unlimited77

Just like the topic question states...>>>i will be getting mine in a few days....its at the dealership...its indiglo ink and its a 5 speed and i will be learning with it>


any hints...cause i live 60 miles away from the dealer ( highways)


1. What should i do about break in? how many miles is good on the car?

2. Should i get the car nose cover thing that blocks bugs?

3. Does everyone heard that sunroof sound and will it break?

thanks and please help me!

wgeee7478

Not to sound like I'm bashing you or anything, but seriously my first recommendation would be to practice with a car that has the clutch broken in already and also with somone that knows how to drive manual to sit beside you to tell you what you are doing right and wrong. It's actually not that hard to drive a manual at all really, but it can be very frustrating if the car starts bucking like a bronco or the car stalls on you and you don't know what is going on or how to correct your technique. I learned with my friends 240SX in a parking lot and it only took me 1.5 hours before I was sufficient enough to drive on the road and the freeways. If you already know how to drive an auto, you pretty much have half of your skills down already, the only thing you have to dicipline yourself now is that your hand is now on the shift **** (that is if you've never shifted through the gears of an automatic before) and that your foot that used to be free is now controlling the clutch. As for break in, I just followed the manual which said drive at moderate varying speeds for the first 1000 miles. And don't over-rev the engine. As for the other 2 questions, my wife has an xB an she doesn't have a problem with bugs but rather rocks and pebbles from big trucks (we live in nor-cal bay area so that and pot hole filled roads are pretty much our major problems) and as for the sunroof, she doesn't have one. Well the tC is a pretty sweet ride, and from the looks of it, it's THE Scion "honey pot" for mods. Have fun man, and good luck.

erc21

Pretty much what "he" said, lol!!! Learn to drive a manual (which I never did) with an older car, because why possibly "hurt" a new car trans????? I love my BCP auto BTW, had it for over a month now, it's enough!!!

corb450

i took my friends stratus out the night before i got my tC and drove a manual for the first time. probably shouldn't have driven my new car and learned on it as much as i did but its been a week almost and i'm comfortable driving by myself anywhere now.

ooopsij

I am learning stick-shift with my SW tC.
When I took my car from dealership, hahahhaha
I stalled about 4-5 times haha

its been 6days from the delivery, I am pretty good now. shift pretty smooth without jerks,

my recommendation is just don't get nervous, i got really nervous when i stopped on hill and stalled couple times. On the up hill i would recommend you step on brake and let go clutch a little bit and when you FEEL the RPM drop or that little vibration you step on the gas to make RPMS around 2000 you won't have no problem at all..

and for the break IN
I heard it is extremely important to warm up your engine, before you start drive
doing that would make your engine last much longer and make the pistion ring seat properly. also variation of RPMs do not stay in same speed or RPM for a long period

everything else

when you pick up your car read OWNERS MANUAL

Im comfortable driving anywhere by self now in 6days

JSVH

I went through a similar excpirence as you are. I have posted my story in some other forums, but I will put it up in this thread too:

I went from my '93 Automatic Camry to my new 2005 Scion tC 5-speed. This is my first manual transmission car. I have driven my friends stick Civic, and my aunts stick Accord no more then two hours all together before that. I had the basics down, and could drive them. But it was hard to get more practice time on a manual because so few are around.

I have been set on getting a manual transmission since I first started look for my next car three years ago. There are just too many benifits (fuel economy, initial cost, repair cost, fun-to-drive, power, control of the car) to be passed up just to be able to eat a hamburger and drive in stop-and-go traffic.

I am a fan of break-in periods, so I really want to baby this car. But after driving an Auto my whole life it was hard to learn to drive slow and not stall the car (i.e. master the friction point). When I went to pick up the car this past Thursday I had the salesman take me out for another lesson. I did ok, but I still wanted to drive the car off the lot and take the hour drive home myself.

