Ok, I have decided my next car will be a manual 06 MCS. I have never driven a Manual transmission before. One of my coworkers took me out in his Ford 6 speed to show me how easy it was. He said I did great for a first time. No stalling or grinding gears.

Is it hard to get used to in a Mini? My reason for wanting a manual transmission as from what I read, its less costly than the automatics.

Tell me I'm not crazy.

 

Be patient, it will take some time, but it will be worth it. The Mini is no different than any other manual. I taught at least four people to drive a stick in mine, and still got over 365,000 miles out of the clutch........

Don't know if I would buy a stick just to save a couple bucks.

Nik

 

Never too late to learn to drive a manual transmission equipped car or truck. Get somebody with patience to help teach you and make sure they do more then have you practice on flat ground. The Mini is likely much easier than learning on an AWD car, truck or something with a heavy clutch pedal.

 

I thought I read repair issues with the automatic transmission. I am getting the MCS. The one I found has had a lot of work done on in the last year (see my other thread) (new engine, clutch, tie rods etc).

 

Driving a manual transmission well is one of life's greatest pleasures. Once learned, it's like riding a bicycle...You don't forget, you just get better at it with practice. The R53 MINI 6-speed is a Getrag box with hydraulic slave cylinder actuation. It's very smooth and not at all stiff. Go for it!

 

To learn the basics for using a manual transmission is pretty easy. To become 'good at it' can take a very long time. Probably half the people that think they're good at driving a manual don't have an idea what they're doing wrong when they downshift.

 

+1, that's exactly it. At this point, driving stick is more of a pleasurable experience than a money saver. Automatics have been made so much more efficient in recent years that they are often "better" from a performance and efficiency standpoint. But they will never be able to replicate or replace the fun that is to be had with a manual transmission. MINI's were made for manuals. I don't understand why anyone would buy a MINI in automatic. If you want an automatic, buy a different car.

 

Most folks that drive stick or are self taught learn much of what they know from watching somebody....me, I watched my 2 parents drive..then my sister....
Many folks "think" they can drive stick....then blow a clutch in 30,000 miles.....
Don't be afraid to get somebody to cirtiqe your driving of a stick....and I mean a REAL stick driver....done right, when you shift with the right CADENCE, YPU should not hear a rpm change......folks that make a motor Rev hard with shifts are going too fast, and the synchro's will fail pretty fast....same on a downshift....a slight blip of the gas and then you shift....
Once you get the hang of it, it is satisfying....
I would suggest one thing...
DO NOT LEARN TO DRIVE IN A MINI....the clutch in a mini is a $1500-2200 item...and not simple...many other cars, it is a $500 item....so IMO get a junker...a $1500 junk car...drive it with a stick for a couple months...get used to hills, upshifts, downshifts, etc....and if it still moves in 2 months, sell it...or put a new clutch in it...and go another couple months, then sell it....does not have to be fancy...a 10 year old FORD, or maybe a 15 year old Honda/Toyota will do....

 

Learn on a motorcycle a really good experience. Adds an extra element of balance and life preservation.

 

Hahaha... True that.

My daughter is facinated about learning to drive a stick; thinks its cool that she has a car skill that none of her friends have. So i let her drive the R53 once in a while. She's doin pretty well with it. Taught my wife in the R50 we used to have; she still cant drive a manual for ****. I tell her shes doing great.

 

If you enjoyed your first lesson on a manual, you will probably get into it and do well. I find it keeps you more engaged as a driver, and that is a good thing for both pleasure and safety. I really like the gearing/shift points on the my '06. You can actually drive in first. My last two cars were both Mazdas and it seemed like first was kind of optional, they would wind out quickly, and it always bugged me a little.

 

Most cars I would say just get an automatic, but with all the complaints you see about mini's automatic you are making a great choice to learn how to drive a manual. Have fun!

 

Perhaps the biggest misunderstanding that most manual drivers have is knowing what rev matching is. Blipping the throttle when you down shift is not rev matching. It is what's done when you're braking and downshifting (heel and toe) at the same time. Because of the complexity of heel and toe, blipping is the closest to rev matching that can be accomplished. However when you're shifting to a lower gear and not braking rev matching is accomplished by bringing up the revs, while shifting, 'to where they will want to be' when you release the clutch in the lower gear just shifted into. When you release the clutch in your new lower gear the rpms wont change.

 

I learned to drive on a stick , so it was a different approach for me, MINI are very easy to drive in a stick compared to the other harder clutch / tight gearboxes I have drove before.

 

I learned last year and I will never go back to an automatic if i dont have to. It starts off kind of rough and I promise you will panic at every hill you get stuck on for a few months, but you will get the hang of it I PROMISE. Good Luck to ya


//...KatieTron

 

You beat me to it, I was gonna respond with just this but decided to finish reading the thread before I do. Glad I did.

My wife has finally showed and interest in learning to drive stick, so she has been watching me really close lately, she asked me the other day why the heck I was pushing all three pedals at once and I had to tell her that's a lesson for once you get the basics caught up lol.

 

I think learning on a manual makes it easier to stay with a manual. You grow accustom to it.

 

I've never had an automatic and feel like I'm out of control whenever I do have the misfortune of driving one. I think a stick makes you pay more attention to what's going on around you and gives you more control in all sorts of situations (just drove to work with about six inches of fresh snow on the roads for example). I taught my 21 year-old daughter how to drive a stick and she loves that she's the only person her age that even knows that some cars have a third pedal. I had hoped that it would slow her down from using her phone while driving...but I don't think that is the case. The last two times I rented a car (once in Italy and once in Scotland) I was given cars with sticks...that would never fly in the US. I was recently talking to a valet driver (not for my car) and he didn't know how to drive a stick! He said they have a guy that takes care of that for them. Gah!

 

Yes and no. It's all about finding that sweet spot. Once you get a feel for it and figure it out, it's a piece of cake from there. What my mother did to quickly teach me in one day was she took me to a steep hill and told me to stop. From there, she said, "Okay, now go." I looked at her with the most perplexed look on my face. That really taught me how to find the sweet spot. After doing that for a little it was easy to engage and go with little to no inclines. I lived in a mountain town, so we had inclines more than none. When we were stopped at lights and there was a lot of traffic she would hold the ebrake a bit so that I wouldn't roll back too far when engaging. Also, had a friend who let me drive his V8 Cobra swapped TJ, which was not easy. He said if I learned how to drive this, I could drive a manual in any car. He was right.