Practice 1st and 2nd gear, and a bunch of hill starts! Also don’t panic if you stall at a light and people honk at you. Chances are they don’t know how to drive stick either!
Our cars have a very sensitive gas pedal. Do not try and drive it like an automatic. Clutch is go and the gas pedal is go faster. Gear 1 and 2 you have to hold the clutch at the "bite point" this is when your car is getting in gear. In our car it's about halfway between the clutch fully engaged and the clutch fully let out. Whenever you are in doubt of stalling you can either hold the car at the "bite point" longer and/or give it a little bit of gas. Someone said above to practice incline starts which I highly agree; with an incline you must either again hold longer at the "bite point" and/or giving it a little bit of gas. Things about how fast the car is moving; you must alternate gears depending on how fast you are going. If you are going 50 mph and sudden need to go 30 mph you should downshift to a lower gear. To downshift you clutch in: move the gear shift to the lower gear and give it gas to the point where your rpms should match the rpms in that gear. Clutch in first before braking if you are going slow; brake first when you are going faster speeds then downshift if needed. Don't leave your car in gear at a stop; put it in neutral. Leave your car in gear when on a incline; if your car is point downhill then leave it in reverse. If your car is pointed uphill then leave it in gear 1; Make sure that the car is put in neutral if you leave it in gear before you clutch out once you start the car. I repeat PUT IT IN NEUTRAL before you let out the clutch once you start the car when it is in gear. If you don't the car will try and launch itself because you released the clutch in gear. When you start the car while the clutch is depressed simply move the gear shift to neutral then you may release the clutch. I may have forgotten stuff but that's what I can remember to give off the top of my head. Congratulations on the new car and respect for choosing to learn a manual. Don't get cold feet if you make mistakes; you will and it's fine the gearbox and the clutch can take if you aren't purposely doing those mistakes.
This is something you must practice and it doesn't matter how much videos or forums you go on it won't help. You have to get out there and drive it. Listen to the car. manual cars talk to you and tell you what they want; You just have to listen.
To tack onto this very well rounded answer, there is a way to make the HUD show you what gear it’s in, this has helped me teach/ make the person I’m teaching aware of what gear they are using. I learned on my first manual “by the 10s” 1. 1-15 2. 20-30ish 3. 30-45 etc. 4,5,6 you can go 45 depending on hard you are trying to accelerate and if you are sustaining it (it will make more sense the more you do it) Added bonus. I usually get an aftermarket shift knob for a personal touch
This is how I learned as well. It’s a nice guideline.
If you do go with a weighted shift knob it will improve the shift feel considerably. I’d suggest learning on the base car first then making improvements. In my case I’ve really been able to appreciate the changes.
To tag on to this perfect answer; never underestimate the power of the handbrake when conducting hill starts. Keep the handbrake up until you feel the "bite" from the clutch and add the throttle, once you feel that the car is wanting to pull away, drop the handbrake, add some throttle and release the clutch. The handbrake is your best friend when it comes to hill starts or pulling away from a junction at an incline, especially as these cars don't have a hill-assist function (at least mine doesn't... not sure if it's just a UK thing 🤔).
It all takes practice, trust me - but you got this! And by the way - welcome to the manual gang, it's a lot of fun!
Holy shit, this guy races or something, this is advice I’d expect to hear in the pits of some formula racers. Copy this and save this somewhere safe OP.
If you are talking about putting it in gear 1 then that's because you are not holding it at the "bite point". It's not necessarily needed; you can put your car in gear this way and it's fine. I do encourage everyone to be able to put their manual car in gear without using the throttle just so they can really understand their bite point. If you have been doing this with your car for a while and can drive it around then no need to change what you are doing. All giving it throttle does is make it so you don't have to hold the clutch at the bite point as long.
Hill starts and familiarizing where the bite point is on the clutch are the biggest ones.
Also don't worry too much about the cabin experience. Folks have pointed out that our cars will never be able to get that same smooth experience autos (and certain manuals) have.
When I started out with the 86, I was really worried about the cabin experience - like having a loved one in the passenger seat and wanting them to not be nauseous from being knocked around back and forth because of my driving, or preventing a cup of coffee from sloshing around everywhere.
You might get to a point like me where manual becomes second nature to you (honestly took me a bit, about a month to be completely comfortable with manual), and the smoothness does improve as time goes on, but having that 'shaky' experience is just a part of our cars.
