Oh just stop it you know you love and I quote......... "messing with a stick every two minutes while driving to work" Well this explains why you're such a terrible driver.
All I ask is for the brakes to work and a star to drive by.
- Thread starter Bluesteel
- Start date
Oh just stop it you know you love and I quote......... "messing with a stick every two minutes while driving to work" Well this explains why you're such a terrible driver.
Considering I've never had an accident that was my fault and only one ticket -8 years ago- I don't see how I'm a terrible driver.
No one here has, yet, but in past threads dsiscussing transmissions sooner or later some "Sticker" comes in and insults people who prefer automatics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nissan_Primera_front_20071112.jpg
Actually a rather large car for the UK...
Again..you need practice, practice, practice...I used a school parking lot to get used to the manual transmission (it had a convenient hill so I could get used to the difficult part of engaging the clutch on a hill..not the easiest maneuver to learn..)
then the road...and preferrably some rather straight ones at first..then curvy later..
Actually a rather large car for the UK...
Again..you need practice, practice, practice...I used a school parking lot to get used to the manual transmission (it had a convenient hill so I could get used to the difficult part of engaging the clutch on a hill..not the easiest maneuver to learn..)
then the road...and preferrably some rather straight ones at first..then curvy later..
You're focusing on the wrong part of that post darling. Must I walk you through everything?
I see you're going to be more work than I thought. Honk.
You're focusing on the wrong part of that post darling. Must I walk you through everything?
I am dense in The Way of Woman.
Next time, when you go to press the button as part of releasing the hand brake, give it a slight tug UP as you press the button.
In the states, your left foot should rest to the left of, but not on, the clutch pedal. Resting your foot on the clutch pedal will wear out the clutch. Only place your foot on the clutch pedal when you intend to shift gears.
Your right foot should be positioned so that it can travel from side to side to use the gas (accelerator) or brake pedals. You just use your heel as the pivot point. If the locations of the pedals are reversed in the UK, then reverse the feet and how they are used.
It (a stick shift) does give you a lot more control in a lot of situations, especially when traction is at a premium.
Ok Brits, can anyone else confirm this?Bluesteel, I highly suggest either training with a family member in a deserted area or paying for formal instruction?
BTW, how old are you? We can get our licenses at 16 in most states. I recall teaching my daughter to drive last year. Yes it was an aneurysm inducing experience but now shes doing great on her own and racking up experience. Ive been in two emergency situations with her (not of her own making) and all I can say is that Im damned proud of how she has reacted.
Open road maybe, and winding highway, for sure. But Oh hell no they aren't fun in LA rush hour, which comprises 90% of my driving these days.
Your other points stand, though.
Honestly, I'm not sure why the OP is having a hard time with this, I learned how to drive a standard-shift inside an afternoon and while I wouldn't say I had "mastered" it, I could drive it well enough to get from A to B.
(Granted, I learned when I already kneq how to drive so I didn't have that complication heaped onto learning how to drive a standard at the same time.)
(Granted, I learned when I already kneq how to drive so I didn't have that complication heaped onto learning how to drive a standard at the same time.)
You're focusing on the wrong part of that post darling. Must I walk you through everything?
I am dense in The Way of Woman.
And humor.
Depending on the car, an automatic can be 3, 4, 5, or 6 nowdays. Thanks to computer technology most new cars with an automatic can now get fuel mileage that's equal to (or in a few cases better) than the same car with a stick.
I thought you just bought a new truck? What happened?
I'll echo the chorus of posters saying you need to practice in a deserted parking lot. I learnt to drive at the school behind our house, there's quite a big hill leading down to it, so it's perfect for practicing hillstarts on. I've owned two cars that were both manual, and am about to move onto a third manual car, I wouldn't ever trade them in for an automatic, manual is just way more fun to drive with in my opinion!
Im actually sort of teaching my girlfriend to drive my car, she can only drive an automatic unfortunately.
Im actually sort of teaching my girlfriend to drive my car, she can only drive an automatic unfortunately.
