Hey guys! I'm new to these forums, as I've had my 08 vbp fit sport MT for about two weeks. I've been learning how to drive manual on my car, and I'm getting worried that learning to drive on it may have adverse affects. I'd been practicing on parking lots and my neighborhood, and I thought I was doing fine so i ventured out into the city and it was absolutely terrifying. I was trying to make a right turn on red and stalled twice, and people were honking and i was turning into a nervous wreck heh. I think it was a good learning experience though, and I was wondering if you guys had any advice for people learning to drive manual? I'm sure that I'm not the only one. I'm pretty much teaching myself, with my friend coming along with me sometimes to give me pointers. Explanation of terms like popping the clutch, rev-matching, etc would be awesome, thanks!

 

no real help here, except practice!

but one good hint is to look for/call driving schools in your area. sometimes they have manual cars to learn on, and might have short classes on M/T. beat on their clutch instead of yours!

 

I was going to get a MT until I realize I can't drive stick. Instead I just went with the AT and play with the paddle shifters.

But yea, should take a few classes in a driving school. That's actually what I'm planning to do. Maybe my next car will be MT.

 

practice will only get you better. also dont change shoes while you're
learning so that the feel is consistent.

here's a tip:
the biggest mistake most AT drivers do on a MT car is their foot
input (movement) is too big and too fast. slow and gentle and
smooth is key.


we all suck in the beginning, so dont worry about it. let them honk
the shit out of their car if they want. just keep cool and concentrate.

my wife couldn't take it any more with people honking at her... she
panic'ed often thinking she would stall and ended up giving up driving
MT.

when i was in the passenger seat while my wife practiced, i use to
make faces at the driver that was honking at us. nice lifted nose
pig face, nice pulled ear monkey face, zombie face, etc. pissed off
a lexus driver so much that he did a ric0r flyby.

 

M/T is more fun to drive, I learned driving the M/T by myself when I was 14 practice more try the stop and go that way you'll get the feel of the clutch and the gas pedal timing.

 

Having successfully taught all my kids and several neighbors kids the best advuce is rent a pickup or test drive one with straight drive and practice with it. Pickups have nortoriously reliable clutches and all you need is practice.

 

When I drove my Fit off the lot I'd driven M/T 3 times totalling about half an hour. Yeah, it was a bit frightening; glad my dealer wasn't downtown!

I still stall every now and then; no big deal, even if I get honked. At the beginning, what helped me was to g-e-n-t-l-y come off the clutch so it pulled the car forward without any throttle (this is referred to as "clutch control"). This reminded me of how automatics behave and let me focus on moving off the brake to the gas pedal. It also gets you familiar with where the "friction point" is, i.e. where the transmission is starting to engage the engine.

Don't do that more than a week or two though; it eats a bit off the clutch every time you "ride" or "control" the clutch, and you should be comfortable enough in short order.

What's odd is that I was never frightened about left turns; never even thought about stalling into oncoming traffic.

 

just keep practicing... i learned in my fit, stalled lot... lol one time i stalled like 9 times at a light with a line of cars behind me, missed the light... come to find out wasnt my clutching... i was in 3rd lol oops! but yeah we all stall dont worry and dont panic u will get better just takes time, its like riding a bike... i know i fell alot lol

 

My Fit is an AT since my wife is the primary driver, but my daily driver (Ford Focus) is a MT. Like a lot of people said, all you need is practice. Here's one piece of advice I wish someone had told me. The clutch is not like an on/off switch. Instead of concentrating on getting the car going "now!", ease off the clutch really gradually. Think of the clutch's action as the reverse of the gas. Just as you gently ease into the gas, gently ease off the clutch. As you get more used to manual, you'll start engaging the clutch faster and faster.

 

when i got my my mt fit it was my first mt car. i drove my sisters mt 02 civic for 15 minutes to get the idea down then went and bought my fit. just takes practice, dont go crazy and trying driving too nuts...you'll burn it up fast! but be nice and easy, practice and youll get it down. i burned my clutch up after only around 4-5k miles on the car

 

how did u kill the clutch tht fast?

 

Thanks for the reply guys. I tried driving again and went further into the city and it was a lot better than last night heh. Never stalled, launched fairly quickly and smoothly, and I was pretty proud of myself . Its just so hectic looking for traffic and looking at the dashboard, but it is more fun driving a manual! One thing that really confused me was downshifting. I know that you downshift to get more power, but i also know that you downshift to engine brake, so wouldn't the car just have more power but not speed? Because I read somewhere that you downshift to pass a car or to accelerate more, so if anyone could explain that I'd be grateful.

