GOT mt GT-S... Now to learn Stick Shift!

[BRAK]

OK i got a 2002 GT-S silver ......Now i need to learn to drive stick.
Im alright at it .. i get a jerking a little when i change gears... but im gettin better.Didnt stall yet TG lol . But its my first manual and it made me a little nervous at first .... im still a very little nevous drivin it but im gettin used to it.
Anybody have any tips on downshifting .... or taking corners slow?.... TY
nick

[Maelfyn]

When in doubt, throw it in neutral!

[DrewSilverGT]

to take a corner slow i usally put it into 2nd, or if coming up to a stop sign and dont want to complety stop id put it into 2nd.

[MikeM380]

<B>OK i got a 2002 GT-S silver ......Now i need to learn to drive stick.
Im alright at it .. i get a jerking a little when i change gears... but im gettin better.Didnt stall yet TG lol . But its my first manual and it made me a little nervous at first .... im still a very little nevous drivin it but im gettin used to it. </B>

You've got to be kidding me. If your a senior member, then you you know about all this talk of misthrowing the gears around. Even experienced owners are throwing the GT-S stick all over the gate, putting tremendous stresses on the engine, and sometimes throwing bearings and rods, and all sorts of moving crap. And the worse part is, most dealerships aren't covering the costs of most of that stuff.

Give me a break. Take the Celica off the road, take the money you were going to spend for that Injen Air Intake and buy a piece of s**t car with a stick and learn on that. What are you thinking?

Sorry for the rant, it just doesn't make sense when people buy these $25000 cars, and don't know how to drive them, and end up hurting them.

Mike

[Kit99bar]

hi! I learned to drive stick shift on my GT-S back last March.

You should learn to double clutch. it's a good habit. If I'm going any slower than 15 mph I will always double clutch it into 1st. I feel it's not good to drive at 3 mph in 2nd gear :)

to double clutch:

1) driving in 2nd gear at 15 mph
2) step on clutch and pull stick into neutral position
3) release clutch
4) rev engine up to the rpm that you expect it to be in 1st gear at this speed
5) step on ctluch and pop stick into 1st gear
6) relase clutch and your in 1st gear now :)

You should double clutch all your downshifts.

when you get good, you can learn heel toe shifting which is the same thing as double clutching except you do steps 3 - 5 while braking :)

[BRAK]

TY guys im learning really fast to use the neutral as a estimating the gear holding position. oh and for the one guy that is "yelling" at me for making the GT-S my first standard car .... what is up with you .. It is not like im racing the damn thing im just doing regular driving . The ones that throw out bearings and other **** are the kids that also dont know how to drive stick AND ARE RACING THEM ... PEELING OUT ... ABUSING... and driving the car not knowing the damage they do. I on the other hand go steady and at a good pace.. never yet breaking the speed limit .Im taking it easy until it becomes second nature.
I love the car ... and it has great power. I had peeps rev on me but i just go at my regular pace.I will get more agressive WHEN I GET GOOD. but for now its fun just to drive.
More comments are also welcome if yoiu have any.
Oh and i have been starting in 2nd gear sometimes ... is this ok to do ?
ty
Nick

[MikeM380]

Ah yes, double clutching. Definiately a must to learn. That way when you downshift at speeds, you don't get that "lurch" effect on the front of the car when the vehicles momentum slows. Always double clutch to downshift, and if coming to a dead stop, learning heal and toe is the next step. Anyway, these methods will also save some clutch material and the vehicle "feels" better doing this versus letting the RPMs fall below the gear and then engaging.

Yup.


Mike

[MikeM380]

<B>"...It is not like im racing the damn thing im just doing regular driving ..."</B>

What does that have to do with how to drive stick? I wasn't asking if you were racing a $500,000 F1 car, or driving a $25000 Toyota. All I was saying why risk hurting a brand new car? That's all, its your money and time, not mine. I'm giving you a heads up, since I seen a lot of my friends do the same thing. They even had the balls to ask me if they could learn on my 300ZX. My 300ZX is HALF the price of your GT-S, and even at that I wouldn't let them use it. Use something really ****ty and easy to use, like I said before some 1984 Honda Accord or Toyota Corolla.

