Well i ended up getting a Subaru Legacy GT! Yay I love it, though i still drive it because i need to learn manual and i don't have insurence yet. Seems someone won it in a contest and his son broke his ankle so he couldn't drive it (it only had 355 miles). I got a "free" subwoofer (ya the Subaru one...i dunno if its good) and wheel locks. They installed the sub but returned the car. Its a White Legacy...pretty much stock. Is the engine the same as an STi or something like that?
Yes the engine is the same, however it is "de-tuned" putting out 250hp at the crank whereas the STi puts out 300.
nice!! Dont get frustrated learning stick. It's really not that bad (this is my first stick car and I've pretty much picked it up after a week now). Like Alex told me the other day, when you're starting off first focus on technique, the speed will come with experience.
Oh i can't wait to drive it correctly...I insisted on a Stick actually... Did you know they don't allow Navagation on Manual Legacy because they are afraid of people shifting and useing the Nav at the same time or something like that Good thing our neighboorhood has this massive hill going up to a look out point that i can practice on...though i don't like my dads way of going up hills. Enage the parking brake and rev it a bit and let go of the lever...i mean i guess its a good learning way..
Once you get it going out of first, it's cake. I learned on a 1994 Explorer in San Francisco. Lol. Not the best situation because there are lots of cars and hills. Anyways, stick really isn't as hard as some people think. I love the Legacy GTs, they're awesome. Congratulations!
congrats, enjoy yourself! Everyone lovs to give you their secrets for driving stick. I wont break the trend, but the most important thing in my opinion is confidence. If you are not confident about your pedal work and shifting you'll stall everytime. It makes it that much easier best of luck.
All 3 of you looking my thread needs to post.... Anywho, i sure i can learn it pretty fast...but the legacy is one amazing car..god i love it
I noticed that when I test drove the Legacy GT, the clutch was a lot easier than the one on my WRX. If the clutch is like it was on all Legacys, you should be able to pick it up real quick. Is it the Limited?
mine kicks in around 2500 but i have aftermarket pipes all over that are gutted. 2800 is a good prediction though.
congrats on the new ride dude... and alex is right everyone loves to give their advice on MT, so here's mine... the single most valuable thing to remember about clutches or pedals in general is that they are sensitive modulators, not on/off switches. keeping this in mind will keep you from over-reacting to a clutch bog and keep it from stalling. as well as over/understeering a corner, spinning, accelerating faster, breaking faster, etc, etc ad nauseum oh, and get a pair of shoes that are firm/thin soled (like converse chucks or the like) so you can really feel what your doing and the car's reaction to it.
Oh yes, i had to use theses thick soled shoes for the auto test drive...i couldn't really feel the brakes till i just really stepped on them...i dislike those. I do like how if you are shifting, it prevents you to going into reverse (how does that work?) When you park do you leave in neutral or in gear?
R isn't synchromeshed quite like the others, you may even find after a while that when you're at a standstill that you may need to move the car a touch for it to shift into R. just letting ya know, there's nothing wrong with your car, R is it's own thing. always wait till you've stopped moving forward before throwing into R (and the reverse for 1st). i like to leave it out of gear (N) at park with the e brake yanked up, but that's me, lots of people leave in 1st. the "proper" way is this: if you're parked front pointing on downhill, set the shift to R (after you've turned off the car), if your front is pointing uphill, set the shift to 1st. regardless, always have the ebrake on, the shift being set to gear is a "failsafe". as far as the shoes are concerned, it may sound silly, but i have driving shoes (diesel track runner shoes) that i wear when driving-i leave them in the car. then i change my shoes to dress shoes when i get to work(sort of like a twisted mr rogers ) hope this helps.
im thinking of getting some driving shoes too... the vans i wear right now are real big and loose... makes it harder to heel-toe
I want some Puma driving shoes. Stylish and functional. I picked up some cheap Reeboks a couple months ago that work pretty well as driving shoes.
I heard Pumas are very good Anyone willing to give tips on driving while on a hill? I was able to make tire spin on my frist and only try (had to go)...and that weird burning smell is obviously me stalling and not good for the car but what is it? I'm getting the hang of it...still trying to figure out where it grabs on...i was able to driving around the neighboorhood but somehow stall 3 times right infront of my house
When i got my pumas, i felt the difference immediately. There was tons more feel to the pedals. Second best purchase after my schroth quick fit harness. And puma makes them in several shades of pink!
That would be your clutch burning :hsnono: What I did was find a pretty shallow grade hill (enough where you'll roll back a bit, but not too much) and see how the car feels when you're engaging the clutch while rolling back slowly. Also just sit with the car neutral and find out exactly how much you have to touch the throttle in order to get to ~2000 revs or wherever you'd like to start moving from. Seriously, just sit there and rev from idle to 2000 for a couple mins until you get a good feel.
