Hmm, I start in 2nd often with every car I've ever owned, mainly laziness or I forget. I just kind of double clutch and re-rev it up a bit higher, in that, I realize I'm in 2nd, depress the clutch again and get the RPMs up a bit higher.
I've had a 3 speed '80 F150, '80 Merc 300, '88 Maxima, '98 Dakota, '96 Impreza, '72 Inno Mini, '06 Impreza and now a '06 MC on the way and never replaced a clutch or even sensed clutch wear. I do however drive and shift a lower RPMs 2500-3500.
Those are my cars with manual that I've owned in order. My first car was a stick and I probably wasn't good till I got my Maxima (assuming I'm paying attention).

 

Nice thread. I have always owned manuals and never plan on getting an automatic. However, I wonder what BMW is planning on. They make some of the BEST automatics on the planet, and I'm quite sure that the best performing sports cars in the future will be equipped with very sophisticated paddle shift trannies.

So, I say, enjoy your manual experience. It might be your last!

 

I forgot to mention (admit, really): after 6 months of stall-free driving, I stalled pulling out of a parking lot. It was the first day I had been running with the A/C on (using the sunroof most other warm days) and I did not realize how much power was sapped! Maybe that's another way to avoid slipping in icy/wet: run the A/C!

 

but when I bought my first motorcycle in college, I had to have a friend ride it home because I didn't feel confident enough to ride on the freeways...

And the starting in second thing? It's not really about power, it's about torque and breaking the drive wheels loose. The torque at the wheels is the torque from the motor times the total drive ratio. As the gears get shifted from first to sixth, this number gets smaller, so you're putting less twist on the axles so there's less chance they'll slip. Going at lower RPM usually reduces engine output torque as well, so you really lower the twist on the axles two ways. The trade off is that you have to keep the clucth slipping to a higher speed, when you can fully release the clutch and not lug the motor....

Matt

 

Haha, I second that about the hills of Seattle! I don't think I'm brave enough to take my car into Seattle quite yet with all those hills. I'd probably just drive around looking for flat streets to drive up and go around the hills.

But I haven't practiced my hill starts yet, so maybe I'll turn out to be pretty good at it! I'm going to try the hand brake method, because there's a VERY steep hill by my house with a stop light at the top. I just go around it right now, but it would be nice to not limit myself in where I can motor based on how flat/hilly a particular route is.

 

Something that was key for me about hills and using the handbrake was to learn to relax. When you don't use the handbrake, there is that moment of panic as you prepare to perform split second coordination with the pedals to keep the car from rolling back. But with the handbrake engaged, you can take your time to properly manipulate the accelerator and clutch if you can relax knowing that the car won't roll back as you take your foot off the brake pedal.

It helped me a lot to practice in easy situations where I didn't need to use the handbrake. Start with applying the handbrake on level ground when you stop, and get a feeling for how you have to release the brake as you let out the clutch. When you come to a stop on a slight incline, go ahead and pull the hand brake, and make it a game of trying to start forward with no backwards movement at all. Use it also when stopping in regular traffic until you can operate the handbrake without thinking about it. If you can do this on a slight incline, the technique is really no different for a steep hill.

Learning to use the handbrake was a necessity for me in San Francisco, of course for driving on hills, but even more importantly for parallel parking. When parallel parking into a tight spot, you need to keep the car from moving at all when being within inches of the adjacent cars and going back and forth between forward and reverse. Even if the street is a very mild incline, the car will roll on its own and it is very natural to depend on the handbrake to hold the car in place.

 

I just bought a cool blue cooper S. I had "learned" to drive a stick before but I never had any practice on a regular basis. You know how all your friends offer to lend you their cars to try but never do???? Well, I really like Mini's and I decided to buy a stick so...I'm learning on my brand new car. I think my biggest issue is that I actually have to think when I drive now!

I got to take it out for a spin and didn't do too bad. I was only on back roads so I didn't have to worry about too many cars being around. Then, since I live in MD it decided to rain for the last week and I haven't been able to take it out. I got a cabrio and I keep worrying the top up police are going to get me

I'll keep you posted on my progress. Good luck and enjoy yours.

GG

 

That's some excellent advice! I will definitely be familiarizing myself with the hand brake because it's quite hilly over in Seattle as well, and my goal is to be able to do everything I can do now in an automatic in a manual in the future: obviously I've got the driving bit down, and the parking. Now all I need to add is more advanced stuff like hill starts, parking on a hill, and even parallel parking on a hill ()!

"I need to practice" is a great excuse to take the car out for a spin, too!

 

My mini just got to the distribution center. I bought it without having ever driven a stick before, but I couldn't bring myself to get the automatic. So I've practiced several times in my friend's car. But they are all old cars and I've heard that its different in the older clutches. The thing is, the nearest Mini Dealer for me is almost 3 hours away so i don't know if I am confident enough for that. If I can't do it by the time my car gets to the dealer, I'm having my friend drive it home ... with me to make sure he doesn't hurt my Mini of course =)

Oh and another question. Is there a delivery option where you can have the MINI delivered to your home?? And if so, how much is it?

