New from NJ!

[lionhartzero]

Just saying hello to everyone and mentioning how awesome of a site this is. Just recently i bought my first manual transmission car, and while I have owned a motorcycle in the past (which was obviously a manual transmission), I don't seem to be able to drive as smoothly as I could on the bike in my car. Honestly, my biggest problem is getting into first gear consistently and with a defined method. I'm not sure if I should be using the "see-saw" method where I have it in 1st, slowly lift my foot off of the clutch until I feel that engagement point and THEN slowly start giving it gas, OR if I should use the method where I have it in first with the clutch fully pushed down, Rev the engine to about 10-1200 RPMs and slowly come off the clutch while giving it gas. Which way is the proper way to do it? And if there is no "proper way", which way causes the least amount of clutch wear? Thanks guys!!

[lionhartzero]

Willkommen!

Don't worry about the "see saw" when you're starting out. In fact, I am actively against such a description and method. It's not a good thing to start out with... it will just mess you up, leave you confused, and not do anything to help you understand the whys of launching and why some things work and others don't. you will eventually do it... but it's not something one actively learns. It's something that just happens overtime as you become more experienced and stick driving becomes more subconscious and... automatic (har har).

The method you describe is fine. The constant rev, constant clutch release works fine. You may want to pause a bit at the friction point until the clutch "hooks up," then you can be totally off the clutch and step on the go pedal. You'll get the hang of it. If you have some extra time, you may want to try a bunch of "no gas" launches where you launch by slooowllly letting out the clutch with zero extra gas. This will help you learn where the friction point is. Then you can also practice getting on the gas quickly and going to and holding various RPMs, like 1k, 1.2k, 1.5k, etc. This will help train your right foot to be a bit more disciplined.

If you're feeling really zealous, you can get a buddy in the passenger seat on an empty road or parking lot to tell you "red light... GREEN LIGHT" to help you practice your traffic light launches... generally a point of great stress and worry for new stick drivers. When you're on the real road, learn to recognize traffic light patterns. It will really help you reduce your stress levels at lights by allowing you to be in gear and ready to go right before the light turns green.

Thanks for the response! I just don't know why I can't seem to get it as smoothly as some of the other people that i've been reading from on this site. People are talking about launching smoothly from 800RPMs, and while I haven't tried it I highly doubt that I'd be able to do it. You said that my method of revving the engine a little and then slowly slipping the clutch until it "hooks up" was fine, but is that what you do? I mean is this the method that I am supposed to stick with for good, or are you saying that newcomers use this method now, but eventually move to the more refined "slowly let off the clutch and accelerate at the same time" method? So many questions to ask and I don't even know where to start...

[94Corolla5Speed]

Welcome to SS!

And I am insanely jealous of your car. Please post pics!

[lionhartzero]

Welcome to SS!

And I am insanely jealous of your car. Please post pics!

I'll post the pics when you give me some tips on the best way to get the car rolling to a smooth start ...j/k. I tried to post pics, but they have too many pixels supposedly. I'll try to make em smaller and see what I can do.. But seriously, in the meantime, I'm not sure of the best way to get a car into first gear without stalling and I need some help. I'm so serious about it because I don't want to get used to doing it one way and then after finally feeling comfortable with that method I get told that it's not the proper way of doing things so I have to learn all over again. Again, how do you guys do it? Do you REV and THEN start slowly releasing the clutch while giving it gas, or do you not even rev the engine but slowly release the clutch until you feel the engagement point and give it gas then? Any info helps...really..

[lionhartzero]

When I try to post, it says..."Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached.
Your message contains too few characters." I've never had a problem posting any pics on a site, but this one seemingly doesn't like my Cayman S . If anyone has a resolution to this issue, let me know and I'll post em..

[94Corolla5Speed]

Upload them to photobucket or another hosting site, then copy the link in between the image tags here.

[lionhartzero]

Upload them to photobucket or another hosting site, then copy the link in between the image tags here.

Thanks for that bit of advice on the pics...now a bit of advice on how to launch the car properly would be appreciated

[94Corolla5Speed]

Try to find the friction point. No-gas launching is very helpful. Once you get the hang of it, you can start adding gas and then your muscles will begin to memorize what they have to do. Practice, practice, practice is all there is to say.

Now pics time

[lionhartzero]

http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab32 ... he/cs4.jpg

http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab32 ... he/cs3.jpg

http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab32 ... he/cs1.jpg

[lionhartzero]

Try to find the friction point. No-gas launching is very helpful. Once you get the hang of it, you can start adding gas and then your muscles will begin to memorize what they have to do. Practice, practice, practice is all there is to say.

Now pics time

a man of my word . More pics to come for sure, but I just got the thing a couple of days ago..

[94Corolla5Speed]

Here's a little help for ya, when you post those links, click the "Img" button next to the "URL" button and paste the link in between the tags. Beautiful car by the way!

[lionhartzero]

ahhh... i see. Thanks alot! Now if only launching were as easy...hopefully I get used to it. Maybe I'm expecting too much too soon from my first manual; after all, i've only had it for 3 days...

[94Corolla5Speed]

Don't sweat it. We were all pretty noobish our first few weeks. Give it another week or two tops of consistent driving and you'll get the hang of it before you know it.

[potownrob]

Welcome to the SS and very nice car you have there!! Maybe we can caravan down to WV for the meet in July . I will probably be far behind you unless you have a very light foot though . As for your problems starting out in 1st, keep in mind you are driving a car that weighs a lot more than a motorcycle. You're going from being able to lift off the clutch and go to stalling unless you let up the clutch slowly or add a decent amount of gas. You can either let up the clutch slowly or add gas and let up the clutch more quickly. Pretty much any method will work but I recommend trying a few methods to see what works for you and helps you to figure out what you need to do with your feet to get going. Don't expect to be able to get smooth (let alone successful) launches at first with the gas at 800 rpm; that takes time. It'll take time to get things smooth, and don't expect the 1-2 shift to be smooth at first either (hint: shifting into 2nd at lower revs seems to be easier than at higher revs until you figure things out).

[lionhartzero]

That may be my biggest downfall... I only really drive the car on weekends (use the company car during the week) and I don't plan on driving it in the rain/snow so the winter time may be out as well. I can only imagine that the amount of time in between driving sessions would make me at the LEAST really "rusty" in terms of my manual driving skills. I've been trying to take it out after work every day for about 2 hours or so, but man it's discouraging for those occasional stalls. I'm used to being a pro at something after sticking with it for a while, and it usually doesn't take this long to get the hang of it so i'm second guessing myself now... Again, anyone else that can throw some advice in there about how to get smooth launches, it'd be appreciated!