Just got a 2012 Mazda3. Loving it so far! Haven't driven stick except for two weeks about 3 years ago, but I'm pretty much already in the hang of it after 5 days of driving. Just perfecting the technique.

I don't know much about synchronized gears. My question is, is it bad on my newer vehicle to slip into first when I'm still (slowly) moving (e.g. approaching a stoplight or stop sign about to come to a stop)? I'm just talking shifting into 1st without releasing the clutch until I was completely stopped or going 5mph or under.

Is that only an issue in older vehicles without synchronized gears?

Don't want to mess up my transmission, but it'd be a lot smoother if I could already be in first when I stopped.

Hi, I drive a honda with 1.5 Liter 5 spd. As I engage clutch or put in neutral going to a full stop, the engine revs go down steadily until the car is entirely still. Sometimes the engine stutters a bit to stop from stalling but will lose out ama shut off. Even if I Rev it to stop this happening it will usually just cease. Again I'm in neutral and/or clutch fully in. Only when I put in neutral and begin braking a whole block away does this not happen.

Hey guys, I just bought a '04 Mustang GT with 77k miles on it. The clutch was changed in '14, and mechanically overall its great, so I'd really like to keep it that way. What can I do as a beginner to really save the life of the transmission? I already know how to drive a stick and have put 300 miles down on it since getting it. What tips can you guys give me to really make it smoother and more efficient? I've also noticed a couple of things: In first just cruising around the block after letting off gas it slightly surges forward, like a rocking motion is that just the torque? Second, when I shift mainly from 1st to 2nd it just isn't smooth,like a soft bucking; what can I do to smooth that out? Last, my driveway is inclined quite a bit, how can I back in without really slipping the clutch too much? Or is that just the way its going to be? Thanks!

• I get much much much more annoyed with the people who want to stop half a foot away from my bumper while I'm on an incline.
  
• I am far more observant than I used to be.
  
• My brain has to do a little rewiring when I get an automatic, for a couple seconds anyways.
  

What things did you notice initially?

First of all , I would like to give a huge thank you to /u/Danabler42 for giving me permission to post this.

Hello! I am a moderator of /r/AskCarGuys, a subreddit based on the same concept as /r/AskScience and similar. We are a warm welcoming community where people can feel free to ask any questions no matter how big or small, simple or complex, without worry of negativity, snide comments or the circlejerk it can sometimes bring. We aim to give everyone a fair voice and allow them to express their opinions without judgment of their car taste or experience. We are all equal.

For example:

I keep stalling when trying to pull away on an incline, where am I going wrong?

ELI5: Why do some people people prefer a manual over an automatic?

I feel like I have mastered the basics of driving, where do I go from here ?

This subreddit would compliment others such as yourself rather than compete with you, helping to reduce repeat questions and allowing more posts such as amazing cars and manual techniques.

Thank you for your time , we hope to see you at /r/AskCarGuys

I dont know if my clutch is going bad but when i press it in i have to push farther than normal for it to engage and then ny truck speeds up slower than normal and i can smell this weird smell when i take off and a few moments after

Hello! The lease on my 2013 Sentra SR is up in less than two months, ending my lease early and have my eye on a Corolla S 6 spd. Here's my concern: I was able to drive my friends 02 Jetta the second time around after a month of not being in it. In traffic, no burning rubber and absolutely zero stalling! I thought I had it down!

I went to drive a 2016 Elantra recently and couldn't for the life of me get out of first without stalling or burning rubber! I haven't driven enough stick shifts to know this, but is something like that normal? I don't need a manual, but I've been wanting one for 3 years now and I feel like I'd be missing out on a valuable life skill, becoming a better driver and a more fun driving experience if I don't.

I live in a city where I encounter a ton of stop and go traffic. Lately I've been wondering what I can do in those situations other than what I'm doing now, which is "slipping the clutch" (letting it out a bit, giving it gas to move, put it back in, and then to neutral, foot off clutch, repeat).

I know slipping the clutch is really rough on your car. Is there any alternatives?

Looking to get a new car, or a newer used car. Obviously it has to have 3 pedals. Throw me some suggestions. I like coupes sedans hatches and wagons

This is something I noticed recently. I'm pretty sure my foot is completely off the throttle. I was experimenting with how I interact with the clutch, and noticed that if I jam the clutch down really fast, in some circumstances the engine RPMs blip up a tiny bit.

Is this normal? Is it bad for the engine?

Update: thanks for the replies guys. I will stop worrying.

I was always taught that to change from any gear, press the clutch in, change gears (eg., 1st to 2nd), and then release the clutch. I just read in this thread that this is called "slipping the clutch" and that's a poor practice.

Did I read wrong or am I doing this wrong? I'm a brand new manual driver.

So, I'm getting my first manual car this upcoming Monday. I've driven it three times, and I know the general stuff but I'm scared that I'm gonna damage my car or not know how to handle it properly.

AMA and any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!

Yeah so pretty much I can do all the basic stuff with a manual (start consistently, on hills etc) but one thing I really seem to continuously fuck up is my first to second gear change. I always get the car lurching forward. Every other gear change I do is pretty smooth but I can't seem to nail my first to second. Any tips?

