Quote:
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.