First Manual Car

[BFIFE22]

Hey everyone! I'm planning on getting a BRZ before the summer of next year and if I'm going to get a car like this I'm going to get a MT. It will be my first manual car I've owned though. I'm not too experienced driving stick, but I've driven a BMW 330i a few times and a 350Z, and the Bimmer was a much easier car for a newbie to drive. The clutch on the Z was impossible to use smoothly.

I was wondering if anyone could offer some comparisons of the transmission in the BRZ to the cars above, or if the BRZ is a good car to really get experience driving stick with.

[N1rve]

German cars have stiffer clutches than Japanese cars. (Generally) However, on the FRS there's like this dead zone in the clutch pedal.

Personally, I wouldn't learn to drive manual on a brand new car... clutches are expensive. But it's your money.

Test drive the auto and the manual and see which one you like better. Obviously the manual will offer better control and a more engaging driving experience

Overall it's up to your skill and how confident you are on learning to drive stickshift on a new car.

[Ultramaroon]

This thread's been making the rounds. Plus, I'm a bit partial to it.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77143

[Itzed]

I'm partial to manual transmissions and have been driving them for 35 years. My experience is that generally, in normal daily driving, I find german manuals easier to drive smoothly than japanese cars. I believe it to be that german cars have slightly heavier flywheels. And I find the clutch in my BRZ to be very light, with a light flywheel, and more difficult to drive smoothly than even the 2006 Legacy I drove for the previous 8 years. But, it's a sportscar, and made to be that way so it works better in the higher revs.

[carma143]

I got my BRZ about 2 months ago. It is my first manual car. I learned how to drive a manual with the BRZ, and it's very enjoyable getting to know how the car responds to certain actions and the overall feel of the car.

Edit: Of course I can't make any comparisons to other manual cars. Other people have mentioned that the clutch is very odd, and that the shifter and transmission is a pleasure to drive with, at least compared to other OEM shifters and transmissions.

[w.k.s.]

This car, stock, is one of THE easiest manual cars to drive. If the clutch feels weird or hard to nail down the engagement point, do the clutch adjustment in the DIY section, and you can also remove the spring.

[Decisis]

This is exactly what I did when I got my BRZ last year as well. Before my brz, I had only driven manual twice.

It's not hard to pick up at all. I stalled quite a few times but not consecutively. Try practicing on another manual before picking up your car if you can.

Have an experienced person sit with you to watch and verbally instruct you (and bring the car home). So long as you don't grind the gears you should be fine. I'm not saying stalling is good for your car, but it isn't necessarily horrible for it either while you're learning.

I picked up manual in 2-3 weeks and now it's second nature. An 86 is probably one of the easiest cars to drive. Good luck and have fun.

[Fastbrew]

You will be fine in this car stock. As long as you don't accidentally release the clutch and go shooting through the garage and into the livingroom

[dbrandt01]

This was my first manual car. I got a crash course on how to drive it from the salesman. He let me test drive it and I had my dad with me on the way home for pointers. All in all, 2 days I was comfortable driving it and now i dont even think twice about it and glad I got a manual. The only other manual I drove was after I got my BRZ and it was a camaro and compared to that, this clutch in the BRZ is much lighter and easier in my opinion.

[Gords_zenith]

Buy a cheap($1500) winter beater (civic, corolla) that is a manual and learn all winter, so when you get your baby you'll know how drive it. Plus if you stall a few times, which you will, you won't feel as bad. That's my two cents

[kberkel]

No worries learning stick on the BRZ. Every car I've had, the clutch was still good past 100k miles. Obviously don't rev the shit out of it and ride the clutch. 1 week of jerky driving isn't gonna do anything to a clutch.

I'm actually against learning stick on a beater. After 10 years of driving stick, I drove my friend's Ford Escort and it was absolutely ridiculous. Pedal was spongy and I never knew when the clutch engaged. Might as well learn on a proper car. Get the feel for where the clutch engages, and learn how to manage throttle.

In my opinion, the clutch on the BRZ is pretty light. I let my friend drive it and he was perfectly smooth, and hadn't driven stick in years. Same with my Dad.

It's easy to drive since no torque

[lionbacker54]

i'd say go for it. i would not buy a beater car just to learn. realistically, it takes at most two weeks to learn to drive manual. it is hard to believe you can use up a significant portion of the clutch in that short time. even if you do, it costs about $800 for a clutch replacement. it'd be hard to find a beater for less than that.

[Tgionet]

Buying a beater just to learn manual on would be idiotic. You could burn through quite a few clutches before you broke even. It's a Toyota/Subaru not a Ferrari.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Tgionet

Buying a beater just to learn manual on would be idiotic. You could burn through quite a few clutches before you broke even. It's a Toyota/Subaru not a Ferrari.

+1 Spend that money on a jack, jack stands, and some tools so you're ready to learn how to replace it yourself when it's time.

That's where the real bonding starts, IMHO.


We'll be here.