What Was Your Magic Number?

"Denver Is Stuck In The 90s" (denver80222)
02/02/2015 at 05:11 • Filed to: Late night jibber jabber

I have had my license for about 2 months now and have put about 1500 miles on my truck since. Before I got my license, I didnt know how to drive stick. I have noticed the past few days that I have had to put less and less thought into driving. So Oppo, what was your number of miles before driving became second nature to you after you got your license? Mine is apparently 1500.

PS- I'm usually up late doing some kind of homework. How bad of an Idea would it be to make "Late Night Jibber Jabber" a semi regular segment here? I would ask those head scratcher automotive questions and we see what answers pop up in the comments

DISCUSSION (32)

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 05:21

hm. I Have no idea. 7 months since I got my license...maybe 3-4 months?

pip bip - choose Corrour > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 05:24

damn good question , only issue is i got my license 23yrs ago , so no f-ing idea.

oh well.

GhostZ > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 05:33

Driving was already second nature when I got my license. I'd been on a school and learner's permit for nearly two years.

It took roughly 6 months from getting my first learner's permit though, probably because I only got to drive ~1-2 hours a week and only with someone else in the car so progress was slow. Wasn't like I was driving regularly.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 05:35

Driving stick became second nature once I drove an underpowered VW Voyage in a hilly city, so a month ago, not sure where you're getting at? The car also rolled over 20,000 KM while I was driving it.

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 05:40

so.. no one else grew up on a farm?

I was 12

pip bip - choose Corrour > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
02/02/2015 at 05:58

nope. city slicker here.

jimmyxxl > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 06:12

I traded an automatic 1981 Silverado for a manual fox body mustang with around 400 horsepower when I was 17. My dad drove it home. After multiple attempts to start, I went inside and asked him why it wouldn't start. Turned out depressing the clutch pedal was necessary. After about two weeks of stoplight burnouts and stalling I had it down. Unfortunately the clutch was roasted. A new clutch and countless tickets later I became the poster child for not letting your teenager drive a drag car on the streets. Now days my two Suzukis both have manual transmissions and a combined 200 horsepower tops. But who doesn't love an x90......wait pretty much everyone.

zeontestpilot > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
02/02/2015 at 06:44

If it counts for something, as a city boy, I'm jealous of you growing up on a farm.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 07:21

Well I had to do 6 months of a learners permit, so by the time I had my license it felt natural. I would say I only drove a couple hundred miles in that time. That was driving an automatic though. 6 years later, I learned manual and it started feeling very natural with smooth shifts, no stalling, and having fun with downshifts. I would say that was around 1000 miles into it. Maybe sooner but its hard to keep track of miles when I am just driving all the damn time now for the fun of it!

Hahayoustupidludditeshutupandgohandcrankyourmodeltalready > jimmyxxl
02/02/2015 at 07:36

An x-90? You have a Suzuki X-90?

(The incredulity is from delight, not disgust)

Stephen the Canuck > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
02/02/2015 at 07:57

Not on a farm, but drove back roads and ATVs when I was young. I was probably around 14ish.

Funktheduck > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 08:35

If it makes you feel better, every once and a while I stall under the dumbest circumstances every once and a while. It's never at a red light or hill. It's like backing out of a driveway and going into first and my brain quits working.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
02/02/2015 at 08:36

Didn't grow up in a farm per se, but I did grow up in a small rural town in Southern Brazil, and started picking up the car at around the same age, so I gues 12 is the magic number here :p

I've no idea how many miles I had when I got my license, but driving was already second nature to me then.

M-Powwerr Drives a Ford > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 08:37

I would say 3 months after getting my temps I could drive an auto without much thinking. Miata is still sleeping in the garage until the snow and salt is off the road...so time will tell with the manual.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy
02/02/2015 at 08:39

Hahaha, I had similar experiences while trying to overtake trucks uphill on a Chevrolet Zafira, on the road between Porto Alegre and Carazinho. Underpowered doesn't even come close to describing how slow to get up and go that car was.

