Buy it and drive it home. After that drive it and drive it. Go find hills and teach your self to balance the car with the throttle and clutch. Sure it can be embarrassing to stall but you need to do it to learn. I learned how to drive a manual when I bought my first 5 speed civic and had to get from the dealership back home. I got in the car and proceeded to sputter stall and grind my way across the city but I learned quick. It is all about muscle memory the more you do it the smoother you will get. Remember cars are much more robust and durable then people think. To truely damage the transmission you would have to be extremely uncoordinated and a very slow learner (border line retarded). Just buy drive it and have fun. Every man on the planet should know how to drive a manual it is a right of passage.
6
Best way to learn stick?
- Thread starter ewgrosschris
- Start date
SFvalleyGTi1
Go Kart Champion
I learned after signing the paper work for my car... Took me about 1 hour in a parking lot to learn and drive home on the freeway. You'll master it after a month.
If you want the car, buy it. Take a friend who can drive stick (or a friend's dad--or mom!) so they can test drive it with you and drive you home. Go to a large open parking lot and have that person show you the basics. It is most helpful if that person can explain mechanically what's going on when the clutch engages the engine. (My Dad taught me like this.) however, not totally necessary. If you like understanding how things work, read about it. Some people really learn best by feel.
Then drive it. Every day. You will catch on quicker than you think! And you will never regret knowing how. Good luck!
Then drive it. Every day. You will catch on quicker than you think! And you will never regret knowing how. Good luck!
Theyellowmamba
New member
^ I agree. Watch some youtube videos, if the dealer has some hills, then have a friend drive it out for you. If not, then just drive it out yourself. Slowly let go of the clutch until the car engages and start moving, apply gas, and then drive into a parking lot to practice. Once you get the car moving, the rest is easy and can be improved over time. Driving on hill is not even nerve wrecking at all in the GTI since it has that hill-assist thing.
Agreed... hills is the best way to learn.
I learned to drive stick on my first manual car, a new at the time 2001 BMW. My buddy just took me to the closest hill with no cars and had me learn the "balance point" by letting the car roll back and catching it with gas and throttle... after 30 minutes I had it down perfect.
Now the clutch is gonna make all sorts of bad smells, but that's fine... when you go stage 2 you're gonna get a new clutch anyways
I taught my buddy with an EvoX the same way, after awhile his car had some funny dash lights come on, but by the next day those lights went away and everything was fine
After that remember to not have the habit of leaving your hand on the shifter, GENTLY guide the shifter into gear and then put both hands back on the wheel. Don't man handle the stick... that can lead to you forcing it into the wrong gear and causing a mechanical over rev.
What I do is with gears 1 to 2 I push the shifter towards me (I don't grab it... I nudge it), 2 to 3 push away, 3 to 4 slightly push away while pulling down, 4 to 5 push away, 5 to 6 slight push away and down.
Remember also to not have the habit of leaving the car in neutral or clutch pushed in in the middle of a turn, get all your down shifting done before the turn so you can have more throttle control coming out and both hands on the wheel...
Lastly you need to learn how to heal and toe down shift and rev match... but that's gonna be another lesson after you get used to driving stick after a week or so
fullback
Passed Driver's Ed
I learned in my dad's 02 911 with this mentality: if I mess up, I ruin his Porsche.
Later he told me he needed to replace the clutch anyway.:laugh:
I would say that the best way to learn is to practice driving slowly. Going around at 2 mph and stopping and starting will really give you a feel for the pedals.
Later he told me he needed to replace the clutch anyway.:laugh:
I would say that the best way to learn is to practice driving slowly. Going around at 2 mph and stopping and starting will really give you a feel for the pedals.
Find someone who is getting a new clutch soon. If you lived near me I'd teach you since I am getting a Stage 2 DXD in about 2 weeks. The GTI though is a pretty bad car to learn on though IMHO as it has a dual mass flywheel and is fully synchrod. I recommend something old that way you have to be a alot better both starting, downshifting, and upshifting. THe synchros and dual mass tend to hide your faults a bit more. Which is great around town when you already no what you are doing but weak for learning. I learned on 1971 Datsun Z.