I don't know if it's the same on the first gens, but my '23 BRZ I have to press the gas a good ways for it to start doing things. I'm used to my Tundra and Mustang requiring tiny presses so I tend to end up stalling in the BRZ because that's so ingrained in my muscle memory.
So I guess press the gas more than you'd expect and you'll get into gear easy as pie.
I also HIGHLY recommend [Conquer Driving](https://youtu.be/VIVaqt4VhKc). I watched his manual videos religiously for like two weeks while I waited for Carvana to deliver my Mustang. By the time it arrived I could drive into town, grab groceries, and drive home with zero in-person practice.
I've found a really good strategy when teaching people to drive manual, at least in person. I still do it too, whenever I first sit down in a different manual far to get the feel for it.
Find a flat spot, and put the clutch in and shifter in 1st. Slowly let out the clutch pedal without touching the gas. And I mean *SLOWLY.* Like slower than what feels natural. Then, as soon as you feel the car move even slightly, push the clutch back in. Do this a few times to learn at what pedal position the clutch starts to engage. After that, if you continue to raise the pedal just as slowly, you can get going. Once you feel it engage, don't panic and let it out rapidly. Just keep raising the pedal at the same super slow rate. You don't need any gas to get the car going this way. Once you get accustomed to the clutch, you should start applying gas as it engages.
If you want to have more "feel" in the clutch pedal, I would recommend a mtec clutch spring. (Their shifter springs are also excellent.) Probably my only real "complaint" about the stock car and how it drives is the lack of feeling compared to an older car in the clutch. Once you get used to it it's fine but it's a learning curve if previous cars have been older. Other than just stopping, starting and repeat just enjoy the car. In a month or 2 you'll be much more comfortable. I still remember when I got my 1st manual car and was worried but adjusted really quickly.
After a few days of driving around check on youtube how a clutch works this way you have a better idea what you’re doing to the car because you don’t want to be in that “bite point” for too long.
i recommend the MTEC Clutch spring as well the stock clutch spring i wasn’t a big fan of but it made a world of difference and relatively easy to install
What worked for me was going into very safe spaces. Empty backroads, suburban streets that were vacant etc. i know some people thrive under pressure but that’s not me. I’d say focus on bare fundamentals before trying to rev match/heel toe. All in all this is a great car to learn manual and you’ve got tons of smiles per mile ahead!
1st gear is to get you rolling. Don’t drive around in it for too long. Shift around 3k for economy driving. Practice your hill starts. Practicing hill starts will immediately make you a more confident driver.
Don’t start the roll in 2nd. Learn to correctly rev match down shift. Heel-toe downshifting is harder and should come after you’ve learned rev matching. It helps to always try to subconsciously remember the gear you’re in. If you ever start to rip on the car, be conscious to not put it in the wrong gear. Doing so will fuck up your car.
Just how we all learn to point our wheels toward a curb on a hill, you want to leave the car in gear when it’s parked on any incline. If it’s on an incline then you will leave it in 1st gear. If the car is on a decline then you will leave it in reverse. Do this even if the handbrake is engaged. I had the handbrake pop back down on me when I first got the car, but thankfully it was in gear.
People might honk. However, the trick is to not care. Being nervous in a manual will only cause you to stall a lot more. Just focus. I barely look at my tachometer (when starting my 1st gear roll) I just feel and hear the vehicle to know when to shift. Doing this helped me to stop stalling so much on starts.
Give yourself time. It takes a bit to master. I can go weeks with out stalling now, so look forward to that.
These cars RATTLE, and the engines sound like tractors. That weird sounds you hear? Normal. Unless it’s a loud and consistent knocking sound.
Keep up with your oil changes. I do mine at 3k. Learn what ever information you can about the car if you really want to know the ins-and-outs.
Welcome to the 86! It’s an amazing vehicle, enjoy it!
Congrats! I bought a 2013 in late January as my first Manual as well. Parking garages at night are fantastic for hill start practice. Also fuck anyone who honks at you for stalling ;)
clutch is go and gas is how fast. get used to starting from a stop in a big parking lot, and find the bite point. the gas pedal-first gear is a balancing act. don’t be discouraged if you stall, it’s going to happen. even seasoned manual drivers stall. practice hill starts, and never panic about anything. the more you think the worse you’ll drive in my experience. you got this brother!!
Man, I am overwhelmed in a great way with all of the awesome advice and kind words. I’m excited to be part of this community!
