I got my brand new chili red/black cooper today, ill post pics tomorrow, but i just wanted to ask for tips for driving stick. This is my first car with a manual transmission and after practicing today im still having trouble getting it moving. My friend who is helping me says that im not letting the clutch out evenly, do any experienced drivers have and tips or tricks that can help me along? thanks.

 

Having recently learned stick on my friend's civic si (really twitchy throttle),I know exactly what your going through. So heres a couple of things are fresh in my mind on driving stick. First is go into a parking lot so you can take your time. Practice letting the clutch out slowly while holding your foot steadily on the gas (try to keep the revs as steady as you can so you can find the engage point). Over time you'll find the point where the car starts moving and the throttle starts to drop. The thing that i had trouble with here is that I'd freeze up and either gas it a lot and stop letting the clutch out or let the clutch out too fast. Once you see the tach start to drop, give it some gas but keep your clutch foot coming back at the same speed. The key is not to panic when you see the revs drop. One thing that my friend did was have me learn going reverse first. Kind of a strange method, but its a lot easier to launch and modulate the clutch in reverse when your learning than 1st gear.
I'm not sure what kind of car knowledge you have but something that definitely helped me learn better was to learn how a manual transmission actually works. It helped me understand everything that was happening while I was driving. This may not work for everyone but I found it helpful. heres a link to some info:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/transmission.htm
Hope that helps and happy motoring

 

Jason, I can still remember learning how to drive a stick when I was 16 years old, even though it was 30 years ago. No comments on how ancient I must be, either.

Go to a parking lot that's empty... lots of open space. This way, you don't have to worry about hitting anything and you can focus solely on the feel of the clutch engagement point and the stick.

Now... practice easing down on the gas pedal as you let out the clutch pedal. Practice, practice, practice. You don't even have to leave first gear for a while if you don't want to. Just dump the clutch and go into neutral, brake, and then do it all over again.

You'll get the feel for the coordination of throttle, clutch, and shifter in no time !

Good luck and safe motoring !

Edit: Nolamini beat me to it. I guess the parking lot idea is pretty commonly known.

 

funny i couldnt drive a manual then i got a manual 4 wheeler and now i dont have a problem i guess its just practice

 

Go to a quiet street or parking lot with no one around. Practice starting out over and over and over until it becomes second nature. That is how I learned when I was 15 and it was a great benefit to not have to worry about traffic or what your friends might think.

 

where is your problem exactly? in the start up? or braking to a full stop?

 

Thanks for the tips, my problem was getting it started in first without stalling. I just went out by myself for 20-30 min. around the block and am happy to report i only stalled once! I have to stay its a lot more fun when your actually moving. Im gonna practice as much as i can this weekend and hopefully ill be able to drive to school monday as i have been without a car for a week already.

 

Congratulations on your new Chili Red Mini

Finally, there is someone else in the "Chili Red Club" with me. It just seems like everyone is getting Pepper White, Silver or Black (not that that is bad or anything!!!)


Best of luck with mastering stick!!! I know I never could

 

You will feel as comfortable as driving an auto in 5 months. It will be so fun that you wish you'd have learned it 5 years ago and you will swear that you'd never buy another automatic tranny ever again. Let the clutch out slowly and hill and toe at every stop light.... I am drunk.. sorry.

 

some pics

 

Okay, call me dumb, but how do you already have your license plate? Someone else that just got their Mini had there's, too.

 

Cool Jason. As you may have figured out, when you are first learing, give it more gas with the clutch in, say around 3000 rpm, hold that and let the clutch out slowly, increasing the gas when rpm falls to about 1900 - 2000. This way you won't stall. Don't worry, you won't burn out the clutch unless you keep doing that steadily for a year or two.

 

Congrats on the new Mini! Take it easy on the new clutch. Go rent a manual tranny car for a day and put the abuse on the rental. Then come back to the mini.

 

In some states we just transfer our plates from car to car.

 

License Plates and such are different in different states I guess. Us Californians have it tougher, what with all the cars we have

 

Well, truth be told, you learn something new everyday. Thanks for that little tidbit of information

 

Nice pics, Jason. How's the driving coming along ?

Now... is it just me, or is the chrome boot handle on the 07 MC about a mile long ?