To those who learnt auto driving before stick

[continuecrushing]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

...
I taught two different girls how to drive stick on my old car. ...

ha, I see what you did there.

One question, at the same time, or separately?

[Manic]

There seems to be a lot of uproar about how horrible it is to slip the clutch on a manual transmission. They're designed to allow a little slip. Obviously, riding the clutch will burn it out, but .5-1 seconds of slip when launching or a .25 seconds of slip between gears shouldn't mangle it. I mean, to be able to launch and shift without slip would require some insane milimetric levels of precision on the clutch and throttle that I don't think average standard drivers have. Yet, most experienced standard drivers can still easily get 75k+ miles out of their clutch.

It's a wear item. It's designed to be replaced. It'd be nice to have them last as long as you can, but I don't see anything particularly wrong with replacing a clutch at 50k. I drive about 10-12k miles a year, so at <$800 cost to replace seems perfectly feasible every 5 years. Hell, I even have a 'clutch' fund set up for this eventuality.

You don't have to be some manual driving master to get decent life out of your clutch. Adequate technique should net you 60-70k easy. No need to baby your SPORTS car. Plus, how much fun is it to constantly be worrying about clutch life, mpgs, tire wear, etc? Drive this car like you stole it!

[Tcoat]

As Manic said! Maybe I wasn't clear on what I meant in my previous posts. To TEACH somebody to purposely ride the clutch at a hill or to creep along is a bad idea. They can far too easily pick up bad habits of keeping their foot on the clutch when they should not. The clutch is meant to put the car in gear and not to be used only part way to hold it on hills or move forward in traffic by just giving enough for it to barely hold. A second or two for a launch or feathering for control are totally different scenarios. Guys that race or track their car fully expect to go through clutches and tires, and, bearings, and, and, and) MOST people using it as a DD do not. I (and I bet a few others) fall somewhere in between as I will never track but on ramps and winding country roads are my new best friends!


Sort of the difference between:
"COOL trashed my stock clutch on my 20th track run and now I can get that ultra XXXX brand super clutch I always wanted"
or
"car is a piece of junk and I am going all lemon law on it cuz my clutch failed at 10000k and all I did was hold it at every hill I stopped on "

[Tcoat]

Plus, if anyone says anything, just inform them that you are learning to driving with a clutch, and (stupid)people on the forums said to try this.[/QUOTE]







Tried that once a few years back when got busted doing a 50 foot, 4 wheel burnout with my Talon TSI! Cop didn't buy it but laughed so hard when I said I had never driven standard before he let me off with a warning.

[Mini Cooper S]

I learned the basics of manual driving 7 years ago watching this vid. [ame]http://youtu.be/B59-pWSPoZU[/ame] also there's a dedicated forum for manual driving http://www.standardshift.com

[Tromatic]

Originally Posted by sci3

Ive driven auto for 3 years now, how long roughly would it take to learn manuel driving and feel confident by myself?

How long did it take you?

Depends on how good Manuel's teacher is.

[Jegan_V]

For my own cars, driven automatic for about 7 years before I started driving a manual. Technically I still drive automatics to this day as all my work cars are autos. To the OP's question...I think the longer you've driven an auto it increasingly takes longer to fully learn a manual due to all the habits you've picked up driving the auto and having to unlearn them to drive a manual properly. Learning the basics isn't too difficult, that takes a matter of an hour or so. Refining your ability to drive a manual though...I think that took me about a full month before I changed gears from a lousy gear changer to one that's so-so but not enough to be good. My issue...switching from auto driving mentality to manual driving mentality, after some years though I can switch with ease.

[extrashaky]

One thing nobody has mentioned is that how comfortable you are with the car will be influenced by how you use the car. If this will be your daily driver, you'll get comfortable with it very quickly. Regular practice helps.

But if this is your weekend toy that you only drive for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon, you will find yourself starting to get comfortable with it this weekend, then coming back next weekend and feeling like you're all knees and elbows, wondering how you managed to forget everything you learned the week before. If you drive it that way, you'll get a little better each weekend until you finally feel comfortable, but sometimes it will feel like you're making no progress at all.

So just keep that in mind and be patient with yourself.

[Scenic Driver]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

But if this is your weekend toy that you only drive for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon, you will find yourself starting to get comfortable with it this weekend, then coming back next weekend and feeling like you're all knees and elbows, wondering how you managed to forget everything you learned the week before. If you drive it that way, you'll get a little better each weekend until you finally feel comfortable, but sometimes it will feel like you're making no progress at all.

