Newbie Manual Driving Help Needed

[Jaywest717]

Yeah. I've put almost 1600 miles in it now. I'm going on a road trip next week from Virginia to Missouri, and then from Missouri to Minnesota and then back to Missouri and ultimately back to Virginia again over a 10-day period, so I'll get a lot of driving practice in. I'm just trying to get at least a decent handle on launch and hill starts before I go.

I'm actually pretty good at hill starts, with and without the e-brake (except the reverse issue that I mentioned earlier), but I'm still nervous as hell each time I have to do so when I'm around a lot of traffic.

Clutch friction control is definitely a challenge in first gear. Just today, I went through a spot-free car wash and when it was time for me to drive through the automatic dryer, which stays on for about 60 seconds, I went right through it in about 3... Learn as I go, I guess...lol

[Manic]

Originally Posted by Jaywest717

Just today, I went through a spot-free car wash and when it was time for me to drive through the automatic dryer, which stays on for about 60 seconds, I went right through it in about 3... Learn as I go, I guess...lol

Wait... you mean to tell me that you don't scrub and polish every inch of your car with your own personal handkerchief?

Haha, just kidding. But I'm terrified of any sort of automated car wash. Last time I took a car through one, turns out one of the brushes had some shit stuck to one of the bristle things, and it scratched the hell out of the roof. Lesson learned, no car I own will ever be washed except by my hands.

[daiheadjai]

Originally Posted by Minhtyfresh

First read through looked like "Go find a park with a lot of kids in it"

Lol.

Leave your facial hair to grow into a dirty moustache.
Wear trench coat and sunglasses.

[FReSh]

Originally Posted by daiheadjai

Leave your facial hair to grow into a dirty moustache.
Wear trench coat and sunglasses.

Bring candy...



You know, in case you get hungry.

[executor]

Originally Posted by Billylammerkins

I've driven many different manuals before but this is the first one I've actually owned for myself and have gotten to drive everyday. I will give you this, the launch or "catch" point for the FR-S is a lot further back then most manuals, and that was what gave me the most trouble in the beginning.

I still have problems reversing and sometimes I feel like I'm riding my clutch, but only in reverse. I feel like if I full disengage the clutch I shoot off in reverse, does anybody else feel this?

yes, before i ended up selling my manual civic i took her for a few last drives and i thought there was something wrong with the clutch of the civic for the first bit before my brain got back into the clutch on that car

i was lagging and half stalling like crazy and couldn't figure out why

[Kicker6820]

I had trouble when I first got my BRZ. It had been about 5 years since I drove a manual but it's something you don't forget to do. You just have to learn the car.

I took mine to an open parking lot real late at night and just stopped and and took off repeatedly. Also a good way to get used to the size of the car and parking it too.

[Want.FR-S]

A lot of things have been said, and what I agree on the two things:

1. find a flat parking lot with less or no traffic. Practice starting forward or backward using clutch and clutch only. No gas, no brake. This is to help you find the grabbing/friction/engagement point on the car. People complains about this point is high on FRS/BRZ. IMHO, many manual cars have this point set at high (last 1/4 of clutch travel) anyway.

2. No need to rev to X RPM *before* you release the clutch, except when you are learning to hill-start. Any revving *prior* to release the clutch to the grabbing point is just riding the clutch and cause premature wear. The steps to start should be (IMO):

On a flat ground: brake in, clutch in, shift to 1st gear, release brake, release clutch to grab point to get car moving a bit, release more to let the clutch grab the transmission, add gas gradually to speed up.

On a uphill start: brake in, clutch in, shift to 1st gear, hold brake, release clutch to grab point, release clutch a bit more to fully engage the transmission *and* release the brake and move to gas pedal at the same time, before the car starts to stall, add gas a bit more to speed up.

On a downhill start: brake in, clutch in, shift to 1st gear, hold brake, release clutch to grab point, release clutch a bit more to fully engage the transmission *and* release the brake and move to gas pedal at the same time, the car will move forward, add gas a bit more to speed up.

So, as you can see, if you want to start faster, you have to do all of these steps faster but in the correct sequence. Without knowing the grabbing point or correct sequence, you are just riding the clutch and hope for the best.

Some other points that people may have missed:

1. when you just start up the car, the idle RPM may be higher than that when it is fully warm up. So imagine during the cold idle RPM when you release the clutch to the grab point, it is as if you rev it already beyond the warm-up idle RPM, and thus you should feel more power pushing forward or backward. Therefore, when you just start up the car and get moving, keep this in mind and do not fully release the clutch and be ready to clutch in and brake in case the car moves too far than you desire.

