Tips for driving a manual trans?

>>13965715
From a standstill in 1st gear:
Push the accelerator down until you hear the BAM-BAM-BAM of the rev-limiter.
Quickly step off the clutch.
You will never stall using this method.

Tldr; get in it and flail the controls whilst parkinsoning the fuck out and eventually drive it.

Get in. Adjust the seat so that when you push the clutch to the floor, your left leg is nearly completely extended.

When you fuck around and finally how to in to starting without stalling anc looking like a retard, prepare your anus for the only semi delicate thing about driving stick; Engaging the clutch.
Start by being in first and slowly let out the clutch until the engine speed drops slightly. Bam that's that soppy cunt of a cars biting point. Add a little gas there and it'll go like people watching you fuck around.

There should be a sticky for all the Ameritards learning to stick. Like holy shit, it's not that hard, you can learn how to drive manual in 2 weeks TOPS if you're not mentally challenged.

>>13965715
First gear only for starting after a stop OR when you're going REALLY REALLY slow, like 7 km/h or so.
Downshift:
>loser mode
1. press clutch
2. shift down
3. Press gas pedal WHILE simutaneously releasing clutch. It's the normie mode and will wear down the clutch a bit.

>godmode
0. Let's say you're going in 5th gear at 2000 rpm and want to downshift
1. Press clutch
2. Put car in neutral
3. Release clutch
4. Rev the engine up to, let's say, 4k rpm in neutral (it's called rev-matching)
Following steps are to be performed QUICKLY
5. Press clutch
6. Put car in 4th gear before rpms drop too low
7. Release clutch
8. Profit

>whole thing's called double-clutching, really complicated especially for beginners, but it will do significantly less damage to your clutch than the first version.

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>>13965715
I'll tell you what I was told-

1. The Clutch
Every car's "sweet spot", when the clutch "catches", is adjusted at different heights. Sometimes it releases lower to the well, sometimes it releases higher towards you. It will likely be somewhere in the middle.

2. The Accelerator
Always in tandem with the clutch. You're pressing one or the other, or neither. It should be pressed at a certain revs, or you'll stall.


Learning what was stated above, with engine running, brake released, and in neutral:

-Depress clutch pedal
-Bring the RPMs to 3 - 3.5k
-Slowly release clutch pedal

Now you're moving. Easy, right?


>Tips
Don't freak out when you stall. It happens to everybody. Just take a deep, deep breath, give honking truck behind you the bird, and try again.

Downshifting is used for three main reasons:
-Going up steep grades
-Overtaking
-Engine Braking
In my opinion, 1st gear is used only for launch. Engine braking to first is sort of redundant, but it's your car.

Have fun, and don't stress anon. It's like learning to ride a bicycle.

>>13965781
>2 weeks TOPS if you're not mentally challenged
>2 weeks
Seriously? You can learn in one afternoon.

>>13965781
OKAY. However, I'm going to be driven ~12 miles (~19kms) to go buy the car. I'd like to at least have a general idea of what to do.. so I can drive the car home that same day. Not in two weeks.

>>13965810
>1st gear is used only for launch
Your opinion is invalid. Ever climbed up a really steep incline?

>>13965824
No, I've never had to go below 2nd gear on these Cali hills.

>>13965824
>not having enough torque
Sorry I don't drive a 90 hp civic

>>13965799
>>13965810
Thanks. Actual information that's helpful.

So say I stall my car. Does it have to come to a complete stop before I turn it off and do all the steps to recover from it?

>>13965821
Learning takes 5 minutes. Getting the hang of it, that's TBD...

>>13965847
Only if you're already at a complete stop, or rolling backwards. If you're rolling forward, hey, you're rolling forward.
Starting the car while rolling does nothing, assuming you have the clutch pressed when starting it again.

>>13965857
Does nothing, as in doesn't fuck your shit.

>>13965832
I have absolutely no idea how cali hills are so I can't comment on that.

>>13965841
>>not having enough torque
I have enough for my needs
>Sorry I don't drive a 90 hp civic
Neither do I. It's a 60 hp 1st gen Twingo.

You don't need tips. Just go drive it and figure it out.

Did you get any tips on how to ride a bike? No.

>>13965799
double clutching is retarded and you know it
when you downshift you depress clutch, blip the throttle to the right rpm and shift down, if you fuck or mismatch revs a bit syncros will sync it up for you, thats what they do. no need to pretend to be driving 60 year old truck.

>>13965847
>So say I stall...
>complete stop before I turn it off

Stalling shuts the engine off. Refer to
>>13965857

>>13965799
>double clutching
>ever
stop posting.

