< drove it a good 100+ miles back home and dropped it off at my friends house. got in my car and REALLY felt the difference.

Tue Nov 11, 2008 3:59 am

They all feel different. My B2200 truck fells different than the VW, and the '98 Frontier is quite hard to push down compared to those two.

Wed Nov 12, 2008 3:28 pm

I learned stick a little on the farm but got really good when my brother tailed my Dad and I out to the middle of nowhere where Dad got out of my Beetle, got in with my brother and left me to get home on my own.

over and hour later and white knuckles, I made it.

Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:07 am

Ha! Sounds familiar. I was with my uncle riding back from the auto parts store (I worked in his shop when i was a kid). He stopped in the middle of nowhere and said, "Time for you to drive." I told him I couldn't drive a stick and he said, "You drive or you walk."

I drove.

Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:48 am

I dont really remember learning how to drive a manual. When we were kids my dad had this bomber ford ranger and I can remember that thing was a PAIN to drive. What I love the most about manuals is that you never forget how to drive one. I didnt drive one for like 3 years and got into (dont remember the car) and it was like second nature.

When I got married my wife had never driven a manual before. We went to look at a Bug for sale and we took it for a test drive. I drove to the local community college which had a huge parking lot and let her drive. She didnt do to bad for a first timer. Seems like first timers always forget to release the parking brake and you think they just suck and then you realize that the parking brake is on. :lol:

We bought that Bug and it was her car. She quit driving her automatic and drove the Bug all of the time. At first she started to complain that her left calf was hurting and it was because of the stiff clutch.

Sun Feb 01, 2009 2:32 am

I learned about 4 months ago, I bought a 65 Beetle to replace my 74 Autostick Beetle. Couldnt afford insurance for both, so practiced around my apartment for 3 hours. Drove to work the next day with only 2 stalls :/

4 months later and I have difficulty driving automatics, I'm always listening for shift points ad pushing invisible clutch pedals....

Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:44 am

LOL the steriotype holds, women are bad drivers. did u know automatics were invented for women and disabled old people[/quote]

My girlfriend wanted to learn in my 71 bus, after just one jerk of my little tranny i said nevermind you can learn in another car

Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:06 am

richie71' wrote: ...just one jerk of my little tranny...

heh

Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:10 am

I think automatics in US are dying because of cell phones and Starbucks. Unbelievable how many people are on the #^%**($@%&*($#%&*(*# cell phones in their vehicles these days.

Fri Feb 20, 2009 6:22 pm

Cusser wrote: I think automatics in US are dying because of cell phones and Starbucks. Unbelievable how many people are on the #^%**($@%&*($#%&*(*# cell phones in their vehicles these days.

Not in California. :wink: BTW, I made my daughter take her driver's test in a '65 bus.

Thu Feb 04, 2010 4:51 am

when i was 14 i payed my friends brother 5 bucks to teach me to drive stick, 10 minutes later- i felt like a million bucks because i was moving levers and kicking pedals.

Thu Feb 04, 2010 8:00 am

I started driving the Beetle when I was 12, around parking lots and my neighborhood with my dad. I started getting to where I wouldn't stall it anymore when I was around 15. When we were looking for me a good daily, I insisted that it would have to be a manual. I got it, '09 GTI 6 speed. I drove home from getting my learner's permit in the GTI, only stalled it once. I tried teaching my friend on the GTI a month or so ago, and never again. He stalled it about 10 times, and could never get the hang of it. Even after about a half hour of driving around the church parking lot, he wasn't much better than when we started. I really don't want him driving my car again.

I'm glad I drive a stick everyday, it gives me an excuse to never answer my phone while I'm driving.

Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:37 am

I haven't yet :P I know the basics but I haven't put them to the test on the road yet lol. My grandpa has a manual but he won't let me drive it cause it's a BMW Z3 haha

Thu Feb 04, 2010 12:48 pm

I learned on my mothers 924, what a pain in the butt; then learned a bit more on my dad's Audi Quattro, I got that stuck on a snow bank. I was able to "fine tune" my skills on my 66 Ghia.

Thu Feb 04, 2010 3:13 pm

My dad taught me when I was 16, after I had been driving for almost a year or so. I learned on a little 1992(?)ish Izsuzu pickup. But it was the family's only manual-transmission vehicle at the time, and one morning shortly thereafter my dad wrecked it during commute traffic on his way to work. So, no practice for awhile :(

A couple years later I bought my first stick-shift daily driver, a Ford Escort. I haven't owned an automatic car since. When I was working as a delivery driver/supervisor at Round Table Pizza (around 19/20 years old at the time) I taught all the drivers how to drive stick. Most of them didn't know how, and our delivery vehicles were stickshift.

Each car feels different. Even identical cars feel different from each other. As you gain seat time in your stickshift car, you'll learn its quirks. Like: my 1987 Mustang GT could not be dropped into R from N unless you shifted up to 5th first, then dropped straight down. It would grind otherwise. All 5.0 'stangs are like that apparently; I've heard the same trick from other 5.0 owners, lol!

Also, you can shift gears without depressing the clutch pedal, but you have to know when. You can't just throw it into gear...there's a "sweet spot" where you match the transmission output speed with the engine's output speed. Of all the cars I've owned, not all of them could be shifted this way. Example: I could do it with my RX-7s all day, but the Mustang GT hated it. I haven't tried it yet with my Beetle.