Driving Test in a 5 speed?!

"mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/" (mxxxxxm24) 09/14/2014 at 22:53 • Filed to: Driving Test

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I just read something that made me think of this...

I was one of those people who got their driver's license as soon as I legally could. I mean I turned 16 and I had my license with in the week. Before I had my license though, I bought my first car. I bought her from my neighbor; it was a forest green 4 door Mk3 Golf Gl and it had a 5 speed and 290,000 miles on the clock. It even had the original clutch, which I inevitably wore out in the 20,000 miles I had it (or maybe it just needed adjustment the world will never know).

I learned to drive manual on my beloved Golf and I accomplished this with only a learners permit. I was on top of the world, I had a car...practically a race car with its fancy 5 speed! Now it wasn't my dad's 3000gt I was supposed to get, that he decided to sell just before I was becoming of driving age, but that's another story.

When it came time to take my driving test I had a choice: drive my new (to me) Golf or my mother's beige Camry (manual vs. automatic). Now I've still not confirmed this, but I had heard rumors that instructors take off points for taking your hand off the wheel when shifting! This of course sounded ridiculous to me, but all the same I decided it wasn't worth the risk. Not to mention, I hadn't exactly perfected the manual transmission just yet, so I went with the Camry. I passed first try and had my license (and my freedom)! Life was good and I went on to drive my Golf for the next couple of years.

This also brings to mind another issue of whether or not we should have separate license classes for manual and automatic, but again an argument for another article.

So I ask you oppo: Which of you took your driver's test in a manual car?

btw: the picture is of my Miata's shifter, not my Golf's...I don't have any pictures of my Golf sadly.

Alex from Toronto > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 09/14/2014 at 23:00

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I'm planning on it.

samssun > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 09/14/2014 at 23:02

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They don't take points off for taking your hand off the wheel to shift, but may if you leave your hand on the shifter (like every manual driver on the planet does) rather than keeping your hand on the wheel in between shifts.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > samssun 09/14/2014 at 23:05

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Logically, that makes sense. Are you positive?

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > Alex from Toronto 09/15/2014 at 00:23

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good luck!

Local Miata Bro > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 09/15/2014 at 00:27

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My dad made me take it in a manual, his rule is your first car has to be a stick aswell

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > Local Miata Bro 09/15/2014 at 00:39

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You have a good dad!

Alex from Toronto > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 09/15/2014 at 01:06

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Thanks mate!

Jobjoris > samssun 09/15/2014 at 03:59

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Are you serious about the part of keeping your hand on the shifter all the time???

samssun > Jobjoris 09/15/2014 at 05:36

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Currently all my driving is in the city where I'm shifting every 30 seconds, so 85% of the time my arm is on the arm rest with my hand resting on the shifter. And no I don't put weight on it, or know anyone who's ruined his synchros doing it.

Jobjoris > samssun 09/15/2014 at 05:53

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You probably haven't heard of people ruining their synchros doing that because that's not what it's about. You probably mean shiftcamforks? Driving like this will wear out your manual. Not instantly but it will, believe me.

But maybe you can adjust your quote about 'every manual driver on the planet' somewhat as I literally don't know anyone doing this? And not because it's better for the transmission, all has to do with safety: during sudden (swerve) manoeuvres I'd rather have two hands on the wheel. And I'm glad the manual drivers around me do as well.

samssun > Jobjoris 09/15/2014 at 06:53

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I've been doing it about 8 years, on a 21 year old Z which was beaten on before I got it. I think if I were putting undue strain on anything it would've shown itself...the "don't ride the shifter or it'll break" stuff is likely another overblown tale, from a trucker leaning all his weight on a 60s design or some such. With the brass shifter bushings I installed back then, I'm sure the shifter will outlast the car.

When I'm tearing down back roads I keep a pretty good hold on the wheel, but there aren't many sudden swerve maneuvers doing 25 each block between stop signs. I spent most of a summer wrestling my car around without power steering, and since I got it back the it flicks around like nothing.

Jobjoris > samssun 09/15/2014 at 07:27

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Even doing 25 I'd rather maneuver with two hands on the wheel when a dog, kid or whatever suddenly comes from behind of that parked car you're about to pass on the right, better safe than sorry: Let's just hope you'll never have to experience this.

