How long did it take you to learn stick?

"404usernotfound" (404usernotfound) 02/22/2014 at 18:36 • Filed to: Save The Manuals, Evo X

1

78

Yesterday I was given a chance to drive my brother's Evo. It is a manual, and I have been slowly learning how to drive a manual. My experience with Manual transmissions start in 2008 when I was 16. My dad had a 94 Miata, which I had a few lessons on, but he had to sell it before I was done learning. For almost 5 years I had no access to a manual car to learn on. I was saved when my brother bought a 04 Boxster. I had a some more lessons on it, and I got to the point where I could drive on public streets without stalling or rolling back. My brother now is leasing an Evo to complement his Porsche. When I drove it yesterday I stalled it twice before I could get going but I was pretty good after that. I still need some more practice, but I can now say I can drive a manual, even though it took me 6 years to do so. So tell me Oppo, how long did it take you to learn stick?

PowderHound > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:41

0

Forever then a day. I drove my dads civic all the time but could never get the going from a stop down very good. Cue a couple years later when I bought a 5 speed and was forced to learn in a day. I think the differences in clutches helped a lot though. My dads civic was really long and hard to feel where my old legacy was a lot shorter and more direct.

KirkyV > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:41

1

It's hard to say. I, like most Europeans, learnt to 'drive stick' as part of my driver education. I couldn't have gotten a full licence otherwise. I can't remember exactly how many lessons I had, but I'm pretty sure it was around the average 30 hours for a UK student. Of course, only part of that was actually learning to operate the transmission.

Sn210 > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:41

0

I've been driving manuals for ten years and i still feel like i haven't learned how to yet

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:42

0

Sufficiently to drive around safely sans stalling and clutch burning took probably ~1 to 1.5 hrs total practice, but to actually shift well consistently took much longer than that. I had always watched my mom shift and shifted in some video games manually, so it didn't take too long. It was a sixth sense by the time I got an actual license thanks to that new beetle and various empty parking lots.

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:44

0

First time I tried was at the GM auto show in motion. It was a Vibe or Matrix. It was awful. The clutch was like an on off switch and I kept stalling. Never made it out of the spot. Next time I tried on my friend's Civic in a parking lot and I picked it up pretty quick. He actually forgot to tell me to release the handbrake, so my first launch was with the handbrake on lol. In 20 minutes I was on the road. I used to do marching band and I'm generally musically inclined, so the coordination came pretty naturally once I had a decent transmission and coach.

JustWaitingForAMate > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:45

0

A day. Manuals are what I learned on and all I've ever driven.

404usernotfound > PowderHound 02/22/2014 at 18:45

0

The diffrence between the clutch in the Evo and the Porsche is drastic, which probably didn't help with the stalling.

Battery Tender Unnecessary > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:45

8

Quick to learn, forever to master.

With a good teacher and a "textbook" understanding of how it works? A day or two. It helps to have a basic knowledge of things like friction point, rev matching, etc before you head out. It also helps to have someone that can identify what you're doing wrong simply through feel and sound. My dad taught me on a 850Ci in a parking lot in about 30 minutes. I drove the 10 miles home after that with him giving tips along the way. It's a lot harder to learn in a vacuum. I had a great-grandmother that apparently never learned how to properly drive a stick. They had a 3-speed truck. She would slam it into 2nd and leave it there.

It also depends on the car. In the V12 850, you could start on a hill with almost no throttle input. I drove a friend's Civic the next week and kept stalling it because I didn't know some cars took more throttle than others. Also clutch weights, high/low friction points, etc. The difference in inertia between a buzzy 4-cylinder and a lumbering large displacement 8-cylinder.

Casper > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:46

1

A couple weeks? I mean I learned how to drive it in a day because I needed to drive a truck around the property when I was younger while my dad was busy. It probably took a couple weeks to get it down so I could slip the clutch well enough to not spin the tires when crawling it out of mud and such and make good shifts quickly. When it's your only way to get around or you have work to get done that requires it, you will do it.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:47

0

It took me about a week to start getting the hang of it. I learned in a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta TDI.

The diesel engine is harder to stall than a gasoline engine, and the clutch on the Jetta was nice, I tried a 2008 fusion and the clutch felt rubbery.

JGrabowMSt > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:48

0

About 3 months from parking lot to road going.

It also was a pre-requisite to me being allowed to drive a car under my parents name. Same went for all of my sisters.

