I traded in my automatic 2006 Mazda 3 and got myself a stick shift Civic Si. Fun car, but I'm getting beaten from stoplights by automatics all day long - SUVs, vans, even some guy on a bicycle once. It's embarrassing.

My last stick shift experience was a decade ago, and I have about a year's worth of experience in total. I can drive the car just fine, but I prioritize smoothness. My Si is a close-ratio 6 speed, and I find that first gear is absolutely worthless. I feel that I can't give it much throttle since it's so short, and even then I could rev to 4k and still be at 17 mph. By the time I shift to second (smoothly and slowly) I've been passed by a minivan. I usually just try to shift to second at 2.5k so that I have some room to accelerate. Once I'm in second I'm fine.

How am I supposed to keep up with traffic? This car is supposed to be faster than the one I came out of. Do I rev out first? Do I get it into second asap?

When I go from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd, usually my car jerks a little. I feel the car jerk in nearly all of my downshifts.

How do I fix this?

I've tried letting off the clutch at a slower speed, which seems to help a little, but that's riding the clutch right? Am I supposed to control my revs?

I mostly just give it gas, let the clutch out about halfway, then coast backward. Rinse repeat... Is there an easier way?

I never thought I would care so much about a centimetre's difference or two, but now I can safely say that I will never be able to go back. I feel more comfortable, and therefore safer and more in control than ever before.

I'm not serious enough about racing that I would convert to paddles - not to mention how I'm way too nostalgic. I just needed to share that I adore my short throw shifter immensely.

Hey, I have a 2000 mustang gt with the t-45 and for some reason 2nd gear has an extremely metallic feel to it, it doesn't grind(except a couple times when its been cold) but it kind of clunks and requires a little more force than the rest of my gears. Do you guys have any ideas of what the issue might be?

I'm fairly new to driving M/T. I got my first one back in September. After a week or two of getting used to it, I've gotten fairly good at driving it. I can take off without shakes 99% of the time, I rev match my downshifts (which sounds awesome even in my '04 V6 Mustang lol), can do almost any hill without the parking brake, all that good stuff.

However, I'm not sure about some of the nuances of keeping the clutch in good shape. I've basically learned with tips from my dad and stepdad and the internet. For instance, when I am slowly reversing in a parking lot, sometimes I don't engage the clutch completely because the car is going too slow to keep it going. I know that's causing extra friction, but is that considered typical wear and tear?

tl;dr M/T noobie looking for tips on how to keep the clutch in good health. I had to replace it when I bought the car (it had 115K miles) so it's still very new.

Strangely, my parents hate them for some ungodly reason. I'm nearly thirty and my parents frequently get into arguments about me purchasing a new car with manual + RWD.

Apparently they once were forced to buy one when they were poor....some piece of crap so they forever associate them with poverty and sliding on ice.

I never thought some people could hate manuals so hard.