I finished the paper work about four o'clock and had a good hours drive in heavy traffic back home (from Athens GA to inside the perimiter in Atlanta). The drive back was one of the most streesful events of my life, I found how manual can be pain in traffic and starting on hills. And on the way back I had alot of traffic on hills . Atlanta drivers really are A-holes, got mad for me taking my time to start up, and really riding my ___ on hills . I did not care so much about the other drives, though they did add pressure, but I was really worried about rolling back into a car behind me on a hill. In the end I stalled a few times and ____ed alot of people off with my slow starts and going <60mph on the freeway (break-in). But I got the car home and have been loving it.

I would not recomend doing a "crash course" like I did, though I was noticably better by the time I got home. I have put on over 500 miles in this past half-a-week just driveing around my naighborhood, and I feel like a pro . I dont think I hurt anything with my stalls, and I have been doing a good job of keeping the RPMs under 3000 (even harder then learning the manual ). But if I had it to do over again I would rent a manual transmission car for a week just to make sure I had it down before taking home my new car. I am definatly happy I got a stick shifter, I enjoy driving it many times more the the slushbox.

As for the rest of your questions:

1. keep it slow and vary the RPMs for the first 1000-3000 miles.

2. no

3. heard the sound, it is not bad, no I dont think it will break.

bCtC

please dont flame me for this, but i dont know why anyone would want to drive off the lot in a manual shift car when they haven't ever driven a manual.

please find a friend to teach you. i bothered the hell out of my friends before my first manual car purchase (used car).

an empty parking garage is great for learning. having the car roll forward on a downhill slope is a great way to begin learning how to start in first gear. and as for hills, a great tip is to pull up the parking brake until your feet find the right friction point, and then let the parking brake off - that way you won't have to worry about rolling backward.

JSVH

I spent as much drive time as I could with a manual, but they are very hard to find these days. I think my two hours of practice was enough. I was able to safely drive home. It was important for me to drive the car off the lot myself instead of having someone else do it.

zach

About 3 months ago when I almost bought an 02' RSX Type-S, it was the first time I had driven a stick in about 3 years, and my 2nd 6sp I had ever driven (dad's 02 F250 SuperDuty is 6spd - very bad ___ truck mind you), and I didn't do too bad. A little jerky at first but everything came back to me real quick. I suggest to brush up on driving a stick, go to a dealership or something other that the one you're buying your car from, look around for a car w/a 5spd and "test drive" it :twisted:

calvinwch

If you going to do that, make sure you buy ADDITIONAL insurance coverage.
Not just say you can't drive, but you will end up hurting your self or others.

You have to know what you doing before you TEST drive your 5 speed car.

bCtC

manual shift cars are hard to find?? at any rate, you did have some practice. i just don't understand someone going "yea! i'm gettin a manual shift car!! now how the hell do i drive it? why do i keep stalling?" etc.

plus there's the dork factor to avoid - you don't want to finally pull off the lot after stalling and bucking several times.

JSVH

Yea, < 5% of cars are manual these days especially in the city, the people that do have them are also hesitent to let you learn on theirs. But besides that I agree with you, get all the practice you can get before you get your new car. I considered getting a beater manual car for a year, but it was not practical to do. And it does make you feel like an idiot when you are stalling driving your new car home :oops: .

michiganbob

I'm in the same boat now. My tc is coming in within 4 weeks, and I have never driven stick before. Luckily my dad's friend has an old jeep that he's willing to let me learn on.

Yeah, and all my friends are jerks for not having manual cars for me to drive around.

wgeee7478

Yeap, it was hard for my friend to trust me to drive his car at first, but eventually, you bribe him with some beer and food and they'll agree to anything.

But yeah, on a serious note, sometime the clutch on a new car is wayyyyy too sensitive and it catches very quickly, so if you don't have the skills to react quick enough, you'll probably buck and stall. It's easier on a used car because the engine and the clutch is already broken in so everything is much easier to learn with and it's more forgiving if you make a mistake.

woodstock

i would suggest that you go to your local driving school and sign up for a manual driving class... they can teach you in one lesson how to handle a manual in the streets and on a freeway. after that you should be fine at least getting home from the dealership.

i agree with the statment from before... you really don't want to look like an idiot driving home from the dealership.