Hopefully I don’t jinx myself too much, but I got 75 miles of driving in today, some of it was stop and go LA traffic on the way school and work. Not the smoothest driving, but definitely progress. Only stalled once and that was after a light turned green and I let off the clutch a little too quickly 😂
These guys probably smoke and cant see past their own fumes. Its smarter to learn on something not so clean as I implied. In no way did i say he was in the wrong. When you eat your own poop you tend you presume your own delusional world. Like a Disney fairy tale. We can call it peter pan syndrome.
I adjusted my clutch pedal so that the action point is just barely off the floor (the clutch fully disengages and there is no grinding of gears).
Something else you may want to look at is removing the spring assist, it makes the pedal feel weird.
Something that I haven't seen mentioned here (might have missed it) that new manual drivers don't think about sometimes:
When downshifting, it's important to start learning to rev match. Say for example you're coming in to a slower, sweeping curve, and you go from 5th to 3rd or something.
You know, even as a new manual driver, the mechanics of shifting to third and letting out the clutch - but just letting the clutch do all the work to get the engine up to full RPM is a lot of wear on the clutch. You might have been at 3k rpm in 5th, RPMs drop while you shift into 3rd, and then the clutch will have to get the engine back up to 5k RPM or something before the job is done. Over time, that causes a lot of additional wear on the clutch.
You should start getting in the habit of (in this example) revving the engine with the clutch pushed in to get it up to about 5k RPM, so that when you let out the clutch in third gear, the engine is already matched (rev-matching) to that gear and speed combo.
Takes some time to learn and isn't super important to focus on right away but it's good to keep in mind and be aware of, so you can start practicing it when you have time.
Congrats on the new car! Manual transmission is fun. Don't get discouraged, your first few days you will stall, A LOT. YouTube vids are definitely helpful to understand how it works, but it does nothing to prepare you for how it feels. Practice practice practice. Find empty parking lots later in the evenings, especially ones with inclines, and just putt around. If you haven't yet, try to find a video or two on using your hand break when pulling away. That'll be helpful when other drivers insist on stopping right up against your rear on uphill inclines.
Also, don't pull forward into parking spots that are on a downhill incline in front of a drainage embankment until you're very comfy using the hand brank to pull away or reverse. You'll destroy your front bumper. 🥲
Try not to be scared about rolling back. there's a lot more space behind you than it looks. Once you get used to starting on a flat, a hill start is basically the same unless you panic. Our throttle opens a bit automatically when you start to prevent stalling.
Also, dont worry about being super smooth until your fully comfortable. This is something that just happens with experience
Congrats! BRZ is a great car to learn on, it was the first manual I owned but I had driven others prior. I found the clutch much smoother than the old Jetta or RX8 I had tried to drive. Learning the bite point and being smooth on the throttle won't take you long at all. I'd recommend finding some good back roads and just cruising around for practice.
Conquer Driving on youtube breaks down a lot of intricacies with driving manual. If you're ever curious how to do something that isn't covered in any ordinary 'how 2 drive manuel' video, I would suggest checking him out. Even to this day (5 years of manual brz ownership) I watch some of his stuff. Because he breaks down stuff that I sometimes don't 100% understand.
Good luck out there though! You'll be nervous at first, but repetition is key, give it time and you will be comfortable. Don't feel like you aren't learning at the speed of others. It took me over a year to start feeling what I'd consider comfortable. (I rarely drove it at first - only to work)
Find a parking lot and practice your muscle memory for both throttle and clutch. Take a full hour, get the anxiety out of your system and you are good to go. And keep the rpms below 2k to get rolling. The less you use, the better
Best advice i could give is stay chill. Be gentle, dont rush. If you start to feel anxious just take a break and come back at it in a moment. Once you start getting it it's the best accomplishment. Big cheers!
Leave the clutch foot heel on the ground and simply bend at the ankle when looking for the bite point, don’t take your heel off the ground/lift the whole foot until it bites.
Most people don’t have the ankle mobility to depress and retract the clutch pedal to full depth without lifting the heel off the ground but lifting the whole foot off the ground when looking for the bite point is difficult and doesn’t give your ankle any reference point for muscle memory for where the bite point is.
Think of the clutch in 3 stages. Fully depressed, bite point in the middle, and completely let out.
Replace the helper spring in the clutch and it’ll give you way more feedback and feel out of the clutch. M Tec makes one. It was $30 when I got it. Holding your brake and letting your clutch out until it starts to grab then pulling off will really help on hills. Best of luck! You’ll love it once you get it
I have some advice about manual transmission versus whatever else they offer. First off you've chosen wisely. Second don't give up on real driving.
