Stalling as a veteran driver
 

I put "veterans" in the title, only because I know stalling can be commonplace for a beginner.

I found that even being considered a veteran of driving a manual transmission, there can be a time when you stall the car for a stupid reason.

A few days ago I was driving at night, perfectly empty road, and rolled up to a stop light. Anyway, it's Florida, and it does get rather humid, and I happened to be wearing shorts. Well, my nads got stuck to my left thigh, and the light turned green, and I was trying to get them separated whilst easing out the clutch, and the dynamics just didn't work out and I stalled it. Fortunately there was no one around me, so I spared myself additional embarrassment.

Just thought I'd share my little anecdote. Wondering if anyone else found themselves in a similarly silly situation.

I'm still getting used to having an MT, so if I stall it or chirp the tires a bit on take off, I just nail the gas and act like I meant to do that, because RACECAR.

I felt very uncomfortable reading this.

Which part? His nads sticking to his left thigh, or stalling his car?

I stalled my car because I accidentally put it in 3rd and start..

And... another time was when I had an extra 600lbs in the car that I wasn't used to. Stalled in 1st there. lol

No shame. Shit happens. lol

Both.

Forgetting to go back into first at lights is a big one. Also, if I'm playing music too loud and can't hear the engine when I take off. Sometimes I just let off the clutch too fast. Only human, ect.

Good thing it wasn't your right thigh they stuck to - could have resulted in unintended acceleration!

BTW, I find baby powder helps keep them from sticking... just sayin...

I live my life a 1/4 mi at a time...every stop sign is a launch.

I test drove a Mazdaspeed3 a few years back. It was the first time I'd driven stick in about three years and I'd heard that they had a tricky clutch. It was like riding a bicycle though, came back to me naturally, and my nervousness of stalling was completely gone quickly. When I pulled back into the dealership lot, that's when it hit. About ten feet from where I was going to park.

Whoops.

I was on a hill and a guy in a outback got right up my ass and i was watching him eyeing up my car. Light turns green im still watching him watch me. I put her in gear knowing im being watched and bam stall.. Soo embarrassing


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I had an itch on my leg so i decided itching my leg and letting out the clutch at the same time would work lol not so much...

I was rolling to a stop once when a lady coming out of a parking lot almost t-boned me. I instinctively left the car in gear in case I needed accelerate to avoid an accident. Of course, I forgot that the car was in gear when I finally stopped at the light. Let out the clutch, and BAM, stall. Embarassing.

My FRS doesn't use the stall, when it has to pee it just uses the urinal... it doesn't need to sit down to pee.

Same here...

occasionally when im wearing my work boots I will stall. but not that often.

I have successfully started the BRZ in 3rd gear up a slight incline, after stalling twice and having my passenger look at me like I was retarded.

LOL.

I've never got 3rd to start off from a dead start. It just.. *glug* and stops. haha

sometimes i try to start too gently on an uphill and end up stalling

also when i park, sometimes i get distracted and drop the clutch thinking i've already turned off the car. Good thing my foot is on the brakes.

pfft I stall every once in awhile.

The difference between beginning manual driving and now is that I don't panic when I stall.

Before:
"OH SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT MUST START MUST START....everyones watching me being a nub...Shit shit shit!!!" End up fumbling the ignition and making it take longer to start than it should.

Now:
"aww dammit...I stalled...." just start er up and then go.

Stalled mine a couple days ago. At an intersection turning onto a packed highway. Somebody was kind enough to wave me into the line in front of them. Took me by surprise and bam, jerk, cough die.

This!

Coming home yesterday evening, I was pretty tired after 5 hours of vinyl striping and meatballs on a friend's BABE rally car.

Stopped at a light (turns out an Asphalt FR-S was right behind me in the next lane), yawning, and not sure what gear I was in, I quickly dropped the clutch and chirped quite a bit, without intending.

It happens, sorry if any of you all were the person driving their FR-S wondering who the heck can't drive a MT (been doing that since 1986).

Eric G

i find myself almost stalling in traffic sometimes...ill see the led running lights turn off and back on in the reflection of the car in front of me.

the other day i parked, pulled the ebrake and let the clutch out. the car lurched forward and then i realized i forgot to turn it off.

I can go years without stalling and then I'll do it twice in the same month.

Just every now and then it happens. Been driving manual 14 years.

Yeah, but after a day at work it gets all bitty. Try Vaseline instead, it works better on babies, and adults to. :thumbsup:

This is one of the very few things I miss from my Neon. I could put it in second gear, let the clutch out without touching the gas, and ease up a large incline. It made a slow part of my drive home much easier. Third gear starts were pretty easy to.

^ This!


I get really nervous on hills when someones gets right up on my ass. That's when I usually give it too much gas and tear outta there like a bat outta hell lol.

I stalled at a toll booth doing that. Was trying to concentrate on getting the ticket reaching through the window I forgot to put first and was like wtf it wont accelerate then it died lul

this :lol:

The good ol third gear stall. I do that every so often.

The one that stands out the most in my mind though was a first gear stall at my old dealership. Someone just traded in a Camaro SS, which at the time I couldn't wait to "road test" before we sent it to sales. I got in and my buddy was like, "Remember this ain't your SVT, this thing has torque you don't have to feather the gas", so I was like "cool, lets do this"...... *stall*. Everyone was watching, humiliated I got out and went back to my desk in shame.

Drove it later when no one was looking to recover some of my destroyed pride :thumbsup:

I was driving to Atlantic City a couple of weeks ago, and after 2 hours on the highway I came to a light as I start braking the car starts shaking violently and stalls....I forgot to put my foot on the clutch.

I've been driving manual for 16 years now and I stall probably 2-3 times a year.

I stalled my new (well, new to me - it's an 06 with 40k miles) red Porsche Cayman S today while trying to inch it up the curb into the driveway. I've been driving manual now for 7 years. The neighbors across the street were all outside on the lawn enjoying the sunny day. They must have thought I was a complete idiot for buying the Cayman...

(In my defense, it has about a tenth of an inch more ground clearance than the height of the curb, so I have to be really careful not to scrape, and I'm not used to that yet)

Be honest, it hit a little close to home. (We've all been there, right?)

I was just surprised someone named Mandy has these types of problems. :D

Congrats on the Cayman. Those look like fun.

Oh, believe me, they are. In many ways, it feels to me very much like what the BRZ/FRS/86 would be if Subaru/Toyota had a target price of $60-70k, actually (even down to the naturally aspirated boxer engine). It's weird driving my Subaru (an '07 Outback) after the Cayman though - the clutch in the cayman is much heavier, so the Subaru clutch feels weirdly light afterwards.

Still though, stalling in front of the neighbors was not exactly my proudest moment...:suicide:

Sometimes I forget that I left the car in gear before I turned it off, so when I start the engine it stalls immediately. No public embarrassment since I'm not on the street, but every time it happens I (and my car) die a little inside.

Don't feel bad. My neighbors have seen far worse. :eyebulge:

15 years driving manual and as far as I remember did not stalled even once last year.
Since I got the 86 last 3 months already stalled more than 3 times.
The clutch is a bit weird on this car.

I sadly stalled leaving the dealership after buying my FR-S and picking up the next day. It was a sad moment :P

I've done it once, but my clutch groaned like crazy.

That's pretty much how every stall goes, put it in 3rd instead of first, let clutch out a little too much and it stalls.