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Hey guys, just interested in your stick learning experiences!

How long did it take you to learn stick?
Did you know how to drive an automatic before?
Did you buy a manual car before knowing how to drive stick?
Do you have any tips for learners?

I just purchased a 2003 Civic lx coupe, it's my first car and it's manual. I've driven manual once before on my brother's g37 and he says I did well but I was very nervous driving it (Because of all the power it had, the pedal is so sensitive!). I have to learn how to drive a manual car to get to school (For now, I'm driving my parents' car) how long do you think it will take? I live in the city, so there are a lot of stops and have to get on the highway to reach my college. There's also usually a long line in the parking lot at my school to get out of the campus, I don't want to embarrass myself by stalling the car.

 
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2hrs and I was on the streets... I was proficient without stalling after three weeks

Now I still stall occasionally reversing but that's cuz I don't pay attention

 
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I got lucky and drove it correctly the first time. But id been driving an automatic for over a year when i first tried. Just be smooth...no dropping the clutch..be easy with the throttle etc. it's pretty straight forward and the civic's clutch is forgiving and not too grabby.

 
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5 minutes. I dunno, I started on a dirt bike which is easier than a car. In my opinion it doesn't take very long to learn the basics but a lifetime to do it well. I always tell people I don't know how to drive an automatic and I've never owned one.

tips for learners? Start in a low pressure environment like a not too busy road or highway with a moderate amount of stops so you can get comfortable running up and down through the gears without dealing with alot of traffic. Don't ever put/leave your left foot on the clutch unless your changing gears.

BTW - everyone stalls a manual once in awhile even after years of driving.

 
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19 years and counting!
I tired to drive stick for the first time a few months ago when I was visited by a friend with his Saab. I stalled out a bunch....and was too hesitant to switch gears when I needed to. If I had any form of excuse, I'd say his clutch pedal was extremely heavy and hard to manipulate.

I know it only takes a bit of practice and I want my next car to be manual, but I don't really have a car to practice in. Everyone in my family and close friends drive automatics.

 
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I learned stick shift two days before getting my Civic (manual).

Basically about an hour and a half of practice in my friend's 94 Accord (manual) then I got my car. Driving it home was a bitch because it was a lot of city driving. Stalled like crazy for about two weeks then I got better and after 11 months, I'd say I'm proficient now. Haven't stalled in months. But to be fair, it IS my car.

My tip for learners is to really focus on knowing where the engagement point is for that clutch. Manual is all about footwork when it comes to smooth buttery shifting and not stalling. And to you beginners, you WILL stall. To minimize the awful jerking which can cause stress in the tranny and engine, press in the clutch right away when the engine stalls or is about to stall. It will keep the vibrations only to the engine rather than through the whole car which will give engine and tranny a lot less strain.

 
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Don't remember how long it took me to learn. My dad started teaching me to drive stick when I was 13. I first learned on dirt bikes which helps with the concept and feel. I was taught on an 88 Honda Accord (which became my first car when I got my permit).

I had "driven" an automatic before I was 13. As soon as you can reach the pedals in the car its time to start learning how to drive.

I was given a manual car but even if it was an automatic I still wanted to learn how to drive a manual. I have only owned 1 automatic and I didn't have it very long (94 Accord) I wasn't happy with the slush box but I needed a car and it was available at a good price.

Same stuff that was already said. Lots of practice, ALWAYS take your foot completely off the clutch pedal, NEVER rest your foot on the pedal. I think a great way to learn the engagement point of a clutch is to get the car to move with just the clutch. Just go back and forth in your driveway, forward then backward, and don't touch the gas pedal. Do that for a while then add the gas pedal when you get comfortable with were the engagement point is.

 
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I learned in about 5 minutes. (Actually moving the car and what not)

Really got smooth after about two weeks though.

 
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I practiced with my dads truck a few years ago and my moms car and was terrible. Stalled it just about everytime. I bought an s10 that was 5 speed 2 years ago and started to get the hang of that. Brought it to the streets for a bit then sold it. I recently bought my civic and took a long 2 hour drive with it back from where I bought it and it helped tremendously. After that I pretty much got the hang of it. Taking a new (used) car on long road trips is a great way to see what the car has got with problems and how the car feels.

 
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I actually learned stick about a week ago.

It took me about one hour only stalled two times on a hill. I learned on a 2004 nissan sentra spec v.

 
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lol i had to learn in about 15 minutes when i started working for a toyota dealer they tossed me the keys to a FJ cruiser and told me i had 15 minutes to learn in the back lot. reversing massive Tundra double cabs into stalls barely big enough for cars was fun.

