Best Way To Approach Manual..

[MANWHORE]

Mate, do what I did.

Manual isn't one of the hardest things in the world. I came from the same background as you. Two autos, no manuals. I really wanted to learn manual, but lets face it. Paying for 10-20 manual lessons is a straight rip off. It's like telling the driving instructor to stick his arm up your bum.

Anyways, I got my licence on auto. I then bought a sII r33 gtst with a twin plate clutch (reads - harder to drive). Te first time I ever drove manual was when I drove it off the dock to steam cleaning, then to compliance.

[TaKz]

hmm my plan is to get maybe 1 or 2 lessons just for the basics and then hire a car to do some driving in then when i feel confident enough gonna get(FINALLY) a R33 ^_^ been thinking bout it since the start of the year but i'm sure insurance is gonna be a bitch..

[Hayness]

Do plan 2!!

I am in the same position as plan 2, got my P's in July and searching for an R32 right now. I sometimes drive my friends manual cars here and there (Pulsar's to R34's) and i find that i really have not forgotten anything from what my instructor taught me many months ago. I find the guys who taught themselves by purchasing a manual car and not getting taught lessons, still suck at manual a few months after getting a manual car.

Other people will have different views, but this comes from experience, and by the way i did about 12 hours with driver instructer in a manual car. No manual car in the family, ever.

[The_Paladin]

i'd go plan one...........

great thread this. i'm going to be in the same position soon. i've got an auto licence but i'd like a manual one day. just gives ya more freedom. Auto's are good though

[wingnam]

i learnt manual the hard way as there is only auto cars and drivers in my fam... i think i would have paid about $300+ in lessons, but hey i got a high paying job so i dont car regret it now though.... but yeah option 1 with a few lesson at the start and then a few before the test date

[wilch]

My girlfriend who is also on these forums just bought her first manual... R32 GTST.

It's been a month now and she's pretty use to it. Doesn't stall at all.

The first night we brought the car back I took her to an empty car park which had ramps and taught her how to "balance the car" with the clutch, which is the easiest way to show someone where the friction point is.

A few arguments later and she had the basic jist of it.

She's a little hard on the clutch, but hey, that's why I told her to buy a stock 32 gtst.

[sl33ek]

Go plan 1. I'm same as you I came from two autos and looking back I'm annoyed that I didnt start off in a manual.

I got a friend to teach me manual in mid June in my brother's celica. I had to learn in a hurry too because I bought the skyline and had to pick it up a few weeks later.

The hardest thing was the extra clutch pedal and learning the friction point and I stalled it alot. When my brother's celica wasnt available I hired a manual small car for the weekend.

If you think you're ready, try reversing up an inclined driveway without stalling or going up a steep ramp like at a shopping centre, stop halfway and balance it and continue up, I found that to be some scary shit at first.

[Rekin]

haha my driveway declines into a steep hill..have trouble getting the 1.6Litre Getz up over it.

Keep the posts coming, lots of different opinions!

[r34_skyline]

how do u master hill starts and prevent the car from rolling bakwards ? i had 2 lessons and i find it hard coz i keep stalling it.

[dezz]

  r34_skyline said:

how do u master hill starts and prevent the car from rolling bakwards ? i had 2 lessons and i find it hard coz i keep stalling it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

if you cant do it using the clutch/accelerator, use the handbrake

[racsov500]

My dad taught me in the old ute in the paddock. and now I can bushbash to my hearts content!

[racsov500]

  r34_skyline said:

how do u master hill starts and prevent the car from rolling bakwards ? i had 2 lessons and i find it hard coz i keep stalling it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Im still learning too, I use the hand brake, but now most of the time I just nail the throttle

[Patto-]

Handbrake hill starts are for girls.

Just joking, you'll get the hang of it. Once you master the friction point you'll be able to hold the car in the same spot on a hill without any handbrake, just the right amount of clutch and accelerator, not good for the clutch though.