Miata and the Porsche seem like good cars to learn on. I have a fundamental opposition to anyone learning on a turbo'd, sporty car though. The tolerance for dumping the clutch is basically nothing, because it will spool, and when you dump it, especially when inexperienced, you will panic, and you are at a way bigger risk for an accident. I disagreed with an ex learning to drive manual on her dads garage queen WRX for just that reason. Luckily, her dad did too, and as far as I know, the car is still around. 04 WRX, totall stock, less than 8000 miles a year, and religiously maintained, never beat on.

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:49

1

Have I got a story for you.

I bought my first car without even test driving it. A 1971 BMW 2002. It needed a few things done to it, so the owner took it to my mechanic, who was a 2002 wizard, luckily. I bought the car there with my friend (older gent in his 60s) and my mother. He was picking up his '89 Testarossa. I paid the owner and set out to how to drive my car with my friend.

It was mid-afternoon and I had plenty of time to drive around the auto complex, and learn how to drive my car. Well, light became dark and I still sucked. I had the best teacher with me, he had little trouble driving the car. By 9 I had finally got the hang of it. A good 4 hours of practice. Anyway, before we parted I asked for a ride in his TR, it was fantastic. Get back to my car, leave the complex and it starts to thunderstorm. SHIT. I'm 30mins from home at night in a 42 year old car that I can barely drive and am not familiar with. Turn signal on the right FTW.

What was giving me the most difficulty was trying to not slip the clutch. I didn't know it was okay to some extent. I was basically trying to hill start without pushing the gas, just letting off the clutch. Stupid me.

Anyway, after a few weeks I had taken it back to my mechanic for a few more minor issues. Turned out the accelerator pump was in backwards. So, when I was initially pushing the pedal for gas, it was sucking fuel out of the cylinder. And that is my excuse as to why I didn't learn as quick as I wanted to.

AM3R > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:49

0

I faced the same problem as you, no access to a manual transmission haha.

I had two or three lessons in my brothers friends mazda b2200, I became good enough to drive on regular suburban roads and row through all the gears. Then I went a few months without even touching a manual transmission, until I got a long lesson in a Honda S2000! It took a little bit of getting used too, but it was really enjoyable! After a few hours in the Honda (it was a weekend long trip with a friend of mine, his dad wanted us to drive his S2000 from VA to JFK in New York for him and he told us we could just hang out in the City for the weekend and that he'd hook us up with a hotel, really nice guy) I guess I "mastered" the manual transmission.

So in total, around 10 hours of actual driving but this stretched out for about a year.

How was the evo?!

TFen > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:51

0

I ended up buying my first car(1998 Sunfire, don't judge) on a whim, it was a 5 speed.

I knew the theory behind manual, always chose it in video games(lol) but had never actually driven one.

My buddy was supposed to drive it home for me, but plans fell through and he wasn't available at the particular time the seller needed it gone.

Another buddy gave me a quick 30 minute tutorial in his 740 wagon right before dropping me off to pick up the car - I had never touched a clutch prior to that. I stalled 3 times on the way home, but was pretty proficient after that.

So I'd say officially it took about 45 minutes to really grasp it, but it took a couple years to master heel-toe and other various techniques.

That was about 10 years ago. I don't think you ever really stop learning, you just keep getting better and better.

SonorousSpeedJoe > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:55

0

When my dad bought a 2012 Focus SE 5-speed to replace his 2005 Toyota Matrix, we went to an empty, relatively level parking lot so that I could learn how to drive it; I had to get accustomed to the car rolling freely when my foot was on the clutch pedal. We went to another parking lot with a much steeper incline, and I got the hang of it there. It only took a few visits before I could consistently drive the Focus without stalling it at low speeds.

After that, it was about accumulating experience driving on public roads; that didn't take long, either, and I'd attribute that to prior practice with Gran Turismo 5 and a Logitech G27. Most of the challenge, for me, of driving a stickshift was getting started in 1st or reverse, so this was easy enough anyhow.

Tom McParland > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:55

1

I had a few friends in college that would teach me on their cars, but I never really got any long term practice until I bought my 95 Prelude. My mom drove around with me for a bout two hours, once I got the basics I was on my own. Of course it took me a few months to really be smooth. When I decided to learn heal-toe-shifting that took a good 6 months of regular practice and I still don't have it mastered.

desertdog5051 > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 18:56

0

Not very long. But it might be because I took to it easily. Also, when I learned to drive probably 40% of all used cars were manuals.

Leadbull > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 19:00

0

Driving around a parking lot — a day or two.

No stalling, hill starts, etc. — a week.

Being completely comfortable with it — a month or two.

Heel-toeing/rev matching — well, I'd already been driving stick for a while. Maybe a week for rev matching and a month for heel-toeing.

And there's always room for improvement...

