Oppo I have a confession

"JR1" (type35bugatti)
10/08/2014 at 09:11 • Filed to: Frustrated auto driver

I have never drove a stick and I have yet to have the opportunity to drive a car with a stick it kills me a little bit more each and every day.

DISCUSSION (46)

Brian Silvestro > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:16

Are you age 15-25?!

http://www.hagerty.com/Corporate/Hobb…

OPPOsaurus WRX > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:16

go buy one. thats more or less what i did (i had had one lesson previous but it was like 10 yrs ago

JR1 > Brian Silvestro
10/08/2014 at 09:17

Yeah I saw that post that is what got me thinking about my lack of manual skills. Tis rather depressing and I am not driving to Connecticut from Ohio to do one of Hagerty's free drives

Mustafaluigi > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:18

Do what I did, bought the cheapest car on craigslist and force myself to drive it everyday. Granted it was a 95 Firbird LT1 that just needed some work but it was a great learning experience and now all I have are manuals.

JR1 > OPPOsaurus WRX
10/08/2014 at 09:18

Didn't you want to test drive it before you bought it though?

Coty > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:20

Where do you live?

Brian Silvestro > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:20

But it's so fun!

Just make sure you're next car is a manual, and make sure it's your only car, because that way, you'll have no choice but to learn.

Bad Idea Hat > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:21

Kinja'd!!!

This is an automatic

If it's good enough for Jim Hall, then damnit, it's good enough for me.

OPPOsaurus WRX > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:24

they let me. The first car I was looking at was used. They brought me to a parking lot gave me a few pointers and I pulled away no problem. Its not as hard as you would think. The hardest part for me was once out in traffic, I was focusing on the clutch so much that I almost forgot about braking. When I went to purchase the car I have now I didn't care about the test drive. If the used car weas good the new one had to be better. If they couldnt match my price i didn;t want it and that was all. Once we agreed on the price they let me out for a drive. I dont know how bad the car was going to have to suck for me not to have bought it. I stalled at the sconce street light on my way home. Other than that I made it ok.

area man > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:24

Immersion is the best way to learn most things, including driving a stick. My parents learned in the early '80s when they ordered a new Mazda with an automatic from the dealer and it arrived with a manual - they thought about not accepting it, but decided to go for it and consequently haven't owned automatics in over 30 years.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:26

Kinja'd!!!

SOON.

Quattro-luvr, Powered by Datsun & Stinger > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:27

I think you should go test drive a car! No purchase necessary.

RazoE > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:27

I cannot count how many times I've said this.

BUY A MANUAL CAR and have it be your ONLY form of transportation.

It honestly takes a only few hours to learn enough to drive around town like a normal car.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:34

Like opposaurusrex said, just buy a manual car. There's no better way to learn than needing to figure it out so you can get to work, school, etc. I'd driven some manual from time-to-time over a few years, but never had any significant amount of time behind the wheel of a car with 3 pedals. When I went to get a new car my considerations were an FR-S, Focus/Fiesta ST, or a WRX, and I was absolutely going to buy stick. I test drove two FR-S's, the first one was a test drive around the block (I didn't stall, but it wasn't a proud drive lol) and a crappy dealer experience so I walked. The 2nd one was a used FR-S at a Subie dealer. When the Internet Sales Manager and I went for the test drive I told him I was fairly rusty on stick, so he navigated me over to a nearby industrial park and gave me a few pointers. We then went for a nice long test drive where he encouraged me to get through all the gears and run the range of the RPMs. I was in love with the car and signed a deal that day. The first couple weeks in the car were a little rough, although I really didn't stall too much. (I love the gearbox in the FR-S!) However, it didn't take long to get it down and I'm now pretty decent at driving stick, but there's certainly room for improvement. Just do it. You can go the cheap craigslist route to learn, or buy a car you really want. Either way, just get a car where you have to learn stick in order to get around. Sink or swim, and you'll figure it out.

Chris Clarke > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:41

I live in Ohio, I'll let you drive mine.

