New to driving stick. Is this a problem?

So I am brand new to stick driving. Incidentally I purchased the LegGT with a short throw shifter. I picked it up pretty easy, no pro yet, but I am getting there. Anyways...should the stick be vibrating/wiggling slightly when it is in gear? I am used to an A/T that obviously doesn't wiggle or anything while you drive.

That's normal.

Normal...

 

But also, don't get in the habit of resting your hand on the shifter. You can cause undue stress to the shifting mech, at least that's what I have been told.

Cool, thanks for the advice!

pretty brave of you to come new on stick with a brand new car. its good that your picking it up (i wanted stick but my area makes it a pain in the ass, stop and go traffic). too late now but if i were you i wouldve praticed stick on a peice of shit car before going right into a new one. but u say ur getting hte hang of it, glad to hear that.

pretty brave of you to come new on stick with a brand new car. its good that your picking it up (i wanted stick but my area makes it a pain in the ass, stop and go traffic). too late now but if i were you i wouldve praticed stick on a peice of shit car before going right into a new one. but u say ur getting hte hang of it, glad to hear that.

 

Funny you say that...

 

My sister has been bugging me to teach her stick. After she said, just teach me in the LGT.... Well, I had a few choice words concerning new stick drivers and "my" LGT. Learning stick is like learning to ride a bike, some people get it really quick and others just need more practice. Practicing on the LGT is not a good idea, IMHO.

Another piece of advice:

 

Don't rest your left foot at the clutch pedal, even a little pressure there caused by your foot weight, can cause premature stress in the clutch itself...

 

Bottom line: Only use your left foot when you are actually changing gears!!!!

 

Cheers and congrats on your new purchase - post some pics and let us know where you are from....

 

Flavio Zanetti

Boston, MA

Congrats!

 

And yet another tip - our LGTs seem to take better to gentle shifts.

 

Now, this doesn't mean you have to be super-slow....gentle shifts can be just as fast as "bang them-in" shifts. Actually, gentle is the "prpoper" way to go - treat your shift-knob as if it's an eggshell.

 

-A

Hope you find as much added fun in driviing from your short throw, as the rest of us MT addicts.

 

I think the LegGT requires more skill and getting a feel for than a BMW/MT or Ford Exploder/MT. The LegGT clutch engages in the later half of its pedal travel and has a unique feel. The Ford truck and BMW clutches are far more foregiving. Reverse in the LegGT can require a double clutch or two trys.

 

I love my LegGT/Ltd wagon MT/short throw and I really love the way the engine in this car pulls and pulls and pulls, even up long steep grades.

 

Have fun

Hope you find as much added fun in driviing from your short throw, as the rest of us MT addicts.

 

I think the LegGT requires more skill and getting a feel for than a BMW/MT or Ford Exploder/MT. The LegGT clutch engages in the later half of its pedal travel and has a unique feel. The Ford truck and BMW clutches are far more foregiving. Reverse in the LegGT can require a double clutch or two trys.

 

I love my LegGT/Ltd wagon MT/short throw and I really love the way the engine in this car pulls and pulls and pulls, even up long steep grades.

 

Have fun

 

I have to agree with you here. My wife's v70, 5mt is much easier to drive than the OBXT. I drive my OBXT Monday to Friday and the v70 on Saturday and Sunday. They are so different that it takes me a good hour or so to get used to the "new" car. And, though the OBXT is my primary it takes longer to get used to.

 

Another thing is I still haven't upgraded to the short throw as the v70 has the Loooong throw and the difference would be too much.

I learned to drive stick in an hour.

Normal...

 

But also, don't get in the habit of resting your hand on the shifter. You can cause undue stress to the shifting mech, at least that's what I have been told.

 

anyone know if this theory is actually correct?

 

if so i will have to resort to resting my hand on my genitals:D j/k

It is correct. Keeping pressure on the shifter causes stress on the syncros.

well the day is not a total loss at least i learned something.

 

thank god for the armrest extension

You know what, honestly....I have "practiced" for a bit on a friends car (honda civic) before, but I had never driven the legacy as a MT until after I bought it. It was one of those things that I always wanted to do and learn. And I am not regretting it. The little things take a little getting used to, but for the most part, I am pretty comfortable. I am definitely having more fun driving than I had before.

My first 5-speed car was a 1990 Eagle Talon TSI. I learned about 3 years before that on an early 80s Mustang. The clutches were totally different. The test drive was pretty comical. Stalled a few times. Burned rubber a few times. The night I picked it up, I drove through downtown Boston to give myself a crash (no pun intended) course. Piece of cake after that.

