How long did it take you to get comfortable driving manual? Bought a 91 Civic and I fucking suck. I watched videos so I feel like I understand WHAT to do but actually putting it into practice is hard. The bite point is way towards the top of the pedal so I'm too scared to go fast and overshoot so I just sit at lights for like 3 seconds bringing it up and rolling. Hill starts are hit and miss. I use the handbrake but again feeling for the engine to start to pull takes me too long. It's also super jerky in first below like 10mph but that might just be because I need to do some work on ignition. Should I just practice at night when there is no traffic?
>>29099807I had to practice twice a week with my dads 90s nissan truck for at least three months before I got really good at it. Give it time anon.
>>29099807>>29099831ameritards really do fit the stereotypesand alsodis nigga scared of burning his clutch a little bit on a 35 year old shitbox kwab
>>29099807took about a couple weeks - a month before finally getting familiar. what helped me was finding a larger open empty parking lot, practicing moving in reverse without stalling the engine. Once i got familiar with how the clutch operates and functions, easy peasy.Overall it's not difficult, just requires some time and practice, lot of empty open space helps
>>2909980790s Civics have really vague clutches and frankly they're a bit of a noob trap.
>>29099832For how easy that generation of Civic is to work on, the clutch is still a bitch. At least they're cheap
>>29099807Don't be discouraged. I'm from (not America) where nearly everybody drives manuals, and despite what the smug euros would have you believe, literally everybody sucks in the beginning. When I was 16 learning to drive it took me about 3 months of driving lessons with my mom on the weekends to get comfortable with a clutch, I even had to look down at the shifter to see the gear pattern lmao. All it takes is time and practice, like any new skill you're learning. And after a while it becomes automatic and you stop thinking about it completely.
>>29099842>When I was 16 learning to drive it took me about 3 months of driving lessons with my momIt took you that long? We euros don't associate with this poster.
>>29099853>smug euroCalled it.Nigga it was 4 times a month for about an hour or two each time. So what, 12 days total? Like 24h seat time? I must be a fucking retard or something.
>>29099807around 2 weeks
>>29099807I'd recommend finding an empty church parking lot at night to practice in. Just come up with a quick little loop to take. Really try to hammer home the movements for n-1st, 1st-2nd, and back down, 2nd-1st, 1st-n. Gears above that are super easy. Once you've got starting and stopping down, you don't really have anything to worry about. I was able to teach myself after work in a week or so, and my girlfriend in two.
Personally it took me years to where I would say I was genuinely comfortable. Not stalling is relatively easy, smooth and fast shifts take some time, crawling forward might take a lot depending on how often you do it since you have to work both the clutch and gas simultaneously. Just keep at it and it'll become second nature eventually.
>>29099807about 3 days before i stopped kangarooing across intersections. i got significantly better after realising it was totally fine to slip the clutch a bit to get moving.
my first time driving stick was buying a manual honda via craigslist four hours away from my house and having to drive it back alone. took a couple of weeks to get it down and hill starts were the most stressful. eight years later and i'll never voluntarily own/drive an automatic for as long as i live
>>29099859>I must be a fucking retard or something.you are not retarded but most certainly sub 100 iqthe concept of how a clutch works should take a white man 10 minutes to figure out
>>29099807once a week for a few of months, i dream of the day i can afford an automatic so i don't have to drive a manual for the rest of my life.
burgers really are barely sentient. you're not even self aware of the automotive industry gaming you for more $$$ because of your ineptitude and retardation. nah, fuck them smug euros with their god damn doctorates in shiftin gears right, we ain't got no problems huuu-weee
>>29099894>the conceptLmao what? You can watch all the porn you want that doesn't mean you know how to fuck.I learned to drive in a manual and grew up with only manuals in the family, I never struggled with the concept at all. The execution is a different story.
>>29099832european here, tbf even after I passed my test it took me months of constant driving to really internalize it as natural
>>29099940>after I passed my test it took me months of constant driving to really internalize it as naturalWhat do you mean by that? Surely to pass you had to be doing that anyway.
>>29099943Yeah I'm not saying I couldn't drive manual then, but there's obviously a major difference in driving skills between someone who is driving alone for the first time and someone who has years of driving experience already. Americans who just recently learned manual would of course need a while to do it without thinking too
>>29099807it two me two starts to become capable of driving manual smoothly. i dumped the clutch the first two times then figured it out after that. took me like a week to become comfortable, like confidently comfortable that i wasn't gonna stall or buck the car. but i'm also a turbo autist who can't speak to people so ymmv.don't worry about burning the clutch out, its an old civic who gives a fuck. it's a lot easier to get used to the bite point at 3k rpm, then move down in the rev range until you start at a reasonable rpm.
