Learn how to drive!!!
 

In a stick that is ;) I have a hard time getting out of 1st but I'll get it in time.

its fun to learn to drive stick. except hills, i hate hills.

How long you been driving stick?

I learned to drive a manual trans at the same time I learned to drive. At the time it was more fun to just drive an automatic because I did not have to worry about bunny hopping through the intersection or killing the motor with a line of cars behind me. It only took a few hours of parking lot work before I could drive on the street and only a few weeks of daily driving before it felt natural and became fun.

With that said, the RX8 is not a good car to learn how to drive stick with. The smaller the motor the easier to stall and bunny hop and you dont want to grind a gear or burn the clutch on an rx8. I suggest a full size v8 powered pickup truck, something that is worth less then the amount of money you have in the bank.

I started driving manual on the best possible car for it: a 1995 Pontiac Firefly.

3 cyl engine, 55hp. Weak as all hell. No suspension to speak of. No power. No go. Tons of fun! It didn't weight a damned thing and you could spin the front wheel if you came off the clutch right.

After that, the RX8 was my first standard car. I was still very sketch for the first few months but I'm solid now. I don't like reversing, however.

started stick with my first vehicle. a 1990 ford ranger. got that back in 1997.

i started in a 1989 mustang Lx, 4 banger...lol

sad excuse for a mustang,
20 bucks lasted a whole month!

i almost died many times learning to drive it

I learned on a 1980 Ford Fiesta.....:lol:

When in doubt, dump the clutch and floor it....:)

im half mexican we have lots of those [fiestas]

whooo hooo!

Looking
 

I'm looking for a manual RX8. Anyone know of any good deals?

I learned on a IHC Farmall Model C. :)
Top speed 12 mph.

my first 5 speed was my 02 impreza RS. that thing was a bitch and a half to learn to drive on. i had driven a 5 speed a few times before then and grew up riding dirt bikes so i understood the concept. modulating that clutch was a bitch. i learned so many bad habbits and got so good with it that i can't drive my 8 worth a shit. still a bit jerky and my heel-toe timing is still not good. i've only had the 8 for 2 months so i expect i'll improve.

I learned on my rx8.

Was very tough with the sensitive electronic throttle and the rather stiff clutch (compared on non-sports cars, like the bmw 330i :lol:)

My first was a 3 on the tree '72 Chevy C10 with a 307. I've had manual transmissions on nearly all of my vehicles. Except for my Mazda6, oddly enough.

Search autotrader.com. :uhh:

all this time I thought your 8 was a manual :scratchhe

my first outing with a manual was in my dad's 198x Toyota pick-up truck. This might be helpful for you, I was told when in first gear learn where your friction point is on the clutch. It should help with your timing when starting out in first.

I also started with a stick.

One week of driving and it will be second nature......

I started driving stick before I had my permit or license. I drove a few cars, but really learned on my dad's 98 Boxster. The 8 is extremely easy to drive compared to that, not to mention the clutch is a lot lighter.

"learned" stick on a friends golf TDI. drove around a parking lot for half an hour.

2 years later I learned how to drive stick on my 8. The narrow bite point on the the 8 made it difficult.

started with a stick too with our family van which was a Mistubishi L300 utility van. it was a 2.0 diesel engine so had no troubles with engine stalls. then a friend of mine would also entrust me his 95 lancer which was the first stick car i drove. worlds of difference between the car and the van and had some troubles adapting (sensitive clutch). then parents bought an 05 mitsubishi galant auto which i drove until recently.

my 8 tho is the first i could rightfully call mine. felt good to go back to stick after driving the family car for more than 2 years.

i learned in one evening on my '79 RX7. didn't have a choice b/c the other car i had died and my dad passed that down to me that night and gave me a two hour lesson after school.

Ooo...new wheels Dom (after the destruction of your last)? If so, we demand pics.

started driving with a manny rx8... g/l dom. i dont think you will have a hard time for much longer...

my first manual was my rx8. i had kinda learned in my gfs 1987 bmw 325i and one of my friends 2006 toyota corolla (which only had 3k miles! and im trying to learn on it...) still, all that learning totaled maybe 1 hour.

decent beginning. i could drive the rx8 immediately, but not very well. :lol2:

find a steep hill with little traffic. put your car in the middle and just play with the clutch and gas. get it to go forward 10 feet, roll back 10, and do it again. do it a half dozen times and you'll have a better understanding where the friction point is.

the rx8 has a really small friction point. its almost ridiculous. i dont know if its all bmws, but my brothers 325is (e36) and my best friends 325is (e30) both have, what i consider, ridiculously huge friction points. its seriously like 2" of space for the "perfect" shift. with the rx8 its about .2" :lol2:

I like that last part. Thats what my friend Mike was telling me and I trust him. Thanks man!