That really depends. People who don't really know what they're doing on a stick shift can destroy the clutch in short time. Besides paying for the clutch and the service to have a new one put in, you have to make sure the shop does the throw-out bearing and pressure plate when they do the clutch, all 3 should always be done together.
Deceleration via lower gears provide much more control over the car than riding the brake pedal and depending on the friction of the brakes against the rotors/drums. Especially since the engine is still putting out the same power while you're braking. Whether it be downhill or rounding a corner, or just trying to slow down in general. With the engine slowed down via gears, the cars momentum is lower, plus the out-put of the enigne is much lower.
Granted, a human being knows more than a machine, but the difference in my experience is negligible. I've lived almost my entire life in Michigan and am no stranger to driving on ice and snow, and I've never had any problem with an automatic. There are low gears you can shift into, and 4x4s in particular work just fine. I can appreciate that a manual gives you more control, but I've simply never run into a situation where that degree of control was remotely necessary.
Cheaper, though. Definitely cheaper.
Even if you decide to decelerate via downshifting as opposed to hitting the brakes, you still have to overcome your starting inertia, which will take the same amount of time. Add to that you have about five other factors to take into account in addition to simply "slow the hell down", "speed the hell up", and "turn". There's also the ever-present risk of accentally shifting wrong under the possible stress of the situation and destroying your transmission.
Plus, there is no driving experience funner than down shifting into a corner; I guarantee it will make you feel like a race car driver no matter what kind of car you're in or how fast you're going.
Then you're dead and so is any sucker that gets in your way. Welcome to the responsibilities of driving.
You definitely need to develop a better understanding of how a car works, especially the clutch, but once you have more practice it will become second nature to you. The first time I drove a car was when my dad brought me to an empty car-park in his Renault Laguna and it was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life; driving at 3kpm with hardly any obstacles in my path. The first time he told me to stop he neglected to mention that you had to push the clutch in as well as the brake and to me it felt like as if the car was about to tear itself apart.
And when it came to the point where I tried to start the car on a very, very small incline I must have stalled the engine 15 times before I finally managed it.Learn how to handle the clutch and you will have the key to controlling the car, everything else is simple. You need the clutch when starting the car, when going up through the gears, when coming down again, when stopping, and often you need to change gear when turning. It's ubiquitous, about the only thing you wont need it for is turning on the wipers. It will be very frustrating for the first few weeks, but eventually you'll be controlling the car without thinking about it and once that happens changing gears can be fun, as stated a few times above. Some day soon you'll be on a nice stretch of road, you'll pop her into fifth and bring her up to 100kph (60mph), then you'll be glad you took the time to figure it out.
Unless you forget to press anything when coming up on a sharp bend, in which case you will die.
I know people who will say, "I've eaten canned corn" (or fill in the blank with some other overly processed food item that you personally abhor
) "all my life. I've never had any problems with it. I've never run into any situation where canned corn wasn't just as good as fresh, in-season sweet corn." You haven't missed the extra control that a manual transmission would give you for a very simple reason: You haven't experenced the extra control that a manual transmission can give you.
I'm not trying to talk you into it or anything. You're right that a good automatic transmission is generally speaking a fine thing, and in some situations (heavy traffic or city driving somewhere with lots of hills - under those conditions, a manual transmission is a genuine pain in the butt), it's better than manual. All I'm saying is that just because you haven't experienced the greater control that a manual transmission provides doesn't mean that greater control isn't real. I drive an automatic transmission most of the time these days - as I mentioned earlier, my company provides me with a car (not that I'm complaining) and I am not given the option of choosing one with a manual transmission - and I can tell you that I reeeeeeeeaaaally miss a manual transmission every time there's a big snowstorm.
When the road conditions are fine, it's true that you don't ever truly need a manual transmission. But as GodBen (or The God Ben or whatever he's calling himself these days
) and Canadave have pointed out...the real reason to drive a manual when the road is open and the conditions are good is because it's really, really, really fun. It's as simple as that.
Similar threads
