Rookie shifter

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haazi2
Junior Standardshifter
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Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2006 11:04 pm

Rookie shifter

Post by haazi2 »

Well, I'm a rookie shifter. Here's my short story. I moved from the Chicago area to Stockton, CA with my wife and kid. Now my wife drives a stick with no problem. Me being in the big city with the traffic I had figured an automatic is better in heavy traffic. Why would anyone bother with "ancient" technology. So before we moved my automatic, a 92 chevy lumina, nothing to brag about was stolen. So being "affraid" of driving a stick I let my wife drive me around. When we moved to Stockton, I was getting a ride to work but was forced to drive a 93 subaru impreza 5spd to get to work. So far the experience has had its ups and downs. I stalled at every intersection yesterday. The hardest part is just getting the car rolling, once I'm rolling shifting gears is no problem. I've tried the no gas method with mixed results. I guess having the patience may be the problem. I'm not giving up. I'm pretty sure I can learn to move the car from a stopped positiion more smoothly. I do, by the way do manage to start smoothly many times but there are those times it takes me 3 to 4 times of stalling before I get the car moving. I plan to do some practice of the no gas method this weekend to better myself. Thanks for reading my small story about becoming a rookie shifter.
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jomotopia
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Post by jomotopia »

welcome to the site and to stick shifting :D

the launch is the hardest part to get down well and consistently. but drive stick for a little while and you will really enjoy it. and you'll wonder how you ever got along driving a slushie :D
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Prodigal Son
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Post by Prodigal Son »

Sounds like you are doing pretty well if the rest of the shifts are working. The launch is definitely the trickiest to learn. The trap, I think, is that when you launch the car you are essentially using the clutch to accelerate by progressively applying more of the engine revs to the wheels. The way this leads to stalling is that when you are in traffic and people are suddenly accelerating around you or sitting impatiently on you back bumper, you want to accelerate faster -- and you react by bringing up the clutch quicker, which, of course, stalls the car.

A good launch is about the proper modulation of gas and clutch. You can accelerate quickly and smoothly by increasing the revs and smoothly feeding them to the wheels by modulating the clutch. The gas determines how much power you have and the clutch determines how quickly that power is applied. Once you learn to modulate them both, launches become quick and assured.

Doing no gas launches are a good way to learn the feel of the clutch, but they are generally not fast enough for normal driving. It is easy to stall with no gas -- which is why it is valuable practice. To avoid stalling in traffic, you can try revving a little higher and clutching out more slowly until you have a real feel for the car. It took me about three weeks in my new car (after a long hiatus in an automatic) before I was familiar enough with the car and the clutch to do reliable low-power launches in traffic.
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Johnf514
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Post by Johnf514 »

Welcome to the site haazi2! :D
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Sypher
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Post by Sypher »

Welcome to the site! Keep on practicing and you'll be sticking like your wife in no time! :D
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