Funny though that every advanced driving school will teach you to do this repeatedly 'till your ears blead, maybe that's something that will make you wonder if it's not such a bad habit to keep your hands on the wheel.

wkiernan > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 09/15/2014 at 08:33

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In Florida in 1971 there was no official distinction between talking the driver's test in a car with a manual or with an automatic. But I had learned to drive on a manual, in a 40HP '64 VW Beetle and all my driving experience was in Beetles. Unfortunately, the day I went to take my first driver's test my parent's VWs were not available (one was at work and the other was in the repair shop) so my friend Dean drove me to the DMV and lent me his car for the test. That car was a '67 Pontiac Catalina with a 389 V8 with four-barrel carbs; just feather-touch the gas pedal and it went roooarrr! , just look at the power brakes and squeeeel! I had a hard time driving that thing at all, and I completely failed the parallel-parking test, but when I explained to the examiner that all my prior experience was in Beetles he gave me a passing grade anyway!

twochevrons > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 09/15/2014 at 09:06

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I learned on, passed my tests in, and proceeded to drive the crap out of a thoroughly worn-out 1976 Triumph 2500TC, with four-speed manual (with overdrive). Passed first time, every time, too, and in one test, the examiner commended me on my double-declutching skills (the gearbox was all-synchro, once upon a time, but in its advanced years, it was a little bit touchy).

Amazingly, that car's clutch already had a good 100,000km or so on it when I learned to drive, and proceeded to endure another 100,000 or so of enthusiastic driving by my brother and I when we learned on it. It never gave a spot of trouble. That goes for the whole car, too – aside from a rather spectacular bearing failure in the distributor, and a bad clutch master cylinder, it never left me stranded.

Nice shifter! Here's the Triumph's (the mysterious switch controlled the overdrive gear).

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > wkiernan 09/15/2014 at 10:30

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40hp to 389hp...a bit of a jump, that's understandable to fail the parallel-parking test.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > twochevrons 09/15/2014 at 11:11

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I've never seen a shifter like that before; that's interesting! I've never driven a car that I had to double clutch either.

twochevrons > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 09/15/2014 at 11:24

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A bunch of British manufacturers did it instead of offering a five-speed transmission in the '60s and '70s – I believe that Volvo used them well into the '80s as well. Basically, you had a two-speed epicyclic gearbox (like in an automatic) stuck on the back of the main gearbox. Rather than having a valve body to control it like an automatic, the switch operated the hydraulics controlling the bands – it would give you 1:1 with the switch set to "out," and some higher ratio with it set to "in."

Triumph's implementation basically stepped it up one gear – 3rd became 4th, and 4th became a 5th gear, etc. Since it was much faster to switch the overdrive in and out than to change gears (if you coordinated throttle motion with the shift, you could leave the clutch in), it was great for spirited driving, as well as giving you a super-tall cruising gear that was perfect for the torquey straight-six engine.

After the Triumph, I've always been in the habit of double-declutching, especially on downshifts. The feeling of the gear lever sliding into place without resistance is far too satisfying, as well as the fact that I'm not wearing the synchromesh. Especially on older cars (I now have a 1956 MGA), it makes the gearbox much more pleasant to use, too.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > twochevrons 09/15/2014 at 12:12

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I appreciate the lesson halkyardo! I had no idea of any of that...then again I was born in the 80s. Am I right in saying that double clutching is simply (for example) 1st gear-clutch in-neutral-clutch in while rev matching-2nd gear?

I do implement rev matching on my down shifts as I feel that is extremely important especially the higher the revs you're playing with.

twochevrons > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 09/15/2014 at 12:26

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Thank! I was born in the '80s, too. I just ended up with an old car and a father who insisted that I understand how it all worked (and boy, am I glad for that!).

It's funny how "in" and "out" for a clutch are slightly ambiguous – guess it all depends on whether you're looking from the perspective of the pedal, or the friction surface itself. Just to be clear, I'm talking about revving the engine between gears with gearbox in neutral and the clutch engaged (i.e. transmitting power).

Unless the input and output shaft are spinning at exactly the right speed, the friction surfaces in the synchromesh have to slow down or speed up the rotation of the input shaft before the gear is engaged. By double-declutching on a downshift, you set the input shaft spinning faster, so that the synchromesh has to do little (or ideally, no) work. The same goes for pausing for a moment on upshifts, to allow the input shaft to slow down.

Basically, just how rev-matching makes sure that your engine speed matches your road speed, double-declutching serves to match the speed of the gearbox's internals to each other. It's nowhere near as crucial with a synchromesh gearbox (and indeed, for performance driving, you just match roughly, jam it into gear, and let the synchro do the work), but I still think that it's a good habit to have.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > twochevrons 09/15/2014 at 13:50

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Understood; we're on the same page. When I said "clutch in" I meant depress the clutch pedal and then lift off the clutch allowing it to re-engage. Good explanation, I now have a better understanding of double clutching and as you said for performance driving: "match roughly, jam it into gear, and let the synchro do the work." For my road driving techniques I simply adapt performance driving techniques.

And yeah my father was pretty handy and he taught me to take care of the things I have (including cars), but he wasn't mechanically inclined lol.

Spasoje > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 09/15/2014 at 15:51

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I did it. Passed with flying colors!

Not sure what the dynamics are like in your jurisdiction, but here (BC, Canada) they seem to be more lenient when you show up with a manual...

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > Spasoje 09/15/2014 at 16:04

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Nice, that's the way it should be.