YoungLee

I just got a valet job, and the problem is I cant drive a stick. I practiced today and learned pretty fast, how to start, drive around the parking lot, and stop correctly. I used this guys technique:

http://www.sworddance.com/blog/2008/...in-45-minutes/

I still have a hard time figuring out when to push the gas when im letting off the clutch. If anyone has any advice they wanna throw out there itd be appreciated.

Mistertones

All cars are different. It's just finding the "sweet spot" in the clutch. Like the tutorial said. Put it in gear, and let go of the clutch very slowly and you'll feel it engage. There are a lot of youtube videos on "how to drive stick". IIRC, Someone used an Audi TT.

johnnyd2k2

iTrader: (2)

Once you learn where the clutch starts to grab is when you use the gas but ONLY when it grabs not before or you'll go lurching forward get scared and stall , the way I learned is equal presure between both feet, IE. you apply the same presure to the gas as you do releasing the clutch, but NOT before you feel it start to grab.

Bakermax

iTrader: (2)

Learning how to drive stick is the worst, I remember almost driving my dad crazy when I learned.

krazy6

iTrader: (5)

I taught myself with my last car. Just drove around for 6 hours until I felt comfortable with it.

nzelinsky

iTrader: (1)

you have to find the clutch threshold. that is the point where it starts to grab. once you can feel the threshold, thats the point where you ease on the gas.

there is no definitive way to say how to drive stick exactly. practice practice practice. If you have a friend with a stick try and get them to let you drive it around for a while and get a feel for it.

The best way to feel and get used to a clutch threshold is to practice starting in first gear uphill. If you can get moving uphill, it will take alot of practice, everything else will be super easy compared to that.

good luck with the new job!

nalc

iTrader: (11)

When I first started, I also tried the "learn how to use the clutch to move the car without the gas pedal" technique.

Most beginners I've seen over-rev the engine before the clutch is engaged, then they drop the clutch and the car leaps forwards and stalls.

Spend like 30 minutes just practicing without using the gas, so you know exactly where the clutch bites. Once you have a good feel for that, then just give it a little gas as it's starting to bite.

Mistertones

All cars are different...I've driven my car, My cousins Mazda Speed 3, My cousins TL-S, Rx-8, G35's....The most difficult car I'd say is the Mazda Speed 3. The Maxima is the easiest by far!!

Ghost_54

iTrader: (13)

Learning to drive a stick can be a challenge as they guys have already said just about every car is going to be different as to where the engagement area is when releasing the clutch and apply just a little on the gas ... you will find that everytime you have to part a different kind of vehicle. The real test will be when you out side the comfort of the parking lot and find yourself having to stop at a traffic light on an up hill grade this is where you have to learn the clutch feel really well and use the emergency brake along with the gas ... brings back fond memories

nalc

iTrader: (11)

Yes, but don't get freaked out. The first 25 miles you drive will be nerve wracking, but it only gets easier from there. Don't get discouraged if you stall at first, or if some jerk yells at you if you stall at a light. It's happened to all of us.

The first night I was driving it, this guy was tailgating me up to a light in a big SUV, even tho it was a 2-lane road and there were no other cars. We both stopped. It went green, I stalled it. He started laying on his horn and cursing at me, because he rode my bumper so hard coming up to the light that he couldn't switch into the empty lane next to me . I got it started, then stalled it again, because by then I was nearly freaking out. You would think the guy would have noticed my brake lights weren't on, so I obviously knew it was green, but some people are just stupid I guess. It had rained earlier, so the road was slick, and I ended up doing like a 50 yard burnout because I dumped the clutch at 4k-5k rpm just to make sure I didn't stall a third time.

So, don't get discouraged if it's difficult at first. After a week, it will be almost second nature to you.

The6spdMax

iTrader: (23)

I learned how to drive stick 2 weeks ago. Now the max is my daily commute car...
I would say good way to practice is driving uphill, use your hand-brake and you won't roll back.

e-subliminal-2

iTrader: (7)

That was nasttyy, he put that audi to hell just teaching us. He also stalled purposley on a busyyyy *** rush hour day to show how much people don't like stalling hahaa.

Unklejoe

iTrader: (6)

Slowly let out the clutch and once it starts to grab, hold it there for a sec until the speed of the engine matches the speed of the car (hard to explain), then release all the way. You can also lightly press the gas pedal if you want to take off a little harder. The whole process should take 2 seconds or less.

Make sure you don't keep your foot on the clutch unless your shifting.

Make sure you don't move the shifter unless your foot is on the clutch.

