How long did it take you to learn manual?

[Ls1dreamin02]

Learned in my dads 67 Austin Healey 3000 driving around the block and what not. Then I moved on to our 31 Ford Model A Pick up. I like the model A 3 Speed better but I still need to work on the double clutching. The new camaro should drive and shift really smooth shouldn't take you long at all.

[Kat]

about twenty min. I kinda had to tho. Went down to VAB to pick up one of the ex's 79 Camaro she wanted. The person that I asked to drive the car home, for me, was to short and couldnt push the pedal in. lol

So I was taught, drove around for a few min, then went on a 5 hour ride home. Now I drive one daily in the GTO.

[spina74]

took me only a few hours, I learned in a 3rd gen with a t56 swap still using the 3rd gen pedals so the clutch was very tight and engaged very high

[Featherburner]

I started "driving" manual shift when I was 7 years old. My first motorcycle was a manual shift. When I got my permit and started driving, i drove a 1963 Corvair Greenbrier with a 4 speed. There was no learning time because I had "driven" clutch for 9 years.

[Brendan713]

I learned how to drive a manual in less than an hour ask ib4200 (Joe Callahan) yeah i let the car die a few times but i did it, JUST PRACTICE and once you get the hang of it, go find some hills to get better on!!!! After i practiced in ib4200's car, a couple months later i bought my own 95 camaro and was able to drive it when the person i was buying from bought it over to my house, went up and down the street couple of times then took it out all day, God i miss that car.

[FoodStampsz]

I knew the concept behind it before I ever tried it, learned on my firebird and grand turismo never went to a parking lot, stalled out at 5 points in hamilton got scared s***less and haven't stalled out since.

[CHRIS67]

Originally Posted by JerzLT1

i was a lot boy at a dealership and was thrown keys and told to go get a car. Got going on the first try. drove it around as my lot car for a week to get comfortable

Ditto. Spinning wheels, stalls, and clutch smoke the first day.

[Raist103]

i bought a 94 firehawk and learned on the way home with no experience. it is easy.

[r0nin89]

Learned in my dads 71 vette in a parking lot. Although I wouldnt really say I learned how. Just kind of drove the car cause when I got my 5 speed toyota pickup it was like Id never driven stick before. Id say a few hours driving around I had it down and a week or two later I had it mastered.

There was something about the fact that the clutch isnt "ON" or "OFF" that I couldnt wrap my head around. I always feared slipping the clutch and smoking it and it wasnt until I said to my dad "wait its suppose to slip a little" that I got it.

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by Anti_Rice_Guy

You'll never want to drive automatics again.

I couldnt agree more.

Originally Posted by Featherburner

I call BS on this.

Originally Posted by WildBillyT

Yup. Try sitting in traffic, on a hill.

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

Commuter Challenge: Drive a stick during rush hour on route 1 from Lawrenceville to New Brunswick and back every day for a month and then tell me you'll never go back to automatic again.

I drive Route 1 almost every day and I would take standard any day of the week, rain or shine or snow or sleet, night or day over the POS automatic I have to drive for work.

I HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE driving auto. It makes me want to go to sleep, not to mantion it is like winding up a rubber band. I push on the accelerator and have to wait a whole second before the van starts moving. So many times I have been in traffic and how I wished the van was standard

[ws6 jim]

Thanks for the input. Dads been the one in my ear about me being careful and over stating the importance of not having a mishap in a car I don't know how to drive. The 3 manual cars I've had short runs in over the years was a Chevette, Beetle, and Fit. I never really got comfortable enough in either being how small they were and their cumulative engine size and HP<LS3. We shall see I guess.

[coolmanvette75]

went to the parking lot when i bought my 94z. ive watched my dad drive his 5 speed vette for years, so i had the basic concept. when we got to the lot my dad told me to get in and give it a try. i pretty much got right in and drove it away. bucked it a few times my first day but never stalled. that was about 2 months ago and ive been good since

[BigAls87Z28]

I got stuck in traffic on the GSP in the Oranges, where it likes to get hilly. My left leg was sore after that nightmare.

[maroman88]

about a week to nail it down

[maroman88]

Originally Posted by coolmanvette75

went to the parking lot when i bought my 94z. ive watched my dad drive his 5 speed vette for years, so i had the basic concept. when we got to the lot my dad told me to get in and give it a try. i pretty much got right in and drove it away. bucked it a few times my first day but never stalled. that was about 2 months ago and ive been good since

wat year vette? IIRC they went from the 4+3 to the M6

[LuvMyF8LWS6]

I learned in about 20 minutes driving an old Ranger in a parking lot. But it is true, will take a week or so until you have everything down pack because you don't run into the same scenarios everyday. (i.e. hills, traffic, sudden stops, ect)

[coolmanvette75]

Originally Posted by maroman88

wat year vette? IIRC they went from the 4+3 to the M6

75 with a zz465 small block and a tremec tko 5-speed

[BullittSVT]

Didn't take more than a few hours to drive it bearably around, practiced for a week on and off. Took it out at night time traffic and was doing considerally fine. You might have some hiccups for another week or two but it goes away. I love manual <3

Getting into first and going SMOOTHLY and reverse (As well as going up hill from a stop) are very important

[79T/A]

My first new vehicle was my Jeep. My buddy drove it off the lot for me and we went straight to a parking lot with hills. Practiced accelerating up a hill for a good half hour before I felt comfortable enough to get out on the road, and then drove around for an hour or two. Like many here, it was about a week or so before I was comfortable with it.

[Azmedian]

I learned drivin a tow truck with a car on the back in hoboken.
While my brother was in a shop, cop rolls up hits the lights. My bro is like "heres how ya learn". & walked away
I cant belive i didnt hit anything.

[greenformula92]

it takes about a week or so, i taught myself in a fox body mustang with a king cobra clutch.....it was not fun, but then i got it....and now i can drive any car within 5 minutes of getting into it

[B4C]

Youll be fine in a couple days. ^Agree with blk95 if you learn on something hard youll be able to drive anything else. I learned on a fox body with a very heavy clutch everything else was easy

[The Fixer]

Honestly, I think higher-powered cars are easier to learn on. I tought myself how to drive stick on my grandfather's '77 Datsun B210. That car had manual steering, manual brakes, a 4-speed with a shift throw a mile long, and was slow as dirt. Trying to pull away from a stop sign without bucking or stalling was a real trick. After that experience, I was able to move my old boss' '90 6-speed Vette in the parking lot at work without a hitch.

I enjoyed driving manual trans so much I got my buddies to help me swap one into my Monte.

[Firebird92]

About 30 minutes

well i was working at a valet company Parking productions, and put on my app i could drive stick (i lied lol) so they put me as the only manual driver at a county club. So we got a 911 turbo , M3 and a Zo6 so i called my father and he talked me in to 1st 2nd and reverse after stalling 3 times in the 911 i finally got it...

NEVER pick a 911 to learn on -.-

[ws6 jim]

Picked up the car yesterday took it around the neighborhood today.