How long does it take to get good with a manual transmission?

[opus1]

All of the above, especially the "each vehicle is different" part.

The Dakota has a heavy-duty clutch and seems to be a bit more forgiving of a lapse in coordination. The Ranger, on the other hand, is very touchy. Part of it I'm sure is because I drive the Dakota more often, but the Ranger's clutch is a lot lighter than the Dakota's and it takes some getting used-to.

 

[WyrTwister]

Dad tought me to drive in a 1962 Chevy with a hot water 6 & 3 on the tree .

Later in life , I drove a delivery truck for several years . All were manual with 2 speed diff .

 

[Chris142]

What I did with my cousin was to have her slowly let the clutch out until she got to the friction point with no gas. Then have her continue slowly letting the clutch out until the car is moving with no gas.

We did that over and over. Now she can take off with gas or no gas

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted by supton
I showed my wife how to drive on my Saturn; few months later she decided to buy a Civic. With a manual. For about a day she worried that she bought the wrong car, until I took it out for a spin (we were dating at the time and lived an hour apart). I took it out and realized it was a gutless engine--you really couldn't just let the clutch out, you had to burp the motor. Once I "gave her permission" to give it a bit of throttle to take off, she was fine.

Takes a bit of practice, but some cars are a bit more demanding than others.

I agree, a more powerful car is easier to operate as a manual since the power band is wider. My BMW with a manual can start off almost at idle but the ECHO surely cannot. The ECHO has a relatively small power band and IMHO that makes it a more difficult car to drive since it requires more forethought to future energy management. You can't just putter up a hill in 4th gear as you can do with a more powerful engine, you have to always look ahead and think about what you're going to need "up there".

 

[JC1]

Originally Posted by OppositeLocK
I've been driving for about 12 years. Covered plenty of miles, with many different types of vehicles, in all kinds of traffic, roads, and situations. From Wranglers, to Minivans, to F-150's, to RAMs, to Corollas, Altimas, etc. But... I've only ever driven automatic.

Well...I bought a brand new WRX with a manual transmission. Needless to say, I've never felt more emasculated in my life. I've driven it about 3 days and put about 60 miles on it. For the life of me I can't master clutch control. It's always either too much gas or not enough, or I miss the friction point. Always a clunky start, with a jerky shift... and that's good because it means I haven't stalled it...

Feels like I'll never get good. I've only been driving it on the weekend on isolated country back roads. I refuse to commute or drive it in general traffic until I can drive it like I do any other car. It's honestly been very a demotivating, disheartening, and disappointing experience for me. Feel like an idiot through and through.



It will take a while (few months) to master driving it in all conditions.

When are you going to take it up Pottery Road during rush hour? (for non Toronto Folk that road is about a 45 degree angle up a hill (like San Francisco). That will make a man out of you real fast.

I would hate to drive stick in Toronto during rush hour.... My 16 year old son, just got his learners permit (G1) last month and knows how to drive stick because he bought the thrustmaster wheel and 6 spd stick for video games. He can even shift on RHD cars.

He drove his first real stick 2006 Mazda 3 two weeks ago and got bummed out because he revved it and had the CV shafts clunking etc.

You will also learn that every manual car has a different feel and reaction which takes time to master. Make sure you go gentle at first otherwise you can burn that clutch out in no time. Don't try to be Vin Diesel yet. lol

 

[Hall]

There's simply no suitable answer.... You can get the hang of it in an hour or two, it might take days or weeks, or you may never be that good (smooth) at it.

Smooth is the key. Smooth clutch and smooth throttle.

Want to force that ? Pull away from stops without giving it any throttle. Best to do this in a parking lot, of course, where there's no traffic.

 

[StevieC]

You can learn standard in an afternoon but it takes a little while longer to master it.

I'm good enough now I can drive a car with a clutch that is almost due for replacement and keep it at that point for a long time by not slipping the clutch too much during engagement. Driving it this way makes the take off jerkier versus smooth but the clutch will last forever this way.

I learned on a Dodge Colt (rebadged Mitsu) hatch back. Then years later when I needed a cheap vehicle I bought a used Dodge Aries standard with a clutch almost worn completely out (pedal would be out 80% before it would start to grab and it wasn't out of adjustment). I drove the vehicle over 100K km (60K miles) and never replaced the clutch. The body rusted out so I scrapped the beater.

