First Time Driving Manual Transmission...Need Advice!

[wparsons]

The biggest help you can give yourself is to not over think it. Work on a getting a feel for what the car is doing but don't think about where your feet are, just think about what the car is doing and how to get it doing what you want.

If it's revving too high either let out the clutch (slowly) more, or give it less gas. If it's shaking give it more gas or hold the clutch (or push it in a slight bit).

If you get caught up thinking about how far out the clutch is or how much gas you're giving it compared to other times you'll go nuts and react slow.

[gmookher]

people leave their driveway and try to learn stick out on the road before mastering the art of NOT rolling backwards:

1)find grade, practice in 1st
2)refine clutch modulations of the driver find engagement point
3)go to step 1

after about 100 reps of clutch engagement, on the driveway, I next take my students to the local high school on a sunday, where we work on the 1st to 2nd shift.
once you got that and the 1st part down, youre ready for the road.

nothing worse than practicing it wrong then having to unlearn a bad habit

[JayNutter]

Originally Posted by Veloist

Okay so it's a little harder than I thought...I drove for an hour in a Yaris and I was still jerking to both 1st and 2nd. i drove for about a mile until my first stall. I did everything on the list--stalled, jerked, wheel spun, rode the clutch, etc...I was learning in a semi-hilly place but still stalled on the false flats. I'm still engaging to first very very slowly. This is why I'm not learning in the our new FR-S plus it's not even broken in.

At the end of the hour, I stopped stalling until our driveway but still took a long time to get the car moving. Sometimes I rev too high and the clutch isn't halfway out...but sometimes I roll back and my dad says I'm not giving it enough gas...It was confusing because the Yaris has no tachometer so it was really only up to me to determine gas input.

My left foot is also sore, on the top. Is that normal? I'm a bicyclist so it's not like my feet are unfit for physical activity. What's the correct position for the clutch foot?

Am I supposed to keep my heel on the floormat? I watched my dad and he keeps his heel on there, but when I do it I feel I need to raise my whole foot and I think that's what's slowing me down.

I only got an hour because we borrowed the car from a friend who didn't mind because he's selling it but I'm still looking for my own I can beat up.

I feel like I need a lot more practice just to get my muscles to remember when to let in and out but the uneven terrain is what's messing me up.

I'm never going to give up but I'm frustrated because it looks like I won't be driving the FR-S anytime soon, because I really want to be refined at it before I get behind the wheel of it.

Easiest way to learn to drive manual is to:

1. Put car in first gear
2. Do not use the gas pedal
3. Release clutch (slowly) until the car starts moving
4. Repeat

This will teach you how to find the sweet spot on the clutch.