 

I am in a similar situation. I just ordered a manual MCS last week. I had never driven a stick until my MA gave me a lesson on a MCS. I later took a friend to the dealership and she drove the manual to a parking lot and then I took over driving for my second lesson. She is going give me additional lessons on old truck before mine comes in. Hopefully by then I will feel good enough to drive it home. If not, she is great with a stick so she will get to drive my new car.

 

Oh no you don't! You CANNOT let someone else put the first 150+ miles on your baby cause you're scared of it! Get your booty into the drivers seat and take control of your MINI! Driving stick isn't nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be! Take your friend along to give you pointers if you need them, but you should really go for it!

 

I had not driven stick in about 10 years when i test drove a mini. It's like riding a bike, right? my husband was riding shotgun and said he was going to be sick after the test drive because i lurched the car forward so much in first and second, i didn't kill it once though, and he did! I was pretty nervous driving my mini off the lot the first time and got it home without incident. I have had more problems now that i have started to relax a little and not think about the shifting as much, more practice is needed.

 

I just ordered a manual MC as well, and it will be my first manual car. My father "taught" me how to "drive" his car a couple of years ago, but I never achieved enough confidence to go out and drive (the drivers where I lived at the time were very agressive and, well, life-threatening). Fast forward to this past weekend when I went to the MINI dealer to test drive, and I had maybe a few hours of learning time with a manual under my belt in my whole driving career. I get there and my MA's prior appointment arrived late, so he asked me what my goals were for the visit and I told him I wanted to test drive a CVT and a manual. He asked me if he needed to teach me how to drive the manual and I told him I knew how (I do understand the concepts, and have gone through the motions), but had never really had much real world experience. He grabs a key and takes me out to the demo, gives me some directions, hands me the key and says take your time. I get in and it's a manual!! I was on my own in an unfamiliar area. But I took a deep breath and went for it. Yes, I stalled a few times, but overall I did fine! I was stoked! The MINI setup was so much easier than the car I learned on.

I too have a 2 hour drive from the dealer to home. I'm not at all worried about my delivery day because it is mostly highway driving, which is easy since you don't have to stop at lights (and I actually got on the highway for the first time in a manual on my solo test drive).

Anyway, I encourage you to take a test drive in a manual MINI...maybe even by yourself (I am less nervous when no one is with me, plus you are forced to make it happen if no one's there to "save" you!). Besides, don't you want to know what you're getting? I personally came away from the whole experience with way more confidence in my ability to learn than I originally had. And I ordered the manual (despite protestation from my father, who just thinks I will grow to hate shifting over time, even though his first car was a manual that he bought without knowing how to drive!!).

Anyway, good luck, whatever you end up doing, I'm sure you'll end up loving it in the long run! It would, of course, be much more fun to put the first miles on your new baby yourself!

 

Hmm. My first car of any sort was a new Subaru many years ago. Bought it with a stick having never driven one. Dad took me to pick it up and we went across the street where I learned on a empth parking lot. Stalled 8-10 times at least. Being a teen male I had read everything car related withing reach so I had the concept just not the touch.

After about 15 minutes my dad felt I was good enough to drive it home. So took him back to his car. He sai dlet me get a 10 minute head start so I can take movies of you coming home with your new car!

Well, I did great all the way home. Then when I got home and tried to climb the steep 45 degree curb into the driveway, you can tell I start to climb and stall. 2-3 times. The film starts and stops. It's pretty funny. I was trying to climb the curb in 3rd ;-)

P.S. I had a Dodge Prospector full size van with a 318 and 4 speed on the floor. The shifter had about a two foot throw! I'd say, OK, first is here, second is in the left rear passenger seat, third is...

 

The very first car i ever bought was a 1970 VW bug, (when i was 17, that I still own). I too didnt know how to drive a stick when i bought the car. Soo...needless to say on the way home i stalled out in the right hand turning lane, that started at the bottom of a bridge. Luckily for me the starter was going bad and i couldnt get the car started....wait that isnt lucky. (Lets just say the car had seen better days)

I finally got her home and after replacing the starter, i practiced in my neighberhood and on any hills i could find, as those seemed to be the most difficult. I would stop the car in the street, and take off, after i would get into second gear i would slow back down to a complete stop, and start off again. Lets face it, starting from a dead stop is the hardest part about driving a stick. This gave me plenty of practice learning how to feather the clutch and keep my car from rolling backwards. So after about 10-15mins of practicing in my neighborhood, I see a cop turn the corner with his lights flashing. Im thinking to myself "oh crap, did i do something wrong!?" :impatient Im the only moving car on the street, so im assuming he is after me.

So i pull over and sure enough he parks his car next to mine and gets out. It seems someone in my neighborhood called the cops because they thought i was "casing the area, for a possible robbery". I explained to the cop that i was just trying to learn how to drive a stick shift and he understood, and wished me luck. I was kinda annoyed that someone called the cops on me, but then again im glad someone in my neighborhood pays a little attention to things that are going on.