>>29099807The thing about manual is it takes a day to learn, a week to get used to it, a year to be a natural, and a lifetime to master
>>29099838Vague clutch with torque-less motor is actually an unsuspectingly big noob trap>tfw went from ka24de to 13b torque-less wonder
>>29099807like a weekend maybe?In HS my first car was a '93 tercel, got it a friday night despite never driving manual before. That first night was fucking agonizing, I remember going out there to just sit in the car and listen to the radio.next day my dad took me out to learn how to drive it, after a bit of start/stop practice in a parking lot, we went out on the road. By Sunday I was good to go. Though we lived in a tiny eastern OR town, so traffic wasn't much of a concern.OP, i'm guessing you grew up without a father figure in your life? this is one of those life skill things that your dad is supposed to each you.>Thank you for reading my blog, please hit like and subscribe for more boring updates.
Like 2-3 hours of practicing with my dad when I was 16 (like every other kid here)
>>29100093>OP, i'm guessing you grew up without a father figure in your lifeMy parents are married and I have a good relationship with my father. I was just taught to drive on an automatic and neither of my parents have owned a manual for at least 20 years. My mother tells me that even now it's muscle memory and she could probably still do it, maybe I will see if she'd want to give me lessons next time I visit. I suppose it's just practice and it will become second nature eventually like automatic driving. Thanks for all the advice guys
>>29099807I went from no experience to mastering shit like heel/toe in under a week. I taught myself. tbf it was a 4.3l V6 with some torque and truck gearing which is kind of cheating but it also had no hand brake and it's hilly as fuck here. It's really not a hard skill to learn (with a synchronized tranny) and just takes a bit of practice to master.
>>29099807I learned on atvs as a kid. Short answer is yeah, build your confidence with night drives where you're not feeling anxious you might upset the guy behind you or worse bump into him with a roll back or whatever. Don't gotta worry about stalling into traffic all that absolutely do night drives.Second and lastly, don't hate on yourself about it. A used stick that old the clutch is probably pretty worn out and a lot of the mistakes youre making are likely exaggerated vs if you were driving something new. I would recommend keeping it that way, do the night drives, get your confidence up, and when you're driving that thing like second nature get the maintenance done on the clutch. You'll be able to drive anything and that clutch maintenance will basically last forever. Or, get the maintenance done now, and wear out that clutch with your not so great skills while you practice but then you've got worn out shit after you figure it out and also, you won't necessarily be able to drive any run to hell shit box.Ultimately, remember your grandma figured it out. You can too.
>>29100517ah, that was unnecessarily snarky..anyways good luck, don't over think it. just try to imagine what the clutch pedal is doing (disengaging the transmission from the engine)learning to slip the clutch just a bit on a start is really the only hard part. if the engine starts to lug, give it more clutch.. it'll become intuitive after a few tries :)
>>29100550I should also say because I'm a seasoned boomer. HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THIS ON BIRTH! lol. They don't actually mean it when they say it. I'm being totally honest about that. It's just their way to motivate you. You'll get it man. And it is fun. I built a 550+hp mustang this summer. Its hot an automatic c4 with manual valve body.Actual manual is genuinely fun in a different way. Depending on my mood and I mean this honestly, I could have more fun driving your civic than my silly powerful mustang for that reason. It's worth knowing. I really hope you keep trying. You'll get it
the average european teenager learns over about 20 to 40 hours.
>>29099807 find bite point and just release to it so the car starts to creep slightly and stomp back down over and over and over. No gas yet. Do this until it is second nature to hit the bite smoothly. Then add gas to the mix. Ez as
>>29099807Maybe you need to replace the transmission fluid.
>>29103295There's a lot of age related stuff with this car so it's hard to tell if I'm shit or the clutch needs work. Was going to do the fluid, check the play and probably get a new cable. Luckily my pedal assembly hasn't split like a lot of EFs do so I will probably get a reinforcing bracket for it or something.
You aren't retarded for not practicing enough driving stick. You are retarded for reading all the dumb fuck internet comments and got peer preassured into buying a stick in 2026. No one is teaching you and you are just figuring things out based on comments suggestions and opinions on the internet. Pray that as you are figuring things out, you do not money shift or stall in a panick situation where you need power.
>>29103594>You are retarded for reading all the dumb fuck internet comments and got peer preassured into buying a stick in 2026Lol, why do you assume it was peer pressure? I like old Hondas, admire their mechanical simplicity, and wanted a cheap weekend car to do more complex stuff on. Retards like you try to gatekeep manual as some holy thing and then wonder why every car turned into a CVT crossover.
>>29103606If your take away is I am gatekeeping, then either you need to go back to school and ask for a refund or you are what you accused me of, retarded.I said it explicitly, getting a manual in 2026 is retarded.There is nothing to gatekeep here, all sensible people sold their manuals, anyone can pickup a manual car at bottom of the barrel price. There is no special procedure here to operate one either, clutch in, shift, clutch out. It is not something repetition could not improve. The dumb fucks who could not work beyond bot jobs 50 years ago did it daily. It is however, a financial diaster if OP money shifts, stalls and cause an accident, or worse, injury or death.
>>29099807Huh? I still get miffed by fucking automatics... Manual is like walking or breathing... Shit's far more natural to me I don't ever remember not being absolutely comfortable with it... Even as a little kid.
>>29099807>practice is hardyeah thats the point retard
One large drive through all of Germany and back to visit a friend.
>>29099807Manual takes 2 hours to learn and a year to master.
>>29103810You need to go back.