I learned like that (I didn't need the car to get to work and lived in a town where you can walk to everything), very frustrating at times. That was with my TT that still has the original clutch after 110k miles. I also put almost 100k on a Golf TDI and almost 50k on my BRZ since then and never had to do a clutch repair so far.

[Jyn]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

But if this is your weekend toy that you only drive for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon, you will find yourself starting to get comfortable with it this weekend, then coming back next weekend and feeling like you're all knees and elbows, wondering how you managed to forget everything you learned the week before. If you drive it that way, you'll get a little better each weekend until you finally feel comfortable, but sometimes it will feel like you're making no progress at all.

QFT!!!
So I made this my DD so that would stop happening

[Gords_zenith]

Originally Posted by Xti

ROFLMAO, taking the hill with Manual by using the clutch only ? I suggest you to learn manual transmission again.

Hint "Use your hand-brake"

Hint "YES you can use "only" the clutch on a hill" I've done many times before and is the proper way to learn. Think about this, my truck has a foot parking brake, how am I suppose to hold and start the truck on steep hill using the parking brake and clutch? It can't be done. Also you can start the car in 2, and even 3rd gear in this car if your really good on flat surface. I've done it and I got 52000 km on my clutch with no hints of slipping. Stop spreading misinformation. I agree it's not good to ride the clutch for extended periods or constantly rolling back and forth, but in some circumstances you may have no other choice for a second or two. It will not kill it instantly! I challenge you to go and try starting off with only the clutch in 1st for yourself!

[themajesticone]

Originally Posted by sci3

Ive driven auto for 3 years now, how long roughly would it take to learn manuel driving and feel confident by myself?

How long did it take you?

Manuel is very hard headed and can be difficult to deal with

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by Gords_zenith

Hint "YES you can use "only" the clutch on a hill" I've done many times before and is the proper way to learn. Think about this, my truck has a foot parking brake, how am I suppose to hold and start the truck on steep hill using the parking brake and clutch? It can't be done.

This is true. I have had three trucks with this setup. For those who have never had such a truck, the emergency brake usually locks in place when you press it. You can't use that as a crutch on a hill.

To make sure we're all on the same page, though, let me say this:

1. Using the handbrake as a crutch in the twins is fine when you are learning to take off on hills. It does no damage, and it's much better than rolling into the car behind you.

2. On the other hand, the ultimate goal is to be able to take off on hills without using the handbrake, because not all vehicles have a handbrake. Your ultimate goal should be to become a better driver all around, and being able to take off on a hill without the handbrake crutch and without excessive clutch slip means you have a much higher level of control of the car in ALL situations, hill or no hill.

3. On the third hand, you do not want to use the clutch to hold yourself in position on a hill. That's just excessive clutch slip that will burn that thing out before you ever really learn how to drive the car. This conversation seems to have gotten a little muddled above with a false choice between using the handbrake or holding the car in place using the clutch, and the two things have nothing to do with each other.

[Xti]

Originally Posted by Gords_zenith

Hint "YES you can use "only" the clutch on a hill" I've done many times before and is the proper way to learn. Think about this, my truck has a foot parking brake, how am I suppose to hold and start the truck on steep hill using the parking brake and clutch? It can't be done. Also you can start the car in 2, and even 3rd gear in this car if your really good on flat surface. I've done it and I got 52000 km on my clutch with no hints of slipping. Stop spreading misinformation. I agree it's not good to ride the clutch for extended periods or constantly rolling back and forth, but in some circumstances you may have no other choice for a second or two. It will not kill it instantly! I challenge you to go and try starting off with only the clutch in 1st for yourself!

LOL ! well throw me 100$ buck and I will take that challenge. For that said, it is quiet simple to start rolling with clutch only on a flat surface, and not (INCLINE or HILL)

Yes, You can start the car under 2nd or 3rd gear, but you are straining your engine, flywheel, and clutch with that much extra weight. It is depend on how much Tow capacity your car engine is rated. Diesel engine has much more torque, for towing, and you can start it in 2nd and 3rd gear without damaging the engine. Gasoline engine is different.

Starting out at 2nd and 3rd gear will kill your engine more than you think, especially on Boxer engines. These engines do not like to be bogged down.

Final words = less jerking, less clutch riding and your car will last longer, and your engine will be happier. That is all. It is a Manual FFS, so drive it the way you want to.