You'll get the hang of it. I hated my car until I learned how to drive now I love it!

Augustus Maximus

iTrader: (6)

When you can truly drive a stick the clutch becomes unnecessary. In other words I can drive a manual with or without using the clutch. A lot a manual drivers know nothing about how to time a gearbox. That's why you see them all over the forum babbling about how they keep killing their gearbox...morons.

e-subliminal-2

iTrader: (7)

I've heard of driving w.o a stick, a buddy of mine was sellin his 6mt and some dude just started driving w.o the clutch and freaked him out. But apparently you can.. Can this really have no side effects?

sontakke

Learn on the job! You will have lots of opportunity to get your technique right :-)

Seriously, 5th generation Maxima is one of the easiest car to learn on. On a flat surface, you can get Maxima rolling *without* touching the gas pedal at all. It has enough torque at idle speed.

- Vikas

nalc

iTrader: (11)

You need the clutch when you go from a stop to first gear, but not necessarily to switch between the other gears. The clutch is designed to get the drivetrain going at the same rpm as the motor. If you use a lot of precision, you can pull it out of gear, rev the engine to the exact RPM it needs to be for the gear you're going into, and put it in.

I don't know anyone who actually drives like that... I know it's been discussed here before, and the general consensus is that a good driver can push the clutch in and change gears in the same amount of time that it takes to get the right RPM for clutchless shifting.

However, when you're doing this, you're taking away the safety net that having a clutch gives you. I'd be very wary of someone who gets in a car and drives it the first time without a clutch - it's something that takes a lot of precision to do.

Augustus Maximus

iTrader: (6)

Normally you do need the clutch when initially moving off, but when my slave cylinder died on my 97 max. I started it in gear and drove it...rough but do-able and not recommended at all. Another thing I do when I have someone in the passenger seat is to watch for jerking movement when I switch gears. When you become smooth it means you are properly coordinating the response of the clutch, accelerator and gear shift in relationship to each other. You can also manipulate your gas mileage with a manual car, and brake usage...I could go on.

doggy style

yup its all about the clutch, i used to have an eclipse and i drove my friends civic si and his clutch was so soft i almost stalled couldn't believe it

Unklejoe

iTrader: (6)

Yeah you always want to use the clutch when shifting.

Yeah its possible to not use the clutch, alot of truck drivers do it.

Even if you think that you're perfectly rev-matched, you hardly ever are.
You could be off like 5 RPM, which means that the syncros now have to bring the whole rotating mass of the engine to the proper speed.

So even if it feels like it slid right into gear, the syncros still most likely absorbed the differential in speed.

If you use the clutch, it only has to bring the transmission input shaft to speed instead of the whole rotating mass of the engine. Use the clutch.

Basically, you are wearing the syncros way faster by not using the clutch.

Plus at a race you will have to use the clutch as it will allow you to shift way faster than if you had to rev-match every gear.

viperboy

iTrader: (7)

The one thing that some people think is right when it starts to move, you can pull the clutch all the way out, but you can't. Once the car reaches the "friction point" (where the car starts to move when you let the clutch out) let it out a little bit further and hold it there for about a second and you will drive smoother.

It's a little hard to explain, but you just have to try it. I was surprised because my girlfriend was like "I wanna drive your car!!" and I'm thinking oh god but I explained a few things to her that people already posted in this thread and she drove pretty well for a first timer.

Point is, of the girlfriend can drive stick, you can haha

YoungLee

Thanks guys. I had no problem at all getting the car going without touching the gas, i actually picked up good speed. Im only going to be driving the car uphill/downhill, ie they pull up, i drive up a winding hill in the parking garage, and I bring it down. I really dont want to stall out while going up the hill. I doubt I can avoid using the gas up the hill. Going uphill, or anytime, should I push the gas before I start lifting off the clutch?

th3shuck

iTrader: (5)

It will come with time. Once you figure it out, you'll be good driving stick for the rest of your life.

Mistertones

Parallel parking is a little tricky also. Imagine parking in the city and coming out to your car boxed in between two cars. =(. Philly sucks!!

