Simulator to learn MT
 

So ive seen many people wanting to learn how to learn MT but dont want to ruin a car trying..

well there are car simulators out there including those on gaming systems like :

Forza motorsports- the only one i play
Grand turismo

if you have the money Fanatec has racing wheels for systems which are $300-$600 with all of the needs (pedals , six speed shifter/ seq. shifter)

if you play Forza 4 with all of the settings off its pretty accurate.. shift down in too high of rpm , you will see what damage you done.
Shift without clutch watch the life of the clutch reduce.
tires loose life..

anyways ive got the csr wheel n pedals with a Racing seat by playseat

anyone with money and free time at the end of the night this burns off some steam:happy0180:..

http://www.fanatec.de/webshop/new_usa/index.php

me being in college i needed a hobby after full day of class and work..
its like my therapy.. for the need for speed..:burnrubber:

If anyone around southern CT wants to learn to drive stick PM me, Im replacing my clutch at the end of the week.

I am proof of this! Ever since i was 14, i was "preparing" myself to get a MT car as my 1st, and due to some issues i still haven't been able to receive my driver's license (until i'm 18) but regardless, i built this with my dad (17 now) and have been practicing ever since, and hey, it helps a lot!

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...512191301.jpg/http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/9...0512191301.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k736tmev5m...512_191301.jpg

Best way is to actually buy a cheap beater and learn on that. As good as a simulator can be, it can never replace the real world learning of driving a manual. A lot of it is feel and physical which a simulator can never come close to replicating, as good as they can be. Good luck!

^Agreed, sims don't give you pedal feel and the proper dynamics of driving stick. That point where the clutch starts to grab, the point where the car starts to bog or stutter, the smooth transition between shifts. These all need to be felt, I would also argue that feeling is probably 99% of driving a manual.

Buy a beater, drive it, learn from it.

find an old beater, smash it's windows out, jam a screwdriver in ignition and punch it

you'll learn to drive stick faster than you can say O'SHIT COPS

park it in a ditch and run your ass somewhere safe

I've got a very nice G27 setup with reverse mounted pedals, aftermarket clutch/brake springs, and full size steering wheel. It's nothing like actually driving manual. Like previously stated, most of driving a manual is about feel and you don't get any of that with GT5 or Forza.

It's a fun way to get the basic concept down though. I like to direct my friends the wrong way up the corkscrew on laguna seca to show them how the clutch actually does function similarly to a real clutch.

LOL

Seriously though, learning to drive stick isn't goign to cause serious damage. Just buy an MT FRS and learn on it.

^^

exactly, the only damage you can do to a modern manual transmission is if you ride the clutch like.. ALL the time. Have someone competent with you to teach you and you'll earn in a single day.

A simulator will not replace the feedback you get from actually operating the clutch in a manual-transmission vehicle. For the same $6-700 you spend on a Fanatec setup, you can buy a cheap $#!tbox to learn stick on, and then take it off some sweet jumps when you're finished!

http://media1.clipaday.com/embed/m_v..._jump_8iu4.jpg

Here's a gem in the Atlanta area!!

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/cto/3039347593.html

http://images.craigslist.org/5K95Ff5...7a704b1971.jpg
http://images.craigslist.org/5Gf5K35...be17071f5f.jpg

Awww, yeahhhh. The laughs you would get driving a beater like this cannot be replicated by driving a sim. Trust me!!

Or you can just go to an arcade with racing games and choose MT.

10 E points to the person who names that CD/DVD case that's in the purse

The hardest part of learning to drive a manual is that initial start from rest in first gear. Everybody releases the clutch too fast and/or gives it too much gas at first.

My recommendation -- find a gravel parking lot to practice on. If you get it wrong you'll just spin the wheels, there's no driveline shock / lurching like you would get on pavement.

When you can take off without spinning the wheels, you've got the basics down.

Yeah, simulators can give you a good idea of the concept of manuals. I think it's important to understand the fundamentals before driving one but you can't get the proper feedback and sensation of speed from simulators - which can make it feel very different. You might even pick up some bad habits from driving a simulator for so long. But anyway, it's really just a matter of fine tuning. Any noob will let the clutch out too quickly or too slowly at first. It's nothing to worry about though.

most guys learn driving manual in an average of 1 day. No need for a beater in this sense, just buy a FRS and learn from it. Simulators will only teach you concepts, but you will still need to experience the actual clutch feel.

Besides the 1st clutch you own will get replaced sooner than the 2nd clutch you own on any vehicle. Regardless of seasoned drivers.

Go to a dealer and test drive a manual transmission car. That is how I "learned"...nobody ever really taught me. You just kind of figure it out as long as you can think logically and have any idea at all about how mechanical things work.

The hardest part was when I got myself into a situation where I needed to do a 3-point turn on what was about my 3rd attempt at getting the car going from a stand-still. At that point, my only guaranteed way of not stalling out was to rev the engine and dump the clutch :)

If you're actually going to buy the car then it's OK but a dealer is not there to let you learn on their cars... especially a new car.

GRAN Turismo

i agree with some others on this one buy a manual frs and learn on the ride home lol.....no but seriously its not that bad i bet you could learn over a weekend enough to get around and so long as your not an ass to your clutch you wont damage anything serious i have taught several people hot to drive stick on my cars and never any damage done :):party0030:

With all of the shenanigans that dealers pull, I have little sympathy for them. I would at least suggest a used car though.

