Re: Driving Stick

Hi everyone -

 

First off, I would like to say that you guys have a great community and I've been reading this forum for a while now, but recently signed up. I must say quick feedback and responses to the front bumper thread I posted last week.

Later this week I'll be picking up a Spec-B - given that it's stick, and that I've just started taking lessons - I'm here to ask whether it'd be a good idea to learn stick on my car, or go rent a stick and learn on that.

 

I was just at the dealer today, and had a few hard stalls trying to get the car to move (the clutch on spec-b was wayyy different compared to the 93 civic... I know..)

 

If anyone has any advice on driving stick, resources, or what I should do - I would greatly appreciate it

 

P.s. I have been taking lessons too

find a buddy with a stick. keep driving. promise him you'll let him drive your car after you've learned on his, buy him a beer everytime, whatever.

 

i would not practice on my car... many reasons, you might surge into a wall, scrape stuff. Being in a new car would make you even more nervous..experience is the most important thing to have, but nervousness would be a close second IMO.

 

Depending on how bad you are, maybe it'd be better for a buddy to drive it back for you then have him either teach you to drive in a different car or take you to a parking lot somewhere to practice.

 

i dont know where you can rent a stick to drive, but buddies are free.

Should be on your way if you are taking lessons.

 

The LGT is a tougher than average car to learn on, especially coming from a '93 Civic.

 

If you are stalling, take a bit longer to release the clutch. I'd even say forget gas at first and get the car moving with just feeding the clutch slowly until you get a feel for the engagement point (on a LGT haha) and how quickly in grabs. Then you can work on speeding up the whole process with adding gas to the mix.

 

And if you wanna get into particulars with other new manual drivers, http://www.standardshift.com.

 

Far as renting? Naw... If you take it easy and keep things low speed, you won't do any real damage to your new car clutch. Just make sure you practice in a big open area and if you get frustrated, just take a break and go stare at the intercooler or something.

Good advice^^^

The electronic throttle on our LGT's are not very forgiving to new stick drivers. It was tough enough learning on a 95 Accord EX back in 96. Find yourself an old datsun or something. Or just be really careful with your Spec-B and you'll end up ahead of the curve.

Leave the car out of "I-Mode". I've been driving stick for years and when I first got the car I kept staling it. I-Mode has no balls to get off from a stop. Keep it in Sport mode for most of your newbie driving. S# and I are very different in each with the throttle response and the umph of the engine. Keep it consistent for now till you get the hang of it.

i know where your coming from, my first stick was this car. just keep at it and you will get it down. i still get the random stall backing up from time to time, but its no big deal anymore.

I'll second everybody's opinion that the LGT's clutch is difficult. I've driven manuals on tons of cars for years, but I still stalled my LGT 5 or 6 times when I was getting used to it. It's fairly unforgiving and hard to tell where it grabs.

 

Ultimately, I don't think you will do too much damage learning to drive stick on the LGT, but if you're really paranoid about it it's not a bad idea to rent a car or borrow a buddy's beater.

I took no lessons. Never test drove my car. Drove it off the lot.

If I can do it, anyone can.

Just drive your Spec B and enjoy it. I've been driving stick shift cars and trucks for over 20 years and I still occasionally stall my LGT wagon when I'm not paying attention. The clutch engagement point on my LGT is so much closer to the floor than on my two other manual transmission vehicles, a 1998 Nissan Frontier 4x4 and a 1969 VW Karmann-Ghia, both of which engage considerably closer to the top of the clutch pedal travel.

Same here, learned how to drive at the dealer's lot on my first car - '98 Pathfinder.

 

Here's some reading material:

http://www.standardshift.com/faq.html

http://www.shifters.ca

Like the guy above says, you need to find the friction zone of the clutch, where it first start grabbing. Let the clutch out to the point where the revs drop a little. That's where the clutch starts to grab. Subarus have a lighter flywheel then some other cars, so it's easier to stall. Some cars you can go in reverse or even first w/o giving it any gas. I found in my spec b, i have to give it some and slip the clutch (even in reverse) or it will stall.

