man i never grind the gears lol its a sick sound when it does happen though lol anyways it doesnt take long to learn if you just sit and think about it... its commen since if it starts shaking you need more gas... if its revving like a bat out of hell then you got to much gas... if it jumps on you then you dropped the clutch to fast and if you have a long drawn out decrease in rpms that means your letting it out too slow... like everyone else said... its gets second nature... i dont even look at the rpms when i shift unless im racin around places. my first car never had an rpm gauge so i didnt learn it that way which i believe is the best way... but dont ride your clutch thats the best way to ruin your clutch!

 

I learned to drive in an auto and then both my parents bought cars with manuals so I was forced to learn. My dad only took me out at night to learn. Looking back I think he did that on purpose so I wouldn't look down at the shifter since it was too dark to see. It took a few nights to get used to because we didn't stay out long. I actually didn't have a hard time getting used to the clutch. My problem was going from 2nd to 5th gear.

As it has been stated many times in this post you must learn to find the "sweet spot" in any manul vehicle you drive. I think that is the first thing you should do in any manual you get in that you aren't familiar with. If the car starts to shudder, give it more gas. If you give it too much gas, let out on the clutch faster. Either way you'll get the car moving. Just don't do that in traffic on someone's bumper. On hills let the clutch out to the sweet spot before taking your foot off the brake so you will not roll backwards. Learning how to drive a manual just takes time like most things.

Many people have said that you'll regret giving up the manual if you feel you can't learn it. I'm on the fence about that. Many people have never driven a manual and they are quite content. However I've seen and been in many situations where being able to drive a manual is a huge benefit. Examples: Driving the drunk person home in their manual car so they don't get killed or kill someone else. Many large trucks don't have an auto trans so knowing how to drive a manual is a huge advantage if you are looking for a driving job. Spirited driving can be much more fun in a manual because you have control of the RPMs and therefore the power band of the car.

 

Took about a week to get comfortable, but about 6 months to get "good"

 

don't ask me lol when i was trying to teach my wife how to drive a stick we almost ended up in divorce lol.. but for myself i learned on the gravel roads going to our river cabin. took me about a day to get to where i could drive ok when i was 11. this was in my dads chevy truck and the clutch and gas pedal was stiff as hell so it was a _____ to learn, but after i got to where i could drive that i could drive anything

 

I bought my first car when I turned 16, It was a 99' Golf manual, I had never driven a stick so ofcourse my dad had to drive it home and when we got back he got out of the car and told me I can't come back inside the house until I would be able to drive it to school the next day.So needless to say I had to learn really quick. I dont think I could ever go back to driving an auto... it's too boring

 

it took me one night...just rev it a little bit higher cuz it either sounds like you're letting go of the gas too soon or you're not revving it high enough

 

i basically learned in a couple of days. my bf taught me on his rsx, and he has a racing clutch i think so i stalled about a thousand times but then i got the hang of it. took a couple of different saturdays just messing around driving around to get it.

then his brother got a impreza and asked me to drive home one night, clutch was completely different...it took no effort to push it to the floor where as on the bf's car i'm struggling sometimes lol

like others have said it all about finding the right gas/rpm ratio and that stuff. but definitely dont get an auto. i'm still saving $$ to get the tc and right now i have an auto and now that i drive my bf car a lot i find myself bored in my car. your going to have more control with a manual

 

Started when I was 12 driving my grandfathers woodcutting truck. Was not allowed to drive an auto until I was 18 hahaha. Took me about a week to get the hang of it, but to become darn good and really learn a manual it took a few years of constant driving / track time.

 

all in all about 2 days.. i had to learn in my dads Z and that was an experience. i was actually supposed to get his but he said insurance was gonna be too high but somehow i ended up with an 08 tC so i'm not really compalining.

but its just a mix of it all once you get it everything just comes natural. just keep at it and you'll be good dont go auto. its so boring!

 

i learned in a day but it takes about a week to 2 weeks until i had no problems... all you need to do is keep a constant rev.... around 1500-1700 rpms so the car doesnt shake or stall out or you could always rev it up and drop the clutch lol... and when your on a flat surface you should be able to let the cluthch out REALLY slowly and the car should start to move without eveing pressing the gas this might help you with controling the clutch not sure good luck!!!

 

i know how it feels, since I bought my tC 2 months ago, and its my first manual. After a couple weeks of driving, you should defintely get the hang of it. Still gotta learn other tricks though, like downshifting, where you rev up to a higher RPM before downshifting to avoid the jerkiness.

the tC can be tricky because of the VVT-I, makes the gas pedal sometimes laggy.

oh, and are you getting the burnt clutch smell after you drive? i still get faint wisps of burnt clutch, but I hear its just normal clutch wear and it'll go away after 3000 miles or so of stop-n-go driving. I have 2000 miles of mostly highway driving.

 

I'm a bit concerned about stalling - will it screw up my car? I'm learning on the tC - I stall rarely now, but concerned about the initial stalling screw ups.

I'm still a bit rough on the take off (sometimes a small jerk before take off)... but it moves now lol.

Should I be concerned about the jerking and stalling?

 

She won't like it! . . . it can be a little rough on the motor mounts . . . slow down on the clutch release and make sure you are not sliding around in the seat. Make sure your lower back is against the seat firmly - sit up straight!

 

Took me 2 days to learn. Now im perfecting it which is going to take time.

 

If my wife can learn how to drive a stick in a race car with a short throw and race clutch you sure as hell can learn on a stock clutch on the street.

When it's shaking either push the clutch back in, give more throttle and release.

It won't hurt the clutch. You will do more damage to the clutch and pressure plate holding the clutch in at a light or rocking the vehicle back and forth than stalling it a few times.

 

i've been driving stick since october2006 when i first baught my tc. it took me about a week to get the hang of it. it sucks though cause until now sometimes i get stuck at first gear. but how come some cars (ex. integra) have easier to lunch the car. is it because they have short shifter and my tc don't? or just the car itself?

 

I learned in a day. But, I learned on my dads car which is a butt load more forgiving then the tC is. I couldn't imagine learning to drive stick on a tc.

Don't trade it in for an Auto. I got a friend who went from Stick - Auto. Now he's selling his car just to go back to stick.

 

Some of the problems with the tC is the slight throttle delay and the computer controlling it. I drove an auto and found the gas pedal WAY too touchy and responsive but the manual much be fun with the computer playing with the throttle as you hold the gas pedal still.

 

Ah ok, I was just concerned I would have a dead car by the time I finished "learning" lol.

I'll keep at it... no way I'm trading it in for auto... I'm stickin' with the manual. Practice makes perfect.

Don't hold the clutch in at a red-light? OOppps lol... I usually have the clutch down and on the break keeping it in first to accelerate. Is that wrong?

I also hear people skipping first and instead starting in second? Is that better?

 

You shouldn't hold the clutch in at a red light. Just put it into neutral. If u hold in like 5 seconds before it turns green that's fine. but don't pull up to a stop light holding the clutch down all the way through the light.

I skip first all the time. Reason being first is way too short. Is it better? no. Is it more comfortable? yes. It wears down the clutch faster and it puts extra stress on the motor. But its not THAT bad.