Any first time manual drivers here?
 

I'm getting the hang of it. Slowly but surely. Starting from a standstill is the trickiest part for me. A buddy of mine who has been driving stick for a few months now drove my BRZ the other day and says the clutch contact throw is pretty short and the throttle response is fast making the car tricky for a first timer. Was your BRZ your first manual tranny? Any tips, any bad habits I should avoid? :)

-Tony

I didn't learn manual on a BRZ/FR-S, but an FR-S was actually the 2nd manual car I've ever driven.

Couple of tips:

If you're still new to driving manual and find yourself at a stoplight or in traffic, remember that you're less likely to stall if you rev the engine a bit higher (maybe 1.5-2k RPM) than needed before you start engaging the clutch. It puts a bit of wear on the clutch, but better than stalling and having people honk at you. Once you get more accustomed to your car, you'll be able to roll it off the line with the gas barely pushed in. It's all about getting used to where the engagement point of your clutch pedal is.

Also, if you're just driving around town and not trying to blow past someone in a full throttle drag race :), remember to rev-match on both downshifts and upshifts. You probably won't learn to downshift right away since it requires you to blip the gas for each shift, which is a bit tricky. But for upshifts, make sure you let the RPMs drop enough before you let go of the clutch pedal into the next gear. Ideally, when you release the clutch pedal, the RPM of the engine will not spike up or down. This will preserve your clutch life.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...light=practice

there you go

A difficult manual transmission car is best to learn on IMO. I learned on an Impreza and those are REALLY tough to drive compared to a lot of other cars with manual trans.

This car IMO is about mid-range in terms of difficulty... I did manage to stall it once on my test drive learning the clutch, but the shifter snicks nice and easy so that part will be down nice and quick. Pretty much just learning clutch vs. throttle timing.

I learned manual on my friend's 05 STi and now was hard... Heavy clutch, a transmission that requires force and finesse at the same time and 300 hp is not an easy combination for first time manual driver. I burnt his clutch quite a few times too.

As for BRZ, the clutch is very light but the being a Subaru it also requires non-half asses shifts. When you shift, make sure your clutch pedal is completely down, right foot is completely off the gas and then move the gear lever with confidence and some force. If you half-ass it Subaru transmissions have tendency to feel like it is going to grind it even if it isn't.

This definitely isn't my first manual car but like the others have hinted at just take your time and practice, practice, practice. For me, I learned on older cars that didn't have the anti-stall function that a lot of late model cars have. Learning the basics was much simpler this way because it was clear cut, either you saved it or you stalled it.

If you haven't already been doing it, an empty parking lot is great to do stop-and-go learning. Start off from a standstill like you usually would, then brake to slow down to a stop just a few yards away, repeat. Learning how to catch the engine from stalling in the process is the main idea here.

For steeper inclines, don't forget you can also use your hand brake for assistance to keep from rolling back.

Thanks for the advice. I read nearly all of the thread in post #3 too. Good info there. I appreciate it.
As for shifting, why does the clutch pedal need to be all the way to the floor for a shift? I've been reading differing views on this. Our cars have a late engagement on the clutch throw so as long as the pedal is past the engagement point, then there is no clutch contact, and the syncros can do there thing without any grinding right?

I got my car less than a month ago and it's a first for me in many ways.
I'm only 19 so it's my first car, first RWD car, first manual car.
So you can imagine how nervous I must have been at first.
I actually only test drove the automatic because I was afraid of feeling embarrassed in front of the salesman because I knew I would stall the car over and over.

Anyway, basically go with what the others have said. Picking up my car from the dealership was the first time I actually ever drove a manual car so I knew I had to learn, and I had to learn fast.

I stalled it more than a few times on the way home, but mostly I just revved a bit higher (about 2k, maybe even close 3k sometimes especially if it was a bit of an uphill start) than an experienced driver would and that got me going. Drove around a bit that night and woke up the next morning and suddenly I didn't stall anymore...I drove it all the way from home to work without stalling it once.

I've only gotten better ever since. Much smoother shifts. I can get the car going from a stand still without any throttle input. I can keep the car still on an uphill with just the clutch and accelerator and without any brakes. I can rev match my upshifts and downshifts without even looking at the tachometer to see where the revs are or what gear I'm in. The car slowly becomes an extension of your body and it becomes as natural as being able to feed yourself with your eyes closed. You just can't "miss".

Be prepared for a lot of rough shifts when the car jerks because you let go of the clutch too quickly. Be prepared to be afraid of hills, especially in traffic. Be prepared for your leg to get tired from the clutch for the first little while. It'll all get better really quickly. Honestly, a few good hours of practice will be more than enough to get you really going and you won't even have to "think" about having to start from a stand still or having to balance your car on a hill with just the clutch and the gas. It'll all become rewarding really soon when you get those shifts down perfect.

I haven't even had the car for a month yet and I've gotten so good at it, I've even started to throw in some heel-toe action in, though I can't quite get it right and it feels awkward to twist my foot around so much.

Good luck!

I can't speak for your advice on shifting as my BRZ hasnt arrived yet and I only had a short test-drive at low RPMs and minimal shifting. But just FYI, the transmission in the BRZ is not a Subaru transmission at all. It is a Toyota/Aisin box based on a modified version of that in the Lexus IS200. However, Subaru did have some input during those modifications, and in particular targetted shift feel, and perhaps whatever they did contributed to that feel that you speak of.

I've had my BRZ for 8 months and still developing techniques for starting in 1st and smoothly shifting to 2nd.

My biggest issue was slipping the clutch into 1st gear, I did it a lot before I learned how to properly ease the clutch out, feel the catch point, and then get on the throttle. Also, theres a variety of ways to get into 2nd (regular shift, rev matching, or double clutching), either of which are suitable in the right circumstance and require certain finesse and concentration to be smooth.

I learned on my FR-S. Making it take off is the hardest part when you begin with the car. Once you get a feel of the catch point, you'll get to take off without even thinking about it.

Shifting from 1st to 2nd smoothly is tricky in this car, because of the synchros. You need to stay on the clutch a tiny bit longer to let the revs fall a bit more, otherwise the car will jerk. Had that problem in the first 2 weeks with it. 3rd and over will be smooth as butter unless you push it (which you're bound to do at some point).

Practice makes perfect. Can't say I'm perfect with the car, but from someone who had never driven a MT car regularly before my FR-S, it gets easier :)

So there's already tons of great tips here.

Keep trying and don't give up! This isn't the easiest clutch to learn on. It's very short compared to the RX-8 I learned on. By short I mean the clutch is either in or out with little in between.

I will applaud you for giving the MT a shot vs. taking the easy auto route. You will NOT regret it soon enough!

Good luck.

For those of you that 'blip' the throttle when down shifting and would like to step up to the next level, try this: Blipping the throttle suggests taking a stab at the throttle as you down shift and is sort-of-a hit and miss method of doing it. Instead, as you down shift, anticipate where the rpm's will want to be when you release the clutch. Coordinate your left foot and right foot so when your clutch engages your right foot has gently brought the rpm's up to where they will want to be. It doesn't take long to develope this into a habit. Things will go much smoother and you won't sound like a hot dog on a motorcycle blipping his way up to a stop light.

This is the only car I've driven with what feels like a linear clutch pedal - the amount of force remains the same (or close to it) throughout the entire pedal travel. Normally there's something of a cam-effect where the force builds to a peak, then drops off.

I'm not sure if that's good or bad, it's just different.