Improvements - open to suggestions

[tankinbeans]

... I learned that soft-soled shoes are not my friend, while driving anyway. I killed it 10 times at least, each time moving maybe 2 inches.
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I have a friend who has owned a G35 coupe since it was new in 2003 (I think) and he always tries to tell me that he has a hard time driving when he's wearing different shoes. In other words, if he wears different shoes from one day to the next day, it messes up his driving because of the way the clutch pedal feels different to him.

Does that happen to anyone else? I can go from sneakers to work boots to dress shoes and it doesn't mess me up at all. I don't even really feel much of a difference at all from my various shoes.

It's not so much different shoes the mess me up, but shoes with different sole-types (soft-soles or relatively firm soles). I can drive just fine in tennis shoes or winter boots, but dress shoes and sandals are always a trip. I'm working to fix that though.

[theholycow]

When I was learning, driving barefoot helped a lot and workboots caused mild difficulty. Now it doesn't make a difference to me (except sometimes abnormal excessive sole width can cause a minor problem with close pedals).

[Maggiolone]

When I was learning, driving barefoot helped a lot and workboots caused mild difficulty. Now it doesn't make a difference to me (except sometimes abnormal excessive sole width can cause a minor problem with close pedals).

I was actually researching driving barefoot. I heard it's better for manual transmission, too.

I can't wear thick foam-soled athletic shoes when driving standard. Very annoying; lots of revving and trying to find the clutch point. I prefer flat-soled shoes, like Asics or even Sperry Top-Siders (figures I drive a vehicle from 1984 with '80's shoes).

I could take it one step further and look like this guy from my car's brochure:

[kayubassist]

try Converse All Star shoes.
They have very thin lining so you get similar feeling as pressing the pedals with your bare feet.
I started driving manual in these shoes and I can't switch shoes now because with my other shoes on, I can't control the clutch.
btw, is that your car? I like it very much.

[Maggiolone]

try Converse All Star shoes.
They have very thin lining so you get similar feeling as pressing the pedals with your bare feet.
I started driving manual in these shoes and I can't switch shoes now because with my other shoes on, I can't control the clutch.
btw, is that your car? I like it very much.

Thanks. That's my car, but 4-door and in GLI trim. I have Converse All-Stars; I haven't driven in them yet. They are very thin, though.

[kayubassist]

try Converse All Star shoes.
They have very thin lining so you get similar feeling as pressing the pedals with your bare feet.
I started driving manual in these shoes and I can't switch shoes now because with my other shoes on, I can't control the clutch.
btw, is that your car? I like it very much.

Thanks. That's my car, but 4-door and in GLI trim. I have Converse All-Stars; I haven't driven in them yet. They are very thin, though.

GLI is even better! one day I want to get a mk1 or mk2 GTI, but they are either very over-priced or badly beaten

[scionkid]

Barefoot on a hot summer day, Timberland boots on a cold rainy day. It wasn't easy with those boots at first, until I got used to the idea of having to find the friction point on every drive, as if the car doesn't belong to me.

It's good to be able to drive in different shoes. When you can do this, you can get into any car and do a textbook launch on the first try.

[Reverence]

Your right shoulder is already slumped down almost to the point of strain on 1st and 2nd gears, and 3rd requires some extra movement, and on 5th your whole torso goes with the shift. That's how my foot accidentally slipped off the clutch once while shifting; not pleasant.

I don't know if anyone else advised you on this, but good hand position on the stick could ease some of this stress if you got it wrong to start with.
It can make a difference of 2-3inches in your seating position.
Post back here if you want to know more and can't find anything on that.

[Maggiolone]

I don't know if anyone else advised you on this, but good hand position on the stick could ease some of this stress if you got it wrong to start with.
It can make a difference of 2-3inches in your seating position.
Post back here if you want to know more and can't find anything on that.

I've read elsewhere on here about not grabbing the shifter like a bottle of beer, and I was even shown by an old-man VW enthusiast to use the tips of your fingers to pull the shifter through. However, I find myself not doing that going into 5th; and several others who drove my car also felt they were using their whole torso to shift into 5th.

[theholycow]

Here's a recent thread on hand positions/grip:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13445

For shifting into 5th, a good grip is the upside-down grip - palm facing away from you, thumb at bottom and pinky at top. The heel of your hand does most of the work. You may still end up with a whole-body shift into 5th.

Gripping it like a beer bottle, as you said, isn't the greatest; and gripping it like a twist-off cap often isn't either.

[Squint]

I'd agree with THC. Most of my 1-4 shifts are fairly similar, hand over the top of the shifter and using mostly fingers. The shift into 5 is almost always palm away from me and pushing on the near side of the shifter. Though, my car is not difficult to shift at all...

[tankinbeans]

I'm not sure if this might help the OP for his 5th gear shifts, but one thing that has worked for me is to ball your hand up into a fist. Then, put the right edge on the shifter and act like you're punching the dashboard (this is the easiest way I can describe it). It's almost like I have an imaginary handle protruding from the left side of the shifter and don't have much contact.

EDIT: Mayhaps a better way to describe how I do this is the sideways pistol grip you see wannabe gangsters use in the movies.

[theholycow]

That is a good one. I forgot about that one. It's the same part of the fist you use to bang on the table for more beer, but turned sideways. You actually aren't gripping the shifter at all, just pushing it with that end of your first.