Manual assistance

[attrapereves]

I'm fairly new to driving a manual. In fact, I've never actually owned one myself. I've only ever driven an old VW Beetle and a BMW 3-series. I can definitely get from point A to point B, but not very smoothly.

My biggest problem is starting from a complete stop.

I noticed that sometimes I have a habit of making the car lunge forward when moving from a complete stop. Is this caused by letting out too quickly on the clutch? Am I giving it too much gas? Obviously I might be doing this for a few days until I get used to it. Will this cause any damage to my transmission?

Any basic tips for a fairly new manual transmission driver?

 

[Larry]

My advice for learning a manual is the same for learning how to swim.

Buy the manual and MAKE yourself learn. You won't learn much when it's optional, the best way to learn is when it's mandatory.

That said, it sounds like you already bought the car (congrats!). Take the car to a empty parking lot and practice getting the car moving without lunging. It's going to take you some time to get a feel for the clutch. Every car has a different clutch and requires some amount of learning, even if you're experienced with manuals.

Also, don't worry about hurting the transmission. I learned how to drive a stick on my first car and put it through a ton of abuse. It was fine at 120k+ miles.

 

[sx sonic]

The best technique I've found for learning a manual is very simple and effective. Practice taking off WITH OUT touching the gas.

Learning the clutch engagement point and proper release speed is the hardest part of learning to drive a manual trans. Forgetting about the throttle and focusing on the clutch makes learning so much easier.

Keep practicing until you can consistently take off without stalling or being jerky. Once you got that down start using the throttle again.

Note: The 1.4T and possibly the 1.8 have a "auto assist" where the ECM will give the engine some gas at the end of the clutch Release. It's not setup properly and actually makes taking off harder instead of easier. It either gives the allusion that you've got the right amount of throttle and then it quits helping right when you fully release the clutch and the car stalls.... Or the throttle response feels funky since your throttle inputs and the "auto assist" are fighting each other.

This makes the Sonic a little peculiar to master a smooth start, even for someone accustomed to manuals. So don't feel bad trying to master a smooth start, took me awhile and I've driven a lot of manuals.

 

[Stew]

Yep, Larry is right, you'll get good at it very quickly. It's just like riding a bike, ok it's nothing like riding a bike but no one is good their first time on one, just takes practice.

The Chevy Sonic attempts to be really helpful and gives it a little gas for you as you let the clutch out so in normal driving while taking off from a stop you don't even need to give it gas, just let the clutch out slowly. When you can do that smoothly you pretty much have it.

Lastly, the clutch disc is a wear item, slip it as little as possible when taking off during normal every day driving. If you're hot dogging around or on an incline, etc a little more slipping is certainly fine.

 

[attrapereves]

Tried driving it with no gas starting out, and gave it some gas at the last minute. That seemed to work much better.

Guess these newer cars drive differently than a 1967 Beetle and a 90s BMW.

Lastly, when backing up, it is safe to keep the clutch slightly engaged to prevent the car from moving too fast?

 

[Larry]

Tried driving it with no gas starting out, and gave it some gas at the last minute. That seemed to work much better.

Guess these newer cars drive differently than a 1967 Beetle and a 90s BMW.

Lastly, when backing up, it is safe to keep the clutch slightly engaged to prevent the car from moving too fast?

I've been driving a stick for 13 years and that's how I drive in reverse. I don't use gas when backing up.

 

[laborsmith]

Yes these newer cars drive differently. The difference between my four speed Corvair and six speed Sonic is light and day.

Laborsmith

 

[sx sonic]

Also a few other pointers for driving a manual in general.

- Don't leave your hand on the shifter. Unless your shifting keep your hand off
- Same with the clutch. Do Not leave your foot on it unless you're using it.
Not doing that will wear out the trans or clutch prematurely, even if all your other driving habits are perfect.

- For taking off on a hill you can use the e-brake to prevent rolling back. When you need to take off just work the clutch and gas until the engine starts trying to pull the car. Release the e-brake and take off. It's much easier than trying to work 3 pedals on a hill.
- You can skip gears if you wish. For instance sometimes I'll shift 1-2, rev out 2nd and grab 6th. Just a one of many possibilities with driving an H-pattern trans.
- Downshifting can be done the same way, or you can just throw it in neutral when slowing down.

 

[Stew]

Lastly, when backing up, it is safe to keep the clutch slightly engaged to prevent the car from moving too fast?

Lol, this reminded me when I was teaching my son to drive a manual a few years ago. He would back out of the driveway thinking he had to slip the clutch and hurry and get his foot off the clutch. Of course this resulted in us backing out of our relatively short driveway at like 10