Driving a stick.

Yeah, I know it's just one of those things that seems impossible but then once you get the hang of it you can't believe you ever had trouble with it. Pretty much like anything new you try in life. Still, I thought I'd be a bit better than I am. (I did pretty good today though! Still not totally smooth, but at least I'm not stalling it.)

I'll share an amusing tale. I bought this car from some auto marketplace in Essen, Germany (although you wouldn't know it was Germany since pretty much everyone there was Turkish) and 'cos basically everyone in my street knew I was going to Germany to get a car they all came over to my house to check it out when I got back. I had only ever driven a manual once, about six years ago, but I thought, how hard can it be? this is a newer car so it'll probably be even easier. With everyone coming over I thought I'll take the car out of the garage and show them. In front of everyone, I start the car, go about two meters and stall it. And again. And once more. Six times, in fact. No one laughed out loud or anything -- lucikly I didn't make out like I was some hotshot (which is the norm here) and said I wasn't very good with manuals -- but as you can imagine, a tad embarrassing nevertheless. One of those 'you'll laugh about it one day' things; so I thought I may as well start laughing now.
 
A friend taught me how to drive a manual a while back and so I decided to buy one 1.5yrs ago when I bought my first car. It was a sports car and so I felt it was appropriate... So I'm about to drive it out of the parking lot and my mom's in the passenger seat, thinking I know how to drive. For some reason I over-reved the thing and released the clutch way too fast, tires go spinning and I'm about to HIT another BRAND NEW car, my moms screaming...haha... Man, I'm such a dumbass... One of the car salesmen came running, asked me if "I needed help learning" (ofcourse like an idiot I said NO...) and took the car drove it to the exit for me so that I wouldn't hit any of thier cars... My mom was so scared on that trip home...

Anyways, here are some links that I found helpful back when I was learning.

http://www.standardshift.com/faq.html

http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/techcenter/articles/43837/article.html
 
When I was 15, my parents, who both had automatics, bought a car that was stick, just so I could learn on it. They insisted that I had to learn to drive a stick before they would let me drive an automatic. Well needless to say that I was terrified and confused and had many a times stalling in the middle of an intersection (and considering that I was learning to drive in L.A., this was NOT a good thing) and I burst into tears on more than one occasion. But eventually I got the hang of it..... To learn on hills, I would use the hand break (now I don't of course, but it was at least for me, the safest way to NOT roll backwards). When I turned 16 and I was getting my first car my parents almost had a heart attack when I said that I wanted a stick. And especially in L.A. where you ride the clutch about 80% of the time in traffic... in any case, the only automatic I've ever had was a Ford Explorer...and besides the fact that that car SUCKED...I appreciated driving a stick that much more because of the control you have over your car. Now I drive an A4 that is a stick and I love it. I find that people get nervous sometimes when I drive because they don't know how to drive stick and don't realize how much more control you have over your car than if you had an automatic. Sure in traffic it can be a pain, but for the rest of my life, if I have the option of getting a stick, I absolutely will. I want an GS300/430 for my next car though and unfortunately they don't have a manual so believe it or not, I might nix that car because of that, and that alone....although I don't know where that leaves me..... Oh well....
 
"Anyway, I now have to learn to drive the freaking thing. Man, is this an exercise in frustration or what! Right now I suck pretty badly. It's kinda perplexing to see 18 year old airhead chicks wizzing around while I can barely go forward two meters without stalling the damn thing; am I ever going to get it right? Could I really be that uncoordinated?"

Yes.
 
He he he.... reminds me of my manual learning story.

A friend of the family volunteered to teach me when I was
about 17 years old.

She was ULTRA hot. Super hottie.

Anyway... she drove a VW bug.


It took FOREVER for me to finally "Get it". :D :D :D

Yeah...a really really really looooong time to get the hang of it :D
Must of spent the whole day in the car with her :D :p :p

peace

axeman
 
Quote from axeman:

He he he.... reminds me of my manual learning story.
More...

Good one Axe....

My learning to drive a stick story also has a twist of psychology and desire.

I was 16, and in NY state, you could get a junior license (used to drive during the day, or to and from school or work IIRC) at 16, and regular license at 17 if you took driver's education. Otherwise, it was 18.

So I had a junior license, but the trouble was, it was useless in the 5 boroughs of NYC, and in Nassau County where I lived.

But my grandparents lived in Suffolk County (the other county on Long Island). A junior license was good to use in Suffolk.

Our family car was a VW Bug. Stick (don't think they had auto VWs then).

My dad's fun car was a Corvette. Also a stick.

My dad took me to my grandparents house after I got my jr. license, so I could learn to drive a stick. We went in the VW, which was supposedly one of the easier stick shifts to drive.

It was a complete disaster for me. Stalled on every start. I was hopeless.

We went back home, and my dad told me that the next weekend he would take me back in the 'Vette. (One of the most difficult sticks to drive).

A week of visualizing myself driving his very cool triple black Corvette passed very slowly for me.

Finally we got to Grandpa and Grandma's house. I got in the driver's seat of the Corvette, and drove the thing almost perfectly. Good enough that after 10 minutes or so, my dad let me drive the car without him in it. So he visited with his parents, and I cruised all over Huntington in a shiny black Corvette (top down of course).

And that was it. I have always had at least one manual transmission car. Some times two.

(living a good part of my adult life in Colorado meant four wheel drive, which until fairly recently meant manual transmissions).

Sports cars should be stick. Almost always had one.

Guy I work with just got a brand new Porsche Turbo Cabriolet. A pretty rare and expensive car. He got it with an automatic tranny. To me, it makes the car totally weird. An "almost" Porsche.

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. (Jimmy Buffett ) (and others).

Peace,
:)RS
 
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