Driving Standard For The First Time

[Lilac Wine]

I learnt how to drive a standered yesterday cause i'm interested in buying a standered car.
So I had a 2 hour lesson yesterday, and today I went out for about 20min.
How long should it take to become real comfortable with it? I have yet to take the next step and go on the highway or drive a lot through town etc....

[pyro]

took me about 10 min to get it then about a week before i actually felt comfortable with it

[BlkMaxima]

Go to some crappy private dealers and test drive something they will let you go out alone in and learn in that lol.

P.S. Probly a good idea to have someone who is already comfortable with it to drive it away from the lot.

[Zero102]

It took me about 10-15 minutes to get the basics down. About a week until I stopped stalling it every now and then, and maybe 2 weeks before I was really comfortable with it. I think I'm reasonably normal in the time that it took me to learn it.

Going on the highway won't help much. Once you hit 5th, it isn't really any different from an automatic. Driving around town though, I would stay away from heavy traffic until you're comfortable with it. For everybody's sake :)
Other than that, go to a residential area, with lots of stop signs and such, gets you lots of practice in a rather short time.

[Eken9]

If you're using a stock clutch it will be easy, you will get it within a week! However if your not so good with standard stay away from high pressure 6 puck clutches:D

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by Zero102
Other than that, go to a residential area, with lots of stop signs and such, gets you lots of practice in a rather short time.

Better idea: go to an industrial area after hours. No kids, pets or parked cars to worry about.

[tapout]

iQUOTE]Originally posted by FiveFreshFish


Better idea: go to an industrial area after hours. No kids, pets or parked cars to worry about. [/QUOTE] :thumbsup: i agree

[Shaolin]

I taught my sister how to drive a standard in a parking lot with lots of hills.. after you figure out how to do uphill starts and downhill reverses you're good to go.

[Lilac Wine]

ok so I guess i'm doing okay.
I've driven one for about 2 hours and 20min total in my life and I am just driving on side streets with some hills and little traffic, practicing starting from stop signs and shifting gears etc... I drove through part of town for about 5min.

[turbotrip]

Step 1
Standered-------> Standard :thumbsup:

seems like ur off to a good start, just practise uphill starts and u should be good

[schurchill39]

I learnt how to drive standard 4 weeks ago and now am really good. I drove it for about 2 15 minute intervals with my dad then i went and got my licence and just drove around. That day was kinda rough at first but i eventually got into the flow of things after a few hours. The next day i started off bad but soon got the hang of it again. After 2 hours of non stop driving you should know what you need to do with just a few slip ups here and there. I know i stalled my car for the first time in 2and a half weeks yesterday. I also started out on a centerforce stage one clutch so thats a little gripyer then stock, or so i've been told.

[Dudek]

I dunno about you guys but I dont care if you believe me or not but I only stalled once in a standard when learning.

And was able to drive comftorably probably the second day heh.
I dunno I guess thats why I love standard so much :).

[A2VR6]

It took a little while to learn for me. but that was becuase i was using a different car each time so it was a little tricky. But when i got my car it took me about 3 or 4 days before i felt comfotable going into heavier traffic. All i did was find a hill and did hill starts until i felt that I didnt roll back enough to hit a car.

[asp integra]

just like with anything else, if you do it alot you will get good at it, i have driven standard for about a year now and i feel really confident driving a 5 speed, but every now and then i miss a shift or stall, so if if happens to you dont worry about it, its just one of the steps towards becoming a good manual driver

[Supa Dexta]

I've been driving since I was 9-10 or so, and have lot's of experience in tons of differnet vehicles... Beit cars, trucks, dirtbikes/motorcycles, farm machinery, hell even boats... I've got standards covered, but I still stall every now and then from just being plain lazy... :D That and my 3cyl car is a little picky and short on powah....

:burnout:

[Chester]

Well my dad showed me when I was 15 but I was kind of stupid and didn't understand how everything worked so I just forgot about it. Then a year or 2 ago I had to keep driving my buddies car for like a week straight because he kept getting loaded when we went out. By the second day I was comfortable with it because I was driving all over and in stop and go traffic.:nut:

[Rockski]

it took about 10 minutes to be able to go from a stop to 5th gear with relitive ease, about a week untill i wasnt stalling it any more... and a month till i stopped burning the clutch :tongue: ... try the industrial area idea first, its a good way to learn, as stated, no cars kids or pets... the hardest part is getting from a stop to 1st, after that its all easy:D

[Skyline_Addict]

learn in a POS.

the other day I drove my friend's Suzuki Swift. total POS with no power steering....really difficult car to drive...but will make you a better driver. driving the prelude compared to the swift made me really realize and be greatful that I have a very good car to drive. despite the size, that car felt like a truck in every way! once you drive a better car, it'll be a sinch.

[DannyO]

Originally posted by Dudek
I dunno about you guys but I dont care if you believe me or not but I only stalled once in a standard when learning.

And was able to drive comftorably probably the second day heh.
I dunno I guess thats why I love standard so much :).

I don't see why anyone wouldn't believe you, its not impossible to only stall 1 time, some people get it better than others, I think I only stalled once or twice when learning, and I actually felt fine driving after about 5 hours, I just always loved driving, even before I could drive, so I think I picked it up easier, plus like said above, it depends on the car, I was fine in all the other cars I've driven, but now I own a really nice Prelude and I have abit of trouble shifting in it, its not a problem with the car, its a problem with my height, shifting from 1st to 2nd I always seem to get abit to much on the gas before it engages, just need to still get the hang of it, love that car though :D .

[H4LFY2nR]

Hill starts are probably the hardest to learn, but you'll be fine after a week or so.

[d-UNiT]

man my first time with standard, is when i got my rex, and my buddy the retard decided to take bow trail to get to our destination, IN RUSH HOUR

(i was following him btw)

that was the best practise for me, start stop start stop start stop for 30 minutes it was tight

now im pro