>>13965799
>double clutching
Fucking pleb isn't float shifting.

>>13965893
non synchromesh 1st gear
only have to double clutch down from first

>>13965991
you should never be in first while the car is moving anyway.
and pretty sure every 1st gear is synchro'd since like 1979.

>>13966015
>you should never be in first while the car is moving anyway
Bullshit
>pretty sure every 1st gear is synchro'd since like 1979
A lot of trucks (real trucks, not redneck penile extensions) don't have 1st gear synchroed.

>>13965715
Buy a cheap one

Speaking of manuals.

One driving instructor told me it doesn't matter if I start the car in gear or in neutral, and that I should always use the handbrake when starting on a hill.

The other told me I should always start in neutral and that handrakes are only for parking, and that losers use them on hills.

Which one guys?

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>>13966096
it's as you want anon

I start on neutral but sometimes uses the handbrakes on uphill takeoffs...; it let you relax your feet

if you're stuck behind a red light going uphill, you surely can do both but it'll be far more comfortable letting off the clutch and the brake


when I was in driving school, the instructor told me not to use the brake, but to stay on the clutch... never did it to my own car

>>13966096
>One driving instructor told me it doesn't matter if I start the car in gear or in neutral
If you are in gear, keep the clutch pressed. Or start in neutral without clutch being pressed. Same difference.
>handrakes are only for parking, and that losers use them on hills.
He's not fit to instruct people on how to wipe their ass. It's perfectly fine to use the handbrake to start on an incline. Whether you need it depends on car's make and model (not all engines have the same hp and not all transmissions have same gear ratios) and on steepness of the incline.

>>13966096
Second instructor seems right.

>Hills
Rev high, gears low. Only thing you need to know.

>>13966110
You failed to notice it pertains to starting on hills. As in starting from being fully stopped.

>Rev high, gears low
Works perfectly IF you're already running.

>>13966123
Idk, I've never had a problem launching on a grade, by revving high and dropping the clutch.

>>13966110
>>13966108
To be fair the second instructor was literally 10 times better at teaching and I had no problems with him whatsoever. First one got fired for being a shithead.

>>13966152
Depends on the car and the grade. High powered car on a light incline isn't the same as low powered car on a steep incline. Logic 101.

>>13966155
>To be fair the second instructor was literally 10 times better at teaching and I had no problems with him whatsoever. First one got fired for being a shithead.
Without judging him or you, being an instructor is a tough job. A man can only take so much incompetent people and know-it-alls before loosing his shit and quitting or getting fired. Especially nowadays when the crowd from /ovg/ makes a large portion of students. People who know next to nothing but think they know it all are most impossible to be taught.

Good luck OP, it's great that you want to learn more and buy a manual transmission

>>13966184
Nah he intentionaly didn't teach people properly becuse in my country you have to pay to take another exam after you get failed, and he gets a cut. 4 hours in with my new instructor and I'm already a much better driver. Exam next week.

>>13966219
But he was right about the handbrake. If they make you pull over and start on an incline and your car stalls you'll get failed again. If you roll back too much, you'll get failed again. You should be able to know if your car will manage to start without the handbrake by now. Good luck.

>>13966269
Thing is he only told me, but he never showed me, or took me to a place to try it. Didn't even let me touch the handbrake when parking even.

>>13966277
That's fucked up. You know how to do it?

>>13966300
I do, but I've never tried it. So far with my new instructor I've started on hills two times without the handbrake and it was a bit sketchy on the big hill, but it worked. Surely I wont fuck it up during the exam. Car is a diesel and super easy to drive too, it can slowly climb hills by itself if in frist gear without any gas. I really don't understand how this works, but it does.

>>13966305
>it was a bit sketchy on the big hill, but it worked. Surely I wont fuck it up during the exam.
Ask your instructor. If you just barely got it going forward you're raping the transmission and he'll know if that can get you failed again. Anyways, whenever I'm in doubt if my car can make it, I use the handbrake. That way I know it will. Also, never be afraid of asking your instructor questions. You're paying him to teach you. Once again, good luck on the exam.

>>13966365
Thanks. He's told me that if he doesn't say anything then what I'm doing is ok. I say it was sketchy because I pussied out and gave it a lot of gas, probably not needed.

when you hear your valves hitting the pistons thats when you upshift

>>13965799
come on man we've got synchromesh now. No need to double clutch.

OP, here's the proper godmode:
0. let's say you're going in 5th gear at 2000rpm again
1. press clutch in AND press accelerator pedal to the floor
2. shift from 5th to 4th WHILST you're pressing both pedals
3. let go of everything (except maybe the steering wheel), and you're in 4th.