404usernotfound > AM3R 02/22/2014 at 19:01

0

I only had a few minutes to drive it, so I really wasn't able to fully experience it yet, but what I can tell you is that it is FAST. The next time I drive it I will definitely share my experience with Oppo.

SCR - The Soup Of The Day is Bread > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 19:04

0

Learn it well enough to wear I'd feel comfortable hopping in any manual car and not stalling? Eh, about a month of flogging my Metro, probably. I got the basics down and was driving to work and such in a couple days, but I wasn't really all that confident for a while.

PowderHound > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 19:04

0

I drove someones jeep the other week and had the hardest time finding the engagement point. Crazy how different everything can be. But once you get it going everything is usually easy riding.

Justino6969 > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 19:07

1

That depends on what you mean by learn. I bought a MK4 Jetta 1.8t with a 5-speed and had my dad drive it home. It took me about 20 minutes to really get the hang of it to where I could drive it to school the next day competently. Hill starts? Another couple weeks. Perfect flat out take offs? A few months. Perfect downshifts? 6 months or so. Heel-toeing? Still working on it, and this is all just with one car. When I get another car, it will be a learning experience all over again.

Reigntastic > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 19:10

0

It took me about 30 minutes in my Dad's E90 M3. After that I was given a 2010 Jetta 2.0T with a six speed for my DD in highschool, which reinforced it. I haven't encountered a standard vehicle I couldn't drive easily since.

AM3R > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 19:11

0

Sounds like a fun time... Next time you drive it you gotta write a review! Or even get your brother to write one up.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 19:16

0

Well, when I learned how to drive mom and dad both had stick shift cars, so I had no choice in the matter. Either learn stick or don't drive. We lived in a very hilly area, so the combination of manual transmission and hills was possibly the toughest way to learn but it left me better prepared than most people my age. I also read everything I could on driving techniques, including The Art and Science of Grand Prix Driving by Niki Lauda (and all of his other books as well, copies of which I still own 30+ years later).

Two funny anecdotes related to this. First, mom would laugh hysterically every time I stalled the car, in this case a '77 Dasher wagon. I got a little mad and asked her to stop laughing. Her response? "Would you prefer that I yell?" Keep laughing mom, keep laughing...

The second issue occurred when I was helping to relocate a car back to the auto shop for a classmate that was too young to drive. We came up to a speed bump, so instinctively I pressed down full force on the leftmost pedal with my left foot. This would have been fine if the car had a manual transmission, but this one had an automatic. Based on those clues you can figure out what happened.

chuck07 > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 19:17

0

One of the biggest things is learning how to engage the clutch and get the car going. I had a bicycle with a 2 stroke engine on it, so I learned how a clutch worked before driving a car. After that it took about a day to learn on a 78 Fiat. That has a long, forgiving clutch.

steev182 > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 19:18

0

I had no real choice but to learn manual in the UK. It took 12 lessons to be competent enough to take my practical test, which I passed, so I'll go with that as a fair number.

I then taught myself how to use my right hand to change the cogs when I started driving in the US. That didn't take long at all though.

Ilike_cougars > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 19:32

0

No kidding.. I was a natural, I learnt it by looking at my dad driving, and I was 14 and got the hang of it in 30 minutes..

andriukas > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 19:35

0

I bought my car without knowing how to drive it and had someone drive it home for me and park it in my yard. I spent a few days just sitting in it getting a feel for the clutch and just slowly moving it back and forth. Then I was taken for a proper lesson in a friend's GTI for about an hour and stalled a ton. Then I went on my own and started driving my car to work but leaving extra early. 1 > 2 was just terrible my first week but I kept at it. After about a week and a half I was feeling 100% more confident than I did the first day.

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 19:49

0

I first gave my friend a lesson on driving manual in his e36 m3 he just bought (his dad drove it home) just on knowledge from sitting next to parents driving stick and reading a article from oppo. I've had like 4 lessons from my dad driving stick. I know now how to drive stick. Frustration comes first. But the achievement factor is best. And personally, the reversing into a spot is the fucking hardest.

RazoE > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 20:17

0

A day? All you have to do is clutch out slowly. You'll burn the clutch, but you WONT stall and you'll learn when the clutch grabs, which in turn you can give it less gas.

Plus do what I did: Buy a manual car and have to get to work.

Zoom > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 20:36

0

If you learn to shift a motorcycle with a clutch before you drive, it's a snap.

I was 11, driving the dealership's parts chaser, a (mitsu) D-50 pickup around the lot. My dad said, "ok now clutch and shift" I was already in third....;-))

MouseFitzgerald > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 20:37

0

I know I'll sound like a lying cock but I didn't really ever have troubles.

Not saying I'm not better and faster with them now than I was the first time I drove one but my learning curve was pretty flat.

