Driving Stick Shift Manual cars

[houston06]

ok I have driven automatic my whole life... I have no one ot teahc me or aorund me that knows how to drive stick yet I really want to learn...any suggestions? i live in Houston tx

[spacedogg]

I did a 1 hr lesson at a driving school just to learn the basics. Then I picked up my E90 the next week.

Nothing motivates you better to learn fast...than the thought of wrecking the clutch of your new car.

[GuillaumeSoete]

You could rent a manual car (is it possible in the US?) so you can make mistakes (you will) without feeling bad for your beloved car

Guillaume

[spacedogg]

Originally Posted by GuillaumeSoete

You could rent a manual car (is it possible in the US?) so you can make mistakes (you will) without feeling bad for your beloved car

Guillaume

Good luck finding a rental with manual in the US. They are all automatics.

The other alternative is buying a used car and practicing on that. But that's a rather expensive approach.

Cheapest way is to taking some driving lessons...although fewer and fewer driving schools own manual tranny cars. Most just only own automatics...

[wuufer001]

learned my skills from my cousin with his crappy truck. try find someone with a crappy car thats manual. wait till you get used to it then get one

[SpecC]

Originally Posted by wuufer001

learned my skills from my cousin with his crappy truck. try find someone with a crappy car thats manual. wait till you get used to it then get one

+1

My friend let me learn on this 2004 brand new E46 325i and i felt pretty bad when i stalled once. That was all the stalling i did all day though! Took me three 30 minute lessons to get used to it. Sporty clutches are a different issue though

[txusa03]

Ok, dont sue me if something happen but here is an idea. Your baby is on order. So from now till the beloved baby arrive, just go to a honda or toyota dealer and pretend you are buying a new car and ask them if they have any manual cars on the lot because you are interested in manual car. If they ask why, just tell them you want manual cars because you heard they are cheaper ($$$) and they are more fuel efficient in today's high gas price. That's how you do it but tell the salesman that you dont know how to drive stick and if he can give you some pointer. GL.

No, I did not do this when I went from auto to manual (coz i learned how to drive in manual way way way back in the good old days).

[bigJnyc]

do a search for schools, there has to be one somewhere near you. google it. I took a one hour class a few years ago then bought a cheap used car and got used to it on my own.

[houston06]

i tired searching in houtson, nothing with manual..

[DFW_M]

Originally Posted by houston06

i tired searching in houtson, nothing with manual..

txusa03 will teach you on his 330...

[txusa03]

Originally Posted by dr325i

txusa03 will teach you on his 330...

while you are in china, why dont you give our noob your manual car and I will be happy to sit in on it and give him a few pointers

[DFW_M]

Originally Posted by txusa03

while you are in china, why dont you give our noob your manual car and I will be happy to sit in on it and give him a few pointers

hmmm...rent it out while I am gone...
Good idea

[Brunotheboxer]

go buy a manual trans. beater, practice and learn on it, then try to sell it for as close as you paid for it as possible. i learned how to drive a mt car on my dads 3 series. he wouldn't even go with me to teach me and i didnt even have a licence yet. that poor car

[schneid4323]

Drive a jeep, they have such a high rear end its ridiculous.

[DougLikesBMW]

Hmm...I learned in a 2006 S2000, lol...It's my uncles so I rarely get to drive it, but I have got the hang of it...I'm still a bit jerky when it comes to going down through the gears when slowing down as well as starting up.

But at least I learned from someone with correct form.

[krazykanuck]

I learned on my mom's Boxster and then got really good on an Audi.

Go test drive a new A3/4 6mt. Very, very easy tranny to learn on because it has a very light clutch.

But honestly, just buying one is the fastest and I think best way to learn. Yes, you'll stall a bunch, have bad shifts, etc. but just think of how much money you saved by not buying the automatic.

[younghov85]

Originally Posted by txusa03

Ok, dont sue me if something happen but here is an idea. Your baby is on order. So from now till the beloved baby arrive, just go to a honda or toyota dealer and pretend you are buying a new car and ask them if they have any manual cars on the lot because you are interested in manual car. If they ask why, just tell them you want manual cars because you heard they are cheaper ($$$) and they are more fuel efficient in today's high gas price. That's how you do it but tell the salesman that you dont know how to drive stick and if he can give you some pointer. GL.

No, I did not do this when I went from auto to manual (coz i learned how to drive in manual way way way back in the good old days).

Thats funny cause my dealer was tellin me how someone wanted an M3 and when they went out on the test drive he discovered it was the guy 1st time wit a manual. so he was teaching the guy to drive the manual and he got the sale

[Driv3r]

Listen, if you have a pretty decent learning curve, just learn on your car....The clutch on the E90's are so light and forgiving (maybe due to CDV) but The car can easily handle a little stalling and what not, people launch on their cars all the time, and thats equal to a few stallings im sure (no proof lol)

Trust me!

[BMW2006]

Originally Posted by Driv3r

Listen, if you have a pretty decent learning curve, just learn on your car....The clutch on the E90's are so light and forgiving (maybe due to CDV) but The car can easily handle a little stalling and what not, people launch on their cars all the time, and thats equal to a few stallings im sure (no proof lol)

Trust me!

I was scanning though the posts, and was going to post basically this, Driv3r beat me to it though, nice 8)

Modern clutchs are SO forgiving I'm sure you'll pick it up in no time on an e90. Although it does have that 3 second stop on an incline which is what really made me learn how to work the clutch in not-so modern cars. If you screw it up , you're going to hit the guy behind you, that will make you learn really quickly 8)

I learned how to drive stick on a 1979 beige toyota corrolla. It was my moms' old car. I passed my driving exam in her new automatic mazda. Once I had passed my exam a friend came over and we were sitting around with nothing to do, and me with my new licence. We eventually settled on McDonalds for lack of a better idea, and the Corolla was the only way we were going to get there.... and that's how I learned to drive stick, I had no other choice but staying at home and not enjoying my new liberty. I stalled out a number of times, that engine carried like 60 hp, the catch point was like a quarter of an inch, and you could stop that 4 banger in it's tracks with even just a little timid movement on the release. We managed to make it there and back though and I was officially an MT driver for life.

I had alot of good times with that car

But, even though , as with all clutchs, you stand a decent chance of lunching it, you will probably pick it up quick enough to be functional in a few days, leaving you the rest of your life to explore the finer techniques of driving a MT.

-BMW2006

[txusa03]

Originally Posted by houston06

ok I have driven automatic my whole life... I have no one ot teahc me or aorund me that knows how to drive stick yet I really want to learn...any suggestions? i live in Houston tx

check out this thread my friend...there are plenty of good advices. Especially post #24 from Revlis. GL

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58354

[enwhykiid]

go ask ur ca and say u want a test drive but ask for a manual and tell him to give u pointers and hell probably do it

[OhhaiAlex]

Practice with a family/relative member's car. Thats how I learned. It takes time.