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The first car I got was a 94 Civic, automatic transmission. After driving my mom's Rav 4 around, I loved this change since handling and speed was so much more superior. However, ever since I've been into cars, I always wanted to drive a manual. However, since I got a car, I was like aw forget it. I got this car from my car mechanic cousin for only $1200.
Life was going good, until the Civic broke down after two weeks. TWO weeks! So, I sent it up to my cousin to fix it up. Unfortunately, it was an engine problem (the car had 200k on it) so it would cost a lot. However, since he is my cousin, he did an engine swap but the Civic still behaved abnormally. Then my cousin came up with the idea of giving me a car he was trying to sell. A manual transmission, generation 5 Prelude.
I was so excited, I accepted the trade immediately, but the problem was, I had no idea how to drive stick. I only knew the basics as in I must press in the clutch to start in the engine, press the clutch to change gears. My cousin agreed to teach me so I went over to his house this morning. Manual transmission is more difficult than I thought, and people make the experience even worse.
So basically when I got there today, he drove me around for a bit in the car. The car was so powerful, I was amazed. We got back to his neighborhood driveway, and he asked me if I'd like to try. So I jumped into the driver's seat, put it into 1st gear, put down the brake, tried to accelerate and the car started jerking like crazy. My natural automatic driving instincts tell me to step on the brake when a car is acting weird, and without pressing the clutch, the car stalled. I get applause from my cousin's neighbors that were outside. Wohoo.
Well, with getting a little hang of it, I was actually moving with the car, however the car was so jerky, I still knew I had a lot of work to do. My cousin took me to an empty parking lot, with a car auction going on on the other side (there was a fence). He made me practice accelerating from the first gear, releasing the clutch slowly so that the car won't jerk. Then something lame happened here as well. You know that one guy from the Simpson's that goes "heer-heer!"? Well, I stalled at the parking lot and somebody from the other side at the car auction does "heer-heer" thing to me. I was like wtf? I'm at an empty parking lot trying to learn and I still get shit like that? Great! I have realized, the future will be harsh while learning how to drive stick shift.
Eventually I got the hang of going to first gear from a complete stop without the jerkiness and my cousin asked me to turn onto the street. The street made me nervous as hell and the way people treat you if you're a manual newbie doesn't help at all. My acceleration from a stop is still pretty slow , so I started getting honked at a few times. Putting my shoes into other drivers, I would have probably done the same thing, but being the manual noob, it is only discouraging. I was trying to accelerate the fastest I can but then that would make me release the clutch waay too early and the car would be on jerk mode again.
Despite the harsh treatment, I thought driving with a manual transmission was way more enjoyable than an automatic. I am planning to practice with my cousin over a whole weekend and hopefully will improve massively so that I can be a normal driver (no jerkiness, no stalls)! :p
 
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/facepalm
Car at UCSD?
Not wise my friend not wise.
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Congrats on the new car! Manuals are pretty much better than auto in all ways. I remember my first car was an 86 prelude, and it took me about a week of driving around and stalling in parking lots before I got the hang of it, but after that it was np. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time ^^
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It just takes practice. It's something you have to do until you realize that there's a feel to a clutch it's not just a certain action you perform. It's way more organic (?) than that. I've taught quite a few people on my car which had a really loose clutch (oil leak directly into the clutch housing) which was an easy introduction but then they almost had to relearn on cars with stiffer/more reliable clutches.
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yeah I remember when I was learning manuel. It's tough at first but once you get the hang of it you never want to go back to automatic. My mom actually tried teaching me at first, which was a complete failure. Then my step finally came back after his deployment and I learned how to drive manual in one day from him. Also be thankful you don't live in a hilly area because I did when I was trying to learn.
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I love driving my manual '98 civic, so much more fun than driving any of the other cars we have. It took about one-two good weeks of practice to really get the hang of it but now I can drive it smooth as an auto. Luckily I never really fucked up too bad on the road besides stalling once or twice. I love my hill-less florida as well 
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United States22883 Posts
It's definitely something I need to learn.
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United States24782 Posts
I was learning this past year on my dad's 90s Neon. When I was starting to get comfortable with it, I bought my 2008.5 Mazdaspeed 3 GT. This car is hard to drive until you get the hang of it, so I sorta had to learn all over again :p
Once you get over the hump with stick it's definitely way more fun if you like the car. I obviously like mine!
edit: yeah people are very harsh while you are learning... ironically your fear of embarrassing yourself will be the biggest obstacle from learning to drive properly.
edit 2: stop signs with people tailgating you were one of the challenges I finally am fairly comfortable with after logging close to 1000 miles on manual transmissions lol...