"Learn in 1 day" is a big overstatement, imo. More like 'understand how-to'. Executing smoothly with mental effort will take some time. Executing smoothly w/o much mental effort will take longer.

I guess properly set-up gaming rigs can help develop some muscle memory, but not while "driving". There are exercises to do that involve rowing up and down through the gears many times do develop proper leg and hand work. Those could be done in a rig (with an added benefit of giving an idea how a seating position should be in a real car). I'd still repeat them couple of times in an actual car (not running) before trying for-real (to learn the position and feel of the gears and pedals).

This is a real thread? Lolz! Did you need a simulator to learn to ride a bike? Just get in a car and learn.

Do training wheels count? :D

My wife is learning to drive stick on our FR-S. I'm not too worried about it.

Brett

I just learned on my friend's car in the last 2 days (about an hour each day). I have learned everything (parking, backing out, up and downshifting, and starting on a hill, etc) but I'm not perfect by any means, obviously need to practice to get better but I could drive the FR-s off the lot today if I wanted or needed to....It's not that hard, go find someone with a manual and go to an empty parking lot. Only takes an hour to get the basics down, after that its all practice.

The hardest part is obviously 1st gear, I'm still rough with it but I rarely stall out anymore.

Though a simulator is no replacement for the real thing, it's still useful to start with because it's safe, quick, cheap, and (most importantly) diverts some of the initial abuse you'd be exposing a real clutch to. You could try this:

1. 20-30 minutes in a simulator (if you don't have a console with a wheel/pedals setup, use a friend's)
2. 20-30 minutes in a real car in a parking lot
3. 20-30 minutes in a real car on secondary roads

With someone coaching you, that's all it takes to learn the basics.

It's not just about the dealer, it's about the person actually buying the car too. When I was a car salesman, there were times when I would go out with kids who would grind the gears or totally abuse it and then afterwards let you know they didn't have any intention of buying, nor did they have the money. That's just plain rude and unfair to the person actually buying the car. Even though dealers usually suck, doesn't mean you're entitled to driving and learning on their cars. But I would always give people the benefit of the doubt and let them drive or at least ride with me in an Evo X if they wanted to get an idea of the car.

Yeah this is the only way. There is no substitute for learning how it actually feels and reacts in the real world

Ohhhh, you cheeky bastard

Does anyone have any good online references to learn the theory? I'm taking manual driving lessons with a professional, however I'd like to read ahead and be prepared for my lessons. I'm trying to learn as much as I can before my FRS arrives in a few weeks.

Most of the online references I searched aren't very detailed. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

That's quite a commitment! I would almost venture to say it's overkill, but at least you'd be guaranteed proper driving technique and mechanics from a trained, professional instructor. A good resource would be youtube and a quick Google search for websites such as Instructables and the like. Though, as stated many times earlier, it's a feel thing. Getting out there and doing it is really the ONLY way to grasp the concept of driving a manual. I like to delve into research and be fully prepared before doing anything as well, but there's really not much to it. Plus you risk information overload and potentially make it seem harder than it actually is. It's bad enough that you'll be stalling, bucking, and lurching, in actual practice. You can do without psyching yourself out before even getting in the car.

I'm sure your instructor will get you through it no problem with little pointers here and there, just remember to be slow, smooth, and consistent. Speed will come naturally as you progress. You might even reach manual driving ZEN by the end of the week. :party0030:

Besides, if anything, you could come back and ask the seasoned drivers on the forums. You might [will] get mixed answers, but you'll get answers.

Agreed. My G27 setup for GT5 is nothing liek what it felt driving a regular standard. There's no kick, resistance, nor realism to the video game's shifter and clutch. Better find a real car if you wanna learn how to drive stick.

I simply posted this to let others know its an option.. Personally this isn't how I learned but I'm glad this thread grew into a big convo.

anything transmission related will always blow up lol.

I have the same thoughts when it comes to driving a sim period. As good as they've gotten over the years you still can't replace the feeling and nuances of a real car, particularly one you've driven for a while to the point you've melded with the machine. As much fun as it is tearing around a ring in some of the best cars ever made in Forza i still find myself having more fun in my 100 horse Civic.

Steps to learning to drive manual.

Start Car
Put car in first
Get car to move with no gas input at all
Stop
Do it again
Stop
Do it again
Now get the car to move with a little gas
Shift

Done.

Taught my sister how to drive stick in about 20min. She didn't understand the concept of shifting even when I tried to explain it to her, which is a shame because she picked up starting in first in about 2-3 tries.

Hmmm so I've driven stick cars 2 times (only for very short distances) and I felt like the "feel" part was quite car specific, but getting used to pressing in the clutch all the time was really hard to get used to...so a simulator would be useful for that. I found it helpful just getting the left foot used to pressing the clutch in for starting (when I crash, which happens a lot) in a simulator even though they had like-zero flywheel mass so you had to rev to 5000 to get it started.

I'm surethere are but any simulator that could odd going to cost you more than a car ABCs provide less experience

just wanted to slightly correct your system for more clarity


Start Car
clutch in
Put car in first
release clutch slowly until car starts to move (slowly) without use of gas
clutch in
Do it again
clutch in
Do it again

this will teach you where the "clutch point" of this particular car is at, each car, even same make, will have it at different points.

once your clutch foot gets to that point on its own (muscle memory), you start to apply gradual throttle as you release the clutch completely

then off you go, 2nd is the same but much quicker and less finesse is required.

clutch, gear, gas+drop clutch