How difficult is it to learn to drive stick?

[heRS]

Hey, ease up on the girls. My first car, dad made me get a stickshift so I would have to learn, or I wasn't going anywhere. Huge incentive, that. Not difficult to learn to drive a stick, just takes a while for your muscle memory to take over and then you don't have to think about it. Ease the clutch out, give it a little gas and away you go. Do it again before the tachometer needle gets to that little red line.
Don't "ride the clutch", or go along with it half engaged, that will make a nasty smell and burn your clutch up.

[AZCamaroFan]

Originally Posted by nyrfan

Have never learned, never even had the opportunity to drive one.

There is a great opportunity locally to pick one up, but am nervous about it, especially since it's a ZL1.

Going to go look at it tomorrow but wanted to know if learning on a new car is a good thing, especially a car with so much power.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sent from my 2LT/RS using Tapatalk

Not difficult to learn. Only question is how good one become's at it.

[dcarlos55]

when I bought my Camaro I hadn't driven a vehicle with a manual trans in over 30 years. I asked the dealer if I could mess around with it in their back lot for a few minutes.

It took about 2 minutes to get a feel for where the clutch engaged and I was off and running. Like others have alreasdy said, once you get starting from a stop down, the rest is easy. After a couple days you won't even think about it.

If your concerned about shiftiing, try just shifting through the gears with the engine off a couple times. This will give you a feel for the shifter. Then just do starts with the engine idling and no gas until you get a feel for where the clutch engages. One more tip. Once the cluth is engaged, resist the urge to floor the gas pedal as much as possible. Unless of course you plan to replace the back tires regularly.

[Candy_Camaro]

Bring the ZL1 to me and I can teach you. lol.

It's not hard. Like others said, it's usually hills that scare people. You may rev the engine and stall a few times but after that, you will figure out what makes you comfortable.

[Wizard1183]

Dump the clutch and hammer down! Dont forget to turn nannies off when doing it!

It's not hard. Once you get first gear its like an auto then, except you have to change the gears. Racing it is where the skill comes in.

[SteelCamaro]

My 2SS 45th was the first stick I have ever driven and I picked it up fairly quickly, so you should be fine. There are a few little techniques and tricks I need to perfect and repetitively practice still to get them into my muscle memory, but I have really come a long way. I couldn't even move the car without bucking/stalling when I first started, but now it is seamless and I haven't bucked or stalled it in a long time.

[ActNup NY]

Originally Posted by AKAviking14

I would honestly learn on a beater car if you have access to one.

Me too exactly !!! God forbid in midst of your learning to drive stick you burn out the clutch or something.:( Good luck !

[squat]

Stick is super easy to learn. I've only ever driven stick a few times (each time was a teaching experience). By the end of the hour I had it down pretty good. The hardest was the ford ranger because the shifter had such a long throw. Hills would still scare me though...

[67RS2010SS]

Here you go buy the ZL-1 fly me down there, I'll drive it off the lot for you. Go to a parking lot and I'll teach you in 15 minutes. Never had a stick till I bought my 67, It was sitting in my garage so there was only one way to learn get in and drive it. Now I've got more manuel transmission cars than autos. Problem is remembering the quirks about each one. Good luck!!

[jmaynard]

Originally Posted by nyrfan

Really, that quick? Do you think the dealer would give me a crash course or something to get the sale?


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Do you ride a bike? Basically the same thing except the clutch/gas are the balance/peddles. Just like on a bike you give it a little peddle before you lift your foot off the ground; on the car you give it a little gas before you let out the clutch. Even though you dont know it, on the bike you are not pulling your foot up real fast, you leave it down a little until you know you have taken off. Do the same with the clutch. Let out a little until the car moves and then a little more until finally it is all out and then it's time to shift to the next gear and then you do it again. It's really that simple. The worst thing you can do is overthink it. It;s OK if it sounds a little funny or you jump it a few times. It's a learning process and you can laugh at yourself later. If you give it too much gas, that's OK too.

One of the nice things about these cars is that they are very forgiving. Too much gas and you spin a little rubber, too little and it 'might' stall. Keep to a parking lot for the first few minutes and YES, the dealer will probably 'train' you to make the sale. Any sales guy who will not take a few extra minutes is destined for the Mcdonalds grill.

[vroomapunk]

When I was a detailer I wouldnt dare even try to drive one of my customer's ZR1's for fear of hurting something, but when I had a customer drop a 2SS LS3 off at my house to detail, I had to move it into the garage, I called my dad and said, "how do you drive a manual?" He only gave me like one sentence and I got in the car and moved it into the garage lol.

Mistake I made a few times at first was turning it off in gear or something. But it wasnt a big deal. I figured after first its no big deal.

