Well a couple weeks after paying for it I finally got to pick it up!

Now if only I could stop burning the shit out of my clutch and learn to drive manual better... someone tell me I'm not the only person to buy a manual car without a ton of experience driving one? .. I am aren't I

 

Yay! Congratulations!

No, you most certainly aren't the first person to have a manual as their first car and not know how to drive it. My first car was a manual, and I was clueless.

However, an extremely patient, totally laid back person helped me to learn. The kind of guy that were a nuclear weapon's mushroom cloud be on the horizon, he'd suggest everyone should relax...just could not get hyper or worried around that guy.

And, unless a person is very experienced, and drives continuously, they'll still miss a shift from time to time. After having my manual VW for 15 years or so, I'd still miss a shift. Hit the wrong gear. Take out of gear at a stoplight and forget to put it back in gear when the light turns green, so I'd be sitting there revving my engine, going nowhere.

Practice.

Parking lots. (after hours)

While waiting for the bus one night, I noticed someone learning to drive a manual in the zoo parking lot. Going around and around. Practicing stopping, starting, diagonal parking in marked spots, backing up, parallel parking.

Multi-story lots can help too, teaching you how to go up a hill and stop and restart. If you stall, the brakes work. If you have a teacher, they can help a bit with the emergency brake so you don't roll backwards (like my laid back buddy did).

After hours parking lots are probably the best bet all around. Nobody in your way doing weird stuff. Plenty of space to learn to steer.

Practice and practice some more.

Ever tried to play a musical instrument? Ever heard someone trying to play a musical instrument. That same piano or guitar or saxophone that sounds absolutely brilliant in the hands of an expert sounds like CRAP in the hands of a new person.

You learn to play scales and read music and get comfortable with holding the instrument.

Same thing with a car. You'll learn to shift and read the gauges and traffic and figure out what other people are doing and get comfortable doing it.

Someone starts to pull out in front of you in a parking lot, you'll learn to engage the clutch (so you cannot accelerate into them) and then the brakes (so you don't hit them).

P.S. My DAD thought it would be a GREAT idea for me to have a stick shift before I even had a learners permit. So, when friends wanted to see my car, we could drive by it at my parents house, I couldn't drive it at all. LOL!

 

This was my first manual too. Which I'm glad! I tried practicing on my friends old truck and thought I wasn't going to get it. The Fit made it so much easier to shift. Congratz!

 

The clutch and throttle in the Fit are really user friendly. Seriously, you can lift off the clutch quickly and not even give it gas and have a smooth start. You aren't going to stall it unless you're on an incline. If you are on an incline, you only need a bit of gas and again you can lift off of the clutch quickly.

"Burning the clutch" happens when you aren't releasing the clutch completely and giving it too much gas.

 

whoa congrats. whoa couple of weeks after paying for it?

is there a waiting list or something? because i need a car soon. and i was hoping to scout out a fit and buying it within a day or so.

 

Heh thanks guys!

Actually I gained a bit of skill from the whole parking lot idea even after having been driving around town for awhile - going back to basics and practising that first gear was a good idea.

The hardest part is the transition from dead stop to go - getting it smooth and quick (coming off the clutch quicker so I don't burn/slip it) - Especially on hills!

 

I've actually had the opposite experience to this - whereas if I go even a tiny bit past the catch point without giving it gas (even on flat ground) it stalls on me. Of course.. its my first manual so its hard to explain accurately what I'm doing here!

Oh nah I had to wait awhile because my salesman was going on vacation (I thought it would be cool to have him do the pickup prep and introduce me to the car instead of someone I hadn't spoken with, so I decided to wait) - and also because I had to sell my old car; so it gave me some time to do so.

 

lol, you have the same exact car as i got. And yes, this is the first manual car i ever drove constantly. I was afraid to stall with the dealer in my car going for a test drive. Thankfully, i never stalled for our 20 min drive.

Well what you want to do if you keep stalling the car past the catch point is, go on a flat surface where u feel comfortable driving without rolling. I suggest a parking lot. And u slowly release the clutch to the point the car pulls forward without applying gas. Once you get this point, try to remember the feeling of where it is. This help you gain muscle memory in your leg on where this point is.

Another trick is to set your foot on top of the gas, not applying much pressure. As you find the catch point of the clutch, try to balance it out with the gas. If you feel the car about to stall, step into the the clutch a little bit to let it catch.

If the opposite happens, such as the car is revving and you are going no where, let off the gas a little and pull off the clutch a little more.

Its best explained the more you drive, you will eventually get it. Once you get the feeling, it will be the funnest driving experience ever! Now, When I drive automatics it feels like there is something missing. Haha. Have fun!

