Where to learn how to drive stick shift

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[Post New]05/14/2009 14:26
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:If you live in DC---best thing about a stickshift is that it will never get stolen. The juvenile delinquent car thieves don't know how to drive stick.


LOL - that's great!
[Post New]05/14/2009 15:36
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I have driven stick shift pretty much since I started driving. I am from Germany and that's how you learn how to drive. I like it even living in DC, I think it makes me pay more attention to operating a car rather than focussing on other things. Plus, when done right, it is actually more fuel effective.
Plus if you have a small low-powered car like I do, you know you can accelerate faster than if you were waiting for an automatic transmission to kick in. So it feels safer to me.
[Post New]05/14/2009 15:43
Anonymous
I went to test drive a used car that was stick. Since the car was used, the sales person didn't come with me. My friend drove me to a nearby parking garage and I practived for a good half hour on the incline before taking the car back. This was many years ago.
[Post New]05/14/2009 16:15
zumbamama
Member Offline
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the replies everyone! I am not sure I will ever buy a manual car but I decided that it's a skill I'd like to have. I also think it will give me a challenge!


you could use a motorcycle to learn this skill - it's transferable.


Ooh I LOVE motorcycles! Super fun!
[Post New]05/14/2009 16:31
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the replies everyone! I am not sure I will ever buy a manual car but I decided that it's a skill I'd like to have. I also think it will give me a challenge!
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Go for it and have fun with your new skill and challenge. You could also drive in Europe and South America (specially Brazil and Argentina, if you want more challenges).
[Post New]05/14/2009 16:38
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:"proud" ?? Proud to drive a stick. LOL. YNTGOM


What are you, 12? I had to google YNTGOM


Heh heh, was thinking the same thing. But you could have posted its meaning for us old biddies.
[Post New]05/14/2009 23:05
Anonymous
OP, I learned to drive a stick when my dad taught me how to drive, so I learned both at once. My cousin, however, didn't know how to drive a stick so she went to the car dealer where she bought her very first car and told him that she could only afford a stick shift car and he drove her to a parking lot and taught her on the spot!

I have had a stick shift (Honda Civic for my first half, Jetta for the second half) as long as I've lived in this city and have never minded it. As others have pointed out, you get more of a feeling of control. And I hate to admit it, but I can drive the stick shift in DC traffic, hold a cup of coffee, and eat a muffin at the same time (not that I encourage this practice!).

I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. Not exacty San Francisco, but a hilly place, to be sure. I think I got very confident with the manual transmission and all of those hills and it made me a better driver in general. When I drive my husband's car (an automatic) I feel like something is missing.

While a manual transmission can give you added control (particularly in the snow where you shift into a lower gear and let the engine act as a brake instead of pumping the brakes and skidding) and it's easier on your brakes (for the same reasons) and can be safer (you might be inclined to pay more to driving, but then again, see my earlier paragraph about the muffin) in DC for the most part I think what it comes down to is personal preference and maybe driving style.

I happen to personally LOVE my stick! OP, I'll teach you.

[Post New]05/14/2009 23:23
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:"proud" ?? Proud to drive a stick. LOL. YNTGOM


What are you, 12? I had to google YNTGOM


Heh heh, was thinking the same thing. But you could have posted its meaning for us old biddies.


"You need to get out more" Ha! And I'm 27 I had no idea what that might mean.
[Post New]05/14/2009 23:32
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I have driven stick shift pretty much since I started driving. I am from Germany and that's how you learn how to drive. I like it even living in DC, I think it makes me pay more attention to operating a car rather than focussing on other things. Plus, when done right, it is actually more fuel effective.
Plus if you have a small low-powered car like I do, you know you can accelerate faster than if you were waiting for an automatic transmission to kick in. So it feels safer to me.


PP here, I agree! Once you are comfortable with it, it does have advantages. But I guess that doesn't keep a veteran like me from being too eager and pretty much choking the motor by not timing the clutch and the gas pedal right when things are bad, which is quite embarrassing.
[Post New]05/15/2009 10:33
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
PP here, I agree! Once you are comfortable with it, it does have advantages. But I guess that doesn't keep a veteran like me from being too eager and pretty much choking the motor by not timing the clutch and the gas pedal right when things are bad, which is quite embarrassing.

Oh yes, I get embarrassed whenever I pop the clutch but at least nowadays most bystanders don't know enough to know that that is what I did!
[Post New]05/15/2009 21:30
Anonymous
I have a stick and love it but confess that steep hills scare me. For example, I cannot park in the Container Store parking lot in Tenleytown because their underground lot requires the cars to stop and pay in the middle of a very steep hill... I get cold sweats just thinking about it!
[Post New]05/15/2009 21:42
jsteele
Site Admin Offline
Anonymous wrote:I have a stick and love it but confess that steep hills scare me. For example, I cannot park in the Container Store parking lot in Tenleytown because their underground lot requires the cars to stop and pay in the middle of a very steep hill... I get cold sweats just thinking about it!


Learn to pull the handbrake up, while holding in the button. Use that to hold you in place while you take your foot off the brake. Then, put the handbrake down while you press the gas and let off the clutch. That's how most of the world learns it in the first place. Just practice a few times and you will get it in no time.

Some newer cars actually have a feature to apply the brake automatically for a few seconds and keep you from rolling back. They call it hill assist or start off assistant. Works pretty nice.

[Post New]05/16/2009 07:54
Anonymous
Do you have a friend or relative who can drive stick? My husband, then boyfriend, taught me to drive stick in the Pentagon parking lot (on weekends).
[Post New]05/16/2009 08:11
Anonymous
OP - The knowledge won't stay with you if you don't use it. Rent a car for a week. Learn in a parking lot, and then do all your errands in the rental. You really don't know how to drive stick until you are comfortable getting on/off the beltway, but I wouldn't recommend that until you are ready.
[Post New]05/16/2009 10:33
Anonymous
I learned driving John Deere tractors on my family's farm. The clutch on those things will build up the muscles in your left leg like nothing else!

The first time I drove a car with a stick (it is somewhat different, having traffic and all) was when I helped a friend move from Tucson to Portland, OR; she had had her wisdom teeth out and ended up not being able to do ANY of the driving so I had a great lesson on the LA freeways in going between first and second gear for about an hour. Ugh.
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