Your car might go at the same speed in 5th at 2k, and also in 4th at maybe 3k (for argument's sake).

The idea is to blip the throttle to 3k whilst you're in the middle of shifting, i.e. whilst the clutch is depressed. When you get it spot on, your shift should only last as long as it takes you to pull the gear lever from 5th to 4th.


Double clutching, godmode, lol.

just fucking drive it. even if you kill a clutch, in the grand scheme of your life it's nbd.
within a week you'll have it to an acceptable standard. after a month it will be as good as 90% of manual drivers.

Ok OP, here's a quick tutorial to help you learn quickly and not rape your clutch too much. Take note of this for when you will get the car.

>Know your clutch
Every car has a different clutch with different strengths and weaknesses. Some are harder to push, some have longer pedal travel, some have a more gradual transition when engaging and so on and so forth.
So the first thing you have to do is forgetting everything you tried to do or you think you learned until now and start from scratch.
Find a parking lot or a very quiet road and try to find the biting point of your clutch. Start moving the car by only lifting your left pedal and try to remember at which point your car starts moving. Do this MANY times: lift pedal slowly, get the car moving, lift pedal completely and let it go under the engine's idling power, press pedal again, stop, repeat.
Don't even think about using the gas while lifting the pedal or after your car moves, don't try shifting in 2nd gear, it's pointless. Everyone knows how to shift gears with the car already moving, the hardest part is starting from a standstill, so you need to learn that before anything else.
Do this as many times as you need until you stop stalling the engine. If you think you got it the first session, you are wrong. When you feel confident, go home and wait for the next day and try again.
Learn where the clutch bites and how long is the transition between fully engaged and fully disengaged, this info will help you develop the needed muscle memory to start and shift smoothly, without jerking the car like it has a seizure.
From now and until forever, your primary way to move the car should be with the clutch only, using the gas just when the car is already moving and you have almost finished depressing the clutch. Revving during the transition means more clutch wear, more fuel consumption and it's pointless unless you are in a hurry or racing.

Cont..

>>13966423

Cont..

>gearshifts
Knowing how long it takes for the clutch to engage is an invaluable information when it comes to shifting gears because it allows you to do it quickly and smoothly.
Knowing when to shift is a thing you have to learn while driving. As with the clutch, every engine is different (and every gear ratio as well), so you need to learn how your car reacts at changing gear at different rpms.
Anyway, general tips:
-Do it slowly at first, even if it feels weird, but you really need to feel the clutch engaging and learn from it.
-Don't rev like a madman. Like seriously, you can barely drive, don't pretend to be a racer if you can't even move the car without stalling the engine.
-don't be too conservative either, never let the engine go around or below idle and demand power from it. It puts a strain on engine mounts, flywheel, clutch and the whole engine. Be balanced, think of fuel consumption and engine preservation first, learn to go fast later.
-if the car jerks when you change gear, it means you went too fast or you have a very short clutch pedal and you need to adapt to it. Either way, if it happens it's bad, try to avoid it.
-never, ever drive with your left foot on the clutch pedal if you are not using it. It's the fastest way to destroy the clutch and its bearing without even realizing it. There is always a foot rest, use it.

Cont..

>>13966427

Cont..

>learn to start on inclines
Inclines are bitches, they can challenge your hand-feet coordination if they are particularly steep.
The easy way is using the handbrake.
Stop on the incline, engage the ebrake and start lifting the left pedal until the clutch starts slightly biting. The car will try to move, the rear will dive slightly to the ground and the engine will struggle to stay idle. At this point you start to slowly release the ebrake and compensate the loss of braking power with the clutch.
The incline may be too steep to allow the car to proceed with an idling engine so you may need to use the gas like you would normally do.
The hard way is to use the normal brake and goes something like this: release the brake, quickly raise the clutch as you switch from brake to gas and go. If successful, this method is faster and doesn't allow your car to go backward.
Anyway It requires coordination and a good feeling with the car that you simply don't have at this moment, so stick with the ebrake for now.

>learn to stop
There is an army of idiots that will tell you that engine braking is, to engines, the equivalent to snorting asbestos, I.e.: cancer.
This is, quite simply, a load of bullshit.
Engine braking is a great way to save fuel (unless you are on carburettors) and to save on brake pads.
When possible, get used to brake with the engine too; it is perfectly capable of doing that and no damage will occur (unless you are retarded and let it redline while on a descent).
It's extra braking power anyway.
You won't wear you clutch faster, you won't wear the engine faster, nothing will happen at all.