 

Right on thanks jquan

Quick question though.. even on an extremely flat surface, letting the clutch out without applying gas to the catch point.. the car barely moves as it approaches stalling - it does move mind you, but not compared to another car I've driven in the past (An acura csx-s, which pulls away without gas pretty well). Now I can imagine that them being two completely different cars especially in power; this might have something to do with it - But what are the chances there's something off with my clutch or engine? I definitely put it through a rough first couple days thats for sure; I even anticipated some damage to the transmission in general sadly...

 

My family only drove automatics back when I was learning to drive, so the first manual transmission car I ever drove was the first new car I ever bought. I learned how to drive it on the way home from the dealership.

It probably helped that I'd been riding a motorcycle for a few years, so I knew the principles involved, I just had to learn to use my feet instead of my hands. OTOH, since I'm "self taught" I don't know if I still have it right.

Even with 30 years experience driving a stick, I still have a learning curve to get through with each new car, and the Fit is no exception. What makes the Fit tricky is that there is very little feedback from the clutch as to just where the friction point is located.

 

This rings pretty true with me - I couldn't quite explain it like that but I definitely feel thats the case! Like I explained above.. it seems like the lack of feedback is from the lack of "pull" it has when you reach the friction/catch point - without applying throttle. I'm starting to think thats just how the car is though and I'll have to get used to it!

 

Yup. Practice and I'll have to get used to it.

It's better for it to stall than to "burn" it with too much slip. Use as little or no gas until engaged.

 

The fit is a really easy car to learn how to drive a manual transmission. The clutch, like others stated is extremely light, and it also has a "delay valve" like quite a few other cars. This valve slips the clutch just a little bit extra to smooth everything out.

Extremely frustrating for people who have been driving manual for years, but a good tool to learn how to drive a manual.

At first I found the fit extremely responsive, even twitchy at times, but now that Gustave and I have an understanding, he's much easier to drive on the track.

 

Great buy! Same color as my fit so that's a plus

I wish mine was M/T though...good luck with learning stick!

 

Congrats! CBP FTW!

 

Congrats on the Fit! Although when you say you are burning the clutch you put a ding into my Fit OCD. I'm still worried about my first spot of bird poop and I'm 3 weeks out! If your old car was an automatic, you can't really compare. Manuals are completely different in terms of moving without gas. Any manual transmission is gonna need a little gas as you're letting off the clutch.

When I learned stick what helped me is to imagine the releasing of the clutch as they way the car goes, and it just needs a little gas proportionally. It always needs a little gas though. What you taketh with your left leg you giveth with the right. The trick is getting used to "just a little gas." It helps to train yourself to look at the tachometer to watch your rpms. Make sure you aren't blasting the stereo so you can hear the engine too, until you get used to it. If you're on an incline the trick is to not panic, and when it's time to go, be aggressive. It's when you're not committed b/c of nerves that you stall. Just give it a little more gas and let of the clutch a little more quickly and confidently and you got it. As you are letting off the clutch a little more quickly you are going to compensate by giving it more gas, and a little more quickly - at the same time.

Good luck - but man, can't your uncle loan you his '92 Geo manual to practice on or something so you don't have to abuse your beautiful lady?

 

I haven't been able to stall my car yet. I don't know, maybe it is the Drive-by-Wire throttle system. I've had my foot only on the brake in situations that would make a normal stick shift buck like a bronco.

Anyway, I'm happy to hear that people still want to learn and drive manual transmission cars.

 

Unfortunately no one in my family has a manual car - I know right?! But I'm starting to really get the hang of it now, like you said the only thing I have left to conquer is not letting nerves get to me when I'm on a hill with someone right up my @$$... being aggressive is sort of how I've made myself act when coming out of first on even a slight incline, its getting easier!

Thanks all

 

Releasing the clutch on many cars is different. With some cars like my Boxster S, you can release the clutch with no gas and the car will easily 8 mph. However with the Fit, you need to release the clutch and gas to get the car moving. You do not want to release the clutch fully unless you have momentum in the Fit.

 

yeah, i was just using that as an example. This situation was for learning where the catch point is, and how you can train your left foot to recognize where it is easily. by all means, dont use it to drive the car, unless it is to park or pull the car in the parking spots.

The difference in the clutches is that most newer Honda's use a REALLY light clutch. Ive driven my friends S2000 and that thing does not move AT ALL when you start to release the clutch, and you'll need to gas it for it to move a little bit. Truck or AWD clutches can pull the car pretty hard because their clutches are heavy. I found these type the easiest to learn how to drive because you know where the catch point is when your car starts to pull forward. When I drove my friend's STI, that thing was pulling up to 10 mph without any gas. lol. Its all about experience. Dont worry if it takes you a while to learn, as long as you are learning how to drive it right.