Marsupialized wrote:

r0ck1r0ck2 wrote:at some point (in the u.s.)a manual transmission became a high price addition on new cars.

horrible.

Dude, I just went looking at cars a few days ago and manual cars are way cheaper than automatic cars. It's like at least 600 extra bucks to get the same car in automatic.

fine, that was second hand from when my pops was truck shopping a few years ago.

but he's been known to embellish.

tmidgett wrote:A driver of a car should be able to operate a manual transmission.

It can be tough to rent an automatic in Europe, from what I gather.

yeah. I've always had auto transmissions in my cars. but I have driven all though Europe (a dozen countries) stick. no problem on the highway, but city driving is really rough since I haven't had much practice.

that said, I need a free hand to smoke, so no stick for me.

what's that Igo shit all about anyway? You pay a monthly fee and you can use those cars whenever you want?

kerble wrote:I need a free hand to smoke, so no stick for me.

I smoke and drive stick every day

Marsupialized wrote:I smoke and drive stick every day

*AHEM*COUGH*KAFF*KAFF*INSERT GAY JOKE HERE*KAFF*COUGH*AHEM*

DrAwkward wrote:

Marsupialized wrote:I smoke and drive stick every day

*AHEM*COUGH*KAFF*KAFF*INSERT GAY JOKE HERE*KAFF*COUGH*AHEM*

I don;t know if you've seen my new title or not but I think at this point I'm just a tad bit above reproach

Marsupialized wrote:

kerble wrote:I need a free hand to smoke, so no stick for me.

I smoke and drive stick every day

I understand that it can be done. I can steer a car with my knee if I need to. driving stick is a chore for me, since the seven cars I've owned were all second hand and all manual. when I drive, I want to be relaxed, so that I can be a good defensive driver. Stick puts me out of that element, since I'm nowhere near as facile with manual.

my friend can drive stick well, but she doesn't have a car. I can't really drive stick well, but I own three cars. so big fucking deal, eh?

I have always enjoyed driving cars with manual transmission. It's much more engaging.

>yuk yuk<

Seriously, it's not that difficult. After you've done it awhile, it becomes like second nature. Only time I've ever found it to be a pain in the ass is during city driving in heavy traffic in a very hilly area.

Aside from taxis, I've never seen an automatic here. Then again, I don't know anyone rich enough to own a Jaguar or some similar status symbol.

My father can change gears on a manual without using the clutch, just by listening to the gearbox. Kind of a party trick he does occasionally.

kerble wrote:that said, I need a free hand to smoke, so no stick for me.

I can roll a cigarette and smoke it while driving our big unwieldy van about, just takes a bit of practice. I've only hit something else once...

Marsupialized wrote:Dude.
Press in clutch, shift, release clutch and press gas.

That's it.

Learning how to wipe your ass is more difficult.

nah, that's how you get new learners to stall out. and info like that is probably the reason why so many people get frustrated with manual.

the clutch isn't digital. it's analog. there's an infinite number of degrees between on and off with a clutch. you can disengage the clutch in one quick motion, but to engage the clutch, you need to do it by feel, especially in first.


if you want to learn how to drive stick, first practice the mechanics of disengaging the clutch (stepping on), shifting/down shifting and engaging the clutch (stepping off). you don't have to be in the car to do this.

once that process is second nature, find a car with a manual transmission.

find an area where you can practice with no hills and no traffic.

next thing is basically learning how to go from neutral to first and back to neutral.

1. put the car in neutral
2. step on the clutch
3. start the engine
4. step off the clutch.


here's the main part:

1. step on the clutch
2. put the car into first
3. SLOWLY take your foot off the clutch, and feel for when the clutch engages with the flywheel. if the car starts stalling, press the clutch pedal. keep doing this until you get the feel for it. This is the time to remember that the clutch is ANALOG, not digital. don't just step off of the pedal, let it out slowly, until you really get a feel for where the clutch engages the flywheel.

If you step off too quickly your call will stall and jerk violently.

as you get better, you can also incorporate adding a little throttle to help the engine/flywheel have enough power to overcome the rolling friction of the clutch/drivetrain. as you get more and more comfortable, you will feel the sweet spot of where the clutch engages with flywheel.

Kayte R. wrote:I have no interest in "manning up" and I can pretty much say I hate people who have any interest in "manning up" but anyway.

Quit your bitching, man up and just learn stick already.