Starts and Downshifting

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Jordanwolf

This is an example of defensive driving and shouldn't be something practiced when attempting to master the basics of standard imo

Originally Posted by Imrac

You think being able to safely stop in an emergency situation isn't a basic item to be mastered?

In my opinion learning to stop the vehicle is far more important than learning to start the vehicle off in a smooth manner.

They're all good exercises. Nothing wrong with mentioning them.

OP and other beginners will pick and choose as they see fit. Stalling is not that big of a deal. It can happen to anyone anytime which is why it is the driver's responsibility to maintain a safe following distance. (I know, I know...)

[Jordanwolf]

Originally Posted by Imrac

You think being able to safely stop in an emergency situation isn't a basic item to be mastered?

In my opinion learning to stop the vehicle is far more important than learning to start the vehicle off in a smooth manner.

I do. There is a reason why when learning how to drive a car, driving instructors teach you how to move the car and park the car in a proper manner before teaching you about emergency stops. At least this was my experience when learning how to drive.

There are a lot of things that can be done in an emergency situation and one of them doesn't have to be stopping

[Capt Spaulding]

Next I want someone to suggest pulling the ABS fuse and practicing threshold braking. I used to love doing that on both cars and bikes. Frankly, my take is, if you can't threshold brake, manage a car while countersteering into a slide, and take off from a stop on 2% uphill incline in a standard gearbox car, you should only be granted a learners permit. I'd like to see folks run a slalom, but I'n not sure how to test it yet.

But, that's just me. And, I'd exempt people who drive only in Florida from the uphill takeoff requirement.

[dinfern22]

OP, I think you should watch a couple videos on how a manual transmission actually works, and learn some of the major parts of the car. This way you'll have a better understanding of what your doing, and what's happening in your car as your driving.
....Personally this helped me better understand my car.

[feardemon]

I see a ton of great tips. As a new manual driver myself have put 1500ish miles on my new 17 brz and have gotten much more comfortable. Somethings that made it click for me:

I learned the let clutch out slow until car gets going then add gas while it does work. Doing that as a new driver is alot of pressure I found as you don't get moving as quick as other drivers expect in there auto cars and if you do stall now the pressure is very high as someone will inevitably honk at you. Thing that helped me was turned the difficulty up as in I started doing hills found a parking lot that had a nice incline (also my driveway) and just stop and started. Tried the release clutch real slow method which at that point it will just hold the car then add gas to go. Practicing that why really shows the margin of error is really small doing clutch only.

Next I tried added some gas while releasing the clutch and it just clicked for me still took some weeks of actual real traffic driving and those dreaded stop signs. The amount of pressure that was removed at stops knowing if i give it enough gas while releasing the clutch slowly to where i believe the bite point is the car wouldn't stall as easy meaning less focus on the tach gauge and worrying about stalling more on driving.

TLDR: Practice on hills and give it some gas and increase your confidence so when you are first at a light you don't stress instead your think can i beat the guy in the auto next to me off the line!

[paulca]

I was thinking about this thread this morning when I drove 10 miles in 1st gear in stop go traffic up and down hills. I thought, "I remember when this was a nightmare for me when learning."

Now it's still a nightmare but for different reasons. Mostly boredom, sore calf muscle an numb clutch foot.

It pays to learn to "trundle" in 1st as slow as you can go to save your clutch and your clutch foot/leg.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by Capt Spaulding

And, I'd exempt people who drive only in Florida from the uphill takeoff requirement.

No, they need it also. There's a ridge up the center of the state with rolling hills on either side. There are also lots of places in the flatlands where highways are built up above the surrounding neighborhoods to keep them out of floods, and turning out of a neighborhood onto one of these highways requires hill start skills.

Originally Posted by Imrac

Nothing worse the learning to drive stick and someone pulling out in front of you, you slam on the brakes and kill the car (You will loose power brakes and steering).

The power steering on this car is electric. I could be wrong, but I don't think you lose power steering if the engine quits.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by dinfern22

OP, I think you should watch a couple videos on how a manual transmission actually works, and learn some of the major parts of the car.

This one is a little long (because it's thorough), but it's a fantastic demonstration of what's happening inside the transmission.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOo3TLgL0kM"]Manual Transmission Operation - YouTube[/ame]

[Jordanwolf]

Originally Posted by feardemon

I learned the let clutch out slow until car gets going then add gas while it does work. Doing that as a new driver is alot of pressure I found as you don't get moving as quick as other drivers expect in there auto cars and if you do stall now the pressure is very high as someone will inevitably honk at you. Thing that helped me was turned the difficulty up as in I started doing hills found a parking lot that had a nice incline (also my driveway) and just stop and started. Tried the release clutch real slow method which at that point it will just hold the car then add gas to go. Practicing that why really shows the margin of error is really small doing clutch only.


TLDR: Practice on hills and give it some gas and increase your confidence so when you are first at a light you don't stress instead your think can i beat the guy in the auto next to me off the line!

This^

[paulca]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

The power steering on this car is electric. I could be wrong, but I don't think you lose power steering if the engine quits.

The power steering is powered on the high power bus and needs the engine running. Try turning the steering as soon as you start the car before the power steering warning light goes out, or just as you switch it off as the light comes on.

However, you can steer fine without it, it's just heavier.

You won't lose power brakes, the brake servo has enough vacuum to give you one full pedal travel or a few short pushes before you lose the assist. Without the assist it becomes difficult to slow the car, so reach for the hand brake if that ever occurs. (If at high speed, slow the car with what pedal brake you can get and the gears, then pull the handbrake cautiously when sub 20mph).

The manuals for cars with servo brakes and power steering usually say roughly the same thing, "In the event the engine stops while travelling, bring the car to a safe stop as soon as possible. Use only one application of the brakes."

[Capt Spaulding]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

This one is a little long (because it's thorough), but it's a fantastic demonstration of what's happening inside the transmission.

This was very cool. Thanks Shaky. It would be cool to show folks this back to back with a constant mesh sequential gearbox. There are more similarities than differences.

[Kriz]

I learned how to drive manual on this car too. I treated the clutch and the gas like a seesaw, and made sure the rpm needle didn't go below 600. Stalled a few times the first day, but then no more stalling (only stall sometimes when I was not focusing).

For downshifting, I usually rev the engine up ~1000rpm more before releasing the clutch, which gives me the smooth enough feeling.

Practice makes perfect! Practice in an empty parking lot/around the neighborhood, so you can take your sweet time and don't have to worry about the cars behind you.

Hope you will do better

[bababooey]

if youre learning, be sure turn the radio either off or down. after years of manual only time i stall (or almost) is always because the radio was cranked.