WSJ: The Dying Art of Driving a Stick Shift
03-29-2022, 05:20 PM
#31
All three of my kids (19 y.o. identical twin boys and 17 y.o. daughter) learned to drive on our 2001 BMW 325xi Touring manual and got decent at driving manual. The BMW then became my daughter's daily driver, which is the best was to REALLY learn, and now she's a pro at it. When she proudly told her Drivers' Ed teacher that she knew how to drive manual, the old fart responded with "oh great, you'll be able to drive your boyfriend's car." To which she replied "pfft, my boyfriend won't know how to drive my car!"
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03-29-2022, 08:03 PM
#32
Since we're telling stories...
I do some instructing for track events and through that, was invited to instruct for the BMW/TireRack teen Street Survival schools. I did it once 'solo' and twice with a son - each of my two older boys went through it as students - with different instructors. At the most recent one last year, I was paired with a female student driving a stock shift. Besides the classroom instruction, there's a series of cone courses - hard braking, slalom, skid-pad, braking while turning...
We get in the car, in the parking lot, and she's backing up out of the spot, and about to head over to the other side of the facility where all the cone courses are set up. As she backs up out of the spot, she jerks the clutch, chirps the tires, the car jumps back, and then she slams on the brakes as a car honks it's horn and brakes to avoid a collision - he was driving down the lane and she didn't see him due to the cars next to us.
So, that ends up being her clutch strategy for every launch - to jerk the clutch, usually chirp the tires, launch the car - not as a high speed maneuver, but just horrible technique. Before the first cone course, I directed her to the side of the lot, out of the way, and I asked her to try and start off from a stop without using the gas pedal. She tried a couple of times and wasn't able to do it, even as I guided her to go slow and smoothly. She said it was impossible with her car to do that. So I told her to get out and switch seats (this is really not done at these schools) and I got behind the wheel and showed her. - several times - how to do it. We switched back and then I asked her to try and she started to get it. Then I suggested she try it in reverse - I explained that it's only a matter of time before she gets in an accident and maybe hurts someone if she doesn't learn how to creep out of a parking spot. She tried and then said it was impossible to do it in reverse in her car - and it's funny - she's calling me 'sir' in a really passive aggressive way. So - we swap seats again and I show her how to do it in reverse - being patient and super friendly.
She was really cold for the entire session, and it was tough getting through all the drills.
Then there was lunch and a classroom session, and then we went out for the afternoon driving session. She spoke to her mom and must have calmed down. She apologized for the way she acted and thanked me for taking the tim with her. By the end of the afternoon, we were like best friends, she was singing songs, and I had her doing the skid pad (dry corn) with really great throttle steering. She was killing it on all the drills and having a blast. Turns out that she did way better in the driving exercises than my kid, and I blame that on his instructor!
Anyway - it was a great experience and I think I made a huge difference in her driving, but we didn't exchange contact info so I'll never really know...
I do some instructing for track events and through that, was invited to instruct for the BMW/TireRack teen Street Survival schools. I did it once 'solo' and twice with a son - each of my two older boys went through it as students - with different instructors. At the most recent one last year, I was paired with a female student driving a stock shift. Besides the classroom instruction, there's a series of cone courses - hard braking, slalom, skid-pad, braking while turning...
We get in the car, in the parking lot, and she's backing up out of the spot, and about to head over to the other side of the facility where all the cone courses are set up. As she backs up out of the spot, she jerks the clutch, chirps the tires, the car jumps back, and then she slams on the brakes as a car honks it's horn and brakes to avoid a collision - he was driving down the lane and she didn't see him due to the cars next to us.
So, that ends up being her clutch strategy for every launch - to jerk the clutch, usually chirp the tires, launch the car - not as a high speed maneuver, but just horrible technique. Before the first cone course, I directed her to the side of the lot, out of the way, and I asked her to try and start off from a stop without using the gas pedal. She tried a couple of times and wasn't able to do it, even as I guided her to go slow and smoothly. She said it was impossible with her car to do that. So I told her to get out and switch seats (this is really not done at these schools) and I got behind the wheel and showed her. - several times - how to do it. We switched back and then I asked her to try and she started to get it. Then I suggested she try it in reverse - I explained that it's only a matter of time before she gets in an accident and maybe hurts someone if she doesn't learn how to creep out of a parking spot. She tried and then said it was impossible to do it in reverse in her car - and it's funny - she's calling me 'sir' in a really passive aggressive way. So - we swap seats again and I show her how to do it in reverse - being patient and super friendly.
