learning to drive, did u start at or stan?

[mark2kay]

welp, im 17, got permit friday and started driving today in a automatic 95 ford contour. i drive kinda jerky still.

not quite like a go kart like i thought

i wanna do same standard lessons but pppl are recomending i lrn automatic first.

my first car will be standard,what u recomend?

[Nathan]

Eh, drive a little with an auto until you feel comfortable (3 days or less should be all it takes to get rid of the jerkiness ) then go ahead and move over to the standard. The sooner you learn on the standard the better imo.

[Aaron]

i started auto now i drive auto im also only 17 but i've been driving since i was about 10

[Aaron]

do your test in auto... easyer to pass once u pass then go stick

[fiznat]

I learned from the get-go on stick. I think it really helped me understand the car and (at the risk of sounding corny) "become one with it." When I took my test with the automatic, it was a total breeze.

[nicksta]

It depends how confident you are. My first time at driving stick, I got so nervous while coming to a red light, that I forgot to downshift to 1st...You know the rest.

Anyways, I drive my dad's manual bimmer all the time, but now I understand cars a bit more, and am more comfortable with myself.

Personally, I'd start off with auto.

[TurboTuli]

I'm with fiznat on this one. I learned on a stick, but in a big parking lot. My mom just took me out and I drove it all day around the lot. I didn't actually take the stick out onto the road until I had experience driving an auto on them. Driving a stick from the start really helps you get a feel for the car and get into the habit of it all. Eventually it become second nature. However, definitely take your test with an auto.

[offtheline]

I think its a good idea to learn how to drive with an automatic. That way you are learning the rules of the road without worring about driving the car correctly. There is time to become "one with the car" after you learn how to be safe.

I dont know where you are from, but I grew up in Pittsburgh where there are quite a lot of hills with stoplights at the top. Learning a stick in Pittsburgh is not easy, let alone trying to learn how to drive AND learning a stick.

[Turb0wned]

i started with auto to but as for stick just spend a couple hours and u dont be prefect of course but you will be able to get anywhere u want to

[bcuz]

It depends how confident you are. My first time at driving stick, I got so nervous while coming to a red light, that I forgot to downshift to 1st...You know the rest.

Anyways, I drive my dad's manual bimmer all the time, but now I understand cars a bit more, and am more comfortable with myself.

Personally, I'd start off with auto.

downshift into first? what are you talking about? you dont downshift into first. do you mean you forgot to put the clutch in and put it in neutral?

take your test in auto, then buy a stick car, youll have it down in a day or two. my first car was a auto 240, got it cheap, it gets really boring with auto though, but with stick sometimes after a long day at work you just wish you could rest your left foot and drive with one hand. But no matter way stick is better, Ive avoided so many accidents by downshifting and braking, while an auto car you can just brake. Once I got my civic (I got it because I couldnt find a 240 and I got a great deal on it and its really clean, and needed a car asap) I probably stalled like 4 or 5 times, then I got the hang of it, and in a week it was like second nature. And I didnt even have anyone to teach me.

[stillmatic]

I drove an auto about 3 short times before I started driving a stick on my own. It was kind of stupid because I didn't have a license then. It's not hard to drive a stick. You just have to burn the clutch a little to get used to it. I never stalled the first time because I burned my clutch to death.

edit: Don't try to downshift to 1st. LOL

[annunziato39]

I would say start with an auto at first, its going to take some time to become a decent driver, but you won't be a good driver until you get a stick. Thats just my own opinion. With a manual transmission you need to know more aware of your surroundings, it almost forces you to become a good driver. I remember when i started driving stick, I stalled like 5 times at a burger king drive through, swearing the whole time. And my greatest enemy was the dreaded stop going up a hill. but you'll learn it all in time.... just not when i'm behind you

[BB Turbo]

I'm 16 right now, but I learned to drive first on a standard. Auto is a breeze like the rest of you all are saying. Took me about 3 hrs to really get used to driving a stick, stalled out twice because my brother (he taught me) forgot to tell me to push in the clutch to brake. That was when I was about 10 or 11

[mark2kay]

what the hell is with u guys learning and practicing driving at 10-11?