1991Maxima1991

iTrader: (3)

a Great way to practice your clutch skills is to get on an incline and let your car roll back and engauge the clutch so it rolls up and then let it roll back again and keep doing this...i usually do it when im in a hurry waiting for a light.....lol

tokenblackidVQ

yup im not as good wit driving stick as well this is my 1st MT car.. so that link will be getting much use tomorrow.. lol but i do use the gas.. .. i rev a lil so i dont stall bc the drivers here are serious D-bagz.. so i rev up to like 500 and them slowly let off.. sounds horrible i bet ... but yuh man keep practicing.. i found that backing up is way easier than i thought.. i reverse better than i move forward.. my clutch seems kinda deep so imma practice finding the sweet spot with the link u posted .. thanx man.. oh yuh grats on gettin a job

tokenblackidVQ

i got challenged by some kids in a souped up scion tc... i was in my 1991 celica gts and they asked me to race.. i knew they were up to something.. but i said no b/c i was on delivery for my job.. i deliver pizzas.. they pulled off from the light and it turned out it was a turboed tc.. i was like u little ****ers... tried to add me to your list of ppl u beat.. thats when i wished i was in my maxi... i prolly wudda kicked their asses

Col Ronson

practice in a large empty parking lot, like the ones at costco or walmart when they're closed. practice 1st to 2nd. it took me a whole 15 minutes to learn, but i was driving a honda civic, so i suppose it was easier in that.

tokenblackidVQ

are civic clutches easier?? my max clutch is deep.. or thats how it feels to me.. i wonder how feather clutches do with noob drivers like myself lol

nalc

iTrader: (11)

The Maxima is an easy clutch because the VQ has a fat powerband and good low-end torque, so it can move the car at low RPMs.

tokenblackidVQ

cool i im good with gettin around town and stuff.. i just wanna get better with comin off the clutch and not burning it up.. not that i have.. im just apprehensive about it.. i dont wanna have to replace 1

nalc

iTrader: (11)

Eh as long as you don't go wild it's fine. I'm at nearly 150k, and I don't recall the clutch ever having been replaced.

Just practice, then you'll develop the finesse to eliminate any jerks or chirps.

Celired

iTrader: (2)

Originally I thought the Maxima was a really hard car to learn standard in, the clutch does feel deep I think, but then again I've only driven two other standard cars so I guess it varies. I took time driving around my neighborhood to learn it, and after a few times I got it down

MoncefA33

iTrader: (6)

Civic/Accord clutches don't have as much pedal travel as a Maxima clutch does. I've driven both Civic and Accord and yes they are 'softer' but I wouldn't say they're easier just because you don't have as much pedal travel.

viperboy

iTrader: (7)

Easiest clutch to drive on, IMO is a VW clutch. A retarted monkey could do it

wyche89

everyone is saying dont touch the gas until you feel the clutch engage, but i dont see the problem in revving the motor a little bit.. i usually rev up to about 1200 rpms or so, then begin to let the clutch out and press the gas in more gradually.. thats not enough rpms to kill the clutch, but makes for a smoother, easier take off

MoncefA33

iTrader: (6)

x2 here. If you let the clutch out slowly on anything less torquey than a VQ it'll judder and possibly freak out a new manual car driver.

Balancing throttle inputs and clutch inputs is the key here, it's not so much one pedal or the other.

tokenblackidVQ

cool cuz i thought that i was goin about it all wrong.. u can rev a lil.. good.. cuz i give it around 500-1000 then start comin off the clutch. u know that there are a million ways to TELL a person how to drive stick and a 1000 youtube vids describing and showing you how to drive,but the only way is to get out there and **** up a whole lot.. lawl b/c the day i bought my max.. i had to go up a damn hill the 1st day.. no body taught me or told me about adequate clutch and gas so that i do not roll back as far.. i had heard the e-brake trick but didnt really know how to do it.. my approach was i dont wanna hit no body so imma let the cars in front go up a bit and then just kinda jerk and launch a lil.. i still suck but im more confident but eventually i got it.. but dont get me wrong.. i did study youtube vids and take advice,but its a whole nother story when you are in traffic and everything seems to be a slight incline.. then you go god dammit this again.. you realize how many hills are in your town lol.. its all about confidence from there on

sontakke

What people are telling you is to learn to move the car without touching the gas. Once you get hang of it, then start using the gas. Since you will be doing this on everyone else's cars, always give little bit of gas.

- Vikas

The6spdMax

iTrader: (23)

tokenblackidVQ - driving uphill using hand-brake its the safest for rookie manual driver because the car will not roll back at all.

First when come to a stop on a hill, pull up the hand-brake, (make sure you are on 1st gear and foot on the clutch) then you can let go of the brake. Now drive like what you normally do... when its green light, give it a little bit of gas while releasing the clutch slowly. The car still on hand-brake but once you feel the car start pulling up, you can release the hand-brake and you are good to go. You should try it, it works!