If you can't drive a MK6 GTI 6MT smoothly you are extremely uncoordinated.
stevenchkim
Go Kart Champion
I learned by 'stealing' my uncle's Toyota pickup truck for a morning when I was 15, back in 1984. I got the theory from pumping friends and family. Then I took the truck on a lazy side street and kept practicing 1st gear until I got the hang point. Once I got 1st gear (or reverse), the rest was easy. I don't recommend being unlicensed and taking cars for joyrides without permission now, but that's how I did it.
Also agree with someone else earlier on the thread, Japanese cars have some of the easiest to use manual trannys. It's just that there're are fewer and fewer of them out there now.
Also agree with someone else earlier on the thread, Japanese cars have some of the easiest to use manual trannys. It's just that there're are fewer and fewer of them out there now.
ChancreScolex
Ready to race!
I had the same predicament as you. Wanted to learn, but most people I knew didnt have one. The few friends I had that did babied their cars too much to let me learn on theirs.
Most car rental agencies didnt have MT vehicles, so I was stuck.
What I ended up doing was just buying my GTI and learned how to drive it on the way home. Stalled a few times at red lights, etc, but Ive gotten a lot better in the month that Ive had it.
I watched a lot of youtube videos and read up a lot on what to do, but its something you really need to just do to learn it.
If you can find a school that teaches it, go for a couple hours on a saturday. Shouldnt take you more than a day to get the basics.
Most car rental agencies didnt have MT vehicles, so I was stuck.
What I ended up doing was just buying my GTI and learned how to drive it on the way home. Stalled a few times at red lights, etc, but Ive gotten a lot better in the month that Ive had it.
I watched a lot of youtube videos and read up a lot on what to do, but its something you really need to just do to learn it.
If you can find a school that teaches it, go for a couple hours on a saturday. Shouldnt take you more than a day to get the basics.
awkwardbeta
Passed Driver's Ed
The hardest part about learning stick is to learn and adapt the sensitivity of the clutch with your ankle. It's all about fine-tuning and knowing how to "listen" to the revs and engine. Shifting gears is the easy part.
Some hints that helped me learn, in no particular order:
1. 1st gear is the only gear. Above all else, you want to practice on moving from a full stop into first gear. This is the most important step in learning how to drive stick, namely because it's much easier to shift to other gears once the car is moving. Don't worry about shifting to 2nd or 3rd until you master the 1st gear.
2. When in doubt, give it more gas! Contrary to what all newbie-stick drivers think, your clutch and gas pedal travel isn't exactly proportionate. Just because you release the clutch 50% of the way doesn't mean you step on your gas 50% to the floor. For new stick drivers, it's better to play it safe and give it a little more gas while being conservative on the clutch and releasing it a little bit at a time. You rather rev your engine a little too high before your clutch engages and start moving than to not give it enough gas and cause your car to bog or stall. This rule is also important too for every manual car that you get into, as each vehicle has its own clutch engagement point (not to mention every car's clutch pedal will be different, ie. travel, stiffness, etc.)
3. Don't panic! When in doubt, step on (not stomp!) the clutch and brakes, shift to neutral and start over. Of course you want to be doing this first in a wide open space like in a parking lot, but this rule really helps out when you're still learning when to shift gears, when you're negotiating hills, etc.
4. Check your ego outside before getting into the driver's seat. Don't be like the idiots out there and try to drop the clutch before you even know what matching revs mean. Not only will you not learn anything, but you'll severely damage the car you're driving if you don't know what you're doing. Feel privileged that you get to walk a different path from the zombieland of automatics.
5. Be patient. You're not going to hop into your car and learn all the intricates of stick driving in 10 minutes. However, if you are committed, most of us will agree that you'll pick up a LOT in just a day. 2-3 days should be enough to get you driving on the street, and a solid week and you should be soloing the roads with confidence.
Hope this helps.
Some hints that helped me learn, in no particular order:
1. 1st gear is the only gear. Above all else, you want to practice on moving from a full stop into first gear. This is the most important step in learning how to drive stick, namely because it's much easier to shift to other gears once the car is moving. Don't worry about shifting to 2nd or 3rd until you master the 1st gear.
