First Manual Car

[Koa]

^ good guy ultra..

P.S buy the car and then check this DIY to change the clutch pedal to be parallel or even a hair shorter than the brake pedal. Trust, you'll learn quick and it's a forgiving platform to learn on provided you adjust the pedal. Majority would agree adjusting the clutch pedal gives a feel that will translate over to many of the other manual boxes in the world

[spicyricecake]

I too will be getting the BRZ and if I end up getting a MT, it'll be my first MT. I've driven my girlfriend's dad's ford fiesta to learn a little (maybe 4 hours), and I feel that I've got the basics down. However, I still fear driving in traffic because I know that driving in traffic is not the same beast as doing it in an empty parking lot. ESPECIALLY with other people who can potentially be terrible drivers. It is a scary feeling to be out there knowing you're not the best you can be in your driving skills due to the MT.

My father who's driving MT for a long time, and is a car enthusiast, suggested to me that it is something you have to own to be able to master it, and like everyone else says, it becomes second nature. Kind of like riding a bike

I'm actually looking forward to it even though where I live (tallahassee) has some steep hills and crazy stop and go traffic all day long.

Can't wait to hop on the interstate and just drive fast

[kdmxdgt]

the clutch/engagement feels similar to my old mazda3.

[RacerX]

Don't get this car in auto. It defeats the purpose.

Regardless of whether you find learning stick in this car to be an easy or difficult experience, eventually you will get it down and one day you'll be proud of your abilities.

This was my first MT car as well, and I was not a quick learner. Took a few hours to get the basics, a week or so to get reasonably smooth, about a month to get comfortable with hill starts, a few months to become perfectly smooth revmatching, and now it's been about a year and I'd say I'm reasonably good at heel-toe and double clutch. You should always be working on improving your abilities.

It helps to understand how the transmission works. That way you understand why certain techniques are needed rather than just blindly accepting them. It will also prevent you from developing bad habits that can shorten the lifetime of transmission components. For example if you want to get into gear from neutral at speed what should you do to relieve the strain on the synchro?

[Pkush]

Originally Posted by RacerX

Don't get this car in auto. It defeats the purpose.

Regardless of whether you find learning stick in this car to be an easy or difficult experience, eventually you will get it down and one day you'll be proud of your abilities.

This was my first MT car as well, and I was not a quick learner. Took a few hours to get the basics, a week or so to get reasonably smooth, about a month to get comfortable with hill starts, a few months to become perfectly smooth revmatching, and now it's been about a year and I'd say I'm reasonably good at heel-toe and double clutch. You should always be working on improving your abilities.

It helps to understand how the transmission works. That way you understand why certain techniques are needed rather than just blindly accepting them. It will also prevent you from developing bad habits that can shorten the lifetime of transmission components. For example if you want to get into gear from neutral at speed what should you do to relieve the strain on the synchro?

The synchro part...tell me? I'm a new MT driver and I'm curious.

Also tell me why would you double clutch in a car with synchros? I was pretty sure it's useless?

[cookiesowns]

Originally Posted by Pkush

The synchro part...tell me? I'm a new MT driver and I'm curious.

Also tell me why would you double clutch in a car with synchros? I was pretty sure it's useless?

Not at all. Syncros are just like a clutch, except much more expensive and tedious to replace.

Each time you shift, and not being properly rev-matched, your syncros are taking the brunt of getting everything matched up so you cogs aren't grinding.

You can get away without double clutching in normal conditions. But if you're doing let's say a 3rd gear to 1st downshift, you probably want to double clutch rev match.

[NickTC]

Originally Posted by Pkush

The synchro part...tell me? I'm a new MT driver and I'm curious.

Also tell me why would you double clutch in a car with synchros? I was pretty sure it's useless?

You don't NEED to double clutch in a car with synchros. If you're trying to avoid using (and thus wearing on) the synchros, you would double clutch.

[Pkush]

Originally Posted by cookiesowns

Not at all. Syncros are just like a clutch, except much more expensive and tedious to replace.

Each time you shift, and not being properly rev-matched, your syncros are taking the brunt of getting everything matched up so you cogs aren't grinding.

You can get away without double clutching in normal conditions. But if you're doing let's say a 3rd gear to 1st downshift, you probably want to double clutch rev match.

