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Originally Posted by sheepdog 44
i'm having some reservations abut doing this. Do you think it's possible to learn enough in one day? Could you guys give me some tips?
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Unfortunately, it's harder to learn to drive stick on a low-torque car like this (I learned on my father's 1984 Nissan truck--those were some times...). The best car I've seen for teaching someone to drive stick was actually a Viper, because you can get the car moving quite easily in first (or second, or third) without touching the throttle, just learning to manipulate the clutch.
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What i worry about is getting it into 2nd from 3rd double clutching into nuetral inbetween. The Ima battery is toast so I won't have any instant restart luxuries.
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This shouldn't be a problem; once you're up to speed, you'll have plenty of time to complete shifts without the car losing too much speed.
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I don't quite understand the best way to get it to stop at a stop light or a toll booth- what exactly i'm supposed to do.
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Well, you can either press the clutch, take it out of gear, and use the brakes to slow the car, or put it in the next lower gear, let the clutch out and let the engine braking slow you down. When you're slow enough that the engine wants to stall in second, put it in neutral and use the brakes. To leave, clutch in, first gear, release the clutch slowly while you give it some gas. If you aren't comfortable doing that yet, you'll probably want to practice on an empty street or parking lot.
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Once i have good momentum going can i shift with the clutch and not worry about stalling the engine?
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Yep.
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I had one lesson a while back where i only took it to 40mph that lasted a half an hour.
This is a 2000 honda insight. wht rpm should i shift and what mph between gears going up and down. i need to create a cheat sheet.
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I haven't driven an Insight, but most cars anywhere between 1500rpm and redline is fine for shifting. If the engine lugs or stalls, you shifted too soon. I learned in cars that didn't have tachometers, and I think it's easier to just listen to the engine and ignore the tach, YMMV.
If the Insight gearing is like the Civic, probably:
1st: 0-15mph
2nd: 10-25mph
3rd: 20-35mph
4th: 35-50mph
5th: 45-infinity and beyond!
All measurements with a big "-ish" at the end.