I also bought a 95 Neon beater and it was manual as well also with a worn clutch although not as bad as the Aries and I drove it to the scrap yard on that same clutch.

If you drive properly you should never need to replace the clutch on the vehicle.

 

[Rand]

i'd say a couple months of commuting to not be a noob, a few years and you are average.
WRX is not esp. hard to learn on but definitely not as easy as a ford focus or civic.
Also wrx clutch is about 2.5x the cost to replace than those vehicles :|

I had learned on stick when I was a teen... 10 years later in 2007 I decided to buy a ford focus with a MT.
Test drove it and drove it 35miles to work (each way) after about a year
I didnt want to go back to auto.. ever.
Although automatics have their place in heavy traffic etc.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by StevieC



.

If you drive properly you should never need to replace the clutch on the vehicle.
I agree. The clutch in my 87 ford lasted 28 years. The throw out bearing failed and took out the pressure plate in about 10 miles. Still running the original clutch in my Jeep @ 176k miles. The clutch in the shop Tacoma lasted 369K.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by Chris142

Originally Posted by StevieC

If you drive properly you should never need to replace the clutch on the vehicle.
I agree. The clutch in my 87 ford lasted 28 years. The throw out bearing failed and took out the pressure plate in about 10 miles. Still running the original clutch in my Jeep @ 176k miles. The clutch in the shop Tacoma lasted 369K.

I did 249k on one, flywheel of all things started making noise (good 'ole VW). I would have reused the clutch (everything looked great, the mechanic agreed that it had another 250k left in it) but it was a known weak design, and I knew I wanted to hot-rod the car eventually. Only clutch I've "had" to do, haven't owned anything else that long.

My wife put 176k onto a gutless Civic that needed the clutch to be slipped always to get it going; her current Camry still seems fine after 180k. Not sure how long it will last but it's super easy to slip that clutch by accident when shifting, for some reason.

 

[JLTD]

Longer then three days! It's a learning process and will take some time for your left foot to learn and your brain to coordinate.

Try going to an empty parking lot after hours - this will take away distractions and other drivers. Practice taking off from a stop, and at first without adding any gas - this will let you get the feel and muscle memory for the clutch engagement point. It may take as many as 50-100 practice starts to get good. Maybe less. But keep at it until you start of smoothly each time and your foot goes to the proper spot.

After you have that down, add a little bit of gas - barely touch it - and do a number of takeoffs.

Gradually add more gas until it is a normal start from a stop.

Now after that, work on 2nd gear.

 

[Overfill]

Originally Posted by Chris142
What I did with my cousin was to have her slowly let the clutch out until she got to the friction point with no gas. Then have her continue slowly letting the clutch out until the car is moving with no gas.

We did that over and over. Now she can take off with gas or no gas

This.

 

[Patman]

Like anything, it just takes practice. My son bought a 2002 WRX without ever having driven a manual transmission at all. He only had his learner's permit too, so he didn't actually drive the WRX for about a month, but during that time he drove his cousin's STi and got a bit of practice on that. After he had about a month of driving his WRX he took me out for a ride in it and I was super impressed with how smooth he was at both the initial take off from a stop but also at the gear changes.

The one thing I have learned from driving well over 100 different cars with manual transmissions is that you can master any of them rather quickly once you figure out the point where the clutch grabs. In fact, when I drive a manual I just let out the clutch slowly without giving it any gas at all and then once the clutch is released I give it gas. If I'm on a hill and can't do that, I will hold one foot on the brake, let out the clutch slowly until it grabs and then slowly let off the brake and move my foot to the gas so it won't roll backwards.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by Brian553
Originally Posted by Chris142
What I did with my cousin was to have her slowly let the clutch out until she got to the friction point with no gas. Then have her continue slowly letting the clutch out until the car is moving with no gas.

We did that over and over. Now she can take off with gas or no gas

This.




Totally agree with this.

 

[Smokescreen]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by Brian553
Originally Posted by Chris142
What I did with my cousin was to have her slowly let the clutch out until she got to the friction point with no gas. Then have her continue slowly letting the clutch out until the car is moving with no gas.

We did that over and over. Now she can take off with gas or no gas

This.




Totally agree with this.


This is the key...yep. Have patience with yourself...the more critical you are the tougher it seems to be.

The Si only comes with a manual. I knew that when I considered and bought it. As a result....I am the only one that drives it.

