learning (teaching) to drive a manual transmission... - Page 5 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Christ · 01-07-2010, 03:10 PM

One person that wanted me to teach them how to drive a manual just "couldn't get it" but she was determined... When she went to buy a new car, she bought a manual. She then proceeded to drive it to my house, just to prove to me that she was mature enough to do it on her own, and persistent enough to take the bit that I had given her and practice it.

You don't learn to drive stick over night. You learn how to make it go, make it stop, etc... the nuances are just like every other facet of driving, and take time to master.

TEiN · 01-07-2010, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

It may not be zero, but it's negligible. The soles and heels of your shoes wear away with time, but any individual step you take doesn't wear them much. Any low rpm clutch slip isn't going to wear your clutch much. Drop the clutch at 4500 rpm, or do a shift at redline, and 100 no-gas startups in a parking lot are zero by comparison.

Exactly.

If you rev the engine to 2000 rpms, and smoothly slip the clutch out (or, as smoothly as a beginner can), you've got maybe 20-50hp and 2000 rpms grinding the clutch against the flywheel. That sounds like a fair amount of wear for every single launch.

If the engine is at idle, and you smoothly engage the clutch without any throttle, you've got around 600 rpms and 1 hp.

So, you're right that it's not *actually* zero, but it's near enough to be called zero.

TEiN · 01-07-2010, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I worked for a quality, national driver training company and taught defensive driving to new drivers for several years [ . . . ]

EG: a very few students were taught to match-rev downshift. Most couldn't get that far.

Most people can't properly rev-match (and by properly, I mean at any and all road speeds and engine speeds to be able to make quick, effortless, seamless shifts--up and down--that are completely imperceptible to a passenger who is paying attention). But just because most people can't do it doesn't mean that it can't be done or shouldn't be pursued... It just takes effort and diligence and a desire to do something really well.

Christ · 01-07-2010, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEiN

Most people can't properly rev-match (and by properly, I mean at any and all road speeds and engine speeds to be able to make quick, effortless, seamless shifts--up and down--that are completely imperceptible to a passenger who is paying attention). But just because most people can't do it doesn't mean that it can't be done or shouldn't be pursued... It just takes effort and diligence and a desire to do something really well.

I still miss it once in awhile, where I have to use the clutch to shift after screwing up, but ftmp, I've basically mastered it to the extent that I only use the clutch to get moving from a full stop. In fact, I don't even use it to stop, because once I've downshifted all the way, I just pop it out of gear when the engine/drive loads are balanced. (No more pressure on the gears.)

SentraSE-R · 01-07-2010, 05:40 PM

Cd, yours is the most troubling message in this thread. There's no reason to sit there claiming you can't do it, and no reason to handicap yourself for life because you weren't taught properly. Any San Francisco MT driver learns to start up on a hill without rolling backwards even a fraction of an inch.

Since it's not very nice to ruin someone else's clutch, the best way to learn is buy yourself an old MT beater like a $750 Hyundai Accent or an old Ford Escort, and learn to drive MT with it.

rmay635703 · 01-07-2010, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEiN

It will.

All cars will, if you have the patience and the skill.

For six years, I was an instructor at several racing schools, and one of the first things I taught--even to very experienced drivers--was being able to start the car from a stop using only the clutch. I've driven (literally) hundreds of cars, everything from econoboxes to full-blown racecars with >800hp and have never found a single one that couldn't be started from a dead stop using the clutch only--no throttle.

Suburu 360 will not clutch only start unless you are going downhill.

MetroMPG · 01-07-2010, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEiN

It just takes effort and diligence and a desire to do something really well.

True! (Well, sort of

. I have met a few people who I sincerely believe did not have the coordination to master it.)

Of course, few students (of the kind I dealt with anyway) were willing to pay for the kind of instruction to become better than average at driving a manual.