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anyone willing to help me out and teach me how to drive stick before i go out and get my rx8 sometime next week. i am willing to pay for your services but can't promise i wont break down ur transmission I called around my area and only one place seems to have lessons for stick shift but they run about 75 bucks an hour. you can email me @ streaks@gmail.com or just post here.....
oh PS - I live in Cliffside Park, NJ....about 15 mins from NYC
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Uh, oh...I smell a sh!t storm a brewin'. You better take cover, bud.
As for driving a manual, you don't know anyone (e.g. friends, uncles, brothers, boyfriends, girlfriends, aunts, parents, etc.) who drives a MT car? $75/hour is a lot of money to learn something, relatively easy. I taught my wife in under 2 hours. I've taught several relatives & friends as well. The average time it takes is about 2-3 hours to get the car going without any confusion or danger. In about a week of regular driving, so long as you DO NOT develop BAD HABBITS (e.g. resting your foot on the clutch to anticipate a shift--riding the clutch or looking down at your feet, shifter, while moving, starting from a stop in 2nd out of fear of 1st gear, etc.) then you could do well on your own so long as you know the basic concepts.
My advice? Buy the car in MT! If you buy the AT with the intnetion of ever wanting an MT you WILL REGRET IT. Buy it, practice on YOUR car. That way you will adapt much faster as you don't wanna ruin YOUR OWN clutch, no? You'll be forced to learn and learn fast when you are paying for the car. Just have someone explain what to do and when to do it so you'll know what to practice.
When I bought my car, I had never owned a MT car. I had driven a couple MT cars so I knew the basics but never regularly. I drove the car home without too much issue. Being as light as it is and as low torque as it is under 3k, it's a pretty easy drive. For the first week I had issues starting from a stop on up hills for fear of rolling back or burning up the clutch. After that, not too much of an issue. I wasn't starting from scratch, but I was not used to driving stick.
If my '93 probe out front had a good engine in it, I'd teach you for the cost of lunch and a 6 pack. As it were, it doesn't and I'm not teaching anyone in the 8.
So have the dealer deliver it to your house. Find a large parking area for a factory that is empty on the weekends and practice there. Or have your friend who's got the bad engine pick it up with you and go from there.
Ok, have him go with you to pick it up and then teach you on your way home. When you stall in the dealership lot, it'll be worse.
The dealer should be able to deliver it to your house. At which point, you can have your friend come and teach you to drive stick in the comforts of your own neighborhood. Looking at the area of Cliffside, it's probably not the best place to learn to drive stick. Where is the dealer?
well it looks like i might have to settle with getting an automatic 06 instead :'( I'll post more info in hte gen discussion forum in that little sub topic on top if anyones interested in the price i was offered.
it's easy, push in the clutch in all the way with your left foot, put the shifter in 1st (left and up). ease off the clutch till you feel the engine starting to pull, then give it a little gas with your right foot. let off the clutch. do this slowly at first until you feel the sweet spot on the clutch. you'll know what that is after a little while.
once you do that in 1st comfortably, do it and rev to 9000 rpm in 1st, then do it again but this time push the shifter down and left to go to 2nd. just push the clutch in, throw the shifter in 2nd then lat off the clutch and push the gas to the floor. you'll be glad you went with manual when your wheels chirp with dsc engaged.
i learned on a 96 eclipse i took home new from a dealership. my mom convinced the dealer that we needed to take it home before we bought it for an extended test drive. needless to say, i didn't buy the car. but it was nice for back then. leather package, wood grain, etc.
Last edited by myriadshalaks; 04-20-2007 at 09:02 PM.
If it comes down to you learning stick or buying an AT, I will go to the dealer, pick up your car, and teach you stick rather than have you buying something less. I live in Parsippany, NJ - 07054. About 20-30 minutes form you. I work till about 5pm M-F and will be leaving for Detroit after work on Thursday, but if you are picking the car up M-W, let me know. Manual in this car is really easy to drive. You get more power, better driving sensation, and lower maintenance/repair costs. The ONLY reason to buy an AT is you don't really like driving or 95% of your driving is comprised of stop/go traffic and you have no will to do anything outside of drive to work and home.
dude, seriously, just buy the car in MT and drive it from the dealer. i learned to drive stick on a 89 firebird in 97 (i was 17) with my mom yelling at me that i was gonna drop the tranny... never did get that damn thing goin smoothly.
fast fwd to feb 06, i bought the 8 and aside from knowing clutch in-shift-clutch out and a lesson my buddy told me "if you fuck up hit the clutch".
so i buy the 8, i knew where reverse was... took a bit to get into reverse without stalling cause i was letting the clutch out too fast or not giving it enough gas... found that nice hapy medium... got backed out to get goin... then had the same ordeal with first. so that went on for like 10min all together, some due to the excitement of getting the car and the rest cause i hadn't even attempted a manual for 10years.
the only way i really learned was just by getting the car and doing it. thats also how both my parents learned, buy the car and learn.
i spent as much of the day as i could driving... had to work that day so it was kinda rough but i was on evening shift so it wasn't terrible. drove to work, drove home, drove around a bit. the weekend i got it and the weekend after i took 2 long (roughly 100mi from home) trips, the one was all highway so that wasn't an ordeal... the second was through philly into jersey.
now; i'd hardly call myself a master, but i can drive the car i own, and i can also drive all my other friends cars when they're too drunk :p
whole point that makes the rest of my post unnecessary, buy an MT 8, if possible bring a friend who can drive stick just in case and for some last minute tips (it was just me so i had trial by fire); and finally don't buy the AT, it's not bad, i first test drove an AT, but the experience is just not the same. oh yeah and once you do get into your MT 8... breathe deeply and relax, it's not easy to drive an MT when your joints are all wooden from the tension of a new experience.
as long as you drive it every chance you get, and you will, you'll pick it up in no time.
I too would suggest getting a manual and not an automatic.
I had a girlfriend go out and buy a Manual without ever having driven manual before. And she just drove off the lot stalling and such. (Though it was a KIA)
-If you have a friend who drives manual, take him/her with you to pick up the car. Have them drive to the biggest/emptiest parking lot you know and start learning.
But here is my suggestion. If you are buying a 20K or so car, pay for a lesson or two. 1 or 2 lessons will help a lot. Consider it part of the cost of the car. You don't want to be a pound wise and a penny foolish.
Really $150 isn't that much when you are spending around $20,000.
You want to use the lessons to wet your feet and then it's just a matter of spending time behind the wheel.
Last edited by SmokeyTheBalrog; 04-21-2007 at 10:29 AM.
I called around my area and only one place seems to have lessons for stick shift but they run about 75 bucks an hour. you can email me @ 
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