I learned to drive a manual on my uncle's old 1990 Jetta. We went out once for a couple hours, and that was it. Four years later, after not practicing on anything else, I bought a Ford Ranger with MT. My test drive was pretty funny as well... Lots of grinding, stalling, tire chirping, etc. The sales guy looked like he was in pain. I don't think he believed me when I told him I wanted to buy it.

 

I managed to make it home in my new truck and only stalled a couple times. The next morning I hit my daily commute... At the time it was an hour of stop-and-go traffic across the bay. That was a stressful morning, but after that I was an instant pro. It was definitely a trial by fire.

 

I love the MT on the Legacy. It has a great clutch (kind of reminds me of a Miata) and a nice feel to the shifter. 4th to 5th could use a little work, but overall it's butter.

I love the MT on the Legacy. It has a great clutch (kind of reminds me of a Miata) and a nice feel to the shifter. 4th to 5th could use a little work, but overall it's butter.

 

That is funny. We have a miata with a 5MT. I test drove a LGT 5MT, and thought the LGT's clutch left a little bit to be desired. Less modulation, and a much "higher" engagement point. The shifter felt decent, if a little bit remote. a Short shifter and harder bushings would probably help that bit.

 

All in all, not bad, really, just not as point-and-shoot easy as the miata.

 

I learned in a couple of sessions in my dad's 91 Mercury Capri convertible. Definitely not the easiest. Very rubbery shifter (cable operated to FWD.) and a bit of a touchy clutch for a noob. I picked up on the motions real quick, but rev-matching and clutch management on hills, etc. took a couple more sessions. My yelling father didn't help much on my 14th birthday.

 

At least I learned it before driving the MG roadster he got later. (he still has both cars.) That would have been a challenge to learn on, in comparison. The miata is sweeter than both. More direct than the Mercury, and more stable than the MG.

 

My first car, a Mustang hatch was an auto, because it was the right price. Then I bought a Probe GT with a stick, after I had learned how to drive them proficiently. I swore I'd never go back to an auto. Then I bought a pickup truck because the wife (then gf/fiance) had the Miata with a stick, and I needed something more capable of hauling cargo. I thought about a MT ranger, but the towing capacity is severely hampered with the MT, compared to the much more common 5AT.

 

Since my next car is getting back to a performance bent, it must be a MT again. It is just too bad they are getting so hard to find.

 

As my contribution to the advice pool is this:

Take it easy on the equipment. Try not to succumb to the movie-style ram-and-jam driving it will come back to bite you in the wallet. As people have said, do use the shifter an the clutch, but let them alone when you aren't using them.

 

And don't put too much into the ego-stretching on this forum. It takes longer than one session to learn how to drive a stick well. The motions come to hand quickly, but the subtlety takes practice. Good luck. You'll likely do quite well.

anyone know if this theory is actually correct?

 

if so i will have to resort to resting my hand on my genitals:D j/k

Why not just put both hands on the wheel? The 9 & 3 o'clock or better yet the 10 & 2 o'clock positions are what everyone recommends.

 

I learned to drive a stick off of a 1974 Chevy c10 pickup w/3 on the column! Man was that truck fun. Had a little 250 inline 6 that i absolutely could not kill. was no transmission in that thing. If i screwed up the gears i parked it, popped the hood, grabbed the gear arms and shook them back and forth till they came loose, closed the hood and off i went! <sniff> Man i miss that truck!

if it makes you feel any better, I learned off my new WRX two years ago.. and now I am racing the GT.. it cant be that hard.

 

Keefe

I'm racing my GT and I've been driving stick for a year..

Another piece of advice:

 

Don't rest your left foot at the clutch pedal, even a little pressure there caused by your foot weight, can cause premature stress in the clutch itself...

 

Bottom line: Only use your left foot when you are actually changing gears!!!!

 

Cheers and congrats on your new purchase - post some pics and let us know where you are from....

 

Flavio Zanetti

Boston, MA

 

Don't tell my wife this.

 

me- "Don't ride the clutch."

the wife- "I'm not, I just have my foot over it"

me- "I know."

 

I won't even attempt the hand resting on the shifter issue.

So I updated my original post with pics:

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15244

Aww, the poor Grand Am gets the boot now eh?

Why not just put both hands on the wheel? The 9 & 3 o'clock or better yet the 10 & 2 o'clock positions are what everyone recommends.

 

 

Both hands @ 9 and 3, it's the modern day hand locations now. Airbags would actually blow the wristwatches and jewelry off the arms and hit people in the face, that's why today 10 and 2 is not used. 95% driving/racing instructors prefer 9 and 3 for better and more leverage when driving.

 

 

Keefe