I agree. The dual mass flywheels and clutch delay is very annoying on some.
How long does it take to get good with a manual transmission?
- Thread starter OppositeLocK
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. Mazda B2000 ( '86 or ''87 ) for worst , 2014 Mazda 2 for best .I had learned at a young age but never really had a manual transmission DD. It wasn't until I bought the Focus and started driving 500 miles a week in a city for work. I was quickly able to learn what worked and didn't work.
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It honestly didn’t take me too long at all to get the hang of it. My 1989 Mazda B2200 must have a tough clutch because I was a little rough on it learning at first then when I got the hang of it then it was still fine. The only clutch I have a hard time with is my beetle clutch because it’s manual cable clutch and not hydraulic but it will get easier with time I’m sure.
Just like acquiring any skill it takes time. How long depends on the person, some people catch on quick, others never really master it. I remember selling a young lady a Honda Civic with a stick, brand new in fact. I asked her if she ever drove a stick and she said no. I tried to sway her into buying an automatic, but it wasn't happening. 500 miles later the car was in the shop for a clutch job.
Test the friction point without giving it throttle. Start the car, put it in 1st gear and let out the clutch slowly until you feel the engine start to lug and the car inches forward. Do that for a little bit and you will master the friction point in no time. Also, as long as the car is moving, you cannot stall it, even if you are going slowly in 1st gear.
By the time I got to fourth gear I was an expert.
Really not that hard. For me anyway.
Really not that hard. For me anyway.
depends a lot on the driver. some people just cannot master the manual.
i have a friend who is older than me and has been driving for much longer with a manual. but his gear changes are jerky. still stalls the engine. i think he is better off with an automatic that he now owns.
also upshifting is easy
downshifting is harder. you need to match the revs. fail to do so and a jerkin motion will remind you of it
i have a friend who is older than me and has been driving for much longer with a manual. but his gear changes are jerky. still stalls the engine. i think he is better off with an automatic that he now owns.
also upshifting is easy
downshifting is harder. you need to match the revs. fail to do so and a jerkin motion will remind you of it 60 miles isn't enough to get really good, but it also depends on how good the clutch is on the car in question. Some have very communicative clutches and those are dead easy to master. Others are just terrible. Not unlike the variety in automatic transmissions I suppose. The throttle reaction is also important.
About two months. Your muscle memory will eventually kick in, and your left leg will automatically bring the pedal up to the friction point. Then your left foot will start modulating the gas pedal as your left foot releases the clutch pedal.
The key is to let the clutch out until you feel it grab....then stop movement of the clutch, give a bit of gas. Then as you start to move, let it out the rest of the way. It's just practice....and you will not get it on country roads where you seldom need to do dead starts.
I learned on a John Deere MT tractor and a 1971 GMC pickup. The MT had the grabbiest clutch ever, and my left leg certainly got a good workout with the GMC clutch! Everything since has been a piece of cake. LOL!
My daughter test drove a Mazda with a manual transmission without ever having driven one before. She was able to get down the street surprisingly well, and if she had purchased it I'm sure she would have mastered it within a week. She's an exceptionally coordinated and athletic kid.
My daughter test drove a Mazda with a manual transmission without ever having driven one before. She was able to get down the street surprisingly well, and if she had purchased it I'm sure she would have mastered it within a week. She's an exceptionally coordinated and athletic kid.
If you haven't mastered the process by the time you have made 200 or 300 starts, upshifts, downshifts and complete stops, you need to ask someone who is good at it to give you some coaching. It shouldn't take days, weeks or even months !
I learned how to drive at age 14, offroad and in a VW powered Meyers Manx dune buggy. It was easy as pie.
My most difficult car to drive though was my 2009 Nissan 370Z. There was quite a bit of "rev hang" from the heavy flywheel and the amount of clutch travel from disengaged to engaged was long and from engaged to disengaged again was very short. That car did take some getting used to but the techniques were the same.
I learned how to drive at age 14, offroad and in a VW powered Meyers Manx dune buggy. It was easy as pie.
My most difficult car to drive though was my 2009 Nissan 370Z. There was quite a bit of "rev hang" from the heavy flywheel and the amount of clutch travel from disengaged to engaged was long and from engaged to disengaged again was very short. That car did take some getting used to but the techniques were the same.
To master it totally would take more than a few days. I spent one day learning how to shift a 1972 Capri while driving around a parking lot and thought I can do this. Reason for it was that my father/mother left for Europe and the 73 911E Targa was sitting there. I know I shouldn't but I wanted to drive it. I did quite well on local streets and the freeway. Then one Sunday I drove into San Francisco and to leave I needed to drive up 1st Street to get to the Bay Bridge eastbound. I drove up that street four times that day and the only reason I made it was I went back up very slowly so as to time the light at the top without stopping. So getting off the line on one of the many hills in San Francisco takes some skill especially if you don't use your parking brake, if available, which I don't. Today, a piece of cake.
I taught my wife in 2 days she could drive smoother than me.
My sons all learned to drive my 1965 VW Beetle. Two of them drove it to school and job when they could get it away from my wife. Last son of three didn't drive it much. He bought a stick shift Audi from Detroit on ebay. I met him at the greyhound station and took him to pay the owner and check the car before he drove it back to KY. Once around the block was all it took to get him used to it. No issues on his 400mi trip home to KY. I drove back to Cleveland where I was in a class.
You’ll get it pretty soon at a certain point everything clicks the less you drive it the farther out that clicking point is so drive it. I wish I could drive a manual as well as my wife, best heel toe technique I’ve ever seen. Guessing that’s a combination of a lot of autocrossing, actual talent, and smaller feet.
Took my 13 yr old cousin a few trips around my house then 3 hrs at the dry lake bed.
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