She was really cold for the entire session, and it was tough getting through all the drills.
Then there was lunch and a classroom session, and then we went out for the afternoon driving session. She spoke to her mom and must have calmed down. She apologized for the way she acted and thanked me for taking the tim with her. By the end of the afternoon, we were like best friends, she was singing songs, and I had her doing the skid pad (dry corn) with really great throttle steering. She was killing it on all the drills and having a blast. Turns out that she did way better in the driving exercises than my kid, and I blame that on his instructor!
Anyway - it was a great experience and I think I made a huge difference in her driving, but we didn't exchange contact info so I'll never really know...I want to chip in - not a story, but a recommendation and a thank you. To anyone with kids who have learner permit or just still fairly inexperienced, I can't recommend the Street Survival enough. I put both my daughters through it. It is inexpensive and AMAZING value. Where else are you going to get the new drivers seat time while operating simulated emergency maneuvers/braking and FEEL how the car works under those conditions. It's fantastic experience for them and it is great piece of mind as a parent. And getting advice/coaching (stick shift or not) from experienced instructors like Jack here... there is nothing else like it that I am aware of. Please take your new drivers to one of these.
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03-29-2022, 08:32 PM
#33
Rennlist Member
Great stories, mates.
Anyone who grew up owning/riding a motorcycle had an advantage when learning how to drive a manual car/truck. Solving the clutch/throttle ratio with one's feet was a small step up in degree of difficulty from doing it with the hands.
Selecting the right gear is a just mental calculation, not particularly demanding of the right arm.
Driving a 1960 VW Beetle that required double shifting to compensate for bad synchros in every gear was an advanced skill.
The holy grail, as @Petza914 posted above, is starting from a dead stop facing up a steep incline.
Having three feet, one for each pedal, would render it a no brainer- but setting and releasing the parking brake at precisely the moment the friction point of the clutch bites and the drive-train takes the weight off the brakes is a pretty refined set of skills that must be mastered contemporaneously.
And San Francisco streets were the ultimate test for me. More than once I cockily pulled away from an uphill parallel parking space- so steep that one would receive a parking ticket for not properly "curbing" your front wheels in the proper manner to create a "curb chock"- attempting to do a left U-turn and proceed back downhill.
Pretty much involved an uphill turning maneuver from between cars parked in front and behind- with maybe a foot of clearance between them. So, a 3 or 4-point Y-turn using the parking brake between R and 1st gear shifts.
Out into traffic, with oncoming downhill traffic occasionally channeling Steve McQueen's "Bullitt" pace and recklessness.
Worst case, unable to complete the U-turn due to said traffic, or both narrow lanes were incrementally smaller than the car's turn radius.
Every move under pressure, with no margin for error.
Ho Hum, I learned to save my clutch plate surface while pulling off of some big city maneuvering.
Props to this thread for resurrecting some long dormant brain cells from my creaky old between-the-ears hard drive.
Oh, anyone here drive a manual in the UK, Hong Kong or Japan?
A whole 'nuther set of issues...as was the transition from a pre-1972 Norton Commando to the later model with the shifter and rear brake pedals swapping sides on the engine block.
Brake? Nope, a clutchless downshift.
Downshift? Nope, rear brake application.
Upshift? Nope, your toe is under the rear brake pedal.
It was a real bitch, scary and embarrassing to overcome years of muscle memory.
Driving a RHD manual auto at least retained the LHD pedal layout and gear shift pattern!
Anyone who grew up owning/riding a motorcycle had an advantage when learning how to drive a manual car/truck. Solving the clutch/throttle ratio with one's feet was a small step up in degree of difficulty from doing it with the hands.
Selecting the right gear is a just mental calculation, not particularly demanding of the right arm.
Driving a 1960 VW Beetle that required double shifting to compensate for bad synchros in every gear was an advanced skill.
The holy grail, as @Petza914 posted above, is starting from a dead stop facing up a steep incline.
Having three feet, one for each pedal, would render it a no brainer- but setting and releasing the parking brake at precisely the moment the friction point of the clutch bites and the drive-train takes the weight off the brakes is a pretty refined set of skills that must be mastered contemporaneously.
And San Francisco streets were the ultimate test for me. More than once I cockily pulled away from an uphill parallel parking space- so steep that one would receive a parking ticket for not properly "curbing" your front wheels in the proper manner to create a "curb chock"- attempting to do a left U-turn and proceed back downhill.
Pretty much involved an uphill turning maneuver from between cars parked in front and behind- with maybe a foot of clearance between them. So, a 3 or 4-point Y-turn using the parking brake between R and 1st gear shifts.