I do the same trick while backing out to my driveway going downhill. Just release the clutch and brake a bit to get the car moving and clutch in to stay steady and brake if I need to. The initial momentum and the downhill will drag me out of the garage very easily.

2. you have full control of driving a manual car. So you need to beware of the change of grade, and use that to your advantage. If you are on a uphill but you need to reverse, do you need to use the reverse gear? Not really, just clutch in and release the brake a bit to slowly slide down. No need to put into reverse. The reverse is also true. If you are on a down hill going forward, you do not need to use the 1st gear if you just need to move a bit during parking exercise. Clutch in and slide is all you need.

Just make sure to keep the foot on brake when you are sliding. You never know when you need to stop for whatever reason.

Hope this helps.

[broodchaos]

just hang in there and drive, drive more and more everyday. try not to think of it as practice. one you learn the basic then you can move on to the more advance more like heel and toe, double clutch downshift and rev match and much more.

[executor]

Originally Posted by broodchaos

just hang in there and drive, drive more and more everyday. try not to think of it as practice. one you learn the basic then you can move on to the more advance more like heel and toe, double clutch downshift and rev match and much more.

heel toe downshifting is probably the hardest thing to do and something i still have yet to master.. i don't race so i've never any need for it, but i imagine i'll eventually start doing it

but if the OP eventually plans on getting into racing then it's a definite must to learn down the road

i've successfully done it a few times but it is too awkward for me to do on a regular basis and i don't find it comfortable or natural at all as i generally end up braking too hard or not enough

one day maybe... one day

[nyfries]

Like the OP, this is a my first manual car. I have had experience driving frd's manual corolla, fits and what not but never as a day to day car.

In been a bit more than a month and i have 2100km on the car. It does get better and easier the more you drive, and i've notice its much easier to drive this car smoothly in higher rev than in lower rev.

I do feel that i'm still slipping the clutch too much when i start. I find that its the easiest to start smoothly if i'm gently revving it and than slowly letting out the clutch instead of the proper way that was posted above: release clutch to engagement point let off brake than add gas.

I will work on that though. I barely stall now, the only time when I still come close to stalling now is while in the parking lot cruising really slow in 1st gear or while parking backwards. I can't shake the feeling that if i do not give a little gas before i start releasing the clutch it will stall

[Want.FR-S]

Originally Posted by nyfries

Like the OP, this is a my first manual car. I have had experience driving frd's manual corolla, fits and what not but never as a day to day car.

...

I will work on that though. I barely stall now, the only time when I still come close to stalling now is while in the parking lot cruising really slow in 1st gear or while parking backwards. I can't shake the feeling that if i do not give a little gas before i start releasing the clutch it will stall

To sum up, it is not hard to drive a manual car fast. Once you pass the 1st and 2nd gears, the up shifting is better and smooth because the speed difference between the flywheel and input shaft is less and thus smooth shift.

It is, however, hard to drive a manual car *slowly*: i.e. stop-n-go traffic, parking lot cruising and backing or parking. To get the car go like it is an automatic in these situation requires proper control on the clutch, and not necessary on the gas. In these situations, clutch footwork is more important than gas footwork. Once you master the clutch control to move the car *without* gas, you have graduated to a new level of manual car driving.

Lastly, let me quote Sir Jackie Stewart in one of the Top Gear episode when he was teaching James May about race car control: don't press the gas pedal unless you know you will not lift off later.

[nyfries]

I'm getting better at using the clutch at low speed instead of mashing on the gas releasing clutch. Someone told me its bad to use the clutch like this, but than it is also bad to slip the clutch ?

the first few days i had the car i was constantly driving in stop and go traffic and incline, I may very well have burn my clutch with my shoddy clutch work . My frd drove my car today and he said he feels like my clutch is slipping a little, i never get to the point when I smell the clutch though how much damage did i do?

[Teclis]

I am sorry, but don't you americans learn to drive stick at when you want to get your drivers lisence?!

Might be that I am from Norway (North part of Europe), and the rules here clearly state that you MUST learn how to drive stick.. Of course you can take the drivers lisence here with an automatic, but then you are not allowed by law, to ever drive stick, unless you take that test..

Then again most people here in Scandinavia drives stick, yes some prefer automatic ofc

[trekkie]

Originally Posted by Minhtyfresh

First read through looked like "Go find a park with a lot of kids in it"

Lol.

I stared at it after I typed it a couple times to make sure I didn't say that