I fail at Camaro, stick shift & life (a self deprecating rant)

[tommygun6644]

Originally Posted by Downwithopp

Come on they were an x-mas gift....plus they were given to me because I've had back trouble and they are supposed to help with all that jazz.

[Downwithopp]

Originally Posted by tommygun6644

Come on they were an x-mas gift....plus they were given to me because I've had back trouble and they are supposed to help with all that jazz.

I'm not judging at all, you just need some better driving shoes.

[rickerda]

Find an empty parking lot and practice, practice, practice. Don’t leave the lot until you are comfortable with the clutch. Don’t worry about “hurting” the clutch, it will take a fair amount of abuse, and you learning to handle it will help in the long run. A day of abuse is better then years of abuse

[monstertodd]

Originally Posted by tommygun6644

I was originally going to blame my Sketcher's "Shape-Ups" for my shortcomings but I decided to man up.

You should never have posted this. This thread=Fail

[Alain]

i also thought you were going to say that you ended up smacking the car on a light pole or something else. it's not that bad dude. my camaro will be the first manual car i've ever owned so don't feel like you're the only one.

practice, practice, practice

[skuttduck]

Sounds like you need some practice. I still remember one of the first times I drove my moms old Toyota Corolla alltrac wagon, and taking off from a light in too low of a gear, that smell of clutch.

Nothing ever happened to the car from it though. I drove it for another 5 years. So that little bit of smoking is most likely not going to do any damage. Once in a great while I still stall mine. I did get real good at going in and out of the garage though.

[Sterling]

If you are worried about rolling back, use the parking brake instead of the foot brake and give it some gas... you will be much less likely to stall it this way. When you get to drive it on a regular basis you will get the hang of it. Don't be too hard on yourself, it's been a couple of months since you have driven it and don't have a lot of experience yet. You'll get plenty when the weather breaks...

[ckaram]

This is like Cupra's, but simplified. I would go to a parking lot and do this:

Practice letting out the clutch pedal slowly until you feel the car start to move forward slightly, then push the clutch pedal all the way in. Do this over and over until you begin to recognize the "friction point" of when the clutch engages.

The basically teaches you how to creep forward like you were trying to do at the car wash.

Good luck and don't give up!

[Xmicro_SS]

Originally Posted by tommygun6644

This leads me to my ultimate weakness when driving this car: slowly moving forward. I had got pretty good at it last Fall but lost any touch I had over the past few months. Just basically hold the brake, let the clutch about half-way out, and let the break up little by little right? I mean in the situations where you cannot totally let the clutch out or give it gas because you will hit the person in front of you. Also when I do this the car usually comes dangerously close to stalling or - in these cases - does stall.

The car needs gas while letting the clutch out. Especially if it is cold.


What are you doing on the brake at all??? If you are not on a hill and the car is stable and you are in slow moving traffic, YOU DO NOT USE THE BRAKE!

I have been driving a stick for about 20 years. All three of my cars and truck are stick, and I drive in NY City 5PM traffic everyday. I rarely touch the brake pedal at all. You need to use the clutch/gas more.

You depress the clutch and hold foot over gas. Car in front starts to move, you give it a bit of gas and slowly let the clutch out until it grabs and let it inch forward and re-press the clutch to the floor. Unless you are rolling too fast, you should not need to touch the brake. But even if you do, you do not touch the brake until the clutch is disengaged.

Like others have suggested, face the car uphill slightly and practice gas/clutch to roll up and roll back. You are way too much with the Brake. BRAKE IS TO STOP THE CAR AFTER YOU DISENGAGE THE CLUTCH WHEN IN TRAFFIC or sometimes simultaneously.

I have 110,000 miles on my manual truck. I replaced the brakes at 90,000 and the clutch still feels like new. And that is with 22 miles everyday of NY CIty stop and go, both ways.

Keep practicing, you'll get it!

[C377]

Hi,

I know that many people won;t like this, but I believe people should be asked to drive a stick when getting their driving licenses. But this is not the problem now, and i do not want to make it worst for you. So I want to propose you a solution:

Burning the clutch etc will cost you. Why don;t you use that money to buy a cheap stick shift car. You can look for one one you local newspaper etc. I am talking about spending at most like 1000$. Use that for the winter once in a while and get use to it.

Just another idea....

[ALLT4]

Seat time cures all.

[Lucky SOB]

Originally Posted by Downwithopp

I don't know about everyone else but even in the situations where you drive slowly you can still gas it.

Originally Posted by Xmicro_SS

The car needs gas while letting the clutch out. Especially if it is cold.


What are you doing on the brake at all??? If you are not on a hill and the car is stable and you are in slow moving traffic, YOU DO NOT USE THE BRAKE!

You depress the clutch and hold foot over gas. Car in front starts to move, you give it a bit of gas and slowly let the clutch out until it grabs and let it inch forward and re-press the clutch to the floor. Unless you are rolling too fast, you should not need to touch the brake. But even if you do, you do not touch the brake until the clutch is disengaged.

Listen to these guys! Letting the clutch out without using the gas is NOT EASY. You're still learning, give it a little gas when you're letting the clutch out. You'll be able to hear if you're not giving it enough, or giving it too much. Good luck man, shake it off.

[SlingShot]

Originally Posted by ckaram

This is like Cupra's, but simplified. I would go to a parking lot and do this:

Practice letting out the clutch pedal slowly until you feel the car start to move forward slightly, then push the clutch pedal all the way in. Do this over and over until you begin to recognize the "friction point" of when the clutch engages.

The basically teaches you how to creep forward like you were trying to do at the car wash.

Good luck and don't give up!

Exactly .... Get your foot off the brake and let the clutch do all the work. If you are doing it right you only need the brake for stopping. You should be able to get to the point where you can have the car stay in place going up hill with just the gas and clutch ....

[speedster]

Originally Posted by C377

... I am talking about spending at most like 1000$. Use that for the winter once in a while and get use to it.

Just another idea....

This is the best idea so far which lets you take the advice of everyone on here without worrying about hurting your Camaro.

Get a manual transmission winter beater. Something that makes absolutely no difference if you hit a snow bank or trash in any way. Practice under every condition. Parking lots, hills, snow, ice. The worse the weather, the better the practice. Do it somewhere safe where you cannot hurt yourself or others (both people and cars) and have at it. Nothing beats seat time with a stick. Every winter beater I had while living up north was a stick.