OMG! Can you drive a stick?

[LuckyMe]

Ok now. I have done alot of challenging things in my life before. I had my child when I was 16-went to college-so forth and so on but my newest challenge is quite difficult. I just bought a car for my 16 year old son (the above mentioned only child) and it is a manual-OMG. I feel like I am never going to get this! I am doing better, but today we went to the grocery store and the whole trip was going well until I had to leave the store. I had to go up this big hill (after 5 minutes of sitting there saying to myself-alright you can do it) and finally went up the hill and said to hell with this, I aint stopping and went straight through the stop sign at the top and turned left. Obviously there was not any traffic coming or I would not have went ,but I was so worried about either stalling or rolling backward there was no way! Does anyone have any suggestions that would make driving a manual any easier? I think if both of us would have started learning on a stick, it would be easier because he is struggling a little to. However, I fell like at 32, can an old dog learn a new trick?

 

[NYAngel98]

I can't either... LOL I can do better some days than others, sometimes I can cruise - others I'm lucky if I dont' stall moving one of my bf's cars around the parking lot! I've always had automatics, but being his little Saturn is a stick, I figured I'd try it out. I'm HORRIBLE!!!

 

[Geek]

Originally Posted by LuckyMe

Ok now. I have done alot of challenging things in my life before. I had my child when I was 16-went to college-so forth and so on but my newest challenge is quite difficult. I just bought a car for my 16 year old son (the above mentioned only child) and it is a manual-OMG. I feel like I am never going to get this! I am doing better, but today we went to the grocery store and the whole trip was going well until I had to leave the store. I had to go up this big hill (after 5 minutes of sitting there saying to myself-alright you can do it) and finally went up the hill and said to hell with this, I aint stopping and went straight through the stop sign at the top and turned left. Obviously there was not any traffic coming or I would not have went ,but I was so worried about either stalling or rolling backward there was no way! Does anyone have any suggestions that would make driving a manual any easier? I think if both of us would have started learning on a stick, it would be easier because he is struggling a little to. However, I fell like at 32, can an old dog learn a new trick?


OH oh oh...............I did this about 1.5 years ago with my son Anthony. I gave him a Nissan mini pickup truck, I thought he would NEVER get it. But he did, just fine. He got it pretty quickly, actually. What we did was drive around from tract to tract (we live right by beach and there are some housing tracts around). I made him do everything from upshift to downshift and stop and start alot. Don't make him do so difficult things when they are such a new STICK driver like the hills etc. Just basic stopping and starting stuff...

 

[Marisol]

I can't drive a stick either. I have tried and several people have tried to show me but I just can't.

 

[envymi]

I tried learning stick when I was in HS, but those damn hills in the BAY!!! I was with my man at the time and we were rolling backwards...I haven't tried since, I've had all automatics. I've been wanting to learn, but all the cars here are autos.

 

[Sofia]

Practice, practice and more practice!!! The very first car I had was a bmw 325 manual transmission, my dad's when he decided he needed a new one. I told him I would never learn to drive that thing, but he told me that if I was ever in some kind of emergency and the only car available was stick, what was I going to do? I just remembered that. I stalled so many times before I finally began to get a feel for it. I think as long as you can get it out of 1st, you should have no problem. The more you practice, the more you will get a feel of when you need to up-shift and downshift. Try to drive around your neighborhood/mall parking lots as much as possible at different speeds until you pick it up. I hated it at first, but once I got the hand of it, it was fun and I live in a heavily populated city with lots of bumper to bumper traffic and crazy ass cab drivers, NYC. Good luck!

One more thing - I have a friend in SF who only knows how to drive stick and she, god bless her, never learned how to drive automatic, because she didn't think she could ever pick it up. I just had a nice chuckle remembering that.

 

[Andi]

I can drive a stick cause I have to cause 80% of the cars here don´t have automatic. you need to get a feeling for the car that´s all. there is a certain point where the engine gets louder and that´s when you need to upshift.

do you have any trouble starting the car-I mean getting it from park to drive? that´s what caused the most trouble for me.

 

[K*O*]

Getting outta first was a p.i.t.a. for me

- I tried to learn on a friends car, however - The car would buck, like it had hiccups!!! (Keep em') - Automatics for me! Funny, I always break w/my left foot, been doing that for ever!

 

[lilla]

I learned driving with a stick and I didn't learn it in 2 minutes but I got there pretty quickly. I love driving a stick but I haven't owned a stick shift for 2 years now. I miss it a lot because I loved driving it. My hubby can also but he prefers auto-drive in the city

 

[lovesboxers]

I learned how to drive a stick at 16 in high school. My mother had an auto, but my dad made me learn on the stick, because he said you never know when you will need it. I am so glad that I did. I never got an automatic until I was 26. It just takes practice.

 

[monniej]

i love driving a stick. i think the key is to make sure to ease of the clutch at the same time you press the gas making sure the pressure in even. that way the car won't jerk you and cut off. i hope that made sense.

 

[Geek2]

I like driving a stick too. You will get it. Just keep practising! I used to hate the hills too and would avoid them because of the stick until I got better. I still remember being nervous whenever I had to stop at a hill. I haven't driven a stick sift since I moved from Finland so it's been many years. I wouldn't mind driving a stick car again because it's so much more fun than the automatic. I used to say that driving an automatic car is not real driving but I don't complain now because I'll take an automatic anyday over a stick sift for sitting in huge traffic.

 

[glamslam]

No, no and no! I'm too scared to learn so I never even tried.

I often have dreams that I am doing it tho! Is that weird!?!

 

[Shanel]

I love driving stick too! I dont have one currently, but Its easiest for gas mileage. I used to have a nice civic, I looved that car! so much more fun to drive stick!

 

[Lisa329]

My dad made me learn to drive in his standard. Of course this was on backroads. I could dry one now if I HAD too, but I am still not comfortable doing so. My dh has a stick shift and I only drive it to MILs (next door) or maybe down our road to the store.