New to the Stick...Advice?

[davidj]

Originally Posted by UCI CamaroFan

Actually, holding the clutch while moving will burn out the Throw out bearing... not so much the clutch.

The throw out bearing (a good quality made one) is made to cycle hundreds of thousands of times during its life time, at high rpms with the car moving. To hold the clutch in for a few seconds to throw some revs at a couple of girls will not burn up your throw out bearing. I'm sure there are a lot of drivers that don't down shift when stoping. They push the clutch in (while they are moveing) then use there brakes until they finally stop. If the throw out bearing would burn up because of this, I'm sure it would be written in the owners manual of every car that had a clutch.

[NightmareSS]

so as long as the clutch is down...the clutch plate and flywheel are seperated causing no burning/grinding? not really sure whats going on, on the other side of the clutch...(the gear side)

[theholycow]

Step 1: Become a member at Standardshift.com - that's a forum all about manual shifting.
Step 2: Come to RI and practice on my VW Rabbit (requires step 3 or something like it).
Stpe 3: Bring me to pick up your new Camaro so I can drive it away from the dealer safely to a low-traffic area where you can then get used to it.

Originally Posted by NightmareSS

Getting into first was tough at first being the first cars i drove was the old Volvo and the Civic with a worn out clutch. I won't 4get how i stalled it 3 times at a light in the Civic. But when I drove the Cooper it was a breeze.

Starting from a stop is generally called "launching", though some people prefer to use that term only to describe a very aggressive start. Most use it to describe all starts because there's just no other good word for it.

With a new clutch and decent torque (which you will certainly have), it ought to be easy enough. The problem I had when I was learning was...

Give it a lil gas and ease of the clutch till it catches and once you get rolling you can fully release the clutch.

...that I assumed that was how it's done. That's not exactly it. Just because the car is rolling does not mean that your left foot's job is done. It still must continue smoothly releasing the clutch pedal. I felt like once the car started rolling I could quit operating the clutch and get on with life, but that's just not true.

Now knowing when to down shift is something im not familiar with

Piece of cake. Stepping on the gas and not accelerating fast enough? Downshift!

Pay attention to what gears your automatic transmission is choosing. You can tell when it shifts, right? Count gears. You'll have more gears in the Camaro, but it's not about gear numbers; it's about RPM, powerband, and what you're trying to accomplish.

One great thing about the manual is that you can choose your gear and the car has no choice but to comply. YOU choose the gear. The choice is yours. There are probably speeds at which you can use ANY of the gears in the Camaro SS; in my VW I can use ANY gear between 25 and 35mph.

Me, I like low RPM and little noise except when I'm in a big hurry (which is rare; I'm usually trying to save gas), so I shift very low and I'm sure the V8 Camaro could do that even better than my little VW. I'm in 5th by 30mph (sometimes earlier) and I generally don't downshift at all...I only use the lower gears on the way up to 5th. You will certainly drive with a different style than my odd habits, and you will downshift when YOU want to.

Besides that, I dont want to mess up my tranny...

I doubt it. Manual transmissions are pretty tough, and they do protect you from mistakes a little bit; it's hard to get into a very wrong gear. In fact, Mythbusters tried to get a Civic into reverse while going forward at 55mph and the driver put all his weight into it for like 30 seconds and couldn't get it into reverse.

Now I know alot of you might be thinking that i shouldn't even be getting manual but I want it.

Who would say that? You damn well should be getting a manual, as should everyone else who wants one and quite a few people who don't want one too.

NYC users on Standardshift.com describe NYC traffic as extremely impatient when it comes to waiting for you to launch. Ignore the honking jerks behind you and take your time. You'll get better with practice, but only when you're comfortable with what you're doing.

[djm96z28]

Don't sit at a stoplight with your foot on the clutch and the car in gear. It will cause excessive wear on the throw out bearing. You should be in neutral and foot off the clutch with your right foot on the brake pedal at stoplights.

[davidj]

Originally Posted by NightmareSS

so as long as the clutch is down...the clutch plate and flywheel are seperated causing no burning/grinding? not really sure whats going on, on the other side of the clutch...(the gear side)

Yes. The clutch plate is connected to the transmission input shaft.

[davidj]

Originally Posted by djm96z28

Don't sit at a stoplight with your foot on the clutch and the car in gear. It will cause excessive wear on the throw out bearing. You should be in neutral and foot off the clutch with your right foot on the brake pedal at stoplights.