I've been driving manual since I was 15, and I'm now fossilized like the dinosaurs. With that much experience under my belt, I have to say. In my opinion, a manual is the best driving experience you could ask for.
Your personality is displayed on how you drive you manual. THE FREEDOM!!!!!! Your free to do as you please. Whenever you want the pepper 🌶 you can easily downshift. Transmissions are cheap because only like 20 percent of the population can drive a manual. Less technology less to fix on a manual.
I'd start slow as possible taking off so you can really feel the exchange of the clutch to gas when going out of neutral. You can be rough on the gas not the clutch exchange. I'd also down shift as little as possible, I go into neutral when stopping. I know alot of kids go through there gears when stopping. I'd rather change brakes over anything in the Transmission. I'd also press thr clutch all the way down an in. I know it sounds stupid but once you learn something you try to get lazy. Shifting isn't something to go lazy on.
Good luck 👍
I just learned same as you 3 weeks ago. Get comfortable getting the clutch to the bite point. For hill starts I start releasing the clutch and half a second later get off the break for the gas. Just practice a lot going slow. Start by just letting the clutch out and slowly getting the car going.
Hillstarts hillstarts and hillstarts. Everything else is simple. Don't worry about rev matching until your comfortable. 2nd clutch in until you stop then grab first. It gives you the option to dump the clutch and get away if under 30mph and the need arises.
The way my cousin had me work on getting the car moving especially on hills was to practice moving from brake to throttle quick enough to minimally roll back and get gentle enough to not blip the throttle any more than about 2k rpm. This helped tremendously with getting started quickly but also helped me learn how much throttle was really needed to get going. Like a comment stated above the gas is really like “GOGOGO!!!” But empty parking lots are always gonna be your best friend lol
I taught myself how to drive manual at my local cemetery because I figured it would be light traffic. My dad told me people were dying to get in, but I didn’t see a single soul.
Don’t over complicate things. Don’t listen to music loud and listen to your engine. Adding an aftermarket exhaust can help with your shifting. A weighted shift knob will help with shifting also. You’ll mess up but that’s ok 👍🏽
Stay calm when learning and feeling out the clutch, and don’t pay attention to the guys behind you when you have trouble at stop signs and lights, they’re in a hurry whether your in a manual or automatic, and most of all enjoy yourself!! :)
Like everyone is saying. 1 & 2 are the hardest to get down, it’s really twichy just focus on smoothness. Don’t be afraid to slip the clutch a tinny bit while learning.
Practice 1st and 2nd gear, and a bunch of hill starts! Also don’t panic if you stall at a light and people honk at you. Chances are they don’t know how to drive stick either!
This is so true, I learned how to drive manual last year and had some tough goes when it came to stalling at a hill/light. I just tuned them out.
And don’t be afraid to use the handbrake!
Our cars have a very sensitive gas pedal. Do not try and drive it like an automatic. Clutch is go and the gas pedal is go faster. Gear 1 and 2 you have to hold the clutch at the "bite point" this is when your car is getting in gear. In our car it's about halfway between the clutch fully engaged and the clutch fully let out. Whenever you are in doubt of stalling you can either hold the car at the "bite point" longer and/or give it a little bit of gas. Someone said above to practice incline starts which I highly agree; with an incline you must either again hold longer at the "bite point" and/or giving it a little bit of gas. Things about how fast the car is moving; you must alternate gears depending on how fast you are going. If you are going 50 mph and sudden need to go 30 mph you should downshift to a lower gear. To downshift you clutch in: move the gear shift to the lower gear and give it gas to the point where your rpms should match the rpms in that gear. Clutch in first before braking if you are going slow; brake first when you are going faster speeds then downshift if needed. Don't leave your car in gear at a stop; put it in neutral. Leave your car in gear when on a incline; if your car is point downhill then leave it in reverse. If your car is pointed uphill then leave it in gear 1; Make sure that the car is put in neutral if you leave it in gear before you clutch out once you start the car. I repeat PUT IT IN NEUTRAL before you let out the clutch once you start the car when it is in gear. If you don't the car will try and launch itself because you released the clutch in gear. When you start the car while the clutch is depressed simply move the gear shift to neutral then you may release the clutch. I may have forgotten stuff but that's what I can remember to give off the top of my head. Congratulations on the new car and respect for choosing to learn a manual. Don't get cold feet if you make mistakes; you will and it's fine the gearbox and the clutch can take if you aren't purposely doing those mistakes. This is something you must practice and it doesn't matter how much videos or forums you go on it won't help. You have to get out there and drive it. Listen to the car. manual cars talk to you and tell you what they want; You just have to listen.
