Any tips for driving a stick shift?

Hey, I turned 16 last month, I'm taking drivers ed next week, and my 1st car will be ready to drive in April (68 mustang FTW!). I was just wondering if you guys had any bits of info that would help me ride as smooth as I can, because as of now I have a tendancy to stall (I've only practiced 2 or 3 times on a stick.)

Any help appreciated!

Watch out for pedestrians.

don't mess up!

I had major troubles driving stick when starting out. I stopped for awhile and then went back and drove like I've been driving stick my whole life. The biggest thing to know is when stopped at a red light, go into neutral and put on the handbrake. This will get you used to starting while taking the handbrake off and go into neutral. Also, when done changing gears, don't immediatly let go of the clutch. Let it off gradually while adding gas. The more you let off the clutch, the more gas your give the car.

The easiest way I found to go into first from neutral is to look at the RPM's. Get the RPM's to about 1500 RPM or so and then go into first. This will change if you're on a hill, and if you are, you will have to give more RPM's than 1500.

I followed this and soon I was driving stick better than an automatic. Stay calm and good luck.

Dont...more work little to no reward shield of flame.weezyfb

...Don't what? Don't drive?

[QUOTE="weezyfb"]Dont...more work little to no reward shield of flame.Ramen1020

...Don't what? Don't drive?

save up for a new clutch....JonnyEagle

Stick shift is easy, fun, and awesome.

Think of it as playing a videogame (aside from the fact that REAL WOMEN AND CHILDREN will DIE if you screw up), and it's a hell of a lot of fun.

Or...let me just let Homer Simpson summarize automatic transmission..."honk honk brake! Gas gas honk! Honk brake gas!"

Then you have those people who **** their cars up because they drive down the road simultaneously stepping on both the gas pedal and brake pedal. If anything, driving automatic will help to teach you to stop doing that kind of dumbass ****.

just get in some good practice with uphill slopes, get familiar with going from stop to gear 1; this will help you control the rollback.

Ride the clutch

Don't ride the clutch!!!! I burned a new one out within a hundred miles. I know it seems like a useful crutch at first, but try to avoid it.

Putting it into first is the hardest, so don't get frustrated if you initially stall it when first learning. It's all downhill from there. Try to shift smoothly, this is largely mastered with practice. Also, pay more attention in traffic.

Think of it as playing a videogame (aside from the fact that REAL WOMEN AND CHILDREN will DIE if you screw up)

MrGeezer

Your post was very reassuring until you got here haha.

Thanks for all the advice guys, the drivers ed tests will probably be done on their automatic, so I can take as much time as I need to get it down.

[QUOTE="MrGeezer"]

Think of it as playing a videogame (aside from the fact that REAL WOMEN AND CHILDREN will DIE if you screw up)

Ramen1020

Your post was very reassuring until you got here haha.

Thanks for all the advice guys, the drivers ed tests will probably be done on their automatic, so I can take as much time as I need to get it down.

Best bit of advice I can offer if you're having trouble finding the correct gear is to let the spring in the gear stick do the work for you don't grab the stick and try and shove it into position.

For 1st and 2nd (assuming it's not a dog-leg box) push left then up or down using just the palm and fingers.

For 3rd and 4th pop it out of the current gear and let the spring reset the stick to the middle and push up and down using your palm.

If you have it for 5th and 6th just do the opposide to 1st and 2nd.

Also if you're changing down a gear it helps to give the throttle a poke whilst changing to even out the difference in revs and keep a smooth ride but that might be something to perfect later on down the line. Whatever you do always keep an eye well ahead and anticipate what's going to happen and how you're going to react.

Stick with it, driving a car with a manual box can often be much more involving and rewarding than something that's just going along with it.

I'm good at shifting from 1st to 2nd etc. The only thing I have trouble with is going from neutral to 1st.

My dad says the hardest thing is when your stopped on a steep hill and theres someone right on your arse, so you have to go without backing up even a little bit. That's gonna suck.

Ask real people for advice and not strangers on the internet. cpo335

Is there something wrong with doing both?

I'm good at shifting from 1st to 2nd etc. The only thing I have trouble with is going from neutral to 1st.

My dad says the hardest thing is when your stopped on a steep hill and theres someone right on your arse, so you have to go without backing up even a little bit. That's gonna suck.

Ramen1020

Or...let me just let Homer Simpson summarize automatic transmission..."honk honk brake! Gas gas honk! Honk brake gas!"MrGeezer

Just practice practice practice – you'll be fine when the process becomes automatic. Most of the time you can get away with slipping it straight into second when you're moving off, and don't be afraid to skip a gear when you're slowing down. If you're stopped on a hill, try and avoid keeping the car steady by holding the clutch if you want it to last longer – whack on the big daddy brake.

Don't slap it into reverse when you're hammering it 150kph either.

Oh and remember, real men use gear sticks.

I'm good at shifting from 1st to 2nd etc. The only thing I have trouble with is going from n eutral to 1st.

My dad says the hardest thing is when your stopped on a steep hill and theres someone right on your arse, so you have to go without backing up even a little bit. That's gonna suck.

Ramen1020

Whack it in first with the handbrake on, wait until you feel the 'bite' with the clutch and you'll be fine. Take your time and don't feel pressured by some impatient driver behind you – they were a learner too once :)

Yeah, there really isn't any secret: just practice, and hopefully your car has a half-decent clutch (I learned how to ride a motorcycle on a bike that had evidently had its clutch lever replaced with a sponge -- not fun).

Pretty much the only way to get better at driving a stick shift is to practice. It took me about half a year to get it down completely. Keep your foot down on the clutch completely when you shift, and then slowly let up once you get going. It gets a lot easier after a couple weeks. Also, it helps me to put my hand on top of the stick when shifting to the right (i.e. 2nd to 3rd, 4th to 5th) and put your hand on the right of the stick when downshifting,but find whatever is easiest for you. Don't worry too much about killing the car. Everyone does it, and does it a lot at first. The best thing to do when learning, like MrLions said, is to shift slowly and completely instead of trying to slam the stick into each gear. That will ruin your car much faster than killing it. Hope that helped, and good luck on your test (yeah, you should probably use an automatic :P)