Kluski

why do you have to start on a hill with a handbrake?




Learn to opperate the vehicle at very low rpms by practicing in a parking lot using NO gas pedal to get to 3rd gear. Creeping around like that teaches you clutch modulation and how slow the car can smoothly move in gear. It makes you much more confident in parking lots and at lights. YOU drive the car. If your worried about stalling, go in a lot and stall it out 20 times, you're not going to hurt anything.

Drive around a lot, pull in and out of parking spaces(yes reverse too) without ever touching the gas pedal. It will take the gas pedal out of it and put you more in tune with how the clutch functions. Train your left leg [/b][/quote]
I use the handbrake on the hill because in the time my foot leaves the brake and touches the gas, I usually roll back a couple of inches.
I do not understand what you mean by getting to third gear with NO gas. Do you mean to start in third and let the clutch out a little until you feel it pull? If so I am willing to try something new. The more I can learn about driving the better.

theguy10

my focus wont really, i have to hold it on the brink of stall for about 10 seconds before it gets up enough speed to come off the clutch. I have never tried going to second gear like that....hmm something to do on my way home from work today! hehe, maybe i can make it home without hitting the gas...haha, im sure the people on the highway wouldnt like that.

StevenJ

why do you have to start on a hill with a handbrake?




Learn to opperate the vehicle at very low rpms by practicing in a parking lot using NO gas pedal to get to 3rd gear. Creeping around like that teaches you clutch modulation and how slow the car can smoothly move in gear. It makes you much more confident in parking lots and at lights. YOU drive the car. If your worried about stalling, go in a lot and stall it out 20 times, you're not going to hurt anything.

Drive around a lot, pull in and out of parking spaces(yes reverse too) without ever touching the gas pedal. It will take the gas pedal out of it and put you more in tune with how the clutch functions. Train your left leg [/b][/quote]
Funny, that's exactly what I tried to do in my friend's Ford Ranger, when he tried to teach me stick on his truck. I kept stalling out. The only time I didn't stall out was when I applied gas.

Dan

I use the handbrake on the hill because in the time my foot leaves the brake and touches the gas, I usually roll back a couple of inches.
I do not understand what you mean by getting to third gear with NO gas. Do you mean to start in third and let the clutch out a little until you feel it pull? If so I am willing to try something new. The more I can learn about driving the better. [/b][/quote]
No, I think what he means is engage the clutch in first slooowwwly untill you start rolling, then second, then third.....without ever giving it any gas. The car is able to pull itself along at idle.

This is also why if you slow down gentley in first gear to a roll you won't stall.

Kev is right, the most important thing to do when learning manual is to find where you clutch "grabs".

Some people are instructed that they are to depress the gas as they lift the clutch from the get-go when in fact this is not how you do it.

Since the "grab" or contact point is somewhere around halfway up the clutch travel, you need to lift the clutch to just before that point and then give gas while lifting off of the clutch from then on.

If you do it the first way, you'll make the mistake most learners make which is that by the time the clutch is engaging, there is too much gas.

On my 5-speed, I'm usually only revving at 1500rpm max when the clutch is being engaged.

While we're on the subject, another common mistake is that when people feel the contact of the clutch and flywheel, they add gas and rip their foot off the clutch resulting in the car lunging forward. Its a mental exercise and you have to lift off the clutch at a constant rate right through the contact zone.

As far as the handbrake, I know how to do the trick but find there is no reason to perform it. I am fast enough that even on a steep slope, I won't roll more than a few inches if at all. When you're learning, you don't have the same confidence and quickness though. Basically, good to know how to do, but rarely/never used on a daily basis.

Strider

Sorry to ask, but could someone explain how to do this handbrake/emergency brake trick? My '05 will be my first manual transmission, so I am a bit ignorant (as they say) when it comes to anything that has to do with a manual. Please enlighten me?? :bang:

Shea

There's no trick to it. It's an alternative way of applying the rear brakes, and it isn't inherent to manuals. Every car has a parking brake, it's just that usually on autos it's an under-dash pedal, and on manuals it's a lever you grab with your hand.

The idea is that you can pull this lever and leave the brakes on when you are parked to make sure the car doesn't roll.

Personally, if you ask me, the only thing parking brakes are good for is pulling 180s. But, if you don't know what one is, I won't bother getting into 180s and J-turns.

Just park your car in 1st or reverse, and you'll never need the parking brake (though it doesn't hurt to use it just to keep it from locking up due to rust...especially if you live in Michigan).

Galaxie

Basically it is tough to start off on a hill in a stick shift car... especially with rookies (me)

You pull up the parking brake holding the button, then release the clutch/add gas until you feel the car catch and then let go of the parking brake and keep going.

You see this more in europe, where they have small engines that have no torque at all.

With good timing, the torque from a V6 or V8 in a Mustang will be more than enough that you don't need to do this trick.

Kluski

I guess that is my next thing to practice.

Dan - Thanks for the little pointers. I don't push the gas as soon as I start to release the clutch, but I think I still start the gas to early. My last stick shift was a 150 hp 95 Stang, so I am sure it will be a BIG jump to the 05 GT. I see a big empty parking lot next to an empty building by my house just calling my name.

Stadifer

I'm jumping up from a whimpy 102 horse 95 Civic DX to a 200 horse Ford Mustang. It's going to take some getting used too.

Ripstang

Having driven both over the years the stick will give better performance over the auto ( if driven properly ) .but the bigger concern is stop and go traffic is harder on a standard and can be burned out sooner then one that has a good highway /town drive every day .Remember the cluch does not have a cooler like the automatic ...the auto has tranylines to the rad or its own cooler up with the rad at the front .And as for learning give it about a week of jerky starts ,stalls and grinding gears and you will have it down in no time at all !!! I hope this helps you in getting you new stang !!!

StevenJ

I'd advise everyone to get an escort or a civic with a 5 spd manual before spending money on a stang. Afterall, it's better to screw up a POS then a brand new stang. That's what I'm probably going to do. Or, if you really want, get a 5.0 with a 5 spd since they are relatively cheap now to. Before you even do that, get a friend or family member to teach you first hand and if you can't do that, call a driving school. There are driving schools out there that will teach you how to drive stick. My friend learned through a driving school. I personally started on my friend's Ranger. It was a short drive though, well about ten feet out of the driveway but my cousin has agreed to teach me stick. He's got a slick car btw, a new Z4. I heard BMWs have very light clutches. I'm sure Kevin can confirm that.

Shea

Man, whadda concept, my motorcycle makes way more HP than that. B)