Drove a stick shift for the first time today.

Ya gotta watch with the whole engine brake thing, rear wheel drive vehicle down shifting on slick roads tends to show you down from the rear wheels which will tend to keep the front wheels and general direction straight but when you do this on a front wheel drive vehicle the the front wheels slow down allowing the tail to come around and send you into a spin.

How many of you guys used to practice getting into and outta a spin in an empty snow covered mall parking lot? :) driving anything requires practice of bad conditions/situations most people wreck or get hurt because they take to long to correct their problem. Most panic and in that first few seconds it can make the difference between a bad wreck and stains in your tighty whities...

Knowing your vehicle and it's limitations is also paramount to getting out of bad situations, how many of you lock up your brakes when first getting out in the snow, ice or rain to see where you lose your traction or jump on the gas to see where your wheels break loose. I don't like surprises.
 
How many of you guys used to practice getting into and outta a spin in an empty snow covered mall parking lot?
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Oh yeah… almost had too much fun doing that… darn lamp poles.
As Maxwell Smart used to say "Missed it by that much"

I learned to drive on my buddy's 60-something Rambler wagon.
3 speed on the column.
He'd take me to an industrial park on Sunday mornings.
I was getting the hang of it…
So we started practicing broken U turns (K turns?)
I had the car perpendicular to the flow of traffic when I revved the engine, dumped the clutch and realized it was in reverse :foot:
2 big furrows on the manicured lawn.
End of lesson. We unazzed the AO ASAP.

First car was an auto, the car basically found me.
I sold it to buy a 52 Ford pick up. Think Sanford and Son.
Hadn't driven a manual in years.
First was so low that I didn't have to use it with the truck empty.
Essentially a 2 speed with a 14' shift throw. The clutch pedal traveled about half that far…
So I pick up the truck and get stuck in 2 1/2 hours of bumper to bumper football traffic.

Pulled up by the house, jumped out of the cab and about fell on my face when my left leg buckled.
:eek:

Been autos ever since the truck got sold.
I have an auto stick in my Intrepid R/T… not the same but a touch of fun.
 
Taught myself on my new 06' c6 vette', had owned two prior vette's but they were auto's.
 
kingston73 said:
learning to drive a manual should be a requirement for everybody but having said that my wife can't do it. I tried teaching her and she would get frustrated and quit within 10 mins of driving.
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That's a very common thing with husbands and wives. Let somebody else teach her, or just leave her alone with the car so she can teach herself. :)
 
T. Erdelyi said:
How many of you guys used to practice getting into and outta a spin in an empty snow covered mall parking lot? :)
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I used to do that every year with the first snow -- more often if I got a new car -- but it's hard to find an empty parking lot these days. :(
 
Aint that the truth.
Back when when the stores were closed on Sunday's (blue laws?) the mall parking lots usually had some people learning to drive.
 
Learning to control spins in snow and ice brings back memories. I ended up in someone's front yard once driving to work before it got light in the morning. The road turned into a sheet of ice in what seems like seconds and I was driving normally (rural area), but this dag hill wouldn't allow me to slow down quickly enough and hitting a couple of those heat bumps on asphalt sent my car into a couple 360's. No damage... I pulled out and went on to work. It was tense though.

I learned the basics of driving a stick shift in the "roads" on my grandmother's farm. Moved to the highway after that.
 
I got my drivers license in a stick shift and never owned an automatic untill the piece of crap mercedes i have atm. God i hate that car. I still can't figgure out where to keep my right hand while driving, so i keep it on the shifter even though it's completely unnesecary...

My next car will be a big, bad, 4x4 suv or pickup truck. And i'll never buy an automatic again.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
Ya gotta watch with the whole engine brake thing, rear wheel drive vehicle down shifting on slick roads tends to show you down from the rear wheels which will tend to keep the front wheels and general direction straight but when you do this on a front wheel drive vehicle the the front wheels slow down allowing the tail to come around and send you into a spin.
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And when you do this in 4WD on a mountain road, you get a very safe and effective way to brake. I've had many brakes lock up on my truck when iced over, but having the ability to safely decelerate using the engine and 4WD is a very nice thing to have in the mountains on icy roads.
 
Made a point of teaching my kids to drive manual, gives them options. My daughter moaned about it, then realised that she was one of only two girls in her class who could do it so got some kudos. Then we were on the farm and she was able to take the Bedford out to get some stuff and was extra pleased with herself.
However, the first time she drove an automatic she said, "this is what I always dreamed driving woudl be like"!
 
Norse_Nightcrawler said:
I still can't figgure out where to keep my right hand while driving, so i keep it on the shifter even though it's completely unnesecary...
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cat-driving-car-animation.gif

Both paws on the steering wheel, you dork!
​
 
Bought this about 9 months ago. It was my first manual tranny, I'll never go back now.

 
Lenny_Goofoff said:
yep, I feel like a kid in his toy car, clutch, gas, clutch, brake, slooowly moving in a traffic jam
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why i like my car, low range, first gear, just idling along, if the gap gets too big, just give it a bit of throttle
of course my Low range isn't all that low, and can be switched in and out at speed, providing you match the speed ok (going into low range, back to high is easy)
 
Grease said:
From what I've seen driving the hills in Seattle, I don't think that's actually possible... You can roll only a short distance, but I'm pretty sure you're gonna move at least a little bit backwards. :p
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It can be done. You have to practice with the e-brake.

I grew up with manual transmissions. An old FJ40 1974. I have had both over the years.

Both have benefits, but the automatic sure is better on real steep hills, for off reading I prefer auto for climbing, no contest.

For downhills, I like the manual.
 
Here in India 99% cars are still stick-shift. Way better when it comes to over-taking slow moving vehicles in the maddening crowd. Each and every driver knows how to drive a manual! Lotsa fun indeed!
 
I owned a four of stick shifters in the '80s and '90s. My then 17 year old son got a job as a valet parker two years ago and we couldn't find a stick shift anywhere among our friends and family to teach him. We even looked at all the rental car places. Turns out it was a non-issue. In an entire summer, he didn't see one manual transmission car.

I was thinking about buying a 300 series BMW with a stick and took one home over the weekend. The new breed of transmission was MUCH easier to use than it used to be. I let both my kids try it and they picked it up almost immediately. I didn't stall it once over the weekend.
 
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