First let me say thank you to everyone who commented on my other thread about driving manual in a Mini.

I finally tried it out on Saturday night.

Without warning, my man stopped in the middle of a school parking lot and said, "ok...your turn."

I practiced going from neutral to first a number of times (traveling only a few feet), just so I could get a feel for it. Then I got to drive around the parking lot about 8-9 times and only stalled once! Of course, I only got up to 2nd gear once (the parking lot wasn't big enough to go any faster)...but that was still an improvement from not driving at all.

And while my man had to get on his hands and knees to get me out of the passenger seat, he was a very good teacher and let me decide when I wanted to stop practicing.

So...I did it!

And I'm sure I'll be practicing again in the near future (maybe even in traffic?! )

 

That is how I taught my wife to drive a manual. I had explained the concept of what to do and how to do it. We went to the local high school parking lot in the summer, I got out of the car (not my MINI, I think it was a 1992 Cavalier) and said "I'll be stting in the shade under that tree. Let me know when you know how to drive it." About half an hour later, she drove us home.

 

And once you get really comfortable with driving a standard, you won't want to drive an automatic anymore....good job. Mick

 

Yep, Thats the way to learn. Taught a few people in my old car. The only challenges are realy starting to move and get in to second and learning the sound the car makes when you need to shift.

 

While doing it in a parking lot is fine for leaning the mechanics of shifting, you will not become good at driving a manual until you do it daily. I read your other thread and I suggest switching cars for a week. Take the MINI and let him drive your car - I guarantee by the end of that week you'll be an expert.

I learned to drive a stick by buying a car (a Geo Tracker) that had a stick. I had my boyfriend at the time do the test drive, but after that I had no choice - it was either learn how to drive it or stay home. I find the MINI to be one of the easiest manuals I have ever driven - it shifts so nicely.

 

There was also the matter of hill starts in the other thread. If you can find a parking lot or driveway with a slope and practice starting with the handbrake, you should be ready for anything. A parking garage during off hours should give you enough of a slope to practice on.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...8&postcount=11

 

Parks and cemetaries are good places to find hills without having to worry about traffic.

Congrats on driving the manual. Once you get over the fear of driving it is much easier. Keep at it and you will be a pro in no time.

 

I've never driven a manual MINI, only my cousin's MCA. I did however drive my friends 98' Mustang. I started in a parking lot as well, and after practicing for about an hour I drove home, which has mild traffic and it was a BLAST! Ever since that night...now I can't wait to get my MCS. Shifting through the gears is so fun! I wasn't even trying to go fast, just shifting through and I think I hit 4th at ~60mph. Man that was fun!

Good luck!
-Cody

 

Have him drive my '88 Honda Civic for a week?

I think I'll get away with cruising around town with him in it...but I don't think it would ever be for an extended period.

He loves me...but not that much.

 

The parking lot we practiced in has a slight incline...but not enough to say I'm confident on a hill. I'm sure the next time we go out he'll find a nice steep one for me to practice on.

Thanks!

 

I learned out of desperation. In college, the only friend I had that had a car happened to have a little Chevette...remember those? We were in the mountains of NC and the only way to get anywhere was to learn to drive her manual transmission...needless to say, I learned on the roads so I could get off the campus now and then....never regretted it....
My husband insists always on at least one car that has a manual transmission...see, college is never wasted...I can drive his 911 carrera right out of the driveway any time I like...

 

Congratulations on giving the manual a shot!

I was always taught "Can't never could do a dam* thing"

Just like swimming, the best way to learn is to get thrown into it!

Sounds like so far...so good...Keep it up!

 

I was forced to learn to drive a stick when I got a Jetta in 2001. It took me a couple of hours to get the hang of the starting-on-an-incline thing (somehow my father didn't kill me in frustration).

If there is a university in your area, you might want to go there some weekend. I did my learning at UC San Diego which was great. It gave me a chance to drive on real roads without traffic.

Have fun - it gets to be perfectly natural after a while!

 

I got to learn the hard way. Hawthorne Blvd at noon on Saturday... Now that is scary.

 

Glad to hear it was a sucess, the more you do it the more fun it becomes, Congrats!

 

when you gotta learn, you gotta learn

In college, my wife (GF at the time) needed a cheap car. We tried to get a used Civic auto-trans, but couldn't afford it. Then, for some reason, she went out with my parents and came home with an used 5-spd Corolla hb. Neither of us had driven standard at the time. They somehow got it home and I took it out for a few hours to learn. The next day, I taught her. End of story.

The MINI by far was the easiest standard trans I've used (compared to a Corolla, Accord, VW Bug, VW Van or Saturn). Find a parking garage and practice doing hills on the ramps. If you can do those w/o rolling all the way back, you'll be fine.

Have fun, enjoy the ride

 

I go back and forth... Some days I'm lazy. Some days I have too much on my mind to think about driving a manual so I drive the auto

 

MiniMac2005- Thats a nice story
I hate autos ([lease don't flame just always bad experiances with them), I'm at the point where I hardly think about shifting (probably means I'll get in trouble when I do DE in a few weeks), and the auto's never shift where I want them to so I end up with no power or an engine pinned to the redline at 20 mph. I haven't tried an MCSa though I might be able to enjoy the paddle shifting.

 

Thanks motor on

Talk about not liking how the Auto's shift....

We were a Saturn family.. I owned a standard '94 SL2, she owned a '95 SL2 auto... her auto shifted LIKE CRAP!?!?! I swear... I cursed the steering wheel each time I tried to get on the expressway!!! She didn't like me too much during those drives. The only thing I liked about the car was it was Forest Green. We sold it for another Saturn after she got into a major accident (thank God for airbags... another story for another time)

Sorry for the hijack ... back on topic

 

Congratulations! And don't worry, the shift into 2nd is the hardest one to do smoothly.

I've driven an MCSa and have to say the automatic is far more difficult to drive smoothly than the stick. It is still fun because the trans is always banging off shifts and ready to downshift three gears at a time if need be, only a little "different" if you're used to the stick.

 

I learned how to drive a stick when Dad bought me a new 1972 Fiat 128 Wagon (with racing stripes and roof rack ), and I had to drive it home! Learned in ten minutes in Beverly Hills and West L.A. traffic! Granted, traffic wasn't as bad then as now, but still.....:impatient

Later that night went motoring in the Santa Monica Mountains between Topanga and Malibu.....LOVED IT!

 

I grew up in thoes mountains. If the cops wern't so thick these days, I would spend many more weekends in LA driving them

 

Good job, Isabella! Driving a manual is loads of fun -- don't think I'll be returning to an auto any time soon. I ordered my MCS... then while I waited for it to come, I practiced in parking lots a time or two with my boyfriend and his Jetta, but I really figured it out when I had to pick up my MINI and drive it out of the little showroom, right into city traffic. :impatient

 

Baptism by fire seems to be the way most of us learned.
I bought a 1980 Datsun pick up. My brother drove it home for me and left. I had to drive it to work the next day so I HAD to figure it out. Backing out of the driveway took me at least 10 minutes, then I drove around my neighborhood until dark. Luckily I lived in a neighborhood with a pretty major hill and a couple of stop signs so I got to work on starting up a hill quite a bit. I did leave for work an hour earlier the next morning just in case

Annette

 

I'm with you. Sometimes I just don't want to think about it and take the easy way...
Hum.....maybe a I need a MCa???