good luck to you friend. i learned myself driving thur my neighborhood. I hate to say this but i rode the clutch a little bit till i found the engagement point. then i was good and then learning up hill battles were the worst! LOL
Just joined the community (need help)
Just picked up a 2000.
It's my first time driving a manual and I'm having difficulties. Is there any tips or tricks to use while driving this car? ty
(I've watched multiple videos and drove in an empty parking lot for a bit)
just looking for some tips to make my journey on driving this car easier
It's my first time driving a manual and I'm having difficulties. Is there any tips or tricks to use while driving this car? ty
(I've watched multiple videos and drove in an empty parking lot for a bit)
just looking for some tips to make my journey on driving this car easier
1 - 20 of 85 Posts
LOL. I had this very same question from my 18yr old son about 2 weeks ago. Not sure I had a good answer for him, but I'll try again.
You switch gears (up-shifting) anywhere between about 3000 and red-line, depending on what you doing at the moment (how fast you are trying to accelerate/want to go), Learning to drive, I would suggest for now you shift at 3000. As you don't need to go any faster and at 3000 there is some allowance for the slowness of a beginner's shift.
Down-shifting is a whole other story, that can come latter in your learning.
Now. Tell me more about the vibrating..... is the car Bucking? (think horse trying to throw you off). This is probably because you shifted too early (RPM's below 2000 when you engage the clutch in the new gear) or were too slow with the clutch (allowing the RPM/car to slow down too much during the shift). Also, bucking tends to happen when starting in 1st and this is learning the engagement point.
The way I taught that to my oldest son was by not allowing him to use the gas pedal. in a parking lot, ease out the clutch and try to get the car rolling without any gas. You'll buck alot and stall alot until you learn what it feels like. At the point where the car starts moving is where you add gas. Some cars that is a fine point others are more forgiving, but once you learn the "Feel" you'll be good in any car
You switch gears (up-shifting) anywhere between about 3000 and red-line, depending on what you doing at the moment (how fast you are trying to accelerate/want to go), Learning to drive, I would suggest for now you shift at 3000. As you don't need to go any faster and at 3000 there is some allowance for the slowness of a beginner's shift.
Down-shifting is a whole other story, that can come latter in your learning.
Now. Tell me more about the vibrating..... is the car Bucking? (think horse trying to throw you off). This is probably because you shifted too early (RPM's below 2000 when you engage the clutch in the new gear) or were too slow with the clutch (allowing the RPM/car to slow down too much during the shift). Also, bucking tends to happen when starting in 1st and this is learning the engagement point.
The way I taught that to my oldest son was by not allowing him to use the gas pedal. in a parking lot, ease out the clutch and try to get the car rolling without any gas. You'll buck alot and stall alot until you learn what it feels like. At the point where the car starts moving is where you add gas. Some cars that is a fine point others are more forgiving, but once you learn the "Feel" you'll be good in any car
Thank you for your reply, I have some more questions if you dont mindLOL. I had this very same question from my 18yr old son about 2 weeks ago. Not sure I had a good answer for him, but I'll try again.
You switch gears (up-shifting) anywhere between about 3000 and red-line, depending on what you doing at the moment (how fast you are trying to accelerate/want to go), Learning to drive, I would suggest for now you shift at 3000. As you don't need to go any faster and at 3000 there is some allowance for the slowness of a beginner's shift.
Down-shifting is a whole other story, that can come latter in your learning.
Now. Tell me more about the vibrating..... is the car Bucking? (think horse trying to throw you off). This is probably because you shifted too early (RPM's below 2000 when you engage the clutch in the new gear) or were too slow with the clutch (allowing the RPM/car to slow down too much during the shift). Also, bucking tends to happen when starting in 1st and this is learning the engagement point.
The way I taught that to my oldest son was by not allowing him to use the gas pedal. in a parking lot, ease out the clutch and try to get the car rolling without any gas. You'll buck alot and stall alot until you learn what it feels like. At the point where the car starts moving is where you add gas. Some cars that is a fine point others are more forgiving, but once you learn the "Feel" you'll be good in any car
So does the mph not matter when shifting gears?
At 3000 rpm you switch to any gear you want? --> I'm not sure what rpm means or when the rpm changes. And yes it does feel like trying to throw me off and sometimes just vibrating a little but to the point where its noticeable while I'm driving.