I've known a lot of people that have had troubles though, just keep at it and remember what your doing wrong and don't panic so you can correct it next time.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 20:39

0

About two days. When i was 13 my dad took me out to the large parking lot behind the mall and taught me how to drive it. Also it was in the winter as well so there were many skids.

It was a 99 ford escort i learned on. That thing would not die, i finally sold it a few years ago after the suspension rad rusted out and was no longer attached.

DocWalt > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 20:49

0

A few hours to get the basics. It's been a few years now where I've been teaching myself new stuff like heel-toe, double clutch, etc.

gavinski91 > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 20:53

0

Took me about a week to get good at it. It was the only car available to me.
Also, once you get comfortable with it, learning to heel-toe on downshifts (or just use the sides of your foot if you have big feet like I do) is fairly simple; I do it without even thinking about it now.

Mercwri > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 20:54

0

I knew the theory so it only took me around 20 minutes of physical practice in my Sister's old Eclipse 3G GTS, it was a pretty forgiving car with that big torquey 6G72 and a standard clutch in good shape.

Once I got my first manual car (93 Honda Del Sol) I think it took me a few weeks to stall it for the first time, which also happened to be when the clutch springs fired out of the disc. I fitted it with an Exedy Stage 1 Clutch after that and struggled a little bit with the lack of torque on the original D16z6 motor, when I went over to the D15B it actually got a little easier to deal with.

Although I've gotten to used to the extremely long throws and wide spacing on my Jeep so when I try to drive my Sister's Mini I end up starting off in third or up-shifting from 1st to 4th, until I get a few minutes behind the seat. Also not used to the wonky throttle-by-wire setup, unless the trac control is off and sport is mode on, the throttle has to me a noticeable delay, that I'm just not used to after only having cable throttle cars with no ABS, TCS, or anything.

shop-teacher > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 21:32

0

It took me an hour or so to learn how to do it. I learned in my buddy's Ram 2500 diesel. It was pretty easy to learn on a vehicle with that much torque. To get good at it I picked up a '93 Legacy wagon at auction for $600. It was probably three weeks to actually get good at it. That thing was so slow if you wanted to pass another vehicle, you had to file a permit with the county.

FireSpittingV12 > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 23:17

0

An hour. Just sort of figured it out. Gran Turismo 5 taught me, then did it in real life first shot. BMW 330i E90. Not completely smooth, but by the second time (Mk6 Golf R) i was rev matching and heel toeing and by the third time (Mini Cooper S) I had perfected heel toeing and smooth shifts.

sellphones2493 > 404usernotfound 02/22/2014 at 23:30

0

I bought my S60R in May 16th, 2012 and I'd say I was at least able to function by May 21st. I'd say I had it down pat by May 26th. I had a lot of trouble engaging it into first, and the design of the shifter wasn't all that helpful. Despite the fact that I haven't stalled out in at least eight months, there are certain times where I question what gear I'm going into, especially at night.

ledfoot > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 12:27

0

bought a pickup from a sketchy guy in the city, he drove it to a burger king across the state line for me and handed me the keys, i stalled it twice then i knew how to drive stick

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 13:47

0

I still have my driving lessons, I learn stick there.

and because I'm in Europe, every car is stick.

Automatic cars are considered for handicapped or old people.

jphive > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 17:24

0

I had to master it in a 89 Golf GL, took a few weeks and one or two backhands across the face. But i love that i know how to drive a manual as naturally as breathing now. All but 1 of the cars i have own has been manual and probably will be as long as they keep making them.

hethoughtofcars > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 18:03

0

On a car? Probably a couple months to feel confident.

On a motorcycle? THAT DAY, since I had the incentive of not wanting to end shiny side down :)

Ethan Edman > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 20:57

0

I taught my girlfriend this weekend. She had it down in about 30 min.

Johnny Utah > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 21:09

0

My first car was an automatic transmission 1992 Honda Prelude Si. I got my license in September of 2004 and drove that Prelude until I was rear ended by a friend of mine in front of our high school about 3 weeks later.

In November 2004 after the resolution of the insurance claim and all that jazz, I got a 1995 Isuzu Rodeo (w/ 4wd, V6 and a 5 spd.). Never having driven a manual transmission before I was a little intimidated. My mom gave me a lesson driving around the neighborhood and then I tried it a few times on my own. I was able to get first gear going and I was peachy after that. Unfortunately I never learned how to operate the 4wd system, which was part-time. I figured out how to shift the transfer case into 4hi, it had auto-locking hubs, but the first time I used it I didn't realize you had to reverse the truck after you shifted back to 2hi. Later that day I am driving on the highway going about 70 MPH and I'm sure you have an idea what happened... The transfer case said "fuck this" and the front drive shaft said "I'm outta here." Long story short, it got fixed and I drove the Rodeo Burger for about 3 more years.