 

As you let the clutch out to where it just starts to grab, give just a tiny bit of throttle, and as the car speeds up to the engine, gradually let it out. A mistake a lot of people start off doing is opening the throttle too much, revving to 2k or so, then they release the throttle (cuz the revs are too high) and let the clutch out. At that point, the revs drop before the car gets moving. If they don't push the clutch down fast enough and abort, it'll stall. Try to keep the engine at about 1100 until the car is up to speed with the engine.

 

Up shifting to other gears is way easier, btw. It's just started off that takes some learning.

Thanks for the advice everyone - it's greatly appreciated! But in response to Beanboy, If I let the clutch out slowly - without gas and wait for the engagement point then let go of the clutch, won't that stall the car?

 

I think from now till saturday i gotta keep doing squats, my left legs felt useless lol

 

thanks again!

 

 

Should be on your way if you are taking lessons.

 

The LGT is a tougher than average car to learn on, especially coming from a '93 Civic.

 

If you are stalling, take a bit longer to release the clutch. I'd even say forget gas at first and get the car moving with just feeding the clutch slowly until you get a feel for the engagement point (on a LGT haha) and how quickly in grabs. Then you can work on speeding up the whole process with adding gas to the mix.

 

And if you wanna get into particulars with other new manual drivers, www.standardshift.com.

 

Far as renting? Naw... If you take it easy and keep things low speed, you won't do any real damage to your new car clutch. Just make sure you practice in a big open area and if you get frustrated, just take a break and go stare at the intercooler or something.

While you are learning just make sure to TAKE A BREAK when you get frustrated. Nothing will hamper your progress more than trying to force it when you are pissed off about lugging it.

 

In my experience, driving stick just kind of..clicked. I walked away from stalling the car a bunch of times, and the next day a light bulb went on in my head and it all made sense.

 

Plus, it's worth knowing how to drive a stick; especially on the LGT because the automatic doesn't seem to have many fans.

+1 on no gas. Get it rolling with the clutch. Start on flat ground.

 

Practice reving from zero to 2k to zero. 10 times.

 

Then, zero to 3k to zero, 10 times.

 

Then try stepping from 3.5k to 2.5k to zero and back up, try to do this without looking.

 

In neutral of course, getting a feel of the RPMs is important. The good thing with AWD is that your not going to be burning any tires

 

Just take it real easy, learn the lowest RPMs you can get it going off the line at and start there.

 

Learn the clutch too, go in and out getting the car to roll without using the gas. Youll get it, the best way is to throw yourself into it.

 

My first 5 speed was a Subaru 2.2L. I picked it up and drove it to my apartment in Boston

 

Talk about forcing yourself to learn stick, that was the best way to do it.

You can't tell someone over the internet how to drive a stick. :shakeshead:

 

Can you rent 5spd? I think hertz does...

 

Def don't learn on your car... please...

Thanks for the advice everyone - it's greatly appreciated! But in response to Beanboy, If I let the clutch out slowly - without gas and wait for the engagement point then let go of the clutch, won't that stall the car?

 

I think from now till saturday i gotta keep doing squats, my left legs felt useless lol

 

thanks again!

 

No you won't stall the car. In fact that is one of the best if not THE best way to find the engagement point. If you pull out the clutch slowly, eventually, you will realize that the car is slowly creeping forward. Keep slowly pulling out the clutch and eventually you'll find that you are rolling and the clutch is fully out. I don't pretend to know exactly why this is the case. I have my educated guesses knowing how all the parts work together, but nothing concrete.

But yeah, you can totally get started with no gas. And really, the engine is getting gas, just not any more than idle speeds.

before you pick the car up, goto a dealer and ask to test drive a USED LGT

 

 

get the hang of it and:

 

/problem

A patient friend with an older car out on a lonely road is the best way to learn by far.

 

The best way to acquire a "patient" friend is the advance purchase of plenty of quality brew waiting in the fridge for after your driving lesson.