I wouldn't just blame kids for abusing these cars (even though the 18-21 market segment is going to get punched in the stomach with hiked up insurance rates, because Rich Daddy bought Maxmillian a new GT-S and he wrapped it around a tree racing a Civic Si the very next day, *example*). Anyway, just my two cents on the whole "learning how to drive stick in _________" story. I just heard it before and a few months later you'll be back, this time posting a thread in the tech section asking about where to get a new clutch because "I fried the s**t out of it in two months since I don't know what I'm doing" thing.

Sorry for going on and on, but I'm not yelling at you, just telling you my experience with all this.

Good luck.

Mike

[BRAK]

Oh ok i see what your saying now. Well i did learn how to drive stick in my dads old Ford van LOL . I did really well and all my start ups (and the GT-S) are smoooth. The van was a 5 spd and i drove it good. What i mean really is that the 6 spd is closer ... a little differant feeling .... and it is very "rev happy" compared to my dads van LOL . I Test drove a gt stick perfectly ..... But this GT-S is VERY sensative to reving high. My dad even said crap it perky ... i just looked at him and lauphed(thats when me and my father test drove one when i went home on leave). He has been driving stick for a while and even said the GT-S does take getting used to compared to other "regular" cars.
I hope you know what i mean,, The only thing i do that might be bad is i ride the clutch in 1st . But thats it .... is that really bad?
It might be a habit i dont know.

[Kit99bar]

BAH I learned to drive stick shift on my celica and I'm good enough of a driver to be good to my car :)

[BRAK]

KITBARR99 since you learned to drive stick on your GT-S .. did you run into any problems?

[BRAK]

oops i mean Kit99bar:p :D

[Pinoyspd17]

1) driving in 2nd gear at 15 mph
2) step on clutch and pull stick into neutral position
3) release clutch
4) rev engine up to the rpm that you expect it to be in 1st gear at this speed
5) step on ctluch and pop stick into 1st gear
6) relase clutch and your in 1st gear now

sup guys...

would there be any negative effects if i downshifted this way?...i ask cuz this is how i "double-clutch":

1) driving in gear...
2) step on clutch....shift to a lower gear..
3) rev-match while still holding down clutch..
4) slip clutch...resume driving..

ive read you guys' (and possibly everyone else's) method of double-clutching before..just wondering about this alternative method..

thanx guys...

[Humza]

i am learning stick on my gt-s as well. Its not that hard.... just take it slow, about 2 months or so of practicing and getting used to the car. Its better to have experience on older cars though so you don't blow the engine.

I learned on a brand new gt-s at a different dealership. I never really liked them anyway:rolleyes:

[xav3x]

Pinoyspd17 .. hey.. what ur doing is fine.. but it's not double clutching. Double clutching saves wear on synchros..

ur method does not save wear on synchros..

it only helps clutch wear and provides smoother shifts (not shocking the transmission)

[sexiest]

Kit99bar: Your method is surely okay. This goes back to the question as to whether we should 'double declutch' (or double clutch) when performing heel-and-toe. Take heel-and-toe as an example, racing drivers nowadays only hit the brake, step on the clutch and rev-match simultaneously. while the ball of the foot is still on the brake pedal.

[Kit99bar]

no problems man.

I remember there were months were I went out everynight for 20 minutes just to drive outta the love of driving manual.

I slowly got better and better.

Now I don't do it anymore. :)

Originally posted by BRAK
KITBARR99 since you learned to drive stick on your GT-S .. did you run into any problems?

[Kit99bar]

man this is way easier. if I ever try autox'n out I'd do this!

Originally posted by sexiest
Kit99bar: Your method is surely okay. This goes back to the question as to whether we should 'double declutch' (or double clutch) when performing heel-and-toe. Take heel-and-toe as an example, racing drivers nowadays only hit the brake, step on the clutch and rev-match simultaneously. while the ball of the foot is still on the brake pedal.

[benNNN]

I, as a good citizen, am obligated to post this link...

http://www.happytogether.com/318ti/notebook/shifting/index.html

It helped me out when I was learning to drive on my 25000 toy.

[BRAK]

TY benn for that post ill study / do this.
pinoyspd I do downshift that exact same way... it works well for me ..... very very little if any bog when i do it.
Just after 2 days im REALLY getting better.
1st day i went in reverse after i parked and Left the E brake OOPS:D :p
But thats the only error i have made really ... i am takin it slow but .. when i go on the highway its addictive to hit the lift in 1st and 2nd:D
TY to all who have understood what situation i had AND TY very much for the info ... on ways of better enhancing the stick shift experience.
nick