Also lets say you see a red light ahead and would like to slow down to stop. What would be the best way to do that?
Do you hold clutch and brake? Do you downshift? Do you put gear to neutral?
At 3000 rpm you switch to any gear you want? NO, you switch up to the NEXT gear, i.e., 3rd to 4th 2nd to 3rd. Once case you would "Skip" gears, and as a beginner, I'd say, you're not ready for this yet would be hitting 1st, 2nd and maybe 3rd, really hard (heavy acceleration/high RPM's in each gear and you find that you are at the speed limit, then you can go straight to 5th and cruise.
RPM, Revolutions Per Minute, is the speed at which the engine is turning and that measurement is displayed on the Tach (tachometer)
"Also lets say you see a red light ahead and would like to slow down to stop. What would be the best way to do that?
Do you hold clutch and brake? Do you downshift? Do you put gear to neutral? "
YES, lol. I really didn't want to get into this... yet. OH well, here's a shot at it. Holding the clutch, or putting it in neutral, and braking is perfectly fine.
downshifting, uses the engine to slow the car down and saves on brake wear, and is more fun! and is something you will learn naturally through driving. The big thing is when you do this DO NOT red line the engine!
Say you are crusing at 45 in 5th.... Downshifting to 4th will not do much, this is a case where you might downshift directly to 3rd..... However, going directly to 2nd, or missing 3rd and hitting 1st would not be a good thing as it will take you instantly to the red-line, not good!
would be hitting 1st, 2nd and maybe 3rd, really hard (heavy acceleration/high RPM's in each gear and you find that you are at the speed limit, then you can go straight to 5th and cruise.RPM, Revolutions Per Minute, is the speed at which the engine is turning and that measurement is displayed on the Tach (tachometer)
"Also lets say you see a red light ahead and would like to slow down to stop. What would be the best way to do that?
Do you hold clutch and brake? Do you downshift? Do you put gear to neutral? "
YES, lol. I really didn't want to get into this... yet. OH well, here's a shot at it. Holding the clutch, or putting it in neutral, and braking is perfectly fine.
downshifting, uses the engine to slow the car down and saves on brake wear, and is more fun! and is something you will learn naturally through driving. The big thing is when you do this DO NOT red line the engine!
Say you are crusing at 45 in 5th.... Downshifting to 4th will not do much, this is a case where you might downshift directly to 3rd..... However, going directly to 2nd, or missing 3rd and hitting 1st would not be a good thing as it will take you instantly to the red-line, not good!
Thank you for your detailed response, I'm learning lots!At 3000 rpm you switch to any gear you want? NO, you switch up to the NEXT gear, i.e., 3rd to 4th 2nd to 3rd. Once case you would "Skip" gears, and as a beginner, I'd say, you're not ready for this yet
RPM, Revolutions Per Minute, is the speed at which the engine is turning and that measurement is displayed on the Tach (tachometer)
"Also lets say you see a red light ahead and would like to slow down to stop. What would be the best way to do that?
Do you hold clutch and brake? Do you downshift? Do you put gear to neutral? "
YES, lol. I really didn't want to get into this... yet. OH well, here's a shot at it. Holding the clutch, or putting it in neutral, and braking is perfectly fine.
downshifting, uses the engine to slow the car down and saves on brake wear, and is more fun! and is something you will learn naturally through driving. The big thing is when you do this DO NOT red line the engine!
Say you are crusing at 45 in 5th.... Downshifting to 4th will not do much, this is a case where you might downshift directly to 3rd..... However, going directly to 2nd, or missing 3rd and hitting 1st would not be a good thing as it will take you instantly to the red-line, not good!
I have one more question...so I start off with 1st, get to 3k rpm and switch to second. Do I leave the stick at 2nd or to neutral?
Starting:
+1 on learning to start the car on level ground with only the clutch. Once you feel very comfortable doing that, get used to moving your right foot on the throttle to maintain a given number of rpms (say 1500 or so). The rpms dip as the clutch engages...being able to hold a desired number is the key to hill starts. You can also use the handbrake but in all honesty the cables tend to get stretched over time & lose their function so as a beginner I wouldn't learn to rely on that.