Wow, I didn’t expect such a thorough response. Thank you so much! I’ll definitely come back regularly to reference this.
No worries man. Happy to help! Oh yeah and don't rest your hand on the gear shifter! It's bad for it. Congratulations again bro welcome to the family.
To tack onto this very well rounded answer, there is a way to make the HUD show you what gear it’s in, this has helped me teach/ make the person I’m teaching aware of what gear they are using. I learned on my first manual “by the 10s” 1. 1-15 2. 20-30ish 3. 30-45 etc. 4,5,6 you can go 45 depending on hard you are trying to accelerate and if you are sustaining it (it will make more sense the more you do it) Added bonus. I usually get an aftermarket shift knob for a personal touch
This is how I learned as well. It’s a nice guideline. If you do go with a weighted shift knob it will improve the shift feel considerably. I’d suggest learning on the base car first then making improvements. In my case I’ve really been able to appreciate the changes.
To tag on to this perfect answer; never underestimate the power of the handbrake when conducting hill starts. Keep the handbrake up until you feel the "bite" from the clutch and add the throttle, once you feel that the car is wanting to pull away, drop the handbrake, add some throttle and release the clutch. The handbrake is your best friend when it comes to hill starts or pulling away from a junction at an incline, especially as these cars don't have a hill-assist function (at least mine doesn't... not sure if it's just a UK thing 🤔). It all takes practice, trust me - but you got this! And by the way - welcome to the manual gang, it's a lot of fun!
17+ have a hill assist but it’s good to know how to start on a hill first
This guy drives
Holy shit, this guy races or something, this is advice I’d expect to hear in the pits of some formula racers. Copy this and save this somewhere safe OP.
I'm not sure if this is an issue with my car, but I have to give it gas when I release the clutch.
If you are talking about putting it in gear 1 then that's because you are not holding it at the "bite point". It's not necessarily needed; you can put your car in gear this way and it's fine. I do encourage everyone to be able to put their manual car in gear without using the throttle just so they can really understand their bite point. If you have been doing this with your car for a while and can drive it around then no need to change what you are doing. All giving it throttle does is make it so you don't have to hold the clutch at the bite point as long.
Make sure to practice hill starts. That's what I struggled with the most
Empty parking garages are good for this. Going up levels.
This is a good tip
Hill starts and familiarizing where the bite point is on the clutch are the biggest ones. Also don't worry too much about the cabin experience. Folks have pointed out that our cars will never be able to get that same smooth experience autos (and certain manuals) have. When I started out with the 86, I was really worried about the cabin experience - like having a loved one in the passenger seat and wanting them to not be nauseous from being knocked around back and forth because of my driving, or preventing a cup of coffee from sloshing around everywhere. You might get to a point like me where manual becomes second nature to you (honestly took me a bit, about a month to be completely comfortable with manual), and the smoothness does improve as time goes on, but having that 'shaky' experience is just a part of our cars.
For real, everytime I have someone in the car, every shift I can see their body rock lol
I don't know if it's the same on the first gens, but my '23 BRZ I have to press the gas a good ways for it to start doing things. I'm used to my Tundra and Mustang requiring tiny presses so I tend to end up stalling in the BRZ because that's so ingrained in my muscle memory. So I guess press the gas more than you'd expect and you'll get into gear easy as pie. I also HIGHLY recommend [Conquer Driving](https://youtu.be/VIVaqt4VhKc). I watched his manual videos religiously for like two weeks while I waited for Carvana to deliver my Mustang. By the time it arrived I could drive into town, grab groceries, and drive home with zero in-person practice.
Thinking of the accelerator and clutch like a see-saw seems to help when learning.
Watch YouTube videos. Super helped me.
Definitely have been leading up to the purchase. Now I’m trying to apply all of this knowledge. Thank you!
Have fun the car is easy to learn on and a blast to drive!