Matthew Henry > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 21:13

0

Well, I had several short lessons (one on a 55 Bel Air, the other on a Ford Ranger) before purchasing my first car (a manual). I basically learned to drive a manual on my test-drive. :P

It took several days for me to get it down, but I was stall-free and hill-starting in under a week.

Keith Moon > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 21:13

0

I started driving a stick shift Suzuki Kei car when I was 15. We didn't have any automatic transmission car in my country back then, or if there were any, I hadn't heard of them. It took me a couple of weeks to learn to drive the car without alarming a passenger. If you are talking about mastering the stick shift, I still haven't done that, 10 years after first driving a car. I am sure it takes a lot of time and effort. I am just average.

Matthew Henry > Matthew Henry 02/23/2014 at 21:13

1

I am a swing dance instructor, though, so I have pretty coordinated feet, I guess.

Johnny Utah > Battery Tender Unnecessary 02/23/2014 at 21:18

3

Definitely, I have had all sorts of manual transmission cars ranging from my first one, an Isuzu Rodeo, all through a Nissan 4cyl pickup, an 89 Ford F150 to my current E36 318ti. The amount of pressure on the throttle to incite enough revs to move from idle is mucho different from vehicle to vehicle. Clutch engagement points are also another bag. As long as you have the basic understanding of "give it some gas, let the clutch out and feel it move forward" you can stall once or twice and then know how to drive that car.

wontacceptthis > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 21:28

0

I had already had plenty of experience with sequential (motorcycle) manual transmissions when I first learned to drive a stick.

What I first learned on was a 1972 vw beetle. That thing was perfect. The misadjusted cable operated clutch was rather forgiving, and the shifter was absolutely not. It seemed like that thing had more torque at 500 rpm than at 1500 rpm, so stalling it was not very frequent. It was a great easy car to learn the basics on.

Fast forward a few months of driving the old VW infrequently, and I found myself with a 93 ford ranger with the anemic 2.3l lima, and airplane gears. The clutch on this truck was nearly new, and had a very tight friction point, so you were basically either stalling or doing a lame burnout half of the time. Unlike the vw, this thing had no balls in low rpms. There was really no saving it if you weren't perfect.

After driving that for a few months, the old VW, a replacement v6 ranger, and everything else I've driven has been cake compared to that over-clutched, under-powered crapcan of a truck.

Piero Giorgi > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 21:30

0

A couple of days, why?
Been driving manual for 35 years.
OF COURSE I can drive an automatic, also, but I'm afraid of it. (No total control)
I'm Italian. In Italy, you find automatic trans only on handicapped parking spots.

Scott > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 21:34

0

Ten minutes. Ten years old. My driveway. 1993 Hyundai Excel.

wkiernan > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 21:44

2

When I was maybe ten, maybe eleven, my father developed bursitis in his right shoulder, so I got drafted into operating the shift lever in our '64 Beetle. I didn't have to do the clutch, all I had to do was shift gears - with my left hand (this was in a LHD US market Beetle). So it was pretty easy, but the hard part was knowing when I was supposed to upshift and when to downshift. He wouldn't tell me, and how he cursed when I guessed wrong! I got the shift pattern down quick.

By the time I got to be thirteen or fourteen my mother decided I needed to learn how to completely drive, so she took me out in the Publix parking lot and showed me how to do the whole thing, using all three pedals, steering wheel and accessories. It only took maybe a half hour before I learned how to feather the clutch for smooth takeoffs from a standing start, which is the hardest part of driving stick. Everywhere we went after that I was all "Lemme drive lemme drive!" so I got a good deal of practice by the time I was sixteen and eligible to take the full driver's test, and I was, I think, an above-average driver for my age at that time.

But there was a catch, a new thing they introduced just the previous year, where you could take the test if you were sixteen only if you had got a certificate for completing an official driver's ed class. So I signed up for driver's ed at my hi-skool. Now the driver's ed class we had possessed three main learning cars, supplied by the local car dealerships. One was an LTD, one was an Impala, and one was a Monaco. I had learned on a one ton, 13 foot long Beetle sporting 40 BHP. Each of the school's practice cars was seventeen feet long, two tons heavy, a foot wider than a Beetle, steered like a Navy heavy cruiser, and had a mighty V8 with at least four times the Beetle's horsepower, but worst of all was their horrible, horrible slushboxes. I had never driven a slushmobile before, every motion was a roaring surge of outa-control, and before two weeks of class had elapsed I had bashed in a fender on one and run another up over a curb onto a sidewalk.