As for test driving the mini, I almost felt like i was learning to drive a stick all over again. I am use to driving old air-cooled VW's with cable clutches, and 4 speeds. The mini has a hydraulic clutch and a 6 speed with a drive by wire gas pedal. everything feels a LOT different then what i am use to. The mini seems so smooth and responds extremely quick to driver input. (IE: the gas pedal is very sensitive) I LOVE IT!

The rest of the test drive goes as follows. I stalled out once (not use to that gas pedal! ) and i kept putting the car into forth instead of 6th on the highway (4 speed habit ) other then those 2 things, my test drive was absolute FUN!

 

Just as long as everyone remembers not to keep the clutch engaged while sitting at stops. Get used to popping it in neutral when you're not moving.

 

I am picking up my MCS manual tonite. I have only driven a stick twice in my life, each time for about 1/2 hour. I have been reading "How To" instructions online all day today....

Boy, am I nervous.

 

I know how you feel. I'm nervous and I don't even have a pickup date yet! Anyway, yeah I don't wish for someone else to have the first miles on my car but I'd rather have a car than a crashed car right? I'm going to try very hard to be able to drive it home. I still have time, my car just went to the distribution center.

 

To quote FDR: "You have nothing to fear, but fear itself!"

 

When I bought my first stick, I had very little experience driving one. I lived up in the Santa Monica mountains,and there was a stop light ot the very top of a very steep hill.

The dealer was about an hour from home, and the whole time I kept thinking, "if the light is red, I'm just gonna run it." It was green.

Everything worked out fine.

Good luck with the new MINI!

 

I picked up mine after 1.5 hours of instruction and then a 6 week wait. If I can do it at 39 years old, so can you.

 

...it's good to see so many members of the Mini community willing to help their peers with good tips. Personally, I have always loved manual transmissions - much more fun.

FWIW, here are my favorite shifting tips...

1.) Go somewhere by yourself where you won't feel self-concious and practice starting out without using the gas pedal. Just slowly let the clutch out and get rolling. Keep doing this until you're smooth as butter. This will help with hill starts because it gives you a feel for the friction point that you want to hit with the clutch as you are moving your right foot from the brake to the gas.

2.) Learn how to heel-toe downshift! This might sound like learning to run before you walk but the earlier you learn it, the easier it is to ingrain it as a habit. This takes a lot of practice but eventually it becomes muscle memory and you'll do it all the time without even thinking. It's better for your transmission over the long haul because you're matching the engine RPMs to the tansmission RPMs, causing less stress. I read a great book by Bob Bondurant that taught me to how heel-toe and it has really improved my driving on the street and the track... plus there's no better way to impress your buddy in the passenger seat when you zip around a corner, shift from fourth to second, blip the throttle, and accelerate away without snapping his head off his neck!

 

Its really not that hard to learn, about 10-30 mins and you should be ok. You wont be driving the smoothest but you should atleast be able to get places. Try to practice before you pick it up if at all possible.

Like i said, starting from a dead stop is the hardest part of driving a stick, so practice the take off from a dead stop. No sense in driving around going through all the gears when you first learn, because thats the easy part. Try and find as many stop signs as you can or do what i did and just stop and go in the street (as long as there is no traffic). Hills are also alot more difficult as the car tends to roll backwards and gives you a weird feeling. So practice on going up slops.

If worse comes to worse, and you get stuck at a red light/stop sign. Let the car ahead of you (assuming there is one) get a little ahead of you, and give the car more gas then you normally would (but DONT floor it) and release the clutch. It might be a little rough/jerky start, but atleast you wont stall at the light and since you gave the car ahead of you a head start, you wont ram into the back of them.

But seriously its not that hard so dont stress. Just need practice and after a few weeks you will be doing it without having to actully think about it. At that point you will be glad you learned to drive a stickshift, and be glad you bought a 6 speed.

 

Hey DrueDown, don't fret!

I was in your boat very recently. Trust me, you'll get used to it quick! "I need to go get some driving practice in" is a GREAT excuse to get out and motor! Good luck!

I picked up my car this past Saturday and, despite having borrowed a friend's car for a week about a month ago, it felt like I practically new again! The clutch in my MCS is SO much different than the one I learned on, which I have to add, was pretty worn out, so it didn't teach me any good habits. It's probably best that you'll be doing most of your practicing on your own car.

Try to find a hilly, deserted parking lot to practice stopping and starting on an incline. I'm not quick enough with the clutch/accelerator action yet to NOT roll back a bit when even getting going on a slight incline, so it's a pretty important skill for me.

 

I'm learning to drive manual (my boyfriend has a manual sports car) but I still ordered an automatic. I get nervous driving in cities (always afraid I'm going to hit a pedestrian/ car) so adding shifting would be a disaster . . . but I do agree that manual is more fun (when not stuck in 10mph traffic jams)!