( How did you learn how to drive manual transmission )

[tEknoS13]

well, it all began just over a year ago. i went over with my dad to buy my 240 from some guy. i had no clue of how to drive stick. we got it back to my garage were it stood for 3 days without being touched. after the 3rd day i went over and started playing with it. (i almost took out the garage door ) my friend came over and drove it out and u just payed close attention to his foot work and the shifter. i tried it and after the 5th time i got the hang of it. only problem was in upward stoplights or stop signs. i left a lot of marks i tell u.

[scooz14]

i understood the concepts, but never actually did it until i got the 240. took me 15 min in my subdivision before i was driving on the road. i have since taught 3 other people.

[mchkc240]

I was born with the manual skill.

/thread

LOL I learned it on my first s13 coupe with slipping clutch. So I didnt stall much

[spooled240]

1991 4 dr DX corolla: My parents forced me to drive the stick shift, I even took my drivers test in the corolla...in a way, I knew how to drive a m/t before a a/t

[TheOne]

well i learned in my bro's 00 mustang GT, mostly the basics, then i fully learned when i got my rod knocking 240sx, that was fun.

[4WOFURY]

i learned in a chessey civic dx then drove a 2th gen fx7 for a week of a stage2 act.im teaching others

Grammar police! 2th?

Anyway, I learned by moving my brothers '95 Toyota Supra Turbo in and out of the driveway (we have a narrow driveway, so I'd move his car up the driveway so someone else could get in behind him, or move it out when someone was in front of him that wanted to get out). I was 13 when I started and continued for a couple years. Several times I'd stall and just start it up with it in gear (it doesn't have a clutch safety switch) and let it go where it needed to, then just push the clutch in when it got to where it needed to be and take it out of gear and park it. Got pretty good after a while, but looking back now I know how much potential there was for ****ing up bad. He's pushing 700 horses! Apparently he trusts me a lot. Never damaged it!

Now I move my cousins truck and my brothers truck in and out of the driveway when they need them. Gets pretty hairy some times.. I feel like a valet parker

I do pretty decent now, but still room for improvement on the roadways. Only time out on the roads in a manual was a few nights back, and I was gripping the shifter... Trying to make sure I didn't stall.

[ReaperBJJ]

Did a little in my dad's old '88 hardbody back when I was 5 or 6. Then it was about 10 years until I tried it again. this time in my dad's '89 F150. I stalled that bastard so many times it was unbelievable. Then when my parent's were on vacation for the weekend and I was home alone I gave it a go by myself and it just clicked and I haven't had any trouble with it. We'll see how I do when I do my manual swap in my s13 with a brand new clutch though....

[law]

In my friends girlfriends POS neon, and in my other friends mazda 6 once i got a better hang of it.

LOL I learned in my brothers girls F'd up neon

[sommmatt]

My family does not own automatics. I learned in the Escort, did my drivers tests in them, wasn't until a year or so into actual driving that I drove an automatic.

I still leave them in drive and pull the handbrake, then wonder why the key doesn't come out. Oh, and I went to downshift once, used my left foot to slam the pedal, which was of course the brake. That was ... hilarious.

[Philipio]

My mom taught me after I bought my 240. Z33 clutch, lightweight flywheel, short shifter. Didn't stall once until later in the day.

[DEATH661]

in a 86 ford thunderbird turbo coupe. my mom said go nuts and from waching fast and the furious right before and i saw that they steped on the cluch then put the gear. i did ok for the 1st time. was 11.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

Well I started by my dad taking my out in his civic when I was 13 (15 now). Only went two times, but by the 2nd I was fair. He sold the civic, and I never tried again until a few months ago when I got my hatch. I'm okay at it. Nowhere near good or smooth, but the more and more I drive it the better I get. Driving a stick takes practice. Some people get it on their first try, other people can learn it with some practice (me and most people), and some people just plain suck because they just don't have the coordination. But I guess that's what autos are for.

Manuals are getting less common as things like CVT are getting more popular. I think there's going to be a day where manuals will be history and only people like us will know how to drive these cars. That will be sad day. Oh well, enjoy it while you can, and be glad you're one of the ones that can drive a stick.

[P_856]

i just learned the other day in my friends srt4 well kinda it was my 1st time my friend took me around a parking alot a few times then i hit the street then 2 high ways stalled a few times on the highway lol 1st gear owned me but once i got pass 1st i was cool

[Priceless89]

My first time learning how to drive a manual, I was sixteen. A friends dad let me drive his civic. Didn't stall it once, tried on hills. Got the hang of it. I rode my four wheelers a lot so I just thought of that and used my feet. Then when I was 17 I did again in our 4runner. Stalled it a couple times but now I've got it down

[darens13]

i started riding dirtbikes when i was 12 so i sorta understood the concept, but the first manual trans i drove was my dads 1988 240 volvo wagon. that thing is a tank and still running strong at 270k!