Shifting/Gear Selection:
You can shift from any gear into any gear at any time....this doesn't mean you should. RPM = revolutions per minute (engine speed). Most cars idle around 1k rpm...if this number falls too low the car will stall. This can be achieved several different ways, either not engaging the clutch properly when starting or being in too high of a gear at a crawl speed can do it as well.
Speed matters when shifting in the sense that it determines the rpm for a given gear, otherwise speed itself does not matter....they put that big tach front & center for a reason. Shift at any rpm you desire (I used to shift around 3k - 3500rpm for daily driving. The gear you are going into should keep the rpms at a decent number...when learning a good number to aim for is 2k rpm or higher. You will quickly learn what speed correlates to what rpm in each gear & this lets you know what gear you can go into. For example, at 25mph you can shift from 2nd --> 4th gear & be fine, but if you tried going into 5th gear your rpms would be too low & you would be lugging the engine. You can go below 2k rpm, but it's a good habit to get used to staying above it when you shift so that you have [a little] more ability to maneuver the car if needed. I used to drive down the main street at night so there was no traffic & just constantly shift between gears to learn how to upshift, downshift, & rev match.
Red Lights:
There are 2 different ways to go about these. While slowing down you could just shift into neutral & hit the brakes. I would advise against this practice for 2 major reasons...1 - it will become a habit that you do at every light regardless of situation. 2 - if you ever have someone behind you that is distracted/impaired & doesn't hit their brakes slowing from a significant speed you will have a major accident because you have no means to escape. This holds much more true on a motorcycle but still a good practice. You can keep the car in gear until you slow to a speed that gives you ~1500 rpms. Then hold the clutch, put the shifter in a lower gear (keep holding clutch & don't release) & check your rearview mirror. At this point traffic behind you has either also slowed appropriately & you put the car in neutral as you stop....or it hasn't and you basically clutch dump out an escape path (you must know your escape path is clear prior to realizing you need one. I've had to do this more than once due to a drunk driver, poor tires in the rain, a person texting, & someone that didn't realize they needed extra stopping distance when towing. YMMV there. Once at a full stop keep the car in neutral & foot on the brake. Dont ride the clutch to hold rock the car as some ppl tend to do, unless you love doing clutch jobs.
I bought my first spyder after "learning" to drive stick on a highly modified turbo car for 2 hrs. After melting the bumper shooting flames on a misshift I decided that was enough practice. Bought the Spyder in Connecticut & drove it back to NYC without a hitch.
Confucius once said "Driving is the only way to learn how to drive"
+1 on learning to start the car on level ground with only the clutch. Once you feel very comfortable doing that, get used to moving your right foot on the throttle to maintain a given number of rpms (say 1500 or so). The rpms dip as the clutch engages...being able to hold a desired number is the key to hill starts. You can also use the handbrake but in all honesty the cables tend to get stretched over time & lose their function so as a beginner I wouldn't learn to rely on that.
Shifting/Gear Selection:
You can shift from any gear into any gear at any time....this doesn't mean you should. RPM = revolutions per minute (engine speed). Most cars idle around 1k rpm...if this number falls too low the car will stall. This can be achieved several different ways, either not engaging the clutch properly when starting or being in too high of a gear at a crawl speed can do it as well.
Speed matters when shifting in the sense that it determines the rpm for a given gear, otherwise speed itself does not matter....they put that big tach front & center for a reason. Shift at any rpm you desire (I used to shift around 3k - 3500rpm for daily driving. The gear you are going into should keep the rpms at a decent number...when learning a good number to aim for is 2k rpm or higher. You will quickly learn what speed correlates to what rpm in each gear & this lets you know what gear you can go into. For example, at 25mph you can shift from 2nd --> 4th gear & be fine, but if you tried going into 5th gear your rpms would be too low & you would be lugging the engine. You can go below 2k rpm, but it's a good habit to get used to staying above it when you shift so that you have [a little] more ability to maneuver the car if needed. I used to drive down the main street at night so there was no traffic & just constantly shift between gears to learn how to upshift, downshift, & rev match.
