Driving Stick

[Grinder34]

In what car did you learn to drive stick

In what kind of car did you learn to drive a manual? Any interesting stories or cars?

 

[Z1107]

2001 Saturn SC200. Parents dropped me off at a parking lot 10 miles from home and left after telling me I would have to drive home. Taught myself.

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

I taught myself by skipping school and stealing my Dad's pickup while he was working. I would roll through town with all my other derelict friends in the back.:tup:

I'm going to hell.

 

[DKDunn04]

When I was 17 I was working as an office assistant at a Ford dealer so that once I turned 18 I would be able to move to sales. The GM said that I should drive all the cars so that if a customer has a question about a model I would be able to give a better opinion about it. the first set of keys he handed me were to a brand new, 2003 Mach 1 Mustang. I had never driven a stick before in my life. I thought to the movie Gone in :60 and remembered the scene where they keep showing his feet. I drove it about 10 miles, stalling it once in the parking lot and once at a light. It was one of the most stressful experiances of my life. That is also the day I learned about oversteer, doing a U-turn.

 

[Grinder34]

I taught a college roommate of mine to drive stick on my MINI Cooper S to the point where he was mostly proficient. Fast-forward a few months, and he wants to go test-drive the re-designed Eclipse that had just come out. He tells the salesman that he knows how to drive stick, but the salesman doesnt and consequently doesn't realize how sub-par my roommate--and doesn't call off the test drive! Anyways, we head out on the roads, and turn onto a feeder to the freeway. My friend decides to row through the gears, redlining each one: 1st gear, 6500 rpm, shift to 2nd, 6500 rpm, shift to 3rd....except he totally missed 3rd and slammed the car into 1st. Since he wasn't experienced with stick he didnt feel it, and still dumped the clutch. The salesman, not knowing how to drive stick, didnt realize how royally my friend fucked up...so we just casually turned around and made it back to the dealership. We made a hasty getaway after telling the salesman that "the engine feels funny in that one, i think you should have it checked."