Stupidru > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 09:01

I just bought my first manual trans car on Black Friday, but I had known how to drive stick prior to that. It took me a good month before I didn't have to think about it anymore, and 2 months before everything became 2nd nature. Now I don't even have to look at the tach or the gear shifter to know what gear I'm in or how much to blip the throttle when I'm downshifting. The brain is a magical thing

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
02/02/2015 at 09:05

maybe it's a southern hemisphere thing?

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 09:46

14 years old. Dad took me out in the snow and taught me how to drive stick

Racescort666 > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 10:11

I have been driving a stick for probably 15 years and I still occasionally stall it. Like pulling into the driveway to pick a lady up for our first date... and she was standing right there and watched me do it.

For me, it was more or less age 16 when I got my license. I had been driving my mom's Subaru for probably 3 months or so to get the hours up as a prerequisite for the license test. Then I took the test in an auto equipped car, that was a bit confusing.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 13:23

Probably 4-5 months after getting my permit.

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
02/02/2015 at 14:34

Nope, I gre up in the suburbs and I am he only car guy in my family. So I had to learn this stuff on my own

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > Stupidru
02/02/2015 at 14:36

Ya that sounds about right. Took me about a month do get a rythm going too but it took 2 months do have to become second nature.

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > GhostZ
02/02/2015 at 14:39

I didn't get my permit till I was 20 (my parents felt it was uneccesary and my mom is a bit overprotective of me due to my medical issues). But both my parents hate driving, so in the year that I had my permit I only drove 7 hours, 90% of which was done with a driving instructor. So I haven't gotten any real driving experience until I got my license. So I have 7 hours in an automatic and 1500 miles in a stick. Not bad eh?

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > Funktheduck
02/02/2015 at 14:40

I have issues in parking garages. I think the close quarters make me over think it

McMike > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 14:49

I think I was 11-13 years old driving around parking lots with dad, so I mastered the three pedals long before I turned 16. I still stalled on the street every once in a while when I had my permit because hills, and because I was still a little nervous to be on the road with other vehicles.

By the time the actual drivers license went in my wallet, I was more than ready.

MonkeePuzzle > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
02/02/2015 at 14:50

I did, kinda.

My first drive was around age of 12, and independent. I was informed if I could get the ute in the shed to run, I could drive it. It was sand windows and hood, and most of the roof due to a previous rollover. Got her running and drove about. Not sure I learned much because it was totally clutchless (not by design) so gear changes were just about grinding into the next.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
02/02/2015 at 15:17

I live in a rural town surrounded by farm land and my uncle owned a farm for a few years. So close yet so far away...

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
02/02/2015 at 18:35

seems about right, I drove the Voyage on a trip from Sorocaba to Ribeirao Preto. It struggled uphill, and yes, I also drove through a thunderstorm part of the way.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
02/02/2015 at 22:30

probably a month after having my license, granted I drive an auto......

jimmyxxl > Hahayoustupidludditeshutupandgohandcrankyourmodeltalready
02/03/2015 at 00:59

I own a 1997 Silver X90 4x4. Body and spacer lift installed. Currently riding on American Racing ATX wheels with metric equivalent of a 28.5. I need to slightly trim fenders to comfortably fit 30s. Have driven it 70k miles since buying it years ago with 67k on it. I picked it up in Buffalo and drove it into Canada to see Niagara Falls. Then drove it home to Tennessee. It's been the most dependable car I've owned. I also have a two wheel drive 97 sidekick. I bought it for parts but decided to dump more money than it's worth to make it my daily driver.

jimmyxxl > jimmyxxl
02/03/2015 at 01:11

Kinja'd!!!

Hahayoustupidludditeshutupandgohandcrankyourmodeltalready > jimmyxxl
02/03/2015 at 07:47

Nice!