 

There is no substitute for logging some miles around town. Stop 'n go, buzz around the mall parking lot, whatever it takes to get some miles under your belt while rowing the gears. It doesn't take that long to learn to drive a stick well enough to confidently get around town... Like golf, however, you can keep working on your game for the rest of your life!

Thanks for all the great advice , I have been taking lessons - but again, the clutch on the lesson car was way different -- but even though, the advice given by you all is very useful (i.e. practice techniques, what to look for, etc.) thanks guys!

 

how bad is stalling for your car? :X

Thanks for all the great advice , I have been taking lessons - but again, the clutch on the lesson car was way different -- but even though, the advice given by you all is very useful (i.e. practice techniques, what to look for, etc.) thanks guys!

 

how bad is stalling for your car? :X

 

 

Stalling your car is not nearly as startling as hitting the rev limiter for the first time!

Someone else in here suggested starting off in an empty parking lot that slopes slightly down hill. Good luck.

The LGT clutch is really light, but its not as bad as driving a Mazdaspeed 6. I would say that was harder to learn than the LGT. I did 2 test drives ona new LGT, and even though it was light and different I was able to get the car to drive smoother than my automatic accord.

 

I think the best tip in learning stick is finding the clutch engaugement point. Anytime I test drive a stick car thats the first thing I do. Have the car on level ground, put it in 1st gear, and let out the clutch SLOWLY, until you see the rpms start dropping and feel the car starting to bog. Once you are at that point push the clutch pedal back down and try to move back to that spot again. I do that maybe 1 or 2 times and I will know where the clutch starts to catch. The next time you do it, you should have an idea where that point is and you should start givving the car some gas just before that point where the clutch starts catching.

Hi everyone -

 

First off, I would like to say that you guys have a great community and I've been reading this forum for a while now, but recently signed up. I must say quick feedback and responses to the front bumper thread I posted last week.

Later this week I'll be picking up a Spec-B - given that it's stick, and that I've just started taking lessons - I'm here to ask whether it'd be a good idea to learn stick on my car, or go rent a stick and learn on that.

 

I was just at the dealer today, and had a few hard stalls trying to get the car to move (the clutch on spec-b was wayyy different compared to the 93 civic... I know..)

 

If anyone has any advice on driving stick, resources, or what I should do - I would greatly appreciate it

 

P.s. I have been taking lessons too

 

compared to a civic, the motor on the GT generates way more power even at idle due to straight comparison at engine sizes.

 

just practice slipping in the clutch in 1st gear to get the car rolling at 3 mph or so.. don't add the throttle until you are completely off the clutch. This way, you can prolong the life of the clutch and not beat up on the tranny NOR the rest of the driveline.

 

Because you are driving AWD and not FWD, you have way more friction forces to encounter. AWD systems will experience way more frictional/opposing forces than a single axle drive car, so whatever you do, don't romp on the car until you mastered the ease of getting the car rolling.

 

If you are stuck on an uphill, practice just reving the motor just above engine idle speeds (I would say no more than 1000 rpms) and slowly slip the clutch out. Over-reving the motor is just going to make the clutch's job harder to grab as you are spinning the flywheel at a high speed and there's not enough clamping force for the clutch to apply to get the car moving. More so, there's a lot of frictional forces that the motor has to overcome from the clutch side of things, so whatever you do, don't pop the clutch, that's like asking your engine running at high speed and hitting a brick wall to a dead stop. Something is bound to break.

 

 

Be easy on the car, the car will be easy on your wallet.

I've been reading that the LGT clutch releases very low to the floor. My 08 spec b releases very high up. Is that normal? My son and I test drove a 07 legacy base stick and it was real different than mine. Is there something wrong with the clutch on my spec b?

To the OP- I say don't sweat it.

 

I learned stick after a couple night driving sessions with my old man when I was 16. This was on his Bimmer too, with his overbearing but loving personality all over me when I was learning.

 

I say jump into the deep end and see if you will sink or swim.

Just don't get out on the freeway or downtown rush hour traffic until you have a couple hours of practice under your belt.

 

Getting comfortable with you Spec B will take some time but not that long...