either u leave in a secluded area, or cop are just very lax.

i live in nyc, so if i wouldd tried some **** like driving at 10-11 well...

who the hell would let a 10-11 year old drive their car?now a days 10-11 years old are tall,but in my day, i dont know if i wouldd been tall enough.

i also was told its, dangerous becaus ei can break the transmission easily since idont know what im doing, whats theis downshifting to 1st mean?is that what there talking aobut with breaking transmission?

also,living in nyc, a empty lot is really hard to find

[bcuz]

yah, first day I had my car, this one hill.. man that sh*t sucked. I know this light to be a long one, so I put it in neutral, stop and pull up the ebrake. then the light turned grean and I put it in gear and tried to go, lol that didnt work, I was confused for a moment and then wasl ike oh, the ebreak, so I drop the ebreak and start rolling back and im not in gear, and I give it some gas, but Im not in gear lol so I roll back and tap the suv behind me. I pulled over at the first place I could but they didnt stop.. oh well

also if you have a fwd car (like me ) and you are on a hill and its wet out, and you try to start going, you will get NO traction unless you really baby the throttle. because all the weight is being pulled to the back wheels cuz the hill, and then its wet out, and when you try and go it pushes more weight to the back... ect...

[darkeagle]

I would learn the standard that way you would know it and it would be easy if you need to jump from manual to automatic at anytime. Plus your car is manual so I'd start now practicing it unless you want to do your driving test in another car besides yours.

When I was 15, I learned in my mother's truck, 1994 Toyota Pickup, 5spd. My first car (at 16years old) I got and took the test in was a 1989 Chevy Geo Spectrum, 5spd.

[darkeagle]

I practiced holding it on hills by in an empty baseball parking lot that was on a hill. The day of my test, I had a brand new, red, sports car behind me on my tail and told the lady I'm not good with hills. She said do my best so I had the car reved up and when the light changed I rolled maybe a millimeter and went on. I guess that did it for me b/c I knew I didn't want to hit that car.

You just got to balance it right or unless your good just sitting and taking off without holding both gas and clutch. Good luck to you. Just have fun with it.

[Bunta240]

what the hell is with u guys learning and practicing driving at 10-11?

either u leave in a secluded area, or cop are just very lax.

i live in nyc, so if i wouldd tried some **** like driving at 10-11 well...

who the hell would let a 10-11 year old drive their car?now a days 10-11 years old are tall,but in my day, i dont know if i wouldd been tall enough.

i also was told its, dangerous becaus ei can break the transmission easily since idont know what im doing, whats theis downshifting to 1st mean?is that what there talking aobut with breaking transmission?

also,living in nyc, a empty lot is really hard to find

First off, you might wanna start with a civic or something like that. Honda's are much easier to start off on.

And what he meant by downshifting to 1st is that when you stop at a stopsign. You have to clutch in, and go back to 1st gear before starting again. If you start in third gear, then its not great for your car, but its not horrible either. Usually youll just stall out.

And the first time I tried stick I went to a residential area around 1AM or so. You shouldnt be too much of a danger on the road. Youll probably just piss people off and get honked at when you cant get going.

The hardest part about learning stick is finding someone to teach you, most people (atleast me) would never let someone learn on their car. My advice is to go to a dealership and test drive a car there. Just say that you want to buy a manual but you dont know how.

Well, I hope that helped. Good luck.

[whiterps13]

lol, i took my 240 to get my drivers liscense, and upon inspecting the car the instructor just laughed. no front liscense plate, illegal intake, headers, and exhaust, too low, and a full custom sub enclosure. needless to say he wouldnt take me out on the road test, and also called me a "damn street racer".

[Japican]

I remember started drivin stick for 1st time, i was so nervous and every1 in my neighborhood jus kinda stared at me funny. I stalled at least 5 times goin to the store and back.

[EazyBreazy]

the worst is when you jump in an auto and start slaming the dead pedal with your foot because your lookin for the clutch. both are easy to learn. learn them both at once if possible. then perfect the one you like most.