The poor instructor was sure I was that year's worst pupil. Then one day we got into the fourth driver's ed car, which was a Beetle with a manual that they saved for advanced training. (Yes, my hi-skool's driver's ed class made it part of the curriculum to prepare students for the possibility that one day they might have to drive a car with a stick-shift!) So old Mr. Eicher gets in the Beetle's passenger seat, no doubt thinking "this klutz is gonna ruin our Bug for sure", and he starts explaining to me how to take off from a standstill in a car with a real transmission. I totally ignored what he was saying as I had had three years of practice in that very model of car, and executed a butter-smooth takeoff around the corner of the school parking lot onto Patricia Street followed by joltless upshifting and downshifting and calm controlled steering and braking. He was never let me drive any of the other driver's ed cars from that day forward.

So I believe one should always teach a new driver in a manual car. If you know how to drive a manual car it will take you five minutes to learn how to drive a car with an anti-fun gearbox. But if you learn on a slushy, you may never get the stick shift down. Admittedly, in my case, I drove the unfamiliar slushmobiles pretty badly, but I attribute that failing more to their unnatural gigantism that to their inferior transmissions.

eddy_a > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 21:45

0

I started learning in 2009 when I was 18 on my friend's Chevy Cobalt. I had some money saved up and I was going to buy a cheap Bugeye WRX wagon (I wanted a blobeye or a hawkeye but they were too expensive). We would spend hours on the weekends when we were home from school just driving so I could get the hang of it for about 2 or 3 months. I never had it down right, I wouldn't stall but it was not very comfortable for the passengers when I shifted and I probably rode the clutch too much.

After that I hadn't driven a manual until last September when I drove a 6speed Lexus IS250 at the dealership I work at, and it didn't go too well. Then in December I finally found the car I had originally learned to drive stick for: a 2005 WRX wagon 5speed in WR blue and with my daily commute the last 2 months I'm actually pretty good at it now. It's not perfect but I can start and shift fairly smoothly.

Michael > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 22:06

0

My parents taught me to drive when I was 15, and the only car they would let me drive was Manual. (87 Civic SI)

So, probably a few days of actual driving, and took some time to get really good at it. Practice, practice, Practice... I remember when I decided to start blipping downshifts just because I was starting to get bored!

MFEJAL grey because who knows... > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 22:10

0

I was 11, my dad teached me how to drive a Renault 12. 4 cyl, 4 speed manual. By the time I was 12 I was pushing the car at night a block away, and then racing that poor car on dirt roads and empty streets. Filling the tank and a quick cleaning was my solution. My dad told me years later he knew it from the very first day. LOL.

maddvayne > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 22:39

0

I worked at a used car lot, was tossed the keys to a 79 ford f300something and was told to go fill it up, I learned by the gas station, 1/2 mile away. Also had previous experience on 4wheelers and dirtbikes. SO..... about 3 minutes

Kamina1984 > PowderHound 02/23/2014 at 22:57

0

I had as similar experience. I bought a 944 turbo and hadn't driven a manual in years. When I purchased the car we did it a neutral location and then the challenge was to get it home! That was one hell of a drive...It wasn't clean, but I was thankful that I didn't stall it - made it stutter like hell when starting off quite a few times though. I got the hang of it very quickly, I was literally good to go the next day. My daily is a 04' Mazda 3 gt Hatch, it's a manual as well. I'm one of maybe 5 people I know who drive manual cars out of all of my friends and though I've been doing it for two years or so, I have no idea if I'm actually any good at it because I have no one to ride along with enough experience to catch the problems. It's funny though, I find the Porsche so much easier to drive than the Mazda, the engagement point, travel and general feel is so much better.

DiggerM > 404usernotfound 02/23/2014 at 23:00

0

I learned to drive stick pretty quickly. I think it took a few hours. Mastering it? Much, much longer. It probably helped that the car I was learning on, a 1981 Mazda RX-7, had no torque to speak of. For my third "lesson", my friend-teacher said "You're ready." "For what?" "Let's go get ice cream cones and see how you do." I wouldn't do that now, and my son isn't learning that way, but I "passed". I am so glad that I can drive a stick-shift car. 99% of the time, it's a pleasure. The other 1%, I remember the really fun times with a stick, like on a track.

Volksandmopar > 404usernotfound 02/24/2014 at 00:03

0

I learned how to get the car going and not stall it in 20ish minutes. Have spent the rest of my time driving mastering it.

Fuel_of_Satan > 404usernotfound 02/24/2014 at 00:10

0

I've been driving a manual all my life, I think the last time I stalled it was yesterday.