Now I'm tired of teaching, this is most of what you need.
You will be an idiot anyway and will rush because your friends think you are lame and you will cause more damage.
This is a process that takes weeks, if not months, to become natural and takes years to master.

>>13966434

Last advice:

- don't waste time double clutching or rev matching. You have a synchronised transmission which doesn't need any of those techniques. You are not driving against the clock, the time it takes to learn to do that (and the damage you will do when you fuck up while learning) is not worth those extra milliseconds you will gain when executing those techniques perfectly.
It is literally the fedora of manualfags.
Your synchros and clutch will not wear quickly, they are designed to be used under normal conditions and are perfectly capable of withstanding normally-executed downshifts.
Most cars have clutches that last years and hundreds of thousands of km while used normally. Remember that you wear your clutch the most when starting from a standstill, not when downshifting. Being autistic over clutch wear on a downshift is pointless and retarded.

- don't brag about driving a manual. There is nothing special to it, the world is full of kids, soccer moms and old as fuck people that are all able to drive a manual car. You don't become a better driver by learning manual, if you enjoy being able to decide how and when to shift, then fine, but get used to the fact that it's old tech that is absolutely not worth bragging about.

- again: take your time, don't rush, have fun.

>>13966460
>don't brag about driving a manual

This doesn't apply if you live in merica.

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>>13965832

you should go try some real hills

I find it hilarious,
there is nothing hard or special about learning clutch get over it and dont stress it,
start slow, flat surface parking lot or something and go from there,
never stop practicing
If you can already drive auto than 90% of driving you already know this is a piece of cake

I am eurofag and I learned driving at a 90hp nissan primera, with manual transmission and without RPM-gauge, at least it made me listen to the engine

>>13966471
Being American doesn't change the fact that grannies, kids and soccer moms can drive manual cars with no effort.

>>13965715
Git gurd

>>13965799
Dont listen to spedtard over here

>>13966423
>>13966427
>>13966434
>>13966460

>quick tutorial
>wall of text

>>13966492
You're absolutely right.

>>13967634
>wall of text
>having the attention span of a goldfish

Enjoy watching hours of tutorials on YouTube or paying someone to teach you then, since you are not able to read 4 posts

>>13966460
>rev matching not worth it
>wanting your car to lurch forward every time you downshift

ayyyyyy

Find a flat and level parking lot or similar mostly abandoned area.
First gear is the only hard part. Once you figure that out it's easy, just make sure you are in the right gear. Practice finding the slots while the car is off. Row through the pattern and say the gears in your head or out loud a few times til you remember.
Understand what it is you are doing. You operating the clutch is engaging and disengaging the engine and transmission with a device called a clutch, which is designed to slip very slightly until pressure is fully applied and the engine and transmission are engaged again. When you press the clutch pedal they separate and as you release reattach. The goal is to execute this process smoothly. Not too quickly as to make it lurch and buck as that can cause the clutch material to shatter or deform. Too long and you begin heating and wearing the clutch out prematurely.

Practice engaging first gear quickly and smoothly WITHOUT touching The gas first. This should not be an issue in any car you'd consider. You'll feel the point where you've gone too fast and the car will feel strained. Pushing the clutch back to the floor to avoid a stall is ALWAYS an option. Remember that as it is the MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO REFLEXIVELY especially if you need to STOP. When you see trouble or need to stop the first thing you need to do is STOMP THE CLUTCH IN. The engine will still be pushing the car and fighting against the brakes if you don't do this.

>>13968125
If anything, it slows down when you downshifts unless you let the revs drop too much during the shift, in which case yes, then it will indeed lurch forward but that also means you downshifted wrong

>>13965799
>GRANNY SHIFTING, NOT DOUBLE CLUTCHING LIKE YOU SHOULD

>>13965715
>>13968234

Then learn to do this process more quickly. You will learn to make releasing the clutch one fluid, nonstop motion. Now learn to start from a stop with very little gas and you'll soon figure out how to balance between the gas and clutch, and how much power you can give and how quickly you can operate the clutch without excessive clutch slip or spinning the tires which will be helpful in hill starts. In the beginning It is PERFECTLY OKAY to use the handbrake to hold the car on a hill until you can quickly and smoothly start without rolling back, use JUST enough on the handbrake to stop the rolling and once you feel the clutch bite let off the handbrake as you feel it pull forward. It's better to slip the clutch just once or spin the tires or try just again than to stall or roll back and hit someone.

You'll get the hang of it. My 2 friends I let use my 400$ beater both figured it out under 20 minutes and drove be all the way across town, and it has a misfire that keeps it from making consistent torque at idle/low end.

