Check The Manual (Transmission): Stick Shift Cars Going Away

[Cm452]

91% said they can drive an MT...Baaahahahah ROFLMFAO! Wannabee's. I am so tired of this crap. Slushbox No0bs "yeah I can drive it fine, my prndle connected to a frozen big gulp (slushie) is better. Then they get in and can't even start it....I love people in my age group who's 'rents got em a bimmer 3 with "teh sex paddle shifterz" so they can then bounce off the rev limiter until the car tells them to STFU.
Sorry yall, just got some slushie hate right now after rush hour!
-Cm

[FDSpirit]

^

[AHTOXA]

It is true.

"Hey, I can drive home if anything."
"It's manual, you sure"
"Yeah, no problems. I've driven a few in the past"

Bar. Drink. Drink. Drink

"Oh hey, since you volunteered and you've not been drinking, could you drive?"
"Sure, man!"

Vrooom. Clunk, clunk, stall. Voom. Buck, Buck, Clunk, Stall.

FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[FDSpirit]

Yeah. I'd rather stay sober than let some retard f my car up. I'm those people have driven a manual. But they probably can't drive one effectively. I'm not teaching anyone how to drive standard in my car. I did once and it was a complete disaster. Somewhat back onto this, everybody, with the exception of one or 2 people in my family tried so hard to convince me to not get a manual. Oh no, you don't want one of those. How the hell do you know wtf I wanna drive? Oh, you'll get stuck on a hill. Really? Since I've been driving, I stalled on the same hill twice in the year I've been driving my car. It's a pain in stop and go. I've been caught in bumper to bumper traffic. Thanks to this site, my leg hasn't really been in too much trouble . The amount of excuses to avoid driving something which takes a day to learn is ridiculous. It really isn't as hard as people make it out to be. I was terrified the day I got my car to the point I didn't even wanna drive. I look back and it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. It's one thing if you've driven one and it just wasn't for you. But to blatantly bash something you've never tried is just stupid.

[theholycow]

everybody, with the exception of one or 2 people in my family tried so hard to convince me to not get a manual.

Me too. For ~12 years it worked. Everybody but me chose what I was driving and paying for. Finally I had enough. I wasn't going to take advice from anybody, because every time I did I ended up disappointed. I was damn well going to buy what I wanted. Granted, that attitude was easier this time around because nobody was helping me pay for it, I live in my own house, there's still a plethora of automatics in the driveway, and I could make a financial necessity case for it.

Anyway, I was right about it being right for me. It worked out better than I expected by all measures.

The amount of excuses to avoid driving something which takes a day to learn is ridiculous.

Well, it takes a day if you want to drive like this:

those people have driven a manual. But they probably can't drive one effectively.

It takes a lot longer to get pretty good at it. No big deal, it's worth it.

I was terrified the day I got my car to the point I didn't even wanna drive.

I was not. I was overconfident, and then disappointed when I sucked.

to blatantly bash something you've never tried is just stupid.

Welcome to humanity.

[FDSpirit]

. I say a day to get somewhat comfortable with your car. Or maybe it was the fact I had been thrown to the sharks the day I had time to finally drive my car. My friend who was teaching me made me pick his dad up from the airport during rush hour Saturday traffic. Not fun.

[scionkid]

The amount of excuses to avoid driving something which takes a day to learn is ridiculous.

You would think that. I was teach a friend of a friend how to drive the car that he's going to buy from my friend. I had him take his foot out to the friction point, then wait until the car moves at a walking speed. He did that just fine. That's all he could do. I told him once he reaches the friction point, he should touch the gas pedal and then curl his toes lightly, vrooooooooom. Didn't know that a Corolla can scream that loud.

Getting up hill was interesting. I told him to get to the friction point, add some gas, ease out the clutch a bit, then drop the parking brake. He took about 3 seconds before he would move on to the next step, ease out the clutch, ease out the clutch, ease out the clutch . . . . My mouth was dry by the end of the day. I'd have flipped if he was grinding my clutch like that for the entire 12 seconds.

Coordination is a gift that some people don't have. But from the way he steered and stopped a car, I'm not too sure if I want to see him on the road.

[theholycow]

Non-linear throttle is normal. I don't know if any throttle has ever been linear; it's definitely not confined to DBW. I'd venture to guess that DBW is the only way you'll ever find linear throttle response, and that'd only be if they muck around with the programming too much.

Something like 40% of the throttle represents 90% of the power at low RPM. Think about it...the throttle has to be able to flow enough air for making the maximum power at high RPM. At low RPM the engine will just never pull anywhere near that much air, so part of the throttle represents all the air that it can use.

Most throttles I've used are touchy, too. Then again, most I've used are connected to large GM/Ford engines...

[theholycow]

Oh, inconsistent throttle...yeah, that's mainly a DBW thing. Stupid DBW.

[FDSpirit]

My Civic's pedal is weird. Like it doesn't go the minute you tap it. There's a tiny bit of space before you can actually rev it. I've become use to it, but some days I just forget and I end up not giving my car enough gas. I think Corollas have very very sensitive pedals though. My 94 went the minute you tapped the pedal .

[theholycow]

Like it doesn't go the minute you tap it. There's a tiny bit of space before you can actually rev it.

Do you mean time or distance? Does it ignore the first few degrees of travel or does it ignore any usage until a moment goes by?

[FDSpirit]

Definitely distance. Once I feel resistance in the pedal, it does go though. I think its just Civics because im almost 100% sure the other one I test drove was the same way.

[comingbackdown]

Or maybe it was the fact I had been thrown to the sharks the day I had time to finally drive my car. My friend who was teaching me made me pick his dad up from the airport during rush hour Saturday traffic. Not fun.

My sister's fiancee learned to drive his first manual car right off the lot. It was, and still is, his first and only manual car.
An '05 GTO... Talk about being thrown to the sharks.

[AHTOXA]

The GTO is surprisingly easy to drive. With all the torque you are much less likely to stall and shifting feels a lot more natural than my VW did.

[theholycow]

Can you elaborate on how the shifting feels? Once I got used to the light action, the VW shifting felt right to me.