Anyone know any good non steep hills? I mean this hill in my neighboorhood is pretty steep...as well as the one i go to school on (not driving till i can do well with that hill part) Clutch burning...?.......damnit I'm going to assume 2000 revs is about the nessiary rev to keep it stalling, but what about second and thrid gear? I have so much to learn..
just feel your way through it. when you engage the clutch (lifting off the pedal) very gradually, use the throttle very gradually-just because you start moving doesn't mean you have to take your foot completely off the the clutch, you'll get a feel for when you can take your foot off (again gradually). use up as much gear as you feel you need to keep moving at the rate you want before you upshift. once you get a feel for the exact engagement point of the clutch, and how much the engine needs to keep from stalling, you won't have to "rev" the engine to keep from stalling, you'll just keep the throttle and clutch in modulation to eachother-regardless of how steep the hill is. try starting at the very base of the hill, go 10ft up, and stop. then go another 10ft forward and stop, etc. again, don't look for a target rpm when doing hills, each hill has it's own grade, the weather has it's own temperature, humidity, etc, etc. instead pay attention to your pedal feel and the relational modulation of clutch to throttle to keep the engine & tranny loaded enough to move forward. if the engine starts bogging, i know the first instinct for some people is to use more throttle, but you should be first using less clutch (pushing in) gradually to adjust engine load... while giving little more throttle only to get moving. worry about rpm numbers when you drag race or are looking to guage lap time
Yeah monk's advice is good. My cousin gave me somewhat the same speech and it really helped. He also explained to me why you have to gently let out the clutch, and knowing what I was trying to do helped a lot. But yeah, giving more gas is better than giving less at first, as long as you don't pop the clutch and ram into the car in front of you. Lol.
Well i've been practicing a bit since i got out of school but i still am stalling at points (i get nervous with other drivers in my neighboorhood so i usually let it off too early)..Well practice makes perfect!
I agree confidence and patience...i was forced to learn stick on a road trip and the only way i was getting anywhere was to learn it right there...luckily had the balls to just go for it...it'll come just like anything else...might be frustrating at first but it's worth it!!!...good luck :bigthumb:
i learned to drive stick at 16... stalling was not much of an issue except on slopes... however i remember one thing i kept messing up... i tended to drive in higher gears at low rpms all the time... this was bad since i had virtually no throttle response at the speed i was going at the same time, if i slowed down any, i was worried about stalling... now i drive in the powerband unless im cruising on the highway
Well i'm going to practive in the big empty parking lot at some church... I forgot its near The Forum. I just have real troubles with first gear. My neighboorhood is way too small to learn. I'm just a really nervous kid, i don't really have high esteem...so it seems (i'lll go work on that)
I read somewhere that Chuck Taylors make really good driving shoes, and pretty cheap I think. I have no experience with them since you can't call what I do driving...
LOL...yeah dude, or just about any other interstate here although you make a good point... if you watch people drive, you get a good feel for just how many people have bad driving habits and aren't even aware of it. templer, i've taught several people how to drive MT, and what you're doing is what all of them did at first-get nervous and pop the clutch. its very common
I learned to drive a stick on my Dads Subaru that was about 17 years ago. I cant even remember what kind it was, blue, 2 door FWD, carburated.Spare tire was where the intercooler is on the WRX.Had a luggage rack on the trunk. It wouldn't idle, clutch went and the rear axel went.It was like a spring loaded rear axel. We got another from a junk yard and replaced it. I said i would never own a subaru after driving that POS.
haha. when i went to test drive the STI i didnt even know how to drive stick. and i'm surprised the guy even sold it to me. haha. when it went to get the car i had to bring my friend along and he had to drive it back for me and then he helped me get it. sort of. apparently i hold the clutch too long but i'm definitly improved. its so hard to drive in flip flops. but i'm working on that too.
as people have mentioned earlier, first focus on technique... the speed will come... suddenly shifting will become natural and u wont even notice urself doing it
Well i'm gonna practice alot tommrow...its at the peachtree corner church and across the street is that parking lot..right after noon When i feel the car sorta go into "stalling" i just let the clutch back in, but my friend has a dokota truck and his does it a bit but he says its normal for his (it does is just a tad). I just have to find the right rev to put it in
Congrats on the car! You will get the hang of the stick pretty quickly. Id suggest practicing on the engagement of the clutch without using the gas to get used to where it catches. Just get on a flat area. Slowly let the clutch out until you can get it rolling without the gas, once you get used to where it engages, it will be pretty easy to roll on out from a start even on hills, becuase you will get familliar with where the car wants to stall out without any kind of pressure. Anyhoo enjoy!
I've done everything you've guys said and i'm not stalling very much anymore, but i'm still not driving on the roads because i sorta go into first slowly and gas it a bit, also my second gear is a bit jerky. I can go on small steep hills and let the clutch in a bit to prevent it from rolling and gas it from there. I guess i'm learning slow and steady
congrats on the car as well. when i first got my subie, I had never owned a stick and had imited experience. learning to drive stick on the crazy atlanta roads was frustrating. with little qualification, I too will give you my 2 cents. I found that practicing engaging the clutch on a hill(with NO gas) so that the car does not roll backwards nor forwards, gives you a way to find that point where the clutch engages. (like genya said) as far as second goes, don't forget that even though your moving and shifting to second the clutch still needs to be finessed and you need to give it some gas to keep the car accelerating and not make the car bog. if you want to car to shift smoothly then you have to manipulate the pedals smoothly. when i first started driving i had the tendancey to release the clutch too quickly and without enough gas when going to second and my car always jerked. the only other thing i might add is to continue practicing in parking lots but at some time (when theres not too much traffic) just get on the roads. I doesnt matter if you stall, I found that most people actually understand that your learning and are okay with a little delay. besides most people in atlanta have no idea how to drive at all. :keke: good luck and may the transmission gods be with you... :wavey:
Yes, i've done the clutch on a slighlty steep hill very helpful. Sometimes i feel like i'm giving it too much power and its gonna stall (you know how it does that jumpy thing?) but it just keeps on going. Personally i like it better when i can get it to smoothly go up a hill (done it every once in a while)
too much power wont stall it... too little power will... if it jumps and feels like ur about to stall, ur giving it too little power for how fast ur dropping the clutch