2. When in doubt, give it more gas! Contrary to what all newbie-stick drivers think, your clutch and gas pedal travel isn't exactly proportionate. Just because you release the clutch 50% of the way doesn't mean you step on your gas 50% to the floor. For new stick drivers, it's better to play it safe and give it a little more gas while being conservative on the clutch and releasing it a little bit at a time. You rather rev your engine a little too high before your clutch engages and start moving than to not give it enough gas and cause your car to bog or stall. This rule is also important too for every manual car that you get into, as each vehicle has its own clutch engagement point (not to mention every car's clutch pedal will be different, ie. travel, stiffness, etc.)
3. Don't panic! When in doubt, step on (not stomp!) the clutch and brakes, shift to neutral and start over. Of course you want to be doing this first in a wide open space like in a parking lot, but this rule really helps out when you're still learning when to shift gears, when you're negotiating hills, etc.
4. Check your ego outside before getting into the driver's seat. Don't be like the idiots out there and try to drop the clutch before you even know what matching revs mean. Not only will you not learn anything, but you'll severely damage the car you're driving if you don't know what you're doing. Feel privileged that you get to walk a different path from the zombieland of automatics.
5. Be patient. You're not going to hop into your car and learn all the intricates of stick driving in 10 minutes. However, if you are committed, most of us will agree that you'll pick up a LOT in just a day. 2-3 days should be enough to get you driving on the street, and a solid week and you should be soloing the roads with confidence.
Hope this helps.
I would add some lines with respects to your nice tips.
You said :
The hardest part about learning stick is to learn and adapt the sensitivity of the clutch with your ankle. It's all about fine-tuning and knowing how to "listen" to the revs and engine. Shifting gears is the easy part.
You need to listen! here is a good exemple that will lead me to something important, the senses, and talking about it, learn your gearbox without use your eyes.
- it would be important to sit into the car with engine off first, just by pressing the clutch pedal, feel all the gear knob positions and change them all one by one to 6th and name them without look at the knob but IN FRONT of you instead, all noobishs would take a quick look at the gear knob to get sure to be at the right gear, this is an error. Learn to feel it with your hand, your hand has eyes you know. Your face need to focus on the road, not on the stupid knob that just has 6 logo to memorize.
At a more advanced level
Here is what Rev-matching means.
- Rev-matching can be second nature, but what really is about, would be a quick mind realization of your actual speed and reving level, and making a fast choice to down-shift or upshift, relatively of your goal. Downshift way is what really required good rev-matching ; u will have to apply some little power after your full pressed the clutch pedal and reach the friction point, followed by change the gear stick position, and u will need to slowly depress the clutch pedal to not get a jerk hit.
Good rev-matching will lead to get better with down-shifting, mostly.
You said :
The hardest part about learning stick is to learn and adapt the sensitivity of the clutch with your ankle. It's all about fine-tuning and knowing how to "listen" to the revs and engine. Shifting gears is the easy part.
You need to listen! here is a good exemple that will lead me to something important, the senses, and talking about it, learn your gearbox without use your eyes.
- it would be important to sit into the car with engine off first, just by pressing the clutch pedal, feel all the gear knob positions and change them all one by one to 6th and name them without look at the knob but IN FRONT of you instead, all noobishs would take a quick look at the gear knob to get sure to be at the right gear, this is an error. Learn to feel it with your hand, your hand has eyes you know. Your face need to focus on the road, not on the stupid knob that just has 6 logo to memorize.
At a more advanced level
Here is what Rev-matching means.
- Rev-matching can be second nature, but what really is about, would be a quick mind realization of your actual speed and reving level, and making a fast choice to down-shift or upshift, relatively of your goal. Downshift way is what really required good rev-matching ; u will have to apply some little power after your full pressed the clutch pedal and reach the friction point, followed by change the gear stick position, and u will need to slowly depress the clutch pedal to not get a jerk hit.
Good rev-matching will lead to get better with down-shifting, mostly.
awkwardbeta
Passed Driver's Ed
Congrats on your new ride! Just remember it takes a long time to master stick. Just 'cause you can get to the grocery store and back doesn't mean you're proficient with stick yet. Once you get a good hand on shifting through gears, try to do it while minimizing your riding the clutch and matching revs. This takes long time to become good at, so keep at it. Good luck, and have fun!