I can't remember spending any time learning to operate one at all, I just got in and did it, but I already knew how they worked from having helped my dad and getting it explained. I was 15. It took a few hours getting the hang of just the pattern in on the 18-speed truck I drove though!

To downplay my "achievements" a little, I'm in Europe and I hadn't even sat in a car with an auto until I was 9 years old (78 Olds Vista Cruiser, baby blue/ faux wood trim/white leather. Made an impression among rusty Opel Kadett's!) with a 6 year gap before the next one. Shamefully I have always liked autos for daily drivers, but nobody else I know does so they haven't been in my life until I started driving myself.

The most important downplaying comes here though: I drove cheap, economic, pedestrian, family cars with clutches made for grandmothers to use. You're driving a performance machine with a famously tricky clutch (Evo, the Boxter is probably easier). If you can do that smoothly you should be capable of crossing minefields without triggering a single one!

Desu-San-Desu > 404usernotfound 02/24/2014 at 01:18

0

Let's see...a few months learning on my dad's old 1995 Chevy S-10, then I bought my first car, which wound up being an automatic and also promptly blew up 3 months later. I was at college by that time and didn't get another car until the next semester, which was a 1994 Hyundai Excel with a 5-speed. The first few weeks with it were a little rough, but then it became second nature.

So...all told? A little under a year.

The Grey John > 404usernotfound 02/24/2014 at 01:30

0

the correct answer is:

you never stop learning.

psychocandy > 404usernotfound 02/24/2014 at 03:09

0

I learned to ride a motorcycle before I learned to drive a stick. My first experience driving stick was driving a drunk friend's truck home from a party. No lessons. She just gave me the keys and passed out.

It was pretty natural for me and I only stalled it a few times. I'd take any opportunity I could to drive a stick I could after that. I eventually got my first manual a few years later- an '84 Saab 900 Turbo. It felt like coming home. I was convinced I'd never own a slushbox again.

But then the Saab died and I was MC only with a car share account for a long time. I didn't get another car until many years later and it was joint purchase with my wife and she can't drive stick. She's up for learning, but since she drives more than me, it didn't make sense for our shared car to be a manual.

I really miss shifting. I think learning on an old crappy pick up truck with a shitty clutch and vague feeling shifts helped. When you learn to master crap, moving up to an actual driving machine is easy peasy.

Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French > 404usernotfound 02/24/2014 at 05:03

1

I'm a European, so it's unfair for me to answer. That's because I learned to drive in a manual, like 99% of the population out here.

Driving lesson cars have dual controls, so the first few lessons you're eased into it. My 4th 1-hour session saw me driving stick myself. With 2 sessions a week, that took me 2 weeks to learn. In total I had 36 hours of driving lessons and passed examination on first try.

velvetelvish > 404usernotfound 02/24/2014 at 11:22

0

I guess I was lucky to have been born in a time where manuals were still referred to as "standard" transmissions;) I first mastered the concept moving my dad's trucks around in our driveway when I was about 12…the worst one was the old Dodge Tradesman van with 3-on-the-tree…I went backwards while intending to go forwards on more than one occasion in that thing… I just remember the first time I got to drive a car with a stick though (an '84 Scirocco), I was blown away by how easy the clutch was in it? I recall learning you could match your engine/axle speeds and even shift w/o the clutch if you knew what you were doing (which was hell on the synchronizers I'm sure, but a fun trick nonetheless) and that trick even came in handy once when my hydraulic clutch line broke on a road trip (the shift interlock was broken or non-existent too, so you could start it in first at the stoplight to get going)… Oh the things we did for fun back then…now cars have "limp mode" and TPMS…and that has taken away from the fun of driving a bit I think?

peerpressure12 > 404usernotfound 02/24/2014 at 11:26

0

I was 18 when I first drove a stickshift in a 1990 ford ranger. I has taken it out in a parkinglot, and thought I was competent enough to drive home. I was at a 4-way stop, and I killed it ten times in a row. Everyone else was nice about it, and waited patiently for me to get going, but I was scarred.

Then, I moved to France, and I only had sticks to drive. It took me about four months to be an expert. I finally realized I was doing it without thought when I was stuck behind a big truck, going up a hill on a detour, making frequent stops, and not rolling back or killing the car. I have been driving sticks ever since. I even converted my wife. :)

Oh yeah, and I have driven stick in San Francisco. I think that deserves a medal. Completely nerve-wracking being at a stoplight at the top of one of those monstrous hills, with a cop car pulled up right on my bumper. That was before I had mastered the e-brake start. I left a little rubber behind trying not to roll back.

thunder1979 > Johnny Utah 02/24/2014 at 11:51

1

I agree with both comments. The one thing I always try to teach a new manual driver is to make them get the car up to idle speed in an empty parking lot using no throttle input so they can't help but learn where the clutch engagement point it. Once they do that and get familiar with the depressing the clutch and then pivoting on the heel to let the clutch pedal return, they can usually get the hang of adding in throttle input very quickly thereafter.