That first gear is tricky, but you'll eventually learn how to give it more gas and release the clutch more quickly without jerking the car too badly. My car in particular has a tough first and second gear (and the turbocharger is electronically limited in first and second gear!)
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Manual is easy, I learned it by myself with about 20mins a day and after a week I was able to drive it around normally but still not smooth, a month after that and I can drive it just like an automatic.
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infinity21
Canada6683 Posts
If I buy a car, it's gonna be a manual 
Hopefully it's as easy as people say it is lol
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51660 Posts
I'm just going to get an Automatic.
I don't really see the point of 'fun' in driving a car, a car is there to take you from point A to point B.
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I've never driven an auto lol. But I had similar problems to you when I started. Just practice yo, and GL.
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infinity21
Canada6683 Posts
On September 02 2008 08:43 GTR-2-Go wrote:
I'm just going to get an Automatic.
I don't really see the point of 'fun' in driving a car, a car is there to take you from point A to point B.
That's what I thought until I actually started driving. Try it first
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On September 02 2008 08:43 GTR-2-Go wrote:
I'm just going to get an Automatic.
I don't really see the point of 'fun' in driving a car, a car is there to take you from point A to point B.
there's also more control with a manual, at least it feels that way to me. Whenever I drive an automatic I freak out when the car starts inching forward when I take my foot off the brake. Also, coasting ftw... got 37.9 mpg on my last tank (03 civic) driving in the city. Not that you can't coast with an automatic, it's just more natural with a manual.
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mt is also btw cheaper in gas if you stay at a higher gear and go like 45+
I know how to drive a MT because of my first 1983 Benz, but we moved so we sold it. And til now i dont have have a car, so i just use the available van which is AT. Anyways MT has a much better feel in general, especially if its a fast car(i bet)
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United States3824 Posts
You should practice sitting there with the car in neutral and revving the engine to certain rpms. As you get more control with your right foot you will be able to get the car moving smoother.
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Thanks for the tips & encouragement guys! I just wish to get to the point where I can drive without having to worry about the damn first gear. :p The second gear is easier to get the hang of, then 3+ is a breeze.
On September 02 2008 07:45 SiZ.FaNtAsY wrote:
/facepalm
Car at UCSD?
Not wise my friend not wise.
Will be leaving it at my sister's apartment, so no parking fees np. Don't need to drag my dad all the time to go to school now with a car haha.
On September 02 2008 08:08 micronesia wrote:
edit: yeah people are very harsh while you are learning... ironically your fear of embarrassing yourself will be the biggest obstacle from learning to drive properly.
I agree with this, the fear of stalling just makes me forget how to slowly release the clutch pedal haha.
On September 02 2008 09:00 talismania wrote:Show nested quote +On September 02 2008 08:43 GTR-2-Go wrote:
I'm just going to get an Automatic.
I don't really see the point of 'fun' in driving a car, a car is there to take you from point A to point B. there's also more control with a manual, at least it feels that way to me. Whenever I drive an automatic I freak out when the car starts inching forward when I take my foot off the brake. Also, coasting ftw... got 37.9 mpg on my last tank (03 civic) driving in the city. Not that you can't coast with an automatic, it's just more natural with a manual.
I knew manuals save gas but not that much! I'm going to be driving from my house to UCSD a lot which is like 2 hours away, I'll be glad that I learned manual to save a lot of gas money.
On September 02 2008 09:27 cgrinker wrote:
You should practice sitting there with the car in neutral and revving the engine to certain rpms. As you get more control with your right foot you will be able to get the car moving smoother.
I found practicing when to release the clutch pedal more effective in making the car moving smoother than practicing revving the engine to certain rpms. I usually rev to 2k-3k to start the car moving in first gear. My cousin told me not to worry too much about the rpms when going from a complete stop right now, but is the 2-3k mark okay?
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United States24782 Posts
On September 02 2008 10:24 JinSol wrote:
My cousin told me not to worry too much about the rpms when going from a complete stop right now, but is the 2-3k mark okay?
The rpm you use depends on how quickly you release the clutch. 2k-3k should be fine though.
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manuals so much better, more economical and more fun when u want, hate when automatics try and lug u around a corner in a gear too high, nice purchase, i have a civic myself, the vtec engine is a beast
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I agree that there are more positive points to owning a manual transmission car; cheaper servicing, less can go wrong (less moving parts), roll start if you get a flat battery.
This is on top of a far superior driving experience in my opinion
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EPT
