Hi! I noticed that no one mentioned one important thing you should practice: going up a hill, stopping in the middle/near the top and then taking off again, without rolling back. This will help you in cases when you're stuck in a bumber to bumber traffic on a hill and some idiot comes in too close to your rear bumper. That made me very upset when I was learning to drive the manual transmission. Remember, you don't have to worry about learning how to drive a car, just need to learn how to drive a different type of a car.

 

You should go get a rental unit with a stick and drive it till your good at driving a stick. Don't screw your new car up.

 

I already considered that...called about 1000 rental car places and they all carry nothing but automatics

 

how much time for you guys to be perfect? I drove it for four months now and I,m not comfortable yet...

 

I don't rememeber I started driving a stick when I was 13 years old on the Ranch. Also rode real Mustangs.

 

If she's doing that to the clutch, I hope she isn't grinding the gears. Bad clutching and bad shifting usually go hand-in-hand (no pun intended). Clutch replacement is one thing, replacing synchros at 10K is another, and the dealership may not be willing to replace the synchros under warranty if they see the clutch is being worn through as well. They'll know someone is driving screwy.

Maybe you should take her out and show her the right way. If she continues to drive the way she is, it can get dangerous. She could get into an accident, stall out in traffic or an intersection, have the worn synchros pop the car out of gear at a crucial time (on-ramp), etc. Having your '05 in a body shop for something you didn't do can be quite a touchy situation.

Just some food for thought.

 

Cheeesh I thought I was the only one here that had a good story about driving off the lot in a std without learning first! It was great entertainment for those Toyota sales guys back in 86 when I bought my new Camry.

My wife has my Stang today - her first day with it. She hasnt driven a std in years but did have one once and sorta mastered it but not completely. Please PRAY!!!!!

 

Frank, I'm in the same situation. I had never driven a manual before and I got the hang of it after a couple of weeks but after three months I'm still perfecting my skills. It's not that easy to drive the Mustang smoothly with all this power under the hood. I think I ride the clutch too much when I want to start smoothly... I drove my father Tracker last week and it was so much easier to drive smoothly (still a piece of junk in my mind compared to my car though !!!

 

Since we are all being brutally honest here, I'll share my story.

I too never owned a stick and forked over $27k. A few friends gave me some quick lessons in an Isuzu Rodeo and a Honda Civic, and after much, much stalling, I got the basic gist of it down, but not nearly enough practice time on them an neither one would feel like what a 300HP GT would be like. About 5 weeks before delivery of my pony, I chipped a bone in my left ankle and it swelled like a tree trunk - so for a good while I could not use a clutch. After a couple of weeks, a friend of mine let me try his '04 Mach 1 and said that it would be closer than driving a Rodeo or Civic...it was the worst driving experience in my life ...My ankle was still stiff and couldn't get the feel of the clutch. I stalled, and missed gears, and over-revved...did everything bad - my buddy said get the automatic. I immediately called my dealer next day to change my order to the 5-spd automatic - he said it would take another 8 to 10 weeks!!! because my car was already scheduled. After much re-assurance from my stick driving friends, and you guys on the forums --- I stuck with the stick. My manliness was in jeopardy!

The day came for pickup - I was as nervous about it like it was my first date. They gave me the keys...I waited till my salesman went back inside the building...I had to stall for like 5 minutes...I played it off like reading the manual, adjusting the mirror, etc., etc...finally I had to drive it 2 whole blocks home...hahaha! I stalled it 3 times just getting it off the lot....then I decided against the highway and took the back roads home...stupid idea...so many !$!@#$!$ double parked cars and traffic going the other way....stalled a least 3 more times....left in 2nd the whole way home.
Now parking it in the narrow garage was another nightmare...stalled at least 4 more
times just trying to inch into a narrow one car garage....seemed like the longest night of my life.

I've come a long way since that sorry experience. I don't stall anymore, only ground a gear once. I not longer dread being the first one at a stop light for fear of stalling and have the cars behind me honk their horns. I relish being first at a light, cause I can dust everyone off the line .

I still have ways to go...haven't quite mastered downshifting (I've chriped the tires a few times for being at too high an RPM). I'll sometimes mistake
3rd gear for 1st and wonder why the car won't budge...I've actually launched out of 3rd a few times...wondering why is my tach so high and I'm barely moving? I'm alot more careful now. Things I need to work on besides downshifting - being smoother from 1st to 2nd..still a bit rough, but getting better all the time. Going in reverse...I tend or ride the clutch a little bit to control the speed when backing up.
But now at least I can take it places and have given several lady friends rides in it...cause that's what it was meant for .

Things I want to learn by this summer: Speed Shifting, then Power Shifting...I'm in no hurry, yet though

Question - when I have to move the car a very short distance to park it, is it ok to ride the clutch a little bit ? That's the only time I do it.

 

Just let it out a little to get the car rolling then put it back in. Don't ride the clutch.
You will get the feel of it. Good luck

 

My first stick car was my RSX-S, but before I had a few lessons on other cars. It took me about 6 months before I could do everything (hills, etc) without thinking and smoothly.

I do have a piece of advice that may or may not help you. You already know that you should let out the clutch smoothly while giving it gas if necessary. This is true for all gears EXCEPT first. I figured this out the hard way, all the time getting off to a jerky or clutch-frying start and wondering why. In first when you are stopped, when you give it a little gas and start to let up the clutch, you have to pause your clutch release briefly at the friction point until you start moving. Once you start moving, you can smoothly release the clutch the rest of the way. Don't really get on the gas until you are fully off the clutch. Gears 2 through 6 (5 on a Mustang) do not require this technique, and you can generally let out the clutch smoothly on these without pausing. Hope this helps.

 

Took me about a month to be real good, but I went out every day for a few good hours along with my dad from that point forward I never slipped the clutch or bogged at a shift.
It takes longer to perfect heel-toe, and double clutch (even tho' you don't really need it with our fully synchronized tranny's) It took me about 6 moths, to be pretty good at that. Then after that you practice to become even faster. I've been practicing and driving for about 4yrs now.
:drive:

 

My dad told me that was how he learned. His 1st standard car was a Beatle when he was 20, and he bogged it and stalled it all the way home.