I sit at stoplights with the clutch depressed and have never in my many years of driving manual transmissions have ever had a premature throw out bearing failure. Like I said before, a good quality bearing is engineered for hundreds of thousands of cycles and should out last the clutch disk . That being said I'm sure there are people who have had bearing failure.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by davidj

I sit at stoplights with the clutch depressed and have never in my many years of driving manual transmissions have ever had a premature throw out bearing failure.

This is the kind of data I like to see. Challenge the superstitions, folks! Let's find the people who have done the things that are known to be bad, plausibly sound bad, but could also be ok -- like standing on the clutch pedal at red lights.

I don't do it because I'm too lazy to spend all that time shoving the pedal. Why go to all that effort, when I can just monitor cross traffic / their light and put it in gear when they get the yellow?

[Rusted Virtue]

I'm considering changing my order to a stick as well, I'm just a little nervous about doing so. I've never driven one before. You guys seem to all have some great advice. I think tomorrow I will ask a coworker if he can take me out in his old beater that's a stick.

[wavrun2000]

Buy a stick. It may seem scary at first but once you get the hang of it you will never look back. Especially with a sports car you have to go manual. Feeling the shifter vibrate in your hand and feel it click into each gear is a feels among no other.

[Lucas718]

I learned from my dad. Do you know how hard it is to learn something new while someone is screaming at you? That was fun

[VenomZ302]

Originally Posted by Lucas718

I learned from my dad. Do you know how hard it is to learn something new while someone is screaming at you? That was fun

How about learning on your dad's dream car? Nerve wracking...

[theholycow]

How about teaching your wife when she won't listen and won't do what you say?

Originally Posted by Me talking to my wife

Shift, honey.

Shift now.

Please shift.

Stop cruising in 1st gear at 4,000rpm, please.

Why aren't you shifting?

FFS, shift!

Her dad was teaching her in an old underpowered uninsulated noisy Chevy S10, and she refused to believe that it was ok to shift before the engine was roaring...well in my modern reasonably-powered well-insulated car you'll never hear it roar like that S10.

Folks, don't be afraid to shift. Shift early and shift often. Even though earlier I said lots of people should get a manual transmission, if you don't want to shift a lot (or are afraid to shift often and will stay that way) then you should have an automatic.

[LadiesMan217]

I remember my first time... (hehe)

I was in high school...it was an '89 Beretta GT. My first car. It was a stick and I had never actually driven it. My dad picked it up with me and drove it home, and it sat in the driveway for a couple days (had to get it insured, etc...plus, I didn't know how to drive it)

This girl that I had liked (but didn't know she even knew I existed) had my friend give her my number. She called and asked if I wanted to go out. Of course I said yeah...but I had NO idea how to even start the car...let alone drive it!

I remember I was to meet her at 7:00. She lived MAYBE 10 minutes away from me. At 6:00 I was sitting in the driveway...in the car...and I couldn't figure out how to start it. I asked my MOTHER...and she said I needed to push and hold the clutch in. Voila! It started...I took my foot off of the clutch... Stall. Great, I thought I killed it. I started her up again...and had the gas revving, and the clutch letting up. It was rolling! HA HA! Success!. (Too bad I had to back it up now to get out of the driveway).

Using the same form, I made it out of the driveway. I lived on a cul-de-sac so I practiced driving it around a few times. My neighbors weren't home and they had a hill for a driveway (the kind you don't even attempt if there is snow on the ground). I had no problems with it! After the first couple of times, I had no rollback.

Anywho, I got to her house on time and the rest is history!

That experience will stay with me forever.

[dodson914]

Originally Posted by theholycow

How about teaching your wife when she won't listen and won't do what you say?



Her dad was teaching her in an old underpowered uninsulated noisy Chevy S10, and she refused to believe that it was ok to shift before the engine was roaring...well in my modern reasonably-powered well-insulated car you'll never hear it roar like that S10.

Folks, don't be afraid to shift. Shift early and shift often. Even though earlier I said lots of people should get a manual transmission, if you don't want to shift a lot (or are afraid to shift often and will stay that way) then you should have an automatic.

That is hilarious!

My first car was an '84 Chevy step side with granny gears. It sat in our driveway for two days and my dad was supposed to teach me that coming weekend. I decided I couldn't wait any longer. It took me 20 minutes to get somewhere that should have taken 5 but I finally got the hang of it. LOL Now it's just like riding a bike. Every car is going to be a little different but the concept behind it stays the same. I can't wait to get behind the wheel of mine.