Learning to drive a manual

[tontod]

I've been driving a manual for about 1.5 months. I've gotten decent at it to the point where I'm not a hazard on the road

I've pretty much got the hang of it, but sometimes I still get a bit of a jerk changing gears or get an uprev due to pulling up on the clutch too quickly or not fast enough. I guess I'll get better at it with more practice? Sometimes I get it right, other times I dont. I tend to do worse if I have to shift quicker for pulling into heavy traffic. I havent stalled in a couple of weeks or so. I got the hang of downshifting to the right gear when getting off the highway. I'm also starting to get the hang of not rolling back too much when stopped on a hill, havent hit anyone yet

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

about a year. give or take a few days.

 

[BlackTigers]

I learned how to drive it in about an hour.

After about a month of full time manual driving, I'm became very fluent. My downshifts weren't perfect yet, but my upshifts all smoothed out, and my take offs were perfect.

 

[exar333]

Maybe a month or so to get good at it, and it takes longer for it to become "second nature". For me, it was about a year and I didn't even consciously think about downshifting to pass, etc. and it just happened. I am sure others learn more quickly than me, and others may never really get 100% comfortable with it.

It probably depends on how long you have been driving, personal differences, etc.

 

[BeauJangles]

It really depends on what you mean. I think you can become proficient within two - three months. In order for it to become second nature and not have to really ever think about it, I'd say that takes somewhere around 8 - 10k miles.

 

[tontod]

Originally posted by: BeauJangles
It really depends on what you mean. I think you can become proficient within two - three months. In order for it to become second nature and not have to really ever think about it, I'd say that takes somewhere around 8 - 10k miles.

I guess I mean proficient first of all, but even with experienced drivers, I think mistakes can happen once in a while. So my goal is to get any mistakes down to a bare minimum. Its starting to get 2nd nature slowly.

 

[BW86]

Practice makes perfect. Before you know it, it will be second nature to you.

 

[TehMac]

Yeah, even after a year shifts for me are a bit jerky. Primarily because I have a short shifter with focuses more on speed, and secondly because I'm rapidly dumping the clutch up. I can get a smooth shift, but I usually don't mind shifting so much.

 

[JulesMaximus]

It really depends on how much you drive it and where. If you drive it in San Francisco in traffic vs Kansas on the highway you're going to learn a hell of a lot faster in San Fran.

 

[waffleironhead]

You should be reaching the stage now. it is not how long, but how many miles you drive. Another thing to consider is that while you are learning on one car, you will still need a little bit to adjust to other cars as well. Driving a civic is a bit different from driving a loaded truck. Learning what gear you need to be in will come naturally in time.

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: BlackTigers
I learned how to drive it in about an hour.

After about a month of full time manual driving, I'm became very fluent. My downshifts weren't perfect yet, but my upshifts all smoothed out, and my take offs were perfect.

Same here. About an hour or so and I was already on the highways. Took me a good 3-4 months to become perfect upshifting, maybe another 2 or 3 months to get the revmatched downshifts perfect.

I can downshift by feel nowadays in almost any manual car after almost 2 years of driving a manual.

For the time being, I don't think I want an automatic car ever again. This might change when I get older?

 

[TehMac]

I agree with amdhunter, I wouldn't mind, but wouldn't want an automatic tranny as long as I drive. But I fear that may change as I get older

 

[RichieZ]

is it your DD? probably took me a 1-2 months before I started to not think about it

 

[SammyJr]

Originally posted by: tontod
I've been driving a manual for about 1.5 months. I've gotten decent at it to the point where I'm not a hazard on the road

I've pretty much got the hang of it, but sometimes I still get a bit of a jerk changing gears or get an uprev due to pulling up on the clutch too quickly or not fast enough. I guess I'll get better at it with more practice? Sometimes I get it right, other times I dont. I tend to do worse if I have to shift quicker for pulling into heavy traffic. I havent stalled in a couple of weeks or so. I got the hang of downshifting to the right gear when getting off the highway. I'm also starting to get the hang of not rolling back too much when stopped on a hill, havent hit anyone yet

Took me about 6 months to get to the point where it was natural. I never got it smooth until I ditched the Cavalier and bought my Scion. Better transmission.

Hope you're driving a car with a good transmission.