[EnzoRWD]

lol, i took my 240 to get my drivers liscense, and upon inspecting the car the instructor just laughed. no front liscense plate, illegal intake, headers, and exhaust, too low, and a full custom sub enclosure. needless to say he wouldnt take me out on the road test, and also called me a "damn street racer".

reminds me of a friend i knew, he took his road test in his dad's F355 F1 weekend track car. it had all the requisite equip, but the instructor called him a moron. he passed tho. never seen that car move so slow. hahahaha-Enzoi drove an auto 2 yrs b4 i learned standard. then 6 mos. practice in a ferrari 308 and the z06, i bought the 240. needless to say, driving the 240 is a breeze compared to a 80's ferrari with no p/s and a heavy *** clutch

[BomexS13]

I learned to drive manual first since we dont have auto's in our country before. I wake up 5am to drive my brother Lancer GSR. It was also a good time to drive since there's not that many cars/people around. After I drive it, I clean so that when my brother wakes up and goes to work, he drives off with a clean car.

I did this a couple of months and then my brother decided to teach me how to drive even tho I already know. He was surprised I learned quickly:thumbup

[mark2kay]

wwhat country where u in bomex?

[Crazy]

My car is auto, learned on auto and would suggest learning on it as well but I learned stick with my father over in Portugal during vacation because 99.9% of all their cars are stick + I wanted to learn. I enjoyed it a lot and picked it up quickly, feels better interacting with the engine then just sitting back and turning the wheel. I had some problems getting used to taking off, stalled a few times. After awhile it was easy, but I still have 1 big problem that I can't get passed, and that's when I'm stopped on a hill. I have so much trouble with my reaction that I either roll back too much or I stall cause I panic lol. Any suggestions to get passed this problem or is it just practice makes perfect? I plan on swapping to stick so I'm gunna need to learn before I roll into someone behind me hehe

[JohnI3laze]

Since you have the option i'd say you should learn to drive some w/ the automatic first. Once you are pretty comfortable with that, then move on to the stick. Learnin to drive and to drive a stick at the same time can be a little intimidating for the new driver. I think people who drive stick are generally better drivers though. It makes you hafta be more aware of your current surroundings, the other cars around you, your speed etc etc. A lot of times when you drive an automatic you sort of go into "autopilot" and just go thru the motions of driving without actually paying much attention to your environment. Obviously a good recipe for an accident.As for starting from a stop on a hill, it just takes practice. You can try to find a shallow incline somewhere and just try to "float" the car in 1st gear... just at the point where the car isn't moving. Like giving it any more gas will be enough to move it forward and less gas will have it rolling back. Obviously don't try this in traffic, an empty parking lot with a slight slope will do. And don't do this too much either because it is pretty heavy wear on your clutch but it willl let you find that "magic point " on your tach.

[k6kicker]

learned on a 5 speed 300zx tt....wasn't that bad, you're better off leanring on something hard so then everyting else seems easy by comparison

[Bunta240]

My car is auto, learned on auto and would suggest learning on it as well but I learned stick with my father over in Portugal during vacation because 99.9% of all their cars are stick + I wanted to learn. I enjoyed it a lot and picked it up quickly, feels better interacting with the engine then just sitting back and turning the wheel. I had some problems getting used to taking off, stalled a few times. After awhile it was easy, but I still have 1 big problem that I can't get passed, and that's when I'm stopped on a hill. I have so much trouble with my reaction that I either roll back too much or I stall cause I panic lol. Any suggestions to get passed this problem or is it just practice makes perfect? I plan on swapping to stick so I'm gunna need to learn before I roll into someone behind me hehe

Well the way your supposed to try it if your not really quick is use the handbrake. But thats hard at first too since coordination becomes an issue. Yep, but hills are hard for just about everybody when theyre just learning stick.

[Phax]

Learn how to drive a standard (manual) transmission. If you know how to drive a manual, you can obviously drive an automatic. The reverse isn't true.

[Twintip_yeti]

Learn how to drive a standard (manual) transmission. If you know how to drive a manual, you can obviously drive an automatic. The reverse isn't true.

what this guy said. i first drove with an auto then taught myself to drive stick when my parents were out but shh. Definitely take your test in an auto and you can focus all on driving w/ the dude.

yeti