Out into traffic, with oncoming downhill traffic occasionally channeling Steve McQueen's "Bullitt" pace and recklessness.
Worst case, unable to complete the U-turn due to said traffic, or both narrow lanes were incrementally smaller than the car's turn radius.
Every move under pressure, with no margin for error.
Ho Hum, I learned to save my clutch plate surface while pulling off of some big city maneuvering.
Props to this thread for resurrecting some long dormant brain cells from my creaky old between-the-ears hard drive.
Oh, anyone here drive a manual in the UK, Hong Kong or Japan?
A whole 'nuther set of issues...as was the transition from a pre-1972 Norton Commando to the later model with the shifter and rear brake pedals swapping sides on the engine block.
Brake? Nope, a clutchless downshift.
Downshift? Nope, rear brake application.
Upshift? Nope, your toe is under the rear brake pedal.
It was a real bitch, scary and embarrassing to overcome years of muscle memory.
Driving a RHD manual auto at least retained the LHD pedal layout and gear shift pattern!
Last edited by Liste-Renn; 03-29-2022 at 08:39 PM.
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03-29-2022, 11:19 PM
#36
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
03-30-2022, 12:54 PM
#37
Rennlist Member
Millennial here. You can shove that ageist sticker up your a**.
03-31-2022, 06:38 PM
#39
Racer
My first job in the cabinet factory was in the cutting department. Among other duties was unloading lumber trucks, stacking lumber, and moving lumber and sheet stock around to various saws. Our one and only forklift was a manual lift with a clutch and two speeds forward and reverse -- one for in the plant, and a "road gear."
Anyone who has used a forklift to move lumber around knows the load goes up in the air faster if you goose the accelerator while pulling back on the lever. Modern lifts work a little like "launch control" as they have no clutch to worry about. However, on the manual lift I learned on, you held the clutch in with your left foot, held the brake pedal securely down with the ball of your right foot, and goosed the accelerator with your right heel to get your load to go up faster.
Yes, I was actually using heel and toe on an antique *forklift* before I ever drove a sports car.
Anyone who has used a forklift to move lumber around knows the load goes up in the air faster if you goose the accelerator while pulling back on the lever. Modern lifts work a little like "launch control" as they have no clutch to worry about. However, on the manual lift I learned on, you held the clutch in with your left foot, held the brake pedal securely down with the ball of your right foot, and goosed the accelerator with your right heel to get your load to go up faster.
Yes, I was actually using heel and toe on an antique *forklift* before I ever drove a sports car.
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03-31-2022, 07:23 PM
#40
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03-31-2022, 11:41 PM
#41
Rennlist Member
Great stories, mates.
Anyone who grew up owning/riding a motorcycle had an advantage when learning how to drive a manual car/truck. Solving the clutch/throttle ratio with one's feet was a small step up in degree of difficulty from doing it with the hands.
Selecting the right gear is a just mental calculation, not particularly demanding of the right arm.
Driving a 1960 VW Beetle that required double shifting to compensate for bad synchros in every gear was an advanced skill.The holy grail, as @Petza914 posted above, is starting from a dead stop facing up a steep incline.
Having three feet, one for each pedal, would render it a no brainer- but setting and releasing the parking brake at precisely the moment the friction point of the clutch bites and the drive-train takes the weight off the brakes is a pretty refined set of skills that must be mastered contemporaneously.
And San Francisco streets were the ultimate test for me. More than once I cockily pulled away from an uphill parallel parking space- so steep that one would receive a parking ticket for not properly "curbing" your front wheels in the proper manner to create a "curb chock"- attempting to do a left U-turn and proceed back downhill.
Pretty much involved an uphill turning maneuver from between cars parked in front and behind- with maybe a foot of clearance between them. So, a 3 or 4-point Y-turn using the parking brake between R and 1st gear shifts.
Out into traffic, with oncoming downhill traffic occasionally channeling Steve McQueen's "Bullitt" pace and recklessness.
Worst case, unable to complete the U-turn due to said traffic, or both narrow lanes were incrementally smaller than the car's turn radius.
Every move under pressure, with no margin for error.
!
Anyone who grew up owning/riding a motorcycle had an advantage when learning how to drive a manual car/truck. Solving the clutch/throttle ratio with one's feet was a small step up in degree of difficulty from doing it with the hands.
Selecting the right gear is a just mental calculation, not particularly demanding of the right arm.