 

driving stick is pretty easy just have to practice a new clutch should be better then driving on a soft clutch. been driving stick for a long time decided to go automatic cause rather crusie then be busy driving. but yea man just keep practicing.

 

a couple of tips/pointers for you friend.


-Do not hold down the clutch when ur making right turns, set the car in gear before you make the turn.

-Find the spot of where the clutch engages the gear. Basically on a level road(preferably a parking lot or a residential street with no traffic), stop, and set the car in first gear, do not accelerate at all.. and just ever-so-lightly start releasing your foot off the clutch. You will find the spot where the clutch engages the gear and the car will start to move forward, as like an AT car set in D.

-Practice! Practice! Practice! your uphill driving.. there will be times where you have to stop on roads that are slanted upwards. So practice by using your drive-way or finding a empty sloped road.. and just play with ur clutch & gas without pressing on your gas. Practicing this OVERCOMES your fear of rolling back.

 

My brother taught me how to do it through a bit of patience and good teaching technique that I've used on several friends and several girlfriends (now exes).

My brother drove to a small hill in our neighborhood, nothing big, just big enough for the car to roll down backward and where there would be few if any cars going by. He put me in the driver's seat, and had me try to get up the hill. I stalled the first time, but it was easier for me to feel where the clutch engaged and how much gas to give the car. The second time, I got it, and I've been fine ever since. Of course, there is the occasional stall, but they're so few and far between now.

I don't know why it works, but for me and many others, it was a lot easier than trying it on a level surface.

But anyway, practice, practice, practice, that's the best way to learn, eventually you'll be flying through the gears without even thinking about it.

 

Pearl of blindingly-obvious wisdom following a short story

Last week I was head of the line, stopped at a light going up a steep-ish hill, and a bus stopped right behind me. They have a habit of stopping right on your ass, too, so I was already worried about rolling back into him.

So, the light turns green, I gas in hard and clutch out, expecting to leap ahead... and to my horror I keep rolling back!!! Thankfully I jammed the brake down in time.

When stopped for more than 10 seconds I keep the car in neutral to keep from wearing the throwout bearing. In a moment of distraction I'd forgotten to properly prepare for a start.

So the blindingly-obvious advice on uphill starts... make sure you're in gear!

 

i say go easy on the clutch, let it out slowly without giving it gas until the car starts moving. once the car starts to move gently give it gas (at this point the clutch will be midway out between fully and not engaged). then after you have given it that little bit of gas take your foot off the clutch.

do that on level ground. once you've got that down to a science move on to a slight hill where the car will want to roll backwards.

just be gentle with it. still be careful not to ride the clutch or rest your foot on it because that will seriously wear it out. but don't worry, you will get it.

 

downshifting when you are coming to a stop will provide you with engine braking, and is also good in this car because it will stop injecting fuel into the engine which saves you gas. (during which you don't have you foot on the gas)

when you downshift and give the car gas you will accelerate at a faster rate because the engine spins at a higher RPM and that translates to more torque. You would also downshift when you are going up a steep hill because you may need that extra torque to maintain your speed

so yeah you could say that the car would have more power but not speed. this has to do with the ratio of the gears as you can only go so fast in any particular gear.

 

Find a nice steep hill with a stop light at the top. Stop at the red light, start again. This was my first and most important lesson when I was being taught to drive an MT. Two days after receiving my learner's permit (god, it's been 15 years already?!?), mom stopped at a stoplight where she learned (it has a gas station behind you at the bottom of the hill), yanked the parking brake, got out and said "You do it". It took about 15 minutes of over-revving, horn honking, and cursing by everyone, but I got it and never forgot.

Also, try to find a long flat piece of road (or parking lot) and run through all the gears up and then back down. My dad used to take me to the parking lot at the Pentagon on Sunday afternoons (the lots are about 1/10 mile long). He would have me run from 1st through 5th and bank to 1st, 0-60-0 with no brakes, barefoot. This was the second greatest lesson I was given. After 4 Sundays of this, I was shifting smoothly, as though I had been doing it all my life.

As others have said, be patient, ignore the a-holes around you, keep cool, and P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E!!!!

(Note: I drive an AT Fit simply because I am in nothing but stop and go traffic everyday here in the D.C. area. Been there, done that with a number of different MT's....it wasn't much fun.)

 

When downshifting for the purpose of engine braking when coming to a stop, is it better to rev match on the downshifts or just directly change the gears without rev matching? I want to utilize engine braking to save fuel but if you have to give it gas to rev match doesn't it then defeat the purpose?