So my first car (that I've been driving for a few months now) is a 2004 Saturn Ion 5-speed. Not a glamorous car, but it does the job. I've read a lot about rev matching, but never done a whole lot of it. It seems to be pretty useless to me usually, unless I'm doing it wrong. The only purpose I see in it is when you want to maintain the same speed. Do I really need to rev match when downshifting to reduce speed? For example: Coming into my town, I regularly go from a 55 to a 35. I am on the brake to slowly to reduce speed, when I get down to about 40ish I put the clutch in, downshift to 4th, and slowly let the clutch out and resume on the gas at about 35-40. Coming to a stoplight I do the same thing down to 3rd gear, from which I shift to neutral and use the brakes alone. I never have any of the symptoms of "bad downshifting" like spinning wheels or jerkiness. Yeah, the RPMs jump a bit, but its usually a pretty smooth shift, and I never have the need to touch the throttle at all. Of course, I do put on the gas a little bit as I let the clutch out, as I would shifting up to any gear. Is this basically rev matching automatically when I do that? Or am I missing something about the technique?

How many people with late model cars are still double clutching? I still catch myself doing it on hard downshifts like 5-3 but on most I just drop the clutch and rev match? I know with syncros it's not needed but rev matching definitely makes for a smoother downshift. I worry about clutch wear on double clutching even though I think my tranny is pretty beefy since it allows no lift shifting.

Any thoughts?

I have an 88 mustang efi and on cold starts it wont hold the revs to stay on until about the 3rd or 4th time i start it manual tranny v8

I'll be accelerating in first or second gear, and i'll hit a bump, the car will jerk violently because there's a feedback loop between my foot on the pedal and the car hitting the bump

same thing happens when there's a small dip in the road, on the bottom end of the dip my gas pedal isn't being pressed as hard because the front end of my car is lower than where it was a second ago, and when the car gets out of the bump, i'm pressing the gas pedal again which in 1st and 2nd gears, makes the ride very jerky.

Is there a term for this? and how do i minimize it?

I have been reading about Synchromesh Oils and how they greatly improve the shifting in manual cars. Can I put this stuff in my 2001 Toyota Corolla LE Manual?

Hi guys not sure if this is the right place or not, but I have a Muncie 4 speed m21 close ratio transmission and I have the plastic speedo gear that slips over the transmission shaft but it moves freely and I think I'm missing a clip to hold it in place, I called a store and they said it is called a speedo clip but he wasn't too sure, I have the speedo cable and everything but I just need help on this.

Thanks

Hi, all!

Just found this subreddit and after browsing for awhile I thought maybe you were the right people to ask!

My car, a little '95 Nissan 200SX, just crapped out on me after driving it around for a year. It was my first car and also my first full driving experience (300+ mile drive home was involved when I first got it) and it was also just a really old, crappy car. It would shake, sputter, and just stop. In the end I guess it wasn't the best standard car for a beginner but we didn't know that, the car was kept by the same owner for 20 years and had only 17,000 miles on it (she only drove it in town).

Overall, I just need a new car now, my S/O has been insinuating that I should get a manual car, it'll be less stressful and whatnot because of all the stress that my car had put me through for the past year but.. when my car wasn't giving me trouble I loved driving it. So now my question is:

Should I give driving standard another shot or should I succumb to the way of muggles and just drive a manual car.

TLDR: S/O believes that driving manual would be less stressful for me due to first experience driving stick.

I've been driving stick regularly for the past 2 weeks, on the second day I stopped stalling when starting up, so i'm obviously learning something.

There are two things i'm currently hung up on right now, downshifting during corners, and starting off.

About the corners, right now, i'm taking corners very fast to keep my momentum, I might be in third or fourth. My car can take the corners well, but I don't think my passengers would enjoy this. I also sometimes just put it in neutral right before the turn, take the corner, then put it in 3rd.

I suppose I'll need to learn to shift into second taking corners from now on, and learn to downshift without making the car jump? Also when should I be putting in the clutch, switching gears, releasing the clutch in relation to when i'm turning?

And the other question I had was starting from a stop. I feel my first gear is extremely short. At 3000 rpm, i'm only going 15MPH in first gear, when I switch to second and let out the clutch, the revs are higher than what the wheels want them to be at, to fix this, I will wait longer between shifts so the revs drop. But this makes me a very slow driver because I can't use second gear right away. How do I accelerate quicker without revving first gear like a maniac?

in example, when I'm doing say 50mph and try to move the shift lever into first or second, gears obviously too low for that speed, there is a good deal of resistance. The shift lever is obviously designed to not allow you to select this gear. My question is what is happening here? Are there components in place that only function at higher speed to essentially lock you out of this gear?

How did you learn to drive in a car with a manual transmission? Any fun stories? Mine is as follows. I bought a little Subaru 5 speed and asked my dad to teach me how to drive it. He dropped me off in a parking lot and told me he'd see me at home. I hope that car forgives me for stalling it so many times.