JR1 > Coty
10/08/2014 at 09:43

Ohio

Kate's Dirty Sister > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:46

But do you have your manual driving super license from the Ayrton Senna institute of stick driving rocket sciences ?

Go to a dealership, pretend you want to buy that base Kia Rio and go for a road test.

DoYouEvenShift > JR1
10/08/2014 at 09:57

Go to a local car meet and ask. Ive let a couple people drive mine before. Just circling around the parking lot is fine for your first lesson.

JR1 > Brian Silvestro
10/08/2014 at 10:02

I want to buy a fun car next it will absolutely be a manual

Brian Silvestro > JR1
10/08/2014 at 10:02

GOOD

JR1 > Bad Idea Hat
10/08/2014 at 10:05

I wonder why that was auto seems odd but awesome

JR1 > Chris Clarke
10/08/2014 at 10:06

That is very kind if we ever have an Oppo meet up in Ohio I will take you up on that offer

JR1 > OPPOsaurus WRX
10/08/2014 at 10:07

See how does one stall? Revs to low when you leave a light or something? I feel stupid asking this but I honestly don't know

JR1 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
10/08/2014 at 10:08

YES!

JR1 > DoYouEvenShift
10/08/2014 at 10:09

That takes some guts. But I will consider it

JR1 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
10/08/2014 at 10:11

Sounds like a good plan. Not a cheap plan by any means but a fun one to say the least

Mr. FiSTer of Team FiST Fetish > JR1
10/08/2014 at 10:13

Late October/Early November meet would be sweeet!

JR1 > Mr. FiSTer of Team FiST Fetish
10/08/2014 at 10:15

Very sweet! This weekend is probably short notice but that would be best for me

Mr. FiSTer of Team FiST Fetish > JR1
10/08/2014 at 10:17

I don't live there but I'll be there for business and it'd be sweet to meet some of the guys and gals I communicate with everyday.

yamahog > JR1
10/08/2014 at 10:20

Know any friends with dirtbikes? THAT is the best way to get the clutch concept down, off of public roads, then move on to a beater. I haven't owned a manual car yet either (SOON, about 7 more months) but I own a motorycle and all it takes for me to go from motorcycle to manual car mode is a few start/stops to get the feel of the clutch. Not that CrzRsn lets me drive his cars very often, but I can :)

OPPOsaurus WRX > JR1
10/08/2014 at 10:25

being nervous, mis-coordination of the pedals, plus some douche trying to see how close he can get to my bumper without touching in an F-150. All I could see was his bumper out the back.

JR1 > Mr. FiSTer of Team FiST Fetish
10/08/2014 at 10:25

Where will you be for business?

Mr. FiSTer of Team FiST Fetish > JR1
10/08/2014 at 10:27

Dayton/Kettering area

JR1 > yamahog
10/08/2014 at 10:27

Dirt bike no actually but four wheelers I have driven in manual many a time.

The 7 month thing you are referring to is the 2015 Mustang GT right? Right? I am so excited for you

yamahog > JR1
10/08/2014 at 10:33

Well then you have the concept down, probably just need a few times around the block and you'll be good to go :)

And yes, thanks for remembering :D I am also super stoked as it will be my first real "can haz nice things" of my adult life.

Bad Idea Hat > JR1
10/08/2014 at 10:48

The "clutch" pedal was used to change the angle of the wing.

Coty > JR1
10/08/2014 at 10:58

Shoot, so much for that idea, then.

Coty > JR1
10/08/2014 at 11:10

I was gonna start you off on a '94 Ranger and then graduate you to a '60 Beetle.

SPNKiX > JR1
10/08/2014 at 11:14

I can think of no way of solving this problem.

JR1 > Coty
10/08/2014 at 11:37

That would have been a lot of fun and your Beetle is awesome by the way I don't think I have told you that before but it is a good looking car.

Coty > JR1
10/08/2014 at 11:38

That's the '67, getting the '60 this week. I'll post pictures.

cabarne4 > JR1
10/08/2014 at 11:40

Basically, revs too low.

