Hey Axel, thanks for the reply. I see what you're saying, but I don't think I made the situation really clear, so let me try again.

I'm sitting in traffic, car is in neutral, left foot resting on dead pedal. I see the car in front of me start creeping up, so I throw it in 1st, and start slipping the clutch as I give it a tiny bit of gas. Then the car in front of me slows down, so instead of me taking the clutch pedal out all the way, which would cause me to go too fast for the circumstance, I depress the clutch all the way, and let go off the gas. This rolls the car forward a little. Now, I CAN, at this point in time, throw the car into neutral and bring my left foot onto the dead pedal again, but the car in front of me moves again, so to avoid needless shifting bakc and forth, I start to slip the clutch a little again, and repeat the same procedure (i.e. don't let the clutch out all the way, cause I'd go too fast). However, if I do this a few times, my left foot ends up moving up on the clutch pedal, and the "meat" of the pedal is now resting against the middle of my sneaker (or even by the heel), instead of by the toes.

Do you see what I'm saying now?

Thanks

 

Yes, my recommendation is 1) if you can, wait a little longer in order to not slip the clutch so much and see how far the car in front goes forward (2 feet or 10 feet). I say if you can cause sometimes if you leave too much room some wise guy will try to change lanes right in front of you. With 10 feet, you can let the clutch all the way out and you won't go too fast (again, you can go 1 mph with the clutch completely out if you don't give it a lot of gas) and 2) I put it back in neutral when I see the traffic ahead stops again. I see the cars in front of the car I'm behind and if I see them stopped, I know that I'll be stopped for more than 3 seconds (knowing that by the time the car in front of the car in front of me decides to start moving, the car in front of me will take a second or two to react and start creeping. If you can't see the car in front of the car in front of you cause the car in front of you is a big SUV or minivan or something, I always end up being slightly on the side so that I can see two cars ahead minimum.
Again, that means a lot of shifting from neutral to first but I don't like having the clutch pressed down in 1st gear for too long AND constantly going back and forth on the clutch (in other words, constantly creeping) isn't great for the clutch.
I don't know if this helps you though...
(Some people don't realize you can go just as slowly as an automatic without having to have your clutch in halfway). The ONLY time I don't take my foot off the clutch in stop and go traffic is when I see the car in front of the car in front of me starting to move just AS I'm stopping. However, if this doesn't work for you and you want to keep driving exactly like you're driving right now, you might want to try different seating positions (getting closer or further away from the clutch). To each their own I guess, so personal tests need to be performed

 

The best thing i have found is to use neutral a lot... it does make you shift back and forth between first and neutral more but that way you won't be riding the clutch and you can make adjustments to your foot position.. in stop and go traffic, you are usually going to have to move readjust your foot every once in awhile...

I usually give myself a little space from the car in front of me and just coast in nuetral, if i need to give the car some gas i throw it in gear and then back into nuetral to coast.

 

toliet seat plunger...haha
naaaaaa...its easy as **** to drive a stick...
If you can play the drums you can drive a sick
its all about the cordination

 

Ok, I see what you're saying. I usually do exactly what you say, but there are times that I see cars are stopping and going in front of me, so I know that as soon as I depress the clutch all the way, I'll have to start moving again, so throwing it into neutral will create a lot of shifting for not much moving (if you know what I mean).

Same thing happens when I use reverse, since there you pretty much never let out the clutch completely since you'll be going too fast for reverse (again, in MOST cases). So if I'm trying to parallel park, I ride the clutch a slight bit, and then depress it, ride it, depress it, etc etc. The foot slips over the clutch pedal as well.

Anyhow, I guess I'll try to play with my seating position, and see if that helps.

Thanks guys

 

Well I personally learned on and off on over 20 diff cars. I almost got whiplash the 1st time cuz I had no1 to teach me anything, kinda figured it out myself. Now ive gotten to the point were its like second nature (even though I drive and auto , ill fix that soon) I actually learned to shift gears w/o having to use the clutch. What can I say does the clutch a favor but if u dont know how please just dont, u can easily grind the gears if u do it wrong.

 

I had to drive my car for over 150 miles with the clutch stuck in the engaged position. I ended up having to do some clutchless shifting for a few hours until I got to the dealership. (I was in the middle of nowhere). Everytime I stopped the car would stall and I'd have to start it up again. Not fun...my gear box is fine though cause I luckily knew how to do it but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone

 

Yeah its okay to do it when driving normally, but damn that sucks that it was stuck in the engaged position. Shifting isnt too big of a problem its getting off the line w/o stallin. As long as Rpms are kept relativley low and u know when to let off the gas and when to shift ull be ok, but if timing is 100% perfect ull be greeted with a loud grind.

 

But I DO play the drums!
So what's my problem?

 

I learned on my last car - a 1992 Acura Ingegra GS-R... what an awesome manual tranny to learn on. If there's one thing Honda does right, it's 5-speeds...

 

yea i learned on my friends max

 

Cant argue with that, just its anoying since there is no torque what so ever in the lowend so its easier to stall. Unlike with a max.....

 

True... Honda engines have less torque than I can make with my bicycle... but, keep it in the sweetspot and I could squeel my tires from 1st to 2nd - something I can't really do with the Max... I also find that the 5-speed in my 2001 AE feels "floaty" compared to the precise Acura tranny (mind you I did have energy bushings and a DC sports short throw kit)...

 

Learned 99% on my max while all my friends sitting in the car laughed everytime I stalled.

The other 1% was a couple of laps around the block on an old Z and an older Prelude.

 

Can anyone tell me how much faster a 2k-2k1 5 speed is compared to an auto from the same years? Is there a little difference or a big difference? Also will a 5 speed 2k-2k1 stay with a 2k2-2k3 auto?

 

You too? seriously, its like learning to drive a manual all over again when you drive with a pair of shoes you arent used to using. I thought I was the only one.

 

in a 96 M3...

 

in a 1980 MG Midget... now that was scary to learn on...

 

I learned from a car ride at Chuck E Cheeses.

 

I think Vito got it - learn where the "take-in" point is. It's simple - all you have to do is match the revs.

I have driven manuals all my life (some 30+years), and my 2k Max SE is my first automatic. I enjoy it - especially when crawling in heavy traffic, but I miss driving a manual now and then.

 

beat up 180k miles 91 civic

hey, at least civic is good for something

 

Learned on a 1987 Toyota LandCruiser. That thing is huge

 

I first learned to drive stick on a 99 Accord Coupe which I borrowed from a dealership for a test drive.