Red Lights:
There are 2 different ways to go about these. While slowing down you could just shift into neutral & hit the brakes. I would advise against this practice for 2 major reasons...1 - it will become a habit that you do at every light regardless of situation. 2 - if you ever have someone behind you that is distracted/impaired & doesn't hit their brakes slowing from a significant speed you will have a major accident because you have no means to escape. This holds much more true on a motorcycle but still a good practice. You can keep the car in gear until you slow to a speed that gives you ~1500 rpms. Then hold the clutch, put the shifter in a lower gear (keep holding clutch & don't release) & check your rearview mirror. At this point traffic behind you has either also slowed appropriately & you put the car in neutral as you stop....or it hasn't and you basically clutch dump out an escape path (you must know your escape path is clear prior to realizing you need one. I've had to do this more than once due to a drunk driver, poor tires in the rain, a person texting, & someone that didn't realize they needed extra stopping distance when towing. YMMV there. Once at a full stop keep the car in neutral & foot on the brake. Dont ride the clutch to hold rock the car as some ppl tend to do, unless you love doing clutch jobs.
I bought my first spyder after "learning" to drive stick on a highly modified turbo car for 2 hrs. After melting the bumper shooting flames on a misshift I decided that was enough practice. Bought the Spyder in Connecticut & drove it back to NYC without a hitch.
Confucius once said "Driving is the only way to learn how to drive"
Appreciate you clearing everything upStarting:
+1 on learning to start the car on level ground with only the clutch. Once you feel very comfortable doing that, get used to moving your right foot on the throttle to maintain a given number of rpms (say 1500 or so). The rpms dip as the clutch engages...being able to hold a desired number is the key to hill starts. You can also use the handbrake but in all honesty the cables tend to get stretched over time & lose their function so as a beginner I wouldn't learn to rely on that.
Shifting/Gear Selection:
You can shift from any gear into any gear at any time....this doesn't mean you should. RPM = revolutions per minute (engine speed). Most cars idle around 1k rpm...if this number falls too low the car will stall. This can be achieved several different ways, either not engaging the clutch properly when starting or being in too high of a gear at a crawl speed can do it as well.
Speed matters when shifting in the sense that it determines the rpm for a given gear, otherwise speed itself does not matter....they put that big tach front & center for a reason. Shift at any rpm you desire (I used to shift around 3k - 3500rpm for daily driving. The gear you are going into should keep the rpms at a decent number...when learning a good number to aim for is 2k rpm or higher. You will quickly learn what speed correlates to what rpm in each gear & this lets you know what gear you can go into. For example, at 25mph you can shift from 2nd --> 4th gear & be fine, but if you tried going into 5th gear your rpms would be too low & you would be lugging the engine. You can go below 2k rpm, but it's a good habit to get used to staying above it when you shift so that you have [a little] more ability to maneuver the car if needed. I used to drive down the main street at night so there was no traffic & just constantly shift between gears to learn how to upshift, downshift, & rev match.
Red Lights:
There are 2 different ways to go about these. While slowing down you could just shift into neutral & hit the brakes. I would advise against this practice for 2 major reasons...1 - it will become a habit that you do at every light regardless of situation. 2 - if you ever have someone behind you that is distracted/impaired & doesn't hit their brakes slowing from a significant speed you will have a major accident because you have no means to escape. This holds much more true on a motorcycle but still a good practice. You can keep the car in gear until you slow to a speed that gives you ~1500 rpms. Then hold the clutch, put the shifter in a lower gear (keep holding clutch & don't release) & check your rearview mirror. At this point traffic behind you has either also slowed appropriately & you put the car in neutral as you stop....or it hasn't and you basically clutch dump out an escape path (you must know your escape path is clear prior to realizing you need one. I've had to do this more than once due to a drunk driver, poor tires in the rain, a person texting, & someone that didn't realize they needed extra stopping distance when towing. YMMV there. Once at a full stop keep the car in neutral & foot on the brake. Dont ride the clutch to hold rock the car as some ppl tend to do, unless you love doing clutch jobs.
I bought my first spyder after "learning" to drive stick on a highly modified turbo car for 2 hrs. After melting the bumper shooting flames on a misshift I decided that was enough practice. Bought the Spyder in Connecticut & drove it back to NYC without a hitch.
Confucius once said "Driving is the only way to learn how to drive"
- The lower the gear, the easier it is for the rpm to go up
- Should shift to the next gear around 3k-3.5k rpm
- Once practiced starting by only using the clutch, add lightly pressing gas at the sametime
What is the difference between going neutral by using the clutch and going neutral by using the stick?
1 - 20 of 85 Posts