 

[SammyJr]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
It really depends on how much you drive it and where. If you drive it in San Francisco in traffic vs Kansas on the highway you're going to learn a hell of a lot faster in San Fran.

This, too.

 

[KentState]

There are two phases IMO. First is just learning how to drive a stick which takes a couple months to not make beginner mistakes. Probably a full year to get comfortable with hills and parking garages. The second part is getting used to the vehicle. You will become an expert at your make and model, but I guarantee that the next car you jump into will give you some fits. The clutch will have a different engagement point, different weight, and placement. The stick will have a different gate and maybe more or less gears. The engine's torque also will dictate how you drive. Then throw various types of weather into the equation.

 

[tontod]

Originally posted by: SammyJr

Originally posted by: tontod
I've been driving a manual for about 1.5 months. I've gotten decent at it to the point where I'm not a hazard on the road

I've pretty much got the hang of it, but sometimes I still get a bit of a jerk changing gears or get an uprev due to pulling up on the clutch too quickly or not fast enough. I guess I'll get better at it with more practice? Sometimes I get it right, other times I dont. I tend to do worse if I have to shift quicker for pulling into heavy traffic. I havent stalled in a couple of weeks or so. I got the hang of downshifting to the right gear when getting off the highway. I'm also starting to get the hang of not rolling back too much when stopped on a hill, havent hit anyone yet

Took me about 6 months to get to the point where it was natural. I never got it smooth until I ditched the Cavalier and bought my Scion. Better transmission.

Hope you're driving a car with a good transmission.

Its a 2002 Subaru Forester. There is noise coming from the right side of the car which the mechanic says is coming from the transmission, so maybe it has issues, its a humming noise which starts around 20-25 mph and gets really loud around 40 mph, only occurs when the gas pedal is engaged.

 

[jhu]

i always need a tach because i always match rpms upshifting and downshifting.

 

[chorb]

Originally posted by: jhu
i always need a tach because i always match rpms upshifting and downshifting.

real drivers do it by sound only!

My buddy's old toyota truck (manual) had no tach in it, had to gauge shift points by sound/feel.

 

[SammyJr]

Originally posted by: chorb

Originally posted by: jhu
i always need a tach because i always match rpms upshifting and downshifting.

real drivers do it by sound only!

My buddy's old toyota truck (manual) had no tach in it, had to gauge shift points by sound/feel.

I think most drivers tend to gauge shifts by feel after a few months with a car.

 

[TehMac]

Originally posted by: chorb

Originally posted by: jhu
i always need a tach because i always match rpms upshifting and downshifting.

real drivers do it by sound only!

My buddy's old toyota truck (manual) had no tach in it, had to gauge shift points by sound/feel.

He could probably just shift based on when he felt the rev limitor lock up, or alternatively, when power begins to fade.

 

[Audiotherapy]

check your master/slave clutch cylinder + line, might make you a much better driver.

 

[Corn]

Originally posted by: audiotherapy
check your master/slave clutch cylinder + line, might make you a much better driver.

This.......and some cars are simply much easier to shift than others. For example, my previous car, a 2004 Acura TL 6MT had a wonderful shifter with very short throws and gates that seemed to guide perfectly. The clutch, however, was a very different story. It was like an on/off switch with very vague feel that seemed to always engage/disengage in a different spot in its travel. Prior I had an Audi S4 which was kind of the opposite: Rubbery long throw shifter (a short shifter fixed this issue though) and a clutch with supreme feel. I might have stalled that car once, but I stalled the TL at least once a week it seemed.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: ExarKun333
Maybe a month or so to get good at it, and it takes longer for it to become "second nature". For me, it was about a year and I didn't even consciously think about downshifting to pass, etc. and it just happened. I am sure others learn more quickly than me, and others may never really get 100% comfortable with it.

It probably depends on how long you have been driving, personal differences, etc.

downshift to pass? no, sir.

 

[BlackTigers]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler

Originally posted by: ExarKun333
Maybe a month or so to get good at it, and it takes longer for it to become "second nature". For me, it was about a year and I didn't even consciously think about downshifting to pass, etc. and it just happened. I am sure others learn more quickly than me, and others may never really get 100% comfortable with it.

It probably depends on how long you have been driving, personal differences, etc.

downshift to pass? no, sir.

Wll I have to in my Escort. 5-3 downshift FTW!