How about 2 days :) :lol: well not just yet but I can feel it.

Then Pics you shal have!

Thanks man. I hope so :)

learned driving stick on a 91 FC RX-7

you can say i only know how to drive stick on a rotary :lol:

i learned using the 8!

you'll get it down in no time, and it will be rewarding when you can go fast while using mt.

Did that the first day I got in her :) lol I think I scared my friend Mike :lol:

Exactly.

I was driving two whole years before I finally got my first car—a used Saab 96—and learned to drive a stick. Four-on-the-column! It was weird to suddenly not be able to even climb the hill out of our driveway, but that lasted only a couple of hours. :)

My first manual was a motorcycle.

02' M5.

It was brand new and I was absolutely afraid to death to do anything

Thankfully it makes enough torque to come off the line with absolutely no gas. Thats how I learned, feathering the throttle till it creeped off the line.

Thats what I do when I'm 1/2 way off the cluth works for me :)

I learned on a VW van... :shock: i was 12 or 13... in the motherland.

I loved my 92 4 banger. First car. it ran like crap.
Starting out I had the hardest time getting it into 1st, after that it was a breeze

I learned how to drive stick in my friends volvo, but wasn't really fluent when I got my 8. About 3 or 4 days after getting the 8 I was really fluent, even stopping on hills and whatnot. Really glad I got the manual :)

First learned to drive in a ford van AT, and then my 8 was the first time I drove a MT

I first learned stick on a 1989 ford escort wagon, god that thing was fun. Used to load a keg and in the back and 4 friends and pretty much ride on the bump stops, haha. It never broke down or anything. Then a escort zx2 stick. Then the rx8

So let me ask you guys this. What RPM do you rev to when your taking your foot off the clutch?

I go to 1,800 feel the grab and let off. Is that ok?

haha I didnt even know how to drive a stick when I bought my 8, the dealer had to drive it to my house lol....But yeah I learned that night from a friend how to drive it and by the time the night was over I was up town...cake. Everyday I leave work I have to go under a underpass and stop on a straight up hill...still no fun...facing the sky nearly, I try to haul ass to it before someone gets behind me lol.

1963 Volks Beetle....:lol:

you mean in first, right? 1800-2500 is fine. i think anything past 2500 is probably riding the clutch out a little more than one should. but i've dropped the clutch from 9k before. :uhh:

9K! No way, I'm cool with 1,800 lol

Yeah, 1,800 sounds about right....you don't want to get the RPM's too high and burn the clutch up. I don't pay attention the the RPM's though...I just let it out when it feels right. Before you know it, you won't even pay attention to it or think about shifting. It will just be natural.

Man, I went to buy my first car, and found out it was a stick ($400 for an '83 Plymouth Tourismo...wow, that thing was junk!) when I got to the guy's house. I had to drive it home, and crap was that a horrible adventure! Reverse was to the left of 1st gear, so I didn't know if I was in Reverse, 1st, or 3rd gear when I'd try to start moving.

I was 14 (first manual experience) and lived just outside of town. My dad owned an old truck (chevy i think) that had the old "3 on a tree" configuration. Dad also had a company vehicle so when he was gone and my mom was gone i would then go out and mimick how my dad drove the truck and in no time i was taking it up and down the country roads, sometimes visiting neighboring friends. Thought i was pretty cool.

My first car was an auto 99 mustang gt, After that was my first 5spd car and it was an 02 mustang gt. I never drove stick until I drove it off the lot, I did ok. I don't think I stalled at all that night but I did do alot of bunny hopping :lol:. That wasn't an easy car to learn on at all. The clutch was pretty stiff and a shit load of torque made bunny hopping REALLY easy.

btw I wouldn't say bring it to a certain rpm and then let the clutch grab, don't even look at your gauges, just give a LITTLE gas and let the clutch out really slow at the same time, when you feel the clutch grab give more gas as you give less clutch. Over time it will be as easy as walking. I tried the whole bring it to a certain rpm and then let clutch out but I was never able to consistently get a smooth take off, just go by feel and itll be much better

Stang GT may have had something to do with that not so smooth take off, LOL. You didnt even get to have "training wheels" before jumping right in with the GT!

lol, this is a bad idea. I couldn'nt drive a stick so i decided the only way to learn, was to buy one so i bought the rx8. I figured it was too expensive to mess up, so i learned to drive a stick with my eight and i have been doing very well ever since.

My first experience with driving a stick was in a VW Jetta. I drove it for about an hour learning how to drive a manual, and then, two weeks later I bought my 6 speed rx-8. It was quite entertaining the first night I brought it home. I was lucky that most of the drive was interstate and no traffic.