KW (Tri-Cities) Thread

[Aznek]

Wow, there are quite a few of us in KW now.

[mountainside]

Originally Posted by sal

Spotted an frs a week ago? I was in my raven frs. We waved each other down lol.

By the way, that was awesome. We'd literally just picked up our car and it was cool to see you.

[mountainside]

Originally Posted by df.dima

Awesome! We are almost neighbours then. I guess I'll see you around .

My parents live in the area, and husband and I visit weekly or thereabouts. There are definitely some interesting cars in the area - we always check out the awesome toyotas parked at bartlett/old huron.

[Slartibartfast]

Live in Cambridge, work in Guelph.

Picked up my FR-S Thursday. Here's pics of new and old (the RX-7 is for sale BTW)

[barney]

Very nice! - moving to cambridge this up coming week. BTW saw a whiteout at bridge and northfield fri (poss thursday) a.m. about about 8:10....

[mountainside]

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

Live in Cambridge, work in Guelph.

Picked up my FR-S Thursday. Here's pics of new and old (the RX-7 is for sale BTW)

Congrats!! It looks amazing.

Also - saw a whiteout FR-S or BRZ around lunchtime this past Friday - northbound on King in the Northfield/King area. I was the Asphalt FR-S southbound towards the expressway. Was debating getting whiteout - it looks pretty epic!

[df.dima]

Originally Posted by mountainside

Congrats!! It looks amazing.

Also - saw a whiteout FR-S or BRZ around lunchtime this past Friday - northbound on King in the Northfield/King area. I was the Asphalt FR-S southbound towards the expressway. Was debating getting whiteout - it looks pretty epic!

That was me returning from the dealership going to work. Fresh out the dealer parking lot driving a manual on the big road for the first time (lessons aside). Sorry I did not see you, I had a tunnel vision and too stressed out to notice anything around me haha!

[mountainside]

Originally Posted by df.dima

That was me returning from the dealership going to work. Fresh out the dealer parking lot driving a manual on the big road for the first time (lessons aside). Sorry I did not see you, I had a tunnel vision and too stressed out to notice anything around me haha!

My husband was in the same boat - first time driving stick in seven years and the last time was in a jeep cherokee! Apparently it takes a week or so to get used to it. Don't overthink it and good luck!

[df.dima]

Thanks! Well, I managed to get to work today and participated in a snake of traffic this morning. Only stalled once taking off on a slight incline. So yea its getting better.

[Harbinger of Darkness]

Originally Posted by df.dima

Thanks! Well, I managed to get to work today and participated in a snake of traffic this morning. Only stalled once taking off on a slight incline. So yea its getting better.

The more stop and go traffic you have the better. Good practice and teaches you not to be embarassed or afraid of stalling. Cheers mate!

[df.dima]

Originally Posted by Harbinger of Darkness

The more stop and go traffic you have the better. Good practice and teaches you not to be embarassed or afraid of stalling. Cheers mate!

I wish it was that simple. You know, I had a moment of clarity this week. I never thought about it when driving auto. I now know why some people take time to roll off a light or stop sign. Either they are slow to go or they are new to manual, or that's just how they roll. Often times I was thinking wtf are they doing there hello? .
Since I was being butt-sniffed half the time in the fr-s this weekend (either they are in a rush or wanted to check out the car), I started to really appreciate when people give me some space behind and don't get mad at me for taking off slower than regular auto mashers. Im sure I'll get faster to take off soon (smoothly).
Most people reacted ok when I stalled, there were a few that got a bit angry. Its all good, I don't mind.

[Aznek]

Originally Posted by df.dima

I wish it was that simple. You know, I had a moment of clarity this week. I never thought about it when driving auto. I now know why some people take time to roll off a light or stop sign. Either they are slow to go or they are new to manual, or that's just how they roll. Often times I was thinking wtf are they doing there hello? .
Since I was being butt-sniffed half the time in the fr-s this weekend (either they are in a rush or wanted to check out the car), I started to really appreciate when people give me some space behind and don't get mad at me for taking off slower than regular auto mashers. Im sure I'll get faster to take off soon (smoothly).
Most people reacted ok when I stalled, there were a few that got a bit angry. Its all good, I don't mind.

