my friend is teaching me to drive stick, so that when i get either my slik green or pepper white mini it can be manual... any advice for a first timer? tips or tricks?
i practice on my cvt right now, i know its completely different, but im pretty good at that so im hoping that once i get the hang of the clutch and the shifter, ill be pretty good.

 

nomo..
The nice thing about having a stick is...you
can't beat it with a stick...
My major piece of advice is to practice,practice,practice.
Once you get it........it is like riding
a bicycle. Good luck...and and Happy V Day !!

 

Advice? Sure. I'm always willing to give advice.... :smile:

 

Good advice from all....but let me suggest that you do this on a rental or a friend's car, not a brand new, "non-broken-in" MINI...just an opinion.

 

Except you will NOT be able to find a rental with a manual transmission. As rare as the Loch Ness Monster.

 

For those of us that have manual transmission MINIs...

I've got an MCS, and while I love the feel of the gearbox, I find the clutch to be very stiff. Does anyone thing a MC or MCS would make a good car, or a bad car to learn on? I personally learned to drive a stick on really old cars. My first car was a 1975 MG Midget (red w/ black interior), followed by a 1969 Fiat and a 1975 BMW 2002 (4 speed). The MCS is a dream to drive, but do you think it would be hard to learn on?

Just wondering.

 

I can't comment on the MC which is the MINI in question here, but I think that the MCS would be more difficult than others, especially shifting to sixth gear. I find that if I don't place pressure to the right when going from 5th to 6th, it'll go right into 4th....oops, watch the revs....takes a little getting use to, but it's certainly worth it.

BTW, Happy Birthday indigo!

 

Thanks for the b-day wishes but my b-day isn't until the 27th, so I've got 2 more weeks. Still, thanks.

 

I learned how to drive stick in the MINI a year ago. Now, I like it so much, I would never go back to an automatic. It was much easier than expected. I would suggest trying to find an older manual Neon. That's what I went out in first, before the MINI, and the shifting and clutch were almost identical.

 

>>Good advice from all....but let me suggest that you do this on a rental or a friend's car, not a brand new, "non-broken-in" MINI...just an opinion.

im learning on my friends 2002 gti 1.8T :smile:

 

The 5-speed & clutch in the MINI is very forgiving and easy to handle compared to other manual cars I have owned.
Once you get the hang of driving stick, you will love it, and find the MINI 5-spd a joy to drive!

 

My 2 cents worth

1st go to the cemetary. Drive in reverse stop and start over and over and over untill you can really feel the clutch engage. Then find a hill in same cemetary reverse up the hill stop and start over and over.
Next go for 1st same thing in the cemetary. You should now have a good feel of the clutch.

Advance to 2nd get the feel then head for the streets.

Also this is an excellent time of year to learn. If there is snow or ice on the ground you can get a good feel with minimal wear and tear on the vehicle.
Good luck and enjoy

 

I've just got to ask rataha...why a cemetary?

I was expecting a punch line at the end... :???:

 

Just because it is usually empty kind of a simulated city street without the traffic. Should be able to practice all maneuvers there. No punch line sorry. Just an excellent practice field

 

If my own recent manual learning experience is at all accurate, it's actually very quick to pick up, once you can get your left foot to let up gently and slowly. That was the oddest thing for me, since an automatic driver is used to thinking it doesn't matter how quickly you let up your foot, it's only delicate when putting it down.

The only thing that was "hard" about getting into a MINI 5-speed the first time (still having relatively little manual experience) was that the clutch was much more punchy than the 1989 Accord I'd been practicing on. Since you're learning on a new car, you shouldn't have that problem.

 

When I got my MC I was still a rookie at driving stick. It wasn't too hard driving my Mini at first but I had a hard time going up hills or steep drive ways with it. Now I have no problem and I love the way the Mini's manual trans feels. I learned stick on an old VW bug, the Mini is a lot easier to drive then a classic beetle!

 

Drive in reverse stop and start over and over and over untill you can really feel the clutch engage. Then find a hill in same cemetary reverse up the hill stop and start over and over.

This is how I learned to drive a stick years ago... and I have to say it was the best way for me. Being on a hill and just learning the feel of the clutch... it only took me about an hour to learn

 

Yeah, an hour sounds good. Then the final exam is got up the hill in first till you almost at the top, ease off on the gas, and balance the clutch and gas so that you sit motionless on the uphill. Then you know how to drive a stick

 

>>Yeah, an hour sounds good. Then the final exam is got up the hill in first till you almost at the top, ease off on the gas, and balance the clutch and gas so that you sit motionless on the uphill. Then you know how to drive a stick


My God! Why would you ever want to do that to your clutch? I was always taught to never 'ride the clutch' like that.

The real test of skill is to stop half way up or near the top of the hill with the brake on and the clutch in - then start forward again without rolling backwards. THAT'S when you know how to drive a stick.

Terry of TerrynHelen

 

When I learned to drive stick, My friend taught me out at the lake in the middle of the week when no one was out there. There are allot of roads - like the cemetary - but some were quite long (where on the weekends the kids race their cars) so I could go through the gears.

 

All great comments. Once you think you have the hang of it, go to San francisco and give it a whirl.

 

>> All great comments. Once you think you have the hang of it, go to San francisco and give it a whirl.

yeah, where i go to school.. in providence.. they're are plenty of hills, believe me.