 
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Hahaha^ i do the same thing as a valet....gotta love the f350 duallys with a 6 inch lift

 
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I'd say a couple of weeks for you to really get the hang of it. You may want to find an incline area with no traffic or distractions to practice feathering the clutch on start up. At first you may try with the park brake to hold the car and start up just using the clutch and throttle. After some practice, then move on to using brake pedal and clutch then a quick movement to the throttle.

Good luck and have fun!!

 
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i learned to ride dirt bikes and 4 wheelers when i was young so i understood how to release a clutch easily to not stall. the first vehicle i drove was my dads' 69 bronco, 3 on the tree, when i was 10. took me about awhile to get it down but not proficiently. then when i was 14 my friend had a jeep wrangler and taught me 5 speed on that. i'd say after about an hour i had it down pretty well. i will note that civics are much easier to drive than trucks/jeeps/etc. my first car was stick and i already knew how to drive.

tip for learners: press the clutch in, put it in 1st, without pressing the gas down release the clutch VERY slowly until the car starts to bog down. if you release to much without any gas, it will die. this is your clutch release point, which is when it engages and disengages. so, when you get to that point you slightly press the gas and release the clutch.

 
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^LOL

'3 on the tree' world's dumbest invention.

 
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literally an hour in parking lot then went on streets. Two days later and Ive stalled it like twice since. (been driving stick for about 6 months)

 
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have been so long ago that i do not remember.
might i add that some never learned after years trying, tho.

 
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You know I've taught a few people how to drive/drive stick and I've always avoided the park lot lesson. It's an insurance nightmare.

I've preferred to get people out on something more like a quiet highway where they can spend some time just getting a 'feel' for the car before they have to worry too much about up shift/down shift/braking,/accelerating.

There is a complete art to driving stick well. Uphill starts, engine braking, downshift passing, high reving uphills, etc,etc,etc

EDIT: The 'parking lot' lesson I usually have is for more advanced winter driving technics. Seeing how your car stops under hard braking on slippery conditions, stuff like that...


@sdaidoji - my sister never learned how to drive a car. Spent 10 years trying, but yeah, hopeless. I don't think she even has a car anymore.

 
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me don't even wanna know why you don't know either if she have a car :P

 
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maybe couple hrs in an old truck. i just did for emergencies if i had to drive stick. i dont think i would ever own a car with stick again, esp with how much better the newer autos are. they shift faster, smoother, and more precisely and most have paddle shifters so you basically get the same feel of a manual. i dont see the point to fiddling around with gear shifts all the time. altho if i end up getting an electric car one of these years, i wouldnt even have to care about gears. no trans or engine ftw.

 
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Pretty much that, except it took me 5 seconds. The first time I drove stick, I just hopped in the car, and off I went.

Being familiar with a dirt bike and the whole idea of driving stick before I actually ever hopped in a car made it a cake walk. I didn't even stall it that first time.

 
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Took me a half a tank of gas to learn

 
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Last thursday I taught myself how to drive a stick in about an hour. I stalled a lot the next day at stop lights and bumper to bumper traffic. But I don't really stall anymore, it's pretty easy if you just relax and don't get discouraged.

 
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I grew up on a farm, so as soon as I was big enough to stand up and push in the clutch on a tractor, I was driving through the fields. One tractor had a bad starter, so we just parked it on a hill and always roll started it. One time, (I think I was 4) I stalled it in a flat field, (which it is extremely difficult to stall a tractor because they have so much torque) and I got to drive the truck that day to pull start it. Lmao. To this day, I won't buy an automatic. By the time I was 16, I was driving our big grain trucks with the 2 speed axles, which adds new fun to shifting.

 
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From a young age I understood the concept it didn't take but 15 minutes for me to learn how to grasp in while driving.. Biggest issue for me was having the motor running fast enough to take off not to stall..

 
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In a civic thats a long time

 
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i've never owned a manual so i probably can't really drive them in a real traffic. i drive them all the time at work but just in first and only up and down minor hills. the only other time i drove one my friend told me to drive his sunfire. he said and i quote "just drive it like a racecar you'll do fine". i think he has expecting me to stall. so first attempt in a parking lot i got her to third as we headed staight for a brick wall, lol. hit the clutch, braked, and shifted her back down to first and ripped it back to the shop we started at.

i guess in the words of charley sheen "i only have one speed, GO!"

 
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15 when my brother was too drunk to drive

 
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Tip for learners:

Before I was old enough to drive, my parents would drive and I would shift the gears for them. it really helped me get the feel of when to shift and downshift

 
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I was able to drive stick before I drove a car. Started driving a tractor when I was 10