I now own a tractor that is a manual, although you dont have to hold the clutch in to start it, but everything else is like a manual, using the clutch to shift on the fly, etc. So I would need maybe 5 more minutes of practice to familiarize myself with starting and getting into 1st, but I think everything else is a breeze. And after normal driving, racing techniques would become easier eventually.

[ChrisBlair]

Originally Posted by jmaynard

. Any sales guy who will not take a few extra minutes is destined for the Mcdonalds grill.

Jeez, I heard that the government made Mickey D's stop using non-USDA approved sources

[ChrisBlair]

Folks, have you ever tried renting a manual trans car in 2012? Try.

Clutches last the life of cars nowadays. The days of 35,000 mile clutch life are long gone. A few flubbed days of learning on a modern hydraulic clutch setup? I'd be more worried about a 747 dropping an engine on me or getting eaten by the Creature From Beyond Space

[swiftdog01]

You can't really rent a manual these days. Believe me I tried to before I bought my 2SS in May. I'd never driven a manual before and wanted to practice so I could at least get the thing home. I even tried driving schools to see if they had a manual car that they would teach students on. Only found one in the whole state of MA and they never returned my calls :(

Anyway, I got a crash course in manual driving the day before I picked up the car. Got it home and was fairly comfortable with it within a week or so. Still learning but it gets easier as you go. Hills are still a PITA when someone rides right up on your bumper

[Intimidator333]

Do it. Especially if it's a ZL1. I didn't know how till I bought my SS. Salesman gave me a lesson, took it out for a test drive, then drove it 4 hours home and drove it to work the next day in rush hour traffic. It's not that hard. Main thing to me is learning to let the clutch out gradually when taking off. Don't just jump off of it once you get the car going.

[Wakemaker89]

So whats the word did you go test out the ZL1?

[GEEKFREEKSCOTTY]

If you want to save the wear and tear on YOUR clutch, go see if you can rent a car that has a manual transmission.

Not sure if car rental agencies have them, but it's worth a shot if you can't borrow a beater.

[nyrfan]

Originally Posted by Wakemaker89

So whats the word did you go test out the ZL1?

Did not make it Saturday and they were closed yesterday. Going to try and get there after work tonight.

[hakai20]

I learned how to drive stick with my first car. Parents bought me a '92 Honda Civic when I turned 16 and my dad took me out to the parking lot of the building he worked at to practice. On the way home, everything I had just learned left me and I sat through 3 green lights on Broadway trying to get the car into first gear. Surprisingly enough, nobody honked their horns at me, even once. I had a HUGE pickup behind me that could probably see me struggling to get the car moving.

Definitely one of the most embarrassing moments of my driving career.

[1o.f00t.570rk]

The biggest thing for me was remembering to treat the clutch like a brake pedal instead of an "on/off" switch. It has a range and each position in that range can mean something different as far as how much "bite" the clutch has.

The clutch engagement is unique to each vehicle, kinda like brake pedal feel. Some cars have really stiff brakes, some are mushy, and so it takes time to learn. Same with the clutch.

Though as many have said, once you learn and get some practice under your belt, you can graduate on to more and more advanced techniques, and the whole process becomes much more natural.

Stick to it, manual transmissions are sadly becoming more rare, and there are even stories of it being a theft deterrent because the thieves didn't know how to drive stick.

[949GuitarDude]

I think it's easy. You can push the clutch to the floor, and then release it very slowly without stalling the car. This will enable you to feel the point where it engages.

[dkg11]

My first car was a 2010 camaro SS and i had to learn stick on it... took me about a week to be a decent driver and able to drive comfortable...but takes about 3-6 months to really know how to drive the stick... go for it you will not regret it in 2 weeks!!

[mclark10]

A breeze, you should be heel-n-toeing and rev-matching by the end of the first week

[ChrisBlair]

Originally Posted by swiftdog01

Anyway, I got a crash course in manual driving the day before I picked up the car.

I swear on baby Jesus' puppy that the night we went driving my 5 speed had nothing to do with me trading in the Poncho a month later

That's right. I said it. Jesus had a dog :emoticon7:

[BaylorCamaro]

It's not that hard, I picked it up real good on my buddys car. Oh and I should mention that I first learned to drive stick on a Porsche 911, lol.

Originally Posted by nyrfan

The good thing is there are no hills in FL. LMAO!


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Originally Posted by SlingShot

Just don't go to Tallahassee any time soon ... Everything is on hills

Was just about to say that. Was driving home from the Tampa area after I picked my car up from being supercharged. The MAF was going out and it finally died in Tallahassee. Let me tell you, MAF going out when there's a bunch of hills is a terrible, terrible thing!