[r34_skyline]

lol thnx guys. its probably just pressure, im sure of it.

i reckon auto has messed up my controls. coz usually i'd take my foot off the brakes and accel(auto). i've been doing the exact same thing in a manual car. i know i should find the friction point first then accelerate, but instead, i go for the accelerator first then lift my foot off the clutch.

yeh, the friction point is abit hard, and i always miss it by like an inch . other than that, i have no problems changing gears whilst the car is moving. but i do bunny hop through roundabouts, lol.

[Dee 33]

My mate drove an auto excel for a few years then went straight into an S15 as his first manual.

Point being, if you can competantly drive an auto already then you'll have no problem whatsoever switching over to a manual car. The reason manuals can be difficult at the beginning is because you're having to concentrate on changing gears as well as indicating and being intimidated by everyone else around you.

Once you've mastered driving, switching to a manual is piss easy.

Besides, a stock R32 will be slow anyway. I'd save straight away and wait out till you have the 12k or so for a stock R32.

[shombre]

Dee, have to agree with you there. I'd never driven a manual before I switched to one in my Soarer. It came complete with a Jim Berry carbotic 3400lb *grippy* clutch. Brilliant for its function, very intimidating for a beginner. My fiancee's brother very kindly donated his time and S13 to teach me the basics - I had two lessons, then made the switch to my car. It took a month of good peak hour driving before I became really comfortable with it.

But I have to say, just being comfortable with the *rest* of the things required by a driver made concentrating on changing/engaging gears smoothly, esp on hillstarts, MUCH easier than it otherwise would have been.

[Hardwick88]

I, would go for plan 2.

Do you have any friends/relations who had manuals and would let you use them.

This is what i did

Learnt to drive in my brothers manul Mazda 6

Got 3 lessons, which you need to have because in WA there is a certain way of doing all this bullshit they give to you, even if the other way to do it still perfectly legal

Did 25 hours in Automatic Lexus/Volvo

Got P's (9 months ago)

Finished School

Buying R32 - In the next 3 weeks

[frankxinyu]

  r34_skyline said:

lol thnx guys. its probably just pressure, im sure of it.

i reckon auto has messed up my controls. coz usually i'd take my foot off the brakes and accel(auto). i've been doing the exact same thing in a manual car. i know i should find the friction point first then accelerate, but instead, i go for the accelerator first then lift my foot off the clutch.

yeh, the friction point is abit hard, and i always miss it by like an inch . other than that, i have no problems changing gears whilst the car is moving. but i do bunny hop through roundabouts, lol.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

im sure u will get used to it. every car has different clutch setting and when i had to drive my works hilux, i couldnt drive it well at all. but after two hours of driving in that car, i got used to it. so it just takes time. its not a hard thing to do, u can drive auto, u can drive manual.

[lingeringsoul]

Step 1 Take one crapped up car, drive the shit out of it, make sure you learn everything from that car.

step 2 Once you've worn the clutch out/crashed/broken the gearbox/broken something/broken everything, throw the car away, spend a decent amount of money on a good car.

Step 3-9999 Enjoy the new car

(step 4) - if you've never crashed/bumped into anything in 10 years, be really paranoid to step 9999 because you really don't know when you might have an accident and I sure as hell wasn't gonna wait until I had my first accident.

[ebola]

my $2.

I meant 2c...

Get a cheap manual car. It might only take an hour to be able to change gears, it will take alot longer till you can glide between them.

Manuals can be smoother than autos. And the more cars you practice in, the better you will get.

As has already been stated, cars all have different points of engagement for the cluth. Get used to your car, be able to drive others.

It took me months (as a Learner) to be able to drive straight while changing gears. I wasn't the best of drivers. Still arn't, but I learnt.

When you *get* your 'good car', you will appreciate the fact that you can already drive a manual PROPERLY, instead of just having learnt enough to pass a test (that tests road rules, I might add, not defensive driving) and forgetting it all.

and I would be most surprised if you never had a (hopefully small) accident in your first car. better to get a bomb, and better to learn to drive all cars, not just good ones.