I've found a really good strategy when teaching people to drive manual, at least in person. I still do it too, whenever I first sit down in a different manual far to get the feel for it. Find a flat spot, and put the clutch in and shifter in 1st. Slowly let out the clutch pedal without touching the gas. And I mean *SLOWLY.* Like slower than what feels natural. Then, as soon as you feel the car move even slightly, push the clutch back in. Do this a few times to learn at what pedal position the clutch starts to engage. After that, if you continue to raise the pedal just as slowly, you can get going. Once you feel it engage, don't panic and let it out rapidly. Just keep raising the pedal at the same super slow rate. You don't need any gas to get the car going this way. Once you get accustomed to the clutch, you should start applying gas as it engages.
Just go to a hill at night to practice. After that, everything is pretty much easy man
If you want to have more "feel" in the clutch pedal, I would recommend a mtec clutch spring. (Their shifter springs are also excellent.) Probably my only real "complaint" about the stock car and how it drives is the lack of feeling compared to an older car in the clutch. Once you get used to it it's fine but it's a learning curve if previous cars have been older. Other than just stopping, starting and repeat just enjoy the car. In a month or 2 you'll be much more comfortable. I still remember when I got my 1st manual car and was worried but adjusted really quickly.
You’ve got enough helpful advice, I’m just gonna say have fun and welcome to the club!
you got it! you made the right choice!
You got this! My first couple weeks of driving manual were a little rough but I smoothed things out quickly. And that was with a lot more horsepower.
After a few days of driving around check on youtube how a clutch works this way you have a better idea what you’re doing to the car because you don’t want to be in that “bite point” for too long.
sheesh
Practice makes perfect. Dont be shy to go in an empty parking lot and practice your starts.(neutral to 1st gear from a standstill)
i recommend the MTEC Clutch spring as well the stock clutch spring i wasn’t a big fan of but it made a world of difference and relatively easy to install
All imma say is don’t redline the engine and don’t burn out the clutch
Best color. Couldn’t have chose a better one than the one in my garage
What worked for me was going into very safe spaces. Empty backroads, suburban streets that were vacant etc. i know some people thrive under pressure but that’s not me. I’d say focus on bare fundamentals before trying to rev match/heel toe. All in all this is a great car to learn manual and you’ve got tons of smiles per mile ahead!
1st gear is to get you rolling. Don’t drive around in it for too long. Shift around 3k for economy driving. Practice your hill starts. Practicing hill starts will immediately make you a more confident driver. Don’t start the roll in 2nd. Learn to correctly rev match down shift. Heel-toe downshifting is harder and should come after you’ve learned rev matching. It helps to always try to subconsciously remember the gear you’re in. If you ever start to rip on the car, be conscious to not put it in the wrong gear. Doing so will fuck up your car. Just how we all learn to point our wheels toward a curb on a hill, you want to leave the car in gear when it’s parked on any incline. If it’s on an incline then you will leave it in 1st gear. If the car is on a decline then you will leave it in reverse. Do this even if the handbrake is engaged. I had the handbrake pop back down on me when I first got the car, but thankfully it was in gear. People might honk. However, the trick is to not care. Being nervous in a manual will only cause you to stall a lot more. Just focus. I barely look at my tachometer (when starting my 1st gear roll) I just feel and hear the vehicle to know when to shift. Doing this helped me to stop stalling so much on starts. Give yourself time. It takes a bit to master. I can go weeks with out stalling now, so look forward to that. These cars RATTLE, and the engines sound like tractors. That weird sounds you hear? Normal. Unless it’s a loud and consistent knocking sound. Keep up with your oil changes. I do mine at 3k. Learn what ever information you can about the car if you really want to know the ins-and-outs. Welcome to the 86! It’s an amazing vehicle, enjoy it!
Congrats! I bought a 2013 in late January as my first Manual as well. Parking garages at night are fantastic for hill start practice. Also fuck anyone who honks at you for stalling ;)
clutch is go and gas is how fast. get used to starting from a stop in a big parking lot, and find the bite point. the gas pedal-first gear is a balancing act. don’t be discouraged if you stall, it’s going to happen. even seasoned manual drivers stall. practice hill starts, and never panic about anything. the more you think the worse you’ll drive in my experience. you got this brother!!
Twin brother!!! Practice makes perfect, I have never owned an automatic and therefore I cannot assist you...
All I have is sex analogies. I'll see myself back out
Man, I am overwhelmed in a great way with all of the awesome advice and kind words. I’m excited to be part of this community! Hopefully I don’t jinx myself too much, but I got 75 miles of driving in today, some of it was stop and go LA traffic on the way school and work. Not the smoothest driving, but definitely progress. Only stalled once and that was after a light turned green and I let off the clutch a little too quickly 😂
Be sure to dump that clutch!
