do car rental shops rent out manual cars? i have a few friends who know manual, but most of them sold their cars or dont want me touching it =p. anyone know places that teach it or where i can get a manual car for a day?

no autos not an option

 

Most driver ed courses can teach manuals as I do not believe that rental places sell manuals anymore.

But for whats it is worth I only drove a manual a few times about 10 years ago, so the Rx8 was my first real manual. After a day of playing in a parking lot I could easily navigate throug the streets and a few more weeks handle stopping/going on hills.

Manuals aren't hard, just takes some practice.

Not sure what area you are from, but think most states offer Driving schools for people to get license from etc. Some of these also offer manual classes if you really want to spend the money.

 

by driving schools u mean like driving schools as in where u go before you get your license right? (just clarifying incase because i called the place i got my training from but they dont teach manual)

 

Question is "do you know the basics of how to drive a manual?" If so, then a little practice is all you need. The RX-8 was my first car as a manual. My family thought I was crazy purchasing a $30K car and not knowing how to drive it. In my head though, I always knew the basics; therefore, I purchased it. It's not like I would have never learned to drive a manual. Now I'm a PRO :D

 

Exactly here in VA they have private companies that offer driving instruction that is required before one gets their license.

On for example known as Keiths Driving school offers manual training.


Have you been able to get a Rx8 for a test drive yet? If you can and the dealer lets you go out alone let one of your friends drive to a parking lot and give a try. Dealer let me do that when I was buying my.

 

The dealer was adamant that I got the manual version even though I stalled the car a half a dozen times. First gear is always tricky for first timers.

 

Exactly, manuals are not hard. You just need some practice and reassurance that you can do it.

But if you are willing to spend the money and feel better then driving schools are a option, but least give a manual a try before going that route.

 

hehe I know my dealer to well so didn't want to embrass myself in front of him
They are very loose on letting test drives so they had no problem letting my friend take it out for me to play around in my neighborhood with for a while. Friend never seen a dealer so releaxed.

 

I face the same problem...I will eventually get an RX-8, still deciding between used or new. Anyway, I test drove the manual the other day, and stalled it a few times. I knew the basics, but my issue is only the left leg coordination; releasing it while pressing down on the accelerator...it takes some work. But I'm sure in time I'll be fine...but I would like to practice BEFORE purchasing an 8, just to be on the safe side. I've called driver eds...but none seem to offer manual in my area which is weird....any ideas?

 

Don't let your inability to drive a stick deter you from buying it. My very first car was a stick and I didn't know how to drive it. After my dad and I bought it, the salesman drove it 30 miles to my house, and I took him back to the dealership in my mom's Honda. That night, I went home and practiced in a 100ft driveway. The next day I was on the road and only stalled that car a dozen times or so after I started driving on the road. It'll take you a week to get decent at it, you'll own the car for several years at least.

 

Like the others said, buy now practice later hahaha. The rx8 was my first manual transmission car as well. It only took me a few days of 'you got to make it move because it's the only way to get to work' to get the hang of it.

 

Just buy the stick.

My Mazda6s was my first manual. Now that's a car that I don't recommend for beginners. Crappiest. Clutch. Ever. It has what I like to refer to as a "Dynamic Clutch" -- you have no idea where the engagement point is going to be on a given shift. But I drove it home, having virtually no previous experience with Manuals at all. My salesman let me borrower his little portable Hot-Start jumper thing so if I stalled too much I wouldn't be stranded. But I didn't need it.

When I drove the RX-8, being on my second manual, I thought I'd at least get a few bad shifts out of it, if not an all-out stall. But it was a dream. It's 10 times easier to shift than my Mazda6 and I've been driving that one for 2 years.

 

Just have a friend go with you to drive it home so you can practice around your neighborhood instead of trying to get the car home in traffic

 

Where are you located? There's a driving school in NY that teaches manual. You could be good to go in 1-2 lessons.

 

I was "taught" how to drive in about 1 hour total about 3-4 years ago. When I went to pick up my previous car at the dealer it was a manual and I had not driven manual in about 2 1/2 years. Yea, I stalled like crazy for the first few times, but you really do get a feel for the car and get the hang of it. Its easier to learn in a manual by yourself (if you know the basics) than if you have an impatient person (as I had the first time by my brother). The best thing to do is practice!!! I taught my fiancee how to drive manual not too long ago and he'd doing great!

Just driving it home from the dealer- TRUST ME, you will learn quickly- especially if its the only way you'll have to get around! Good luck!

 

the first manual car i ever drove was when i was 12 my dad had to rent a uhaul and he got a 5 speed one. I already knew the concept of the clutch/manual (from dirtbikes) so he gave me a quick lesson on where everything was and I was off, it was pretty easy in it....since it had a big motor and lots of low end torque you could slip the clutch and get it going....

thats my advice start out with something EASY to drive and then move to more 'performance' cars...pretty soon youll be able to drive a car with a 6puck clucth and heavy-duty pressure plate...no prob!

 

I'm afraid these approaches are extreme - why risk damaging a brand new car by learning on it? Why add the stress of learning something new while driving it home from the dealer for the first time and increasing the possibility of an accident?

OTOH, you can learn stick in a few hours of practice with an instructor or a patient driver with an older car. It would be a waste to buy a "learner" car just for this purpose: after a week you will be ready to sell it.