With that being said, I learned to drive a manual on an '92 Nissan Sentra while I was in a driving school learning to drive automatics. My dad got his license in England and made sure I could start the car on a hill which is why the clutch engagement point was so crucial to my learning. Every car is different though. I don't believe there is any shame in stalling a car once or twice if it's completely unfamiliar to you. You're not used to the clutch engagement point, the weight or the amount of throttle needed to smoothly take off from a stop so it's completely understandable.

I did teach my fiance in about an afternoon though.

crowmolly > 404usernotfound 02/24/2014 at 12:15

0

Took me about 2-3 days to get comfortable enough to go anywhere.

To be able to nail a solid powershift right at the desired engine speed? Always a work in progress, and can't practice that too often.

thunder1979 > Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French 02/24/2014 at 12:23

0

That's awesome! My dad learned to drive in England and he says it's criminal how here in Texas at least, they let you out on the roads with roughly 7 hours of instructor supervised driving and 7 hours of instructor supervised observation while another student drives. Luckily he was able to teach me how to drive a manual at the same time I was learning to drive the automatics which were the only cars available at the driving school.

Harrison Berdan > 404usernotfound 02/24/2014 at 13:20

0

4 hours in the local hardware store parking lot with my dad in a Ranger. The whole staff came outside and watched. Nothing like a bit of intimidation to motivate yourself to learn. IMHO all teens should be forced to get a manual as a first car, to keep our attention on driving rather than texting. Come to think of it, apply that to everyone in LA as well. I may have seen someone trimming their toenails on the 101 into the valley.

heavyfoot86 > 404usernotfound 02/24/2014 at 18:03

0

From Europe:

Typically it would take a couple of hours to learn, but you'll have to practice a lot after learning - Let's say... A week of daily training should be enough to get around with hill starts without using the e-break, and maybe less if you are driving a diesel car.

In Europe to get a driver's license you need to go to a driving school and pass both a theoretical and a driving test. It's also mandatory to have about 20 hours of driving with a professional instructor before taking the final exam. This usually takes 1 to 2 months. Manual transmission is the standard here, so you'll have to learn it. In addition to this, the whole course costs between 500 and 1500 euros depending on the country

liquid_popcorn > 404usernotfound 02/24/2014 at 23:41

0

Learned it in a day; borrowed a friend's lifted 1996 Jeep Cherokee Sport (4.0L I6, 5speed!) so I could pick my wife up from work that evening. Snowstorm, my shitty automatic Focus couldn't make the drive. Knew the theory, jerkily drove there and picked her up without stalling (heavy foot on gas, haha). Ended up buying it the next day because I instantly fell in love. Still regret selling it, but I now drive a MK6 GTI with a 6-speed and will be trading it in for the MK7 Golf R, so trade-off there. I still haunt the wrangler forum classifieds for another jeep though.

Philbert/Phartnagle > 404usernotfound 02/24/2014 at 23:43

0

I lived on a farm during my younger years and pretty much learned to drive manual transmission equipment and vehicles during my single digit age years. By the time I hit my teens I could pretty much drive anything on the farm with some degree of proficiency. You learn really fast on the farm, especially when driving hay trucks for your older relatives who would threaten to thoroughly kick your ass if you dumped a load of hay off the truck.

Then I finally hit 16, was able to "legally" drive on pavement and learned how to launch, power shift, heel & toe......

Kevin Rhodes > 404usernotfound 03/01/2014 at 22:41

0

About 15 minutes - I learned to drive on a RHD Land Rover that my uncle owned. In the woods.

I actually had a hard time when I finally had to drive an automatic in driver's ed. left foot pegging the brake pedal to the floor makes for not so smooth progress.

Live your Life > 404usernotfound 03/02/2014 at 13:15

0

I learned by sitting in the middle of the backseat, leg each side of the transmission hump of my Dad's car (this was in the UK in the late 60's and he owned a Mk 1 Ford Capri 1300) watching him. It took me all of 5 minutes to get it right once I sat in the driver's seat.

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > 404usernotfound 04/10/2016 at 04:04

0

It took me 3 weeks to learn stick on my dad’s truck. Then the truck was put down.

When the matrix came along, it took about 2 weeks to learn to drive this torque steering character.