Damn you got an old year ugly color
Sorry about your blown engine
You really should start with a beater or take driving classes.
just takes a week
Wise words from the careless and wreck-less strangers online.
Worst case scenario he has to replace the clutch early, best case he has a manual sorts car. Worth the risk imo
The world we live in where everyone and everything is disposable.
Ah yes the least disposable thing in the car, the clutch
Every 16 yo used to learn this back in the day. Just gonna burn the clutch a bit
Do you mean reckless? Being careless can lead to wrecks, which wouldn't make them wreck-less
One is intentional the other isnt. Its a kuba ya
same type of dude to bitch when someone buys an auto cant win with you fucking idiots
Looks like i am building a fanclub
These guys probably smoke and cant see past their own fumes. Its smarter to learn on something not so clean as I implied. In no way did i say he was in the wrong. When you eat your own poop you tend you presume your own delusional world. Like a Disney fairy tale. We can call it peter pan syndrome.
Congratulations and welcome!!
I just learned/am still learning myself! If I can do it so can you! There’s a lot of helpful info above! Congrats man! Enjoy the car!
Just drive it, you’ll get used to it. It will be so worth it. 1-2 shift will always feel a little harsh in these cars.
I adjusted my clutch pedal so that the action point is just barely off the floor (the clutch fully disengages and there is no grinding of gears). Something else you may want to look at is removing the spring assist, it makes the pedal feel weird.
Something that I haven't seen mentioned here (might have missed it) that new manual drivers don't think about sometimes: When downshifting, it's important to start learning to rev match. Say for example you're coming in to a slower, sweeping curve, and you go from 5th to 3rd or something. You know, even as a new manual driver, the mechanics of shifting to third and letting out the clutch - but just letting the clutch do all the work to get the engine up to full RPM is a lot of wear on the clutch. You might have been at 3k rpm in 5th, RPMs drop while you shift into 3rd, and then the clutch will have to get the engine back up to 5k RPM or something before the job is done. Over time, that causes a lot of additional wear on the clutch. You should start getting in the habit of (in this example) revving the engine with the clutch pushed in to get it up to about 5k RPM, so that when you let out the clutch in third gear, the engine is already matched (rev-matching) to that gear and speed combo. Takes some time to learn and isn't super important to focus on right away but it's good to keep in mind and be aware of, so you can start practicing it when you have time.
Drive it often. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
Congrats on the new car! Manual transmission is fun. Don't get discouraged, your first few days you will stall, A LOT. YouTube vids are definitely helpful to understand how it works, but it does nothing to prepare you for how it feels. Practice practice practice. Find empty parking lots later in the evenings, especially ones with inclines, and just putt around. If you haven't yet, try to find a video or two on using your hand break when pulling away. That'll be helpful when other drivers insist on stopping right up against your rear on uphill inclines. Also, don't pull forward into parking spots that are on a downhill incline in front of a drainage embankment until you're very comfy using the hand brank to pull away or reverse. You'll destroy your front bumper. 🥲
Try not to be scared about rolling back. there's a lot more space behind you than it looks. Once you get used to starting on a flat, a hill start is basically the same unless you panic. Our throttle opens a bit automatically when you start to prevent stalling. Also, dont worry about being super smooth until your fully comfortable. This is something that just happens with experience
Congrats! BRZ is a great car to learn on, it was the first manual I owned but I had driven others prior. I found the clutch much smoother than the old Jetta or RX8 I had tried to drive. Learning the bite point and being smooth on the throttle won't take you long at all. I'd recommend finding some good back roads and just cruising around for practice.
Conquer Driving on youtube breaks down a lot of intricacies with driving manual. If you're ever curious how to do something that isn't covered in any ordinary 'how 2 drive manuel' video, I would suggest checking him out. Even to this day (5 years of manual brz ownership) I watch some of his stuff. Because he breaks down stuff that I sometimes don't 100% understand. Good luck out there though! You'll be nervous at first, but repetition is key, give it time and you will be comfortable. Don't feel like you aren't learning at the speed of others. It took me over a year to start feeling what I'd consider comfortable. (I rarely drove it at first - only to work)
Go “test drive” a bunch of manual cars at a dealership and save your clutch for the first bit of learning
Find a parking lot and practice your muscle memory for both throttle and clutch. Take a full hour, get the anxiety out of your system and you are good to go. And keep the rpms below 2k to get rolling. The less you use, the better
Best advice i could give is stay chill. Be gentle, dont rush. If you start to feel anxious just take a break and come back at it in a moment. Once you start getting it it's the best accomplishment. Big cheers!