Driving a 1960 VW Beetle that required double shifting to compensate for bad synchros in every gear was an advanced skill.The holy grail, as @Petza914 posted above, is starting from a dead stop facing up a steep incline.
Having three feet, one for each pedal, would render it a no brainer- but setting and releasing the parking brake at precisely the moment the friction point of the clutch bites and the drive-train takes the weight off the brakes is a pretty refined set of skills that must be mastered contemporaneously.
And San Francisco streets were the ultimate test for me. More than once I cockily pulled away from an uphill parallel parking space- so steep that one would receive a parking ticket for not properly "curbing" your front wheels in the proper manner to create a "curb chock"- attempting to do a left U-turn and proceed back downhill.
Pretty much involved an uphill turning maneuver from between cars parked in front and behind- with maybe a foot of clearance between them. So, a 3 or 4-point Y-turn using the parking brake between R and 1st gear shifts.
Out into traffic, with oncoming downhill traffic occasionally channeling Steve McQueen's "Bullitt" pace and recklessness.
Worst case, unable to complete the U-turn due to said traffic, or both narrow lanes were incrementally smaller than the car's turn radius.
Every move under pressure, with no margin for error.
!
Now that takes some talent. (Patting myself on back)
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04-01-2022, 01:14 AM
#42
First manual car was an Acura Integra hatchback. 2nd generation of that Acura model. I never drove stick before but had friends who all drove manuals including one friend who had a old-school VW Beetle. I never drove their cars. Conceptually I understood what they were doing and I really wanted a manual for my first car (I was in my 20’s). So technically the first time driving stick was taking that car off the dealership lot. Overall did well, stalled once I remember and just took to manual right away. Pretty much the majority of my cars over time has been manual, and I hope to keep on driving 3-pedals till my body can’t handle the work.
Now I take my younger son to school every morning and I see him eyeball the stick when I drive the Porsche. Hoping that gene stays in the family and one day he decides to take on a manual also. My older son who can get his permit soon doesn’t even care - rather take a Uber or have friends drive him. Not a car guy.
Now I take my younger son to school every morning and I see him eyeball the stick when I drive the Porsche. Hoping that gene stays in the family and one day he decides to take on a manual also. My older son who can get his permit soon doesn’t even care - rather take a Uber or have friends drive him. Not a car guy.
04-01-2022, 01:24 AM
#43
Stick shift in Europe
I grew up in Europe in the 80’s. Cars then and now are the same models as we have but with smaller engines , think 3 series BMW with 1.6 engines etc or diesel variants. These motors are smaller and the only you can drive them in country roads and steep hillsides or tiny yet quaint cobblestone streets etc is manual. It is also more efficient economically as gas is way more expensive there . Hence why people drive manual or stick. In America we drive in traffic and on highways and it’s more convenient to go auto. Not that hard to understand.
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RacerWannabe (04-03-2022)
04-01-2022, 06:33 AM
#44
Rennlist Member
here's another quick story - at age 21, I wanted to go to spring break for once. Had a friend who just graduated and got his first job - EDS in Ft Lauderdale. Decided to drive down on the cheap and hang out / crash with him. Recruited my 18yo bro and 22 yo friend. The friend couldn't drive stick. I was working at a restaurant and we decided to have them meet me at the end of my shift with a pizza. We drove my CivicS straight from Buffalo to FTL, 22.5 hours, avg mph 65. Just my bro and I trading shifts.
After about a week of spring break 'activity' we were pretty spent and it was time to drive home. My bro and I realized - on the drive - that we couldn't handle it all again, so we taught my friend how to drive - then and there - on the highway! At least there weren't many stops/starts, starting on hills, etc.
I doubt that guy - still a good friend of mine - ever drove stick again. I need to ask him...
After about a week of spring break 'activity' we were pretty spent and it was time to drive home. My bro and I realized - on the drive - that we couldn't handle it all again, so we taught my friend how to drive - then and there - on the highway! At least there weren't many stops/starts, starting on hills, etc.
I doubt that guy - still a good friend of mine - ever drove stick again. I need to ask him...
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RacerWannabe (04-03-2022)
04-01-2022, 10:30 AM
#45
Back in the day, the parents of a close high school friend offered to buy him a prelude - he wanted a blue automatic. I convinced him to get a red 5 speed and taught him to drive stick on my 1972 240z. Although he originally wanted a trans am (parents would not go for it thinking the prelude was a safe, conservative car) we had great times pushing the prelude to its handling limits all over central and south NJ. Its a shame so few car makers offer manual in the US these days.
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