[danshaz82]

i learned on my friends dads 6spd jetta. didnt do too bad, except im missed 3rd haha,

[Red Devil]

Learned on my old 1987 S10. Car is still used as the "teaching" vehicle.

[Tuvara]

Heh, I learned in an old beatup Ford 'Breadtruck', you know like a UPS truck, my Stepdad had it as a tool hualer for fixing cars away from the shop we'd been running, long and short the thing was a four speed and bucked like hell when I'd miss a shift which was often. Afraid I'll be doing alot of relearning soon after I can do the swap for my 240, mseeing as that was 7 years ago.

[brizanden]

ha ha you wish. you dont have to lie to kick it. lol

lmao i dont speaka da lies

[Nissan240sx_s13]

Sorry to thread jack, but where is this meet on the 22? I learned in my brothers explorer.

[2ndnissan]

To be truthful,my first manual trans was on my grandpas John Deere lawn tractor. It was 5 speed and had a clutch so it counts!! My first attempt on a car was a 70 Charger with a 440 and pistol grip shifter. Man did that thing have a heavy clutch! I killed it at a least 8 times before moving 10 feet. I finally really learned on a friends 70 Maverick. Really sloppy shifter but lots of fun.I agree manuals are probably nearing extinction for DD's but will probably soldier on in racing(drags)

[brizanden]

^drift... road as well . i dont see why a stick manny would ever die to be honest. i like them alot better then those stupid padel shifter things

[urcaptnspeaking]

I learned IN a jeep at the car lot I was working at about 5 years ago. so I was 16 ish. my boss told me to go move it .It was sitting on the other side of a busy road and I had to move it back.. So i pretty much had to get it right, and I did : )

But I grew up around cars, and I raced motorcyles and four wheelers.. So I knew how the clutch worked just never tried it in a vehicle.

[StandardProspect]

The first time i drove stick was when i was 12 in my moms nissan pulsar. Then she sold the pulsar and got a 5 speed corolla. I took my drivers test in the corolla and got my liscese. She sold me the corolla for 2k and bought a 6speed mini. Then i got rid of the corolla and bought my 240

[nevertheless]

I started in my brothers honda element, and then i got my 240 and learned on my own, stalling in traffic is hilarious.

[brandonDavid]

learned in my pops 85 toyota, one time we were out mudding, i was maybe nine or ten. could barely reach the pedals. stalled a few time. now i'm pro. now i've got it down pretty well. i drove my buddies stock 350 z, chirped 2nd and third, and he's like, how do you do that bro?!

[Emperor_Tha]

my mentor taught me while I was on my internship at mitsubishi. I only had my permit at the time. And the car I practice on was on an evo.

[MRNA]

Haha, kind of embarrassing, but I was shopping for a Hyundai Tiburon with my father in law (yes I was married before I learned(but only 18)), and he was like "Yeah, he likes this one, and wants a test drive."I got it out of the parking lot and onto the 50 mph highway before I stalled. I got it moving again and only stalled it 3 times during the 1 mile drive, haha.

[GIJOE69]

beginners who drive stick in San Francisco lots of hills and crazy parallel parking lol

[240zac]

i started working at a shop in the oil change lanes. i didnt know how to drive stick. and everyone at work got pissed at me because i worked at a shop and didnt know how to drive stick. then one of the guys that worked in the tire department got beat up pignose coupe (previous owner fell asleep and hit a fire hydrant) and after talking to him a bit i asked if he could teach me. he spent about 45 minutes teaching me... i was fine once i got it moving, but getting it into first was choppy. then he sold the car because he couldnt afford to fix all the problems.

then the whole summer passed and i drove the occasional customer car from the oil change bay into the back parking lot.then late last july i got my 240 'vert with a 5spd swap. i had ALOT of trouble driving that because it had a bad slave cylinder and it had an ACT 6 puck clutch in it. so i replcaed the flywheel and clutch w/ OE parts. and it slipped like crazy (i had a technician at my work replace 'em). so we tried again, same thing. after one more try and talking to some local people i decided to just say "F#%@ it" and bought a fidanza flywheel and a clutch masters stage 3 clutch (i was told by a local that sometimes OEM 240 clutch pressure plates are just too weak) and i had a different shop install the parts. when they drove it they thought the clutch was installed wrong but when the pulled the trans/. off everything was right. so the changed it out w/ my new parts. and everything worked perfect. i got the car back and have been driving stick just fine ever since.