driving my si

[its raining]

um, first stick for me. very hard. any tips? my ep has been sitting there for like 2 weeks rotting and decaying. i think im finally brave enough to take it to school tomorrow. wish me luck. i'm going to avoid all the inclines! mwahaha.

i can switch gears, downshifting, etc. the only problem i have is getting it to move! lol. it may sound funny, but its true. i find it very hard to go into 1st and then start rolling smoothly. either i jerk, or i release the clutch tooo slow and it takes too long to start moving. this gives me problesm at red lights, stop signs, and anything else that needs me to stop and then go.

i hope you guys understood what i just said. someone has had to be in my shoes before.

any tips before i go out tomorrow? eeek. nervous. anxiety. geez. too much for me. shoulda just got an auto rsx! :eek:

[myeverlovinsir]

If you can dance, and I assume you can by your post, then you
should be able to handle the clutch at a cold start, you have spent
2 weeks looking at this. Now get in your horse and ride, dam!


just my opinion...:(

It would seem that you have a case of left foot not being heard
by the right, and visa versa.
as a hint, use your clutch as a feather, easing it out to meet your
revs, and your gas peddle as a gun when you start. Ease out
the clutch when you are near 2k revs. Remember the clutch
controls how much you move from a start, keeping in mind the
engine has to be reving up a bit to provide pwr, they work
together, hope this helps.:)

[TrippZ]

i used to have that problem (used to have an Ep too!)

i'd just bring it to 2 or 2.5 and let go of the clutch. from the completely down position to the totally off the clutch would take about 3 seconds (1 mississippi, 2 ..) and just do it like that.

[EL-DOG]

Practice on getting the car to move by letting out the clutch and not applying the gas pedal ,,, Just to find out where the release point is on the clutch and then just start applying gas when the car starts to move maybe more maybe less....

Thats how I learned on my mustang ....

If all fails just floor it and pop the clutch... Just kidding!

[02blksi]

Fortune says:

"Find an empty parking lot tonight and be rewarded with driving bliss"



Get out and drive, what are you doing posting here?! practice young one practice --- sensai joe:)

[IceD out N CALI]

yup, find an empty parking lot and practice;)

[chunky]

Originally posted by EL-DOG
Practice on getting the car to move by letting out the clutch and not applying the gas pedal ,,, Just to find out where the release point is on the clutch and then just start applying gas when the car starts to move maybe more maybe less....

Thats how I learned on my mustang ....

If all fails just floor it and pop the clutch... Just kidding!

this is good advice. heed it.

the most important thing a beginner stick driver needs to learn is the release point (also known as friction point) of the clutch.

get the car on a level surface, release the clutch slowly. if you do it too quickly, you'll stall out - no biggie, start it up and do it again, slower. if you do it right, you'll hear the engine start to fight to maintain idle rpm as the clutch is engaging. the point where the clutch is JUST beginning to engage with the flywheel is the friction point.

in order to start the car from a standstill, you have to release the clutch pedal just to the friction point so the car doesn't roll backwards or stall out, then give it gas, and release the clutch the rest of the way.

I taught my g/f how to drive stick by forcing her to learn the friction point of the clutch. she had to learn on a b16 powered si, so it was a bit harder than on the k20 powered si (more low end torque really helps n00bs)

[odyessy SI]

ur in the same exact postion i was in oh i'd say about 2-3 months ago. yea practice makes but once u learn how to control ur left foot u should be fine. also the biggest thing has gotta be DO NOT BE SCARED!!!!! left foot control and courage are all u need to master manual

[myeverlovinsir]

good advice chunky!


My Ever Lovin SIR...:p

[SmoothOperator]

I'm going through all this right now with my girlfriend. She's had her 93 Si hatch sitting there for weeks now. Still afraid to drive it on her own. I've finally started forcing her to drive from our practice lot, to home. The best way to learn is to drive it. You'll only get so much from the damn parking lot!

Another thing to remember is...don't think about your revs and clutch too much. You've gotta develope a "feel" for it. Use the force young jedi, instinct is your friend. :D

[ortedd]

Another thing I didn't see, keep the radio low and listen to your car, it is not making enough power to continue letting the clutch out you will hear it. I was in your boat a few months ago, only the car was to fun to drive so I couldn't let it sit. I was revving it out more then I should and dropping the clutch, easy way to drive, but not so good for the car. Then I was working on launching at a low rev, near idle and I kept stalling. It is frustrating, but with some practice you should be able to get the car moving with out pressing on the gas. .

[its raining]

:'(
aww shucks, happy tears
you guys really do care about me. lol. wow, good advice from everyone. thank you all really. i can drive it, but my driving is a bit varied. sometimes, its smooth, other times its good. um, dancing has nothing to do with driving silly.

yeah, i heard the point where the clutch thing engages is a "g-spot." lol, i read that somewhere. i can drive on parking lots and subdivisions with ease.... just the roads get to me. yeah, i'll heed that advice on driving on actual roads. it really helps.

i just drove around with my friend tonight to the local college. guess what i saw? another ep! a silver one. so i honked and waved and they did the same. they looked kinda old tho, maybe they are members here? anyways. more driving for me hopefully, if i dont chicken out. lol.

thanks everyone.

[LazyAzzAzian]

i know exactly how you feel as well, ive had my Si for about two weeks now, i just passed 600 miles today, YAH! its also my first stick, ive a lot better at getting it going, but i still have my moments, all the responses are great advise, so all i can say is dont be afraid of the car, just keep practicing, take the car out when you know theres not a lot of cars (late night), and f*ck all the other drivers around, who cares if they beep at you if you take too long to get outta first, screw em, you'll usually mess up if you worry about what others are thinking, good luck ;)

[LordKoo]

Hey Its Raining,
Which school you go to? I go to UH, maybe we can meet up.

I can teach you if you want. It is piece of cake driving a stick. First of all, leave the gear in neutral, then depress the throttle. Yes, just depress the throttle, i want you to get a feel of the throttle. Then depress and keep it at 3000rpm. If you can steady the throttle at 3000rpm or varies it around. After that, put in first gear but let go of the crutch pedal gently, when you start to feel the car is moving, depress it again. Okay, now you have a feel of the crutch engagement point. Thirdly will be depressing some throttle lightly at the crutch engagement point. There you go... easy isn't it?

Practise makes perfect! Welcome to manual world! We need more women like you! :)

[myeverlovinsir]

you gotta love the love, drive that mother, nuff said.

Here's hoping you don't stall it.

[nx2kta]

just rev it to red line and dump the clutch










j/k

[DjMacAtack]

heres sum pointers (http://www.whtc.com/shared/auto/tutorials/learnstick.html)

[02TafWhtSi]

"Once you go stick, you'll never go back":)