Perhaps we could help the original poster best by answering his direct question.

 

I know someone mentioned that the Mazda 6 is a terrible car to learn stick on, but it's precisely how I learned before I got the 8. Likewise, my dealer said automatics were available, but he wouldn't sell them to me (and I'm thankful for that).

What I did, since I had never learned how to drive a stick, was have someone who knew how to drive a stick come with me to the dealership and "shop" for mazda 6's. I went to 4 different dealerships and none of them had any problem letting us take a 6 out on our own. My friend would simply drive out of the lot and then down the street we'd switch.

The 6 is good if only because you can slowly feather the clutch out and get the car rolling pretty easily. Definitely easier than the 8 does. After 3-4 test drives it was starting to come together; like they say, manual is more getting in the habit of using more body parts to drive than anything.

I've had my 8 for a month now, and while my shifts aren't butter smooth, they're pretty margarine...


ok that was bad, sorry.

Get the stick.

Although, I hear there's a sweet 250hp automatic inline 4 cylinder rx-8 here...

 

dude DO NOT drive a manual home from the dealer ship unless you know hot to drive one. starting it on a up-hill incline can be very very scary for someone that dosnt know how to drive a stick. you can easily slide down a couple of feet and hit the car behind. start in a parkinglot and move onto desolate roads before you tackle regular roads. it dosnt take long to be able to drive it in traffic. but it takes months to train your left food for smooth shifting.

 

Well, I suppose the 6 is good in one way -- If you can drive the MTX in a Mazda6s you can drive any other Manual out there. Everything else is incredibly easy afterwards. It's just not the car you want to use as your gauge of Manuals in general. Some Mazda6 owners have been turned off of buying Manuals again in the future just because the one in the Mazda6s sucks so bad.

 

See, i only have the 8 and my brother's '93 ford ranger to compare to...

So I guess if I could drive either of those, the 8 wouldn't be much of a problem, and it hasn't been. I do agree that if you have a lot of hills to not take a new car home until you can start on hills well.

If it's flat most of the way home though, not as big a deal.

 

I can't ever remember a time when i couldn't drive a stick. We lived on a farm and from the time we were big enough to reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel at the same time, we were driving. And all the trucks were manual.

I agree with playdoh43... there are situations that can be dangerous in a manual if you don't know how to handle the car. A stall in heavy traffic can get you a good bump in the rear!!

 

Go to every car dealer in town and test drive a manual just for the seat time. With enough dealers, that should give you a couple of hours of practice. You might also see if there's a Rent-A-Wreck type of car rental in your area. They would likely have an older manual car to practice on without breaking the bank. You won't regret getting the 6 speed.

 

Yo,
I was in your same exact situation. I actually went out and brought an 8 that wasn't a manual and didn't know swat about it. I had to ask someone on this forum to walk me through the steps one by one. Afterwards I had a friend drive home the 8 and taught me the day afterwards. It takes about an hour to learn how to drive it and another couple of months to perfect driving the 8. Alot of poeple on the forum was telling me that the 8 was an easy manual to drive, but IMO not for beginners. The rpm and everything was pretty much different then any other manual I've driven in since.
The biggest thing that I had a problem with when I start driving a manual was my left foot getting mad tired after a short trip in traffic. The other problem was when everybody told me to fear hills. That got going insane was I know that there was a hill on route. Hills aren't a problem after a couple of days of driving a manual. If you can get the car moving in first gear, you can go on a hill. One thing to remeber about hills that'll help you is the E-brake trick. If your on a hill and you fear the car might slide backwards into the car behind you, just pull the E-brake. Not all the way, it won't go anywhere, just half way (I learned that the hard way). I actually slid back into a honda accord on my second day of driving while on a small hill. I then realize that you're not going backwards fast enough to do ANY damage, just fast enough to scare the people behind you shitless. The Honda owner actually got out the car and threathened to sue but he could see any damage and let me go HAHAHAHAHAHA.
OK, here's some info that might help you out.
-Have someone drive your 8 back from the dealer to your house.
-Ask them nicely to teach you how to drive manual.
-It does take an hour to learn how to drive a manual, but not on the 8.
-Even if it takes an hour, you just learned the basics and will probaly forget everything the next day
-That's why you need to go out again the next day
-Praticing how to drive to the only why you'll learn faster
-Acting stupid (trying to race, speeding, trying to get to school faster because you're late) while learning is the best way to wrap your 8 around a phone poll. DON'T DO IT PERIOD. Because you're going to be challange in your new car.
-Take your time learning, I know some people said that they learn how to drive in an hour, but they don't actually learn everything IN an hour. This is probaly the most inportant step.

I gotta go, there's a thunder strom and my comp is probaly gonna fry.
I'll go thru the steps tommorrow.
If it sound like I'm babbling, I'll fix the text tommorrow, sorry.

 

About the dealer thing, the dealership i went to the salesman had to sit with u so i dont think he would let me drive it around stalling it 12 times =\. Also i checked the driving schools in my area and they dont teach it. My main concern is if i stall it 20 times while its new how will it affect the lifetime of the car?

I'm pretty sure i kno the basics, push cluth switch to first, gas it to a point (something with rev matching?), push in cluth while lettin go of gas, switch gears, slowly let go of cluth while gassing, right?