Not basically, the clutch connects the engine and transmission. With the clutch engaged (read: connected; not depressing the pedal), Engine speed, transmission speed, and wheel speed are all wonderfully related through the magic of gear ratios. Unfortunately, when starting from a stop you need a fair amount of torque to get the weight of the car moving. This is where the slipping nature of the clutch comes in handy. The clutch works like brakes — a piece of friction material against a plate. It's not on or off.

Imagine if your engine is idling, just barely loping along, while you're stopped. You're in neutral, so the transmission is not connecting the engine's rotational force to the wheels. You clutch in (disconnecting the engine from the transmission) and put it in first (connecting the transmission to the wheels). Then you decide to jump off the clutch pedal. The engine isn't providing enough power to force the car to move, so the stationary car overpowers the engine. Someone's got to win the battle, and an object at rest damn well wants to stay at rest. So the engine, losing the battle, comes to an abrupt stop. Going through power flow backwards, stopped wheels means stopped differential. Stopped diff means the transmission isn't spinning. Stationary trans, paired with a quickly-engaged clutch means the driveshaft (which WAS spinning, as you were idling) gets forced to a complete stop. This immediately stops the pistons from going up and down (or the rotor from spinning, for any Wankel fans in the room), and kills the engine.

As far as just driving, it's just an understanding of the moving parts, and how you're manipulating them. Imagine the transmission like the sprocket on a mountain bike. You change the ratio as you ride, so that the same amount of pedal rotations will translate to different speeds. Notice the "easy" gear is nice and big on the rear wheel side, and small on the pedal side. This means the chain travels a small distance on the pedal side (read: less work for your legs) in order to travel a greater distance on the wheel side. This means with little effort, you can accelerate pretty quickly and also get up hills. In the "hardest" gear, you're on the biggest sprocket on the pedal side, and the smallest on the wheel side — meaning the same amount of work will spin the wheel faster. From a stop, however, you'll notice it takes more effort to start from the higher gear. This is because that ratio requires more leverage (torque) to spin the tire.

Like the bike, the car has different gear ratios. First gear is pretty small — good acceleration (the gearing reduces the amount of force needed for acceleration), but low top end. The highest gear has poor acceleration, but higher top speed. It's your job to delegate which gear you need to match a desired ground speed to a desired engine speed. You do this selecting the gears (obviously). But in order to make the transition smooth, and the process work better, it's easier to disconnect the transmission from the engine, change gears, manipulate engine RPMs (let them drop, or blip the throttle if downshifting) then reconnect the two. This is what the clutch is used for.

Added bonus lesson: if you've ever heard of "clutchless shifting", it's just a better understanding of the ratio. Let's say you're going from 2nd into 3rd gear at 30mph. You know in 2nd gear, you're at 2500RPM, and in 3rd gear you should be at 2500RPM. Theoretically, then, you could pull it out of second, and time it so you pull it into third right when the transmission and engine are at comparable speeds. Downshifting back to 2nd, you'd pull it out of gear, raise RPMs to ~2500 (bear in mind you're losing speed the longer you take), and slot it into 2nd. This is harder on the transmission internals, but can sometimes give a driver a slight advantage on a track, as shifting takes less time.

JR1 > Coty
10/08/2014 at 11:41

Oppos my bad. Well I like the 67 and can't wait to see a pic of the 60

Coty > JR1
10/08/2014 at 11:45

The '60 is a hoodride, meaning the body is several different colors and is kinda beat up. The cool thing though is that 95% of the car is new. The body was pulled off, the underside was completely restored and rust-proofed. The transaxle is built to take whatever power I can give it.

I'll post more about it when I get it home on Sunday.

ly2v8-Brian > JR1
10/08/2014 at 11:51

I know I'm terrible with it because I've never owned one. So I'm looking for a cheapie to fix that.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > JR1
10/09/2014 at 06:45

I think they do events in the mid west.