Jump to content
SAU Community

Learning to drive stick

drunken0elf
 Share

Recommended Posts

drunken0elf Collaborator

drunken0elf

Posted
Posted
Learning to drive stick

Might sound like a strange topic to post coming from a guy that just bought a 91 GTR... But... It's the case lol.

I've almost never drove stick before and boy can I say that 1) I'm complete arse at backing up the car and 2) I hate red lights and stop signs. Learning on a stage 2 clutch is pretty rough but so much fun! 

I can't heel n toe, I can't rev match, I have a hard time changing gears in a sharp turn lol, the list goes on. 

So SAU, help a learning bro out, you got any tips for me for learning stick on a skyline? It's nothing like I've drove before. Turbo, rhd, stickshift, it's all so unsettling yet so fun.

 

Cheers!

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/471088-learning-to-drive-stick/
Share on other sites
KiwiRS4T Grand Master

KiwiRS4T

Posted
Posted

Don't worry about heeling and toe-ing for now. Practise the basics. Get your take offs smooth. You need to learn how far the clutch pedal comes up before it begins to bite and you need to know the minimum revs it takes to get underway without stalling. From rest let out the clutch pedal quickly to the bite point and then pausing very briefly increase revs and let the clutch right up. Do virtually the same at each upchange until it becomes second nature without over-revving or stalling. To start with do not double declutch for downshifts. If your synchros are still in working order just change down with firm smooth movements. You will soon find the necessary small increase in revs to prevent jerking. For normal driving do not downshift to slow the car - use the brakes (brake pads are cheaper than clutches and gearboxes) and then change down to suit your speed if necessary.

Do this a lot until you are comfortable changing gear while turning and can do a three point turn without drama. Heeling and Toe-ing will be easy if you can do the basics automatically - very hard otherwise.

  • Like 2
dave123456789 Contributor

dave123456789

Posted
Posted (edited)

Just learn to drive it like your grandma would before you starting trying anything else. Learn the basics first, starting and stopping, shifting smoothly up and down etc. 

you will get there, once it all clicks it's pretty simple.

Edited by dave123456789
Birds Grand Master

Birds

Posted
Posted

What the hell is a stage 2 clutch?

If that bears any reference to a twin plate clutch, please don't learn to drive with one...you will kill it...they aren't meant to be slipped let alone learned on.

Go get a few professional driving lessons so you can trash their car instead; money spent on this will be money saved on you destroying your more expensive components. They have dual control vehicles, so safer environment to learn in and experience teaching teenagers how to drive a manual, so can more than likely teach you too!

As others have said, don't worry about heel and toe etc. That stuff comes in time. When I was 16 all I wanted to do was learn to drive manual and I failed hard on the first drive with parents; couldn't get the hang of it. Embarrassed that I might never learn the "fun" way to drive but my friends could. First lesson with a professional driver and he laughed off the idea of me saying I couldn't drive manual (may he RIP...no, I didn't kill him with my driving). Within 5 minutes he had me taking off smoothly and changing gears no problems. I now consider myself the smoothest operator...a master of launches and wifi changes...and yes I heel and toe when the situation calls for it (note: rarely, and this impresses no one but yourself).

P.S. Smooth is fast!

drunken0elf Collaborator

drunken0elf

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks all for the replies.

As for the stage 2, it's how we refer to an upgraded clutch where i live. Stage 0 = stock, Stage 2 = getting pretty darn stiff but will handle all the bolt ons and tune. Basically the max for a pure street car that's never going to see any track and It's not a twinplate clutch. It's just real stiff.

 

Cheers!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • MBS206
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By MBS206 · Posted

      Even more fun, leave all the ADAS stuff plugged in, but in different locations, hopefully avoid any codes!   And honestly, all these new cars with their weird electronics. Pull all the electronics out Duncan, and just shove an aftermarket ECU and if needed a trans controller in, along with a PDM. Make it run basic but race car styled!
    • Duncan
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By Duncan · Posted

      To follow up a question from earlier too since I had the front bar off again (fking!) This is what is between the bumper and the drivers side wheel And this is the navigator side, only one thing but its a biggy! So basically....no putting coolers in the wheel arches without a lot of moving other stuff. Assuming I move to properly race prepping this car I'll take that job on and see how the computers respond to removing a whole bunch of ADAS modules
    • Duncan
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By Duncan · Posted

      So I prepped the car for another track day on Wednesday (will be interesting to see coolant temps post flushing out and the larger reservoir, with a forecast of 3-14 being 20o cooler than last time I took it out). Couple of things to mention; since I am just driving the car and not taking a support vehicle, I took the rear seats out and just loaded the back up Team Trackday style. Look at all that space! To cover off removing the rear seat....it is weird (note the hybrid is probably different because it wouldn't have folding rear seats) Basically, you remove the lower seat base, very similar to a r series but it is a clip that pulls forward to release the base rather than it being bolted down. Easy Then, you need to remove the side section of the rear seat on each side. There is a 14mm head nut at the bottom of the side piece, the it slides upwards off a hook at the top to release; you also need to unhook the seatbelt from the loop at the top. Then the centre piece is weird. You need to release/fold the seats forward with the tab in the boot on each side From there, there are 2,x12mm headed bolts holding the rear of each seat to the folding bracket, under the trim between the rear seat and the boot (4x christmas tree clips there, they suck). The seat is out but you can see where the bolts attach to the bracket
    • RP1421
      S15 Spec R

      By RP1421 · Posted

      As discussed in the previous post, the bushes in the 110 needed replacing. I took this opportunity to replace the castor bushes, the front lower control arm, lower the car and get the alignment dialled in with new tyres. I took it down to Alignment Motorsports on the GC to get this work done and also get more out of the Shockworks as I felt like I wasn't getting the full use out of them.  To cut a very long story short, it ended up being the case the passenger side castor arm wouldn't accept the brand new bush as the sleeve had worn badly enough to the point you could push the new bush in by hand and completely through. Trying a pair of TRD bushes didn't fix the issue either (I had originally gone with Hardrace bushes). We needed to urgently source another castor arm, and thankfully this was sourced and the guys at the shop worked on my car until 7pm on a Saturday to get everything done. The car rides a lot nicer now with the suspension dialled in properly. Lowered the car a little as well to suit the lower profile front tyres, and just bring the car down generally. Eternally thankful for the guys down at the shop to get the car sorted, we both pulled big favours from our contacts to get it done on the Saturday.  Also plugged in the new Stedi foglights into the S15, and even from a quick test in the garage I'm keen to see how they look out on the road. I had some concerns about the length of the LED body and whether it'd fit in the foglight housing but it's fine.  I've got a small window coming up next month where I'll likely get a little paint work done on the 110 to remove the rear wing, add a boot wing and roof wing, get the side skirt fixed up and colour match the little panel on the tail lights so that I can install some badges that I've kept in storage. I'm also tempted to put in a new pair of headlights on the 110.  Until then, here's some more pictures from Easter this year. 
    • joshuaho96
      R32 GTS (RB20DE) Injectors Replacement

      By joshuaho96 · Posted

      I would put a fuel pressure gauge between the filter and the fuel rail, see if it's maintaining good fuel pressure at idle going up to the point when it stalls. Do you see any strange behavior in commanded fuel leading up to the point when it stalls? You might have to start going through the service manual and doing a long list of sensor tests if it's not the fuel system for whatever reason.
×
×
  • Create New...