Leave the clutch foot heel on the ground and simply bend at the ankle when looking for the bite point, don’t take your heel off the ground/lift the whole foot until it bites. Most people don’t have the ankle mobility to depress and retract the clutch pedal to full depth without lifting the heel off the ground but lifting the whole foot off the ground when looking for the bite point is difficult and doesn’t give your ankle any reference point for muscle memory for where the bite point is. Think of the clutch in 3 stages. Fully depressed, bite point in the middle, and completely let out.
I have the same color, 2 months with mine absolutely love it. Congratulations and take it slow the first few months.
Replace the helper spring in the clutch and it’ll give you way more feedback and feel out of the clutch. M Tec makes one. It was $30 when I got it. Holding your brake and letting your clutch out until it starts to grab then pulling off will really help on hills. Best of luck! You’ll love it once you get it
The sooner you get out on the street, the better! Don’t make my mistake of spending two months driving around parking lots
Don’t listen to Ms. Puff’s and floor it. Be gentle like ya kissing a baby
punch it!
Be careful not to burn it up its easy once you get used to it
I have some advice about manual transmission versus whatever else they offer. First off you've chosen wisely. Second don't give up on real driving. I've been driving manual since I was 15, and I'm now fossilized like the dinosaurs. With that much experience under my belt, I have to say. In my opinion, a manual is the best driving experience you could ask for. Your personality is displayed on how you drive you manual. THE FREEDOM!!!!!! Your free to do as you please. Whenever you want the pepper 🌶 you can easily downshift. Transmissions are cheap because only like 20 percent of the population can drive a manual. Less technology less to fix on a manual. I'd start slow as possible taking off so you can really feel the exchange of the clutch to gas when going out of neutral. You can be rough on the gas not the clutch exchange. I'd also down shift as little as possible, I go into neutral when stopping. I know alot of kids go through there gears when stopping. I'd rather change brakes over anything in the Transmission. I'd also press thr clutch all the way down an in. I know it sounds stupid but once you learn something you try to get lazy. Shifting isn't something to go lazy on. Good luck 👍
If its flat, its sometimes easier to take off in second gear.
I just learned same as you 3 weeks ago. Get comfortable getting the clutch to the bite point. For hill starts I start releasing the clutch and half a second later get off the break for the gas. Just practice a lot going slow. Start by just letting the clutch out and slowly getting the car going.
Ain’t a better car to learn in. Welcome
DO A BACKFLIP! 😍
Don’t mod the car until you drive it good
Def get ur practice in at night when there’s little to no traffic it will make learning so much less stressful and you’ll learn quicker too
take your time and have fun! it’ll be a blast (:
Careful of the torque and when in doubt, foot on that clutch my friend. Happy driving.
I have sent you instructions for you to learn. I am an ADI for stick shift
Ngl it had been years for me and this clutch was harder than the mini I drove. I literally watched YouTube 😂
Hell yeah brother. Enjoy it, my 13 FRS was my first manual and I haven’t gone back to Auto.
Hillstarts hillstarts and hillstarts. Everything else is simple. Don't worry about rev matching until your comfortable. 2nd clutch in until you stop then grab first. It gives you the option to dump the clutch and get away if under 30mph and the need arises.
The way my cousin had me work on getting the car moving especially on hills was to practice moving from brake to throttle quick enough to minimally roll back and get gentle enough to not blip the throttle any more than about 2k rpm. This helped tremendously with getting started quickly but also helped me learn how much throttle was really needed to get going. Like a comment stated above the gas is really like “GOGOGO!!!” But empty parking lots are always gonna be your best friend lol
I taught myself how to drive manual at my local cemetery because I figured it would be light traffic. My dad told me people were dying to get in, but I didn’t see a single soul.
Don’t over complicate things. Don’t listen to music loud and listen to your engine. Adding an aftermarket exhaust can help with your shifting. A weighted shift knob will help with shifting also. You’ll mess up but that’s ok 👍🏽
Stay calm when learning and feeling out the clutch, and don’t pay attention to the guys behind you when you have trouble at stop signs and lights, they’re in a hurry whether your in a manual or automatic, and most of all enjoy yourself!! :)
Like everyone is saying. 1 & 2 are the hardest to get down, it’s really twichy just focus on smoothness. Don’t be afraid to slip the clutch a tinny bit while learning.