 

[JTK]

Like said, it depends a lot on the vehicle. Some are a pleasure to shift and drive in general. Some seem to fight you all the time. In 32yrs of owning vehicles of all shapes and forms, most of them were manual transmission equipped. The worst one I owned that really soured me on MTs was my 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek 5spd. That sucker was designed as an absolute afterthought. I swear Subaru made a few to see if anyone would actually buy one. I test drove it of course, but like said, contributed the initial awkwardness due to needing to get used to it. Never did. Tolerated it for 2yrs and 38K miles. On the other hand, I've driven my SILs 2016 Forester 6psd MT. A much better driving experience with that vehicle.

 

[opus1]

Originally Posted by Chris142

Originally Posted by StevieC



.

If you drive properly you should never need to replace the clutch on the vehicle.
I agree. The clutch in my 87 ford lasted 28 years. The throw out bearing failed and took out the pressure plate in about 10 miles. Still running the original clutch in my Jeep @ 176k miles. The clutch in the shop Tacoma lasted 369K.

Agreed. My Dad taught 3 people to drive stick in his 1980 AMC Concord. He replaced the clutch around 90,000 miles but only because the throwout bearing went and he figured that since he was in the neighborhood anyway he might as well do it, but he probably could have gotten another 90K out of it if he kept the car.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by opus1
Originally Posted by Chris142

Originally Posted by StevieC



.

If you drive properly you should never need to replace the clutch on the vehicle.
I agree. The clutch in my 87 ford lasted 28 years. The throw out bearing failed and took out the pressure plate in about 10 miles. Still running the original clutch in my Jeep @ 176k miles. The clutch in the shop Tacoma lasted 369K.

Agreed. My Dad taught 3 people to drive stick in his 1980 AMC Concord. He replaced the clutch around 90,000 miles but only because the throwout bearing went and he figured that since he was in the neighborhood anyway he might as well do it, but he probably could have gotten another 90K out of it if he kept the car.

The throw out bearing in my truck is always running on the pressure plate due to design. When the bearing locked up it ate right through the pressure plates fingers! Old school stuff had the bearing slightly pulled away from the pressure plate and didnt spin until you stepped on the clutch pedal.

Mine made some awful noises..........Then silence and no clutch lol

 

[DweezilAZ]

This hits home.

I had about a half hour with my Dad learning column shift three speed manual when I went down to Yuma to collect the 63 Valiant my folks had found for me [and that I paid for].

Back home to LA, very few glitches until..... the merge from the 5 to the Hollywood 101 and a slow down in traffic and a slight rise in the road. I stalled it, it started rolling back in mid morning traffic. I finally got it started and back into gear and home. Where it sat for a week before having to move it for street cleaning and then starting to use it going to work in the afternoon. And I drove that thing in LA for another 28 years.

But that panic seared itself into my brain and shifting style until recently when I have been trying to retrain myself for the smoothest shifts possible, usually on the outskirts of Tucson as having a Bro-Dozer crawling up your a77 while shifting between 1st and second is not exactly entertainment. The shifting is very deliberate in a 63 Valiant, it's not built for exhibitions of rowing skills.

And another amen to "all cars are different". I had a 95 Saturn SL1 that was smooth, almost automatic to use that needed no learning curve but one row throw the gears. Had that same five speed manual been available in the 05 ION, I wouldn't have the automatic now. It was immediately second nature

I found the ION 5 speed a miserable, nervous, noisy contraption and I wasn't going to take a chance trying to "get used to it" in LA traffic. I still hate the memory of how that demonstrator shifted. Annoying AF.

So, yeah, just get in it, run errands, go on Sunday drives, to work once or twice a week.

You'll soon forget how to do it and just, well.... do it.

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted by kschachn
I agree, a more powerful car is easier to operate as a manual since the power band is wider. My BMW with a manual can start off almost at idle but the ECHO surely cannot. The ECHO has a relatively small power band and IMHO that makes it a more difficult car to drive since it requires more forethought to future energy management. You can't just putter up a hill in 4th gear as you can do with a more powerful engine, you have to always look ahead and think about what you're going to need "up there".
It's torque at low RPM that makes it difficult to stall. It depends on the car, but a turbo gasoline car will be weaker at low RPM and theoretically easier to stall than a V8 or diesel. A high performance turbo car like a WRX is not really intended for someone who has never driven a manual trans before.