Once you are rolling in first gear the clutch becomes closer to working like an on/off switch just pressing it to the floor and selecting the next gear before releasing it. You'll learn the timing to smooth this out very quickly, It is much easier than moving from a stop. You'll figure out how quickly the car in question revs down and what rpm the next gear will put you in case by Case and learn the timing.

I recommend buying the cheapest shittiest still running craiglist car with a manual you can find or offering someone selling one like that a little bit of money to practice.

>>13965715
These threads hurt my soul.

I hope you ruin two clutches before learning how to not be a woman.

>ruining a clutch
How the fuck does that even work?
My car has 200k km on it and still has its first clutch.

>>13965814
Two weeks tops if you've never driven a car before

>>13968245
As you begin just go to neutral when you come to a stop. If you aren't sure you will completely stop (approaching a light that may turn red to green before you stop) let the car come back close to idle in each gear and downshift one at a time until you are in first or stopped.

Once you've been out driving a week or two you will have a much better idea what gears to be in at what speed from having shifted between them and you can more easily select any gear at any time rather than always in succession and use the gas to match the engine RPM for the selected gear (like shifting up 1-2-3-5, down 5-3-2-1 or whatever is appropriate instead of 1-2-3-4-5, 5-4-3-2-1 every time.)

>>13966401
this should have been /thread

>>13965814
I learned the basics in 20 minutes. Drove out on my own for about 45 minutes and was good to go (albeit a bit clumsy) the next day

>>13966434
>The hard way is to use the normal brake and goes something like this: release the brake, quickly raise the clutch as you switch from brake to gas and go. If successful, this method is faster and doesn't allow your car to go backward

This. When I got my current shitbox which lacks much torque compared to the diesel shitboxes I passed my license with I did it like this just to be sure though:

>Step on brake
>Raise the clutch to just below bite point (you'll feel it, revs go slightly dow and you get a tiny nudge in your seat)
>Quickly step on gas while raising the clutch some more

I'd keep the revs around 2000 until the clutch was fully engaged. Always works.

>>13968281
I bet you drive trucks and have a little penis

>>13969262
Best part is that women all over the world drive manuals with zero problems

>>13965759
please don't do the leg thing this asshole mentions. if your leg is fully extended when you crash (no bend at the knee) the medics will have to pull your femur out of the seat back and try and put it back through your pelvis.

>>13966030
You must have a long first gear then

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>>13965715
>How do I not "stall"?
Stay above 1000 rpm at all times. When moving, I stay above 2000 rpm but that's because I have a small engine with not a lot of torque (actually the same car you posted, except gray). If you're slowing down enough for the revs to drop, get on the clutch pedal.

It's easiest to stall coming out of a stop. Just remember to give it gas. If the car jerks, you need more gas and/or a slower clutch pedal release.

>When do I down shift?
Only when you're slowing down without stopping (like before a turn, or if you're slowing for a red light that turns green), or going down a steep hill. I do recommend learning rev matching for smoother downshifts, but that can wait until your second month.

>Do I ever go to first gear besides when I start the car?
Generally, no. That's not a hard and fast rule, but it'll do for now.

>>13965864
>I have absolutely no idea how cali hills are so I can't comment on that.
See attached

>>13966096
I park in 1st, and always with the handbrake, then pop it into neutral before starting (handbrake still on) so that I don't have to hold my foot on the clutch pedal before I get going.

In Europe, everybody learns the handbrake method of starting on hills, and you see it a lot in traffic. It's fine. The alternative is to use both feet on all three pedals at once. Easy in a Miata, but not in every car.

>>13966423
Great advice.

Finally: when in doubt, get on the clutch pedal, go to neutral, and start over. Don't feel bad about stalling occasionally for a few weeks.

>>13968234
>When you see trouble or need to stop the first thing you need to do is STOMP THE CLUTCH IN
No. You need to brake instead of applying gas. That way you use both brakes and engine braking. It's called combined braking and is the quickest way to stop the car. You declutch at the last moment before stalling to downshift. Repeat until stopped.

How to drive dick shift:

Grab the shaft
Press the second brake pedal
Pretend you're playing a race car game and move the shafter around
After a couple thrusts of the shaft, release both brake pedals
At this point you should be moving forward (or backwards)

There you go

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>>13969452
>nearly completely extended
>nearly

>>13966382
>Press accelerator peddle to the floor
I don't know what kind of outrageous ratios you're running, but I don't need to be red lining to rev match.

>>13966096
Always use the handbrake, if you don't you're going to roll back and that's just bad driving.