Well I've gotten pretty good at rev matching...I usually match spot on, sometimes though within like 100-200 rpms (I do look at rpms when I release the clutch).

As for the 1st downshift...don't know about yours but my brz won't even let me put it in 1st anywhere above 6 mph. 7 mph and I am simply locked out of first and forced to go in 2nd.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by Pkush

The synchro part...tell me? I'm a new MT driver and I'm curious.

Watch this video. It's a little dry and a bit long, but it's a very good explanation of how a manual transmission generally works and has an especially good explanation of the synchronizers. It's not our transmission, but the basic principles are the same.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOo3TLgL0kM"]Manual Transmission Operation - YouTube[/ame]

You don't actually have to watch the whole video to get a good understanding of what's going on in there. You'll get the gist of it after the first 10-12 minutes.

[RacerX]

Originally Posted by Pkush

The synchro part...tell me? I'm a new MT driver and I'm curious.

Also tell me why would you double clutch in a car with synchros? I was pretty sure it's useless?

The answer is to use the engine to spin up the clutch disk rather than making the snychro do all the work. So say you're coasting at 45mph in neutral (engine is idling, clutch is out) and you want to put it in 4th. If you clutch in and push the stick into 4th, the synchro will have to spin up the clutch disk from idle speed to the 4th gear engine speed (probably like 3k rpm or there abouts). Thats alot. Instead first rev the engine to 3k, then put the clutch in and quickly slide it into 4th, if you matched it perfectly it should slide in with essentially no resistance or knotchyness at all. You're basically doing the 2nd half of the double clutch technique.

I usually use double clutch if I'm skipping gears when down shifting. Going from 6th to 4th is hard on the 4th gear synchro. Or you can move the stick from 6->5->4 without actually clutching out in 5th. That will utilize both the 4th and the 5th synchro to spin up the input shaft. In these cars, you're right, you shouldn't try to shift into 1st unless you're going 6mph or slower (unless you double clutch).

[cookiesowns]

Originally Posted by Pkush

Well I've gotten pretty good at rev matching...I usually match spot on, sometimes though within like 100-200 rpms (I do look at rpms when I release the clutch).

As for the 1st downshift...don't know about yours but my brz won't even let me put it in 1st anywhere above 6 mph. 7 mph and I am simply locked out of first and forced to go in 2nd.

Double clutch buddy! Try it =) Slides in like butter.

[stugray]

Originally Posted by RacerX

it's been about a year and I'd say I'm reasonably good at heel-toe and double clutch. You should always be working on improving your abilities.

You do NOT need to double clutch. Did your grandpa tech you to drive stick?

Originally Posted by cookiesowns

You can get away without double clutching in normal conditions. But if you're doing let's say a 3rd gear to 1st downshift, you probably want to double clutch rev match.

You do not need to double clutch. Anyone who tells you that is FOS

Originally Posted by NickTC

You don't NEED to double clutch in a car with synchros. If you're trying to avoid using (and thus wearing on) the synchros, you would double clutch.

You dont need to double clutch AT ALL. just shifting slower will reduce wear on the synchros.

Originally Posted by cookiesowns

Double clutch buddy! Try it =) Slides in like butter.

Mine slides in like butter everytime without double clutching.

Not only do I not need to double clutch, but I can shift 1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2 all without even using the clutch.

For all of those giving advice that tell people to double clutch a modern car:
Master shifiting with no clutch, get over 30 years driving stick then you may give advice.

[RacerX]

Originally Posted by stugray

You do NOT need to double clutch. Did your grandpa tech you to drive stick?



You do not need to double clutch. Anyone who tells you that is FOS



You dont need to double clutch AT ALL. just shifting slower will reduce wear on the synchros.


Mine slides in like butter everytime without double clutching.

Not only do I not need to double clutch, but I can shift 1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2 all without even using the clutch.

For all of those giving advice that tell people to double clutch a modern car:
Master shifiting with no clutch, get over 30 years driving stick then you may give advice.

Wow, I really hope you're joking. Otherwise people might take you seriously.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by stugray

Master shifiting with no clutch, get over 30 years driving stick then you may give advice.

WTF, Stu? I'm that guy. Mastering no-clutch shifts has absolutely nothing to do with syncro preservation. You are way off base. Give it up, please.