Oh man, the worst is when you're trying to get your clutch to catch and reving the shit outta your engine before you realize you're not in gear. I drifted into the middle of a 4 way stop when I realized I was still in neutral so I panicked and promptly stalled right there as well.

The beauty of the situation is that most people don't know wtf you're doing when you've stalled. The people that do realize you've stalled are the other manual drivers and they'll usually understand and be more patient.

Btw, how you liking the car?

[df.dima]

Originally Posted by Aznek

Oh man, the worst is when you're trying to get your clutch to catch and reving the shit outta your engine before you realize you're not in gear. I drifted into the middle of a 4 way stop when I realized I was still in neutral so I panicked and promptly stalled right there as well.

The beauty of the situation is that most people don't know wtf you're doing when you've stalled. The people that do realize you've stalled are the other manual drivers and they'll usually understand and be more patient.

Btw, how you liking the car?

Wow, rolling out into a 4way stop is insane! Glad you made out ok. I had a few instances where I gave it too much gas without releasing enough clutch, but I adjusted the next day after analyzing what Im doing wrong. Its all in the brain, see when in auto you expect to push gas and go. So now I rewired myself to think if I press gas and don't I must not have released the clutch enough. Taking my wife for a ride actually helped a lot, although she has no idea about driving manual, she told me about too much revs right off the bat. Another good thing I've done both Sunday and yesterday was to go to a big empty flat parking and practice stop and go.

I liked the car a lot, obviously nowhere near the limits, but I took a roundabout pretty fast (under speed limit obviously) and was amazed how it just goes where its supposed to. The suspension is amazing: compared to loosey goosey 03 maxima, that's like apples and oranges and I knew that car well and could haul ass on roundabout and start sliding. I think I can do it almost as fast now and without any of the drama. The downside is that its pretty bouncy on bad roads, especially in my area, the inner roads are definitely due for an update, because my fat gets jiggly until I exit onto main road. As far as cosmetics, I thought maybe one day I'll lower the car. I don't think so anymore. Its plenty low to the ground, screw the wheel gap aesthetics, at least for now. I'm afraid in winter time its going to be bad. I think it may be bad in winter as is, even with winter tires, we'll see. Can't say this car is faster than maxima in straight (auto), but its very close, obviously Im missing mad torque pull, but I think once I reach break in point that high redline will take care of this. For daily driving, its plenty and I sometimes even think car as a whole is a handful to deal with just driving to work (which is the main purpose for now). I told my wife I'm thinking we should move out of our small townhouse in a few years, get kids going and get a van or crossover. I love driving the car so far, but would love to have some luxo barge for a change sometimes. I told her about half a year ago I'd love to have small car (fr-s/miata + Lexus LS or some big Benz), I'd love that combo. I am just not sure if I feel like driving this car every day of the year, sometimes I just want to relax and "sleep" at the wheel .

Here's an interesting tip I've received from an experienced manual driver co-worker. He drove 80s supra and some other nice cars in his day. He told me to put my right leg on the clutch pedal and press it in and ensure that it is almost straight, no bending and not reaching. This way you measure your seating position. I had to move back (making back seat behind me useless. But when I started driving, I was much better with the clutch. We went around the block with a couple of stop signs and I did not stall once and actually started to take off much smoother. He said this position ensures you have better left leg movement with the clutch and gas. I was actually in awe that this little tweak allowed me to do what I did. Give it a try.

[engsr]

Originally Posted by df.dima

He told me to put my right leg on the clutch pedal and press it in and ensure that it is almost straight, no bending and not reaching. This way you measure your seating position.

That's interesting - I'll have to check that out and see. When I've coached at autoslaloms and track days I've always told the driver that their right leg should be behind the brake pedal against the floor with a slight bend. Also, proper seat angle is when you can limp your wrists over the top of the steering wheel while your back is still against the seat.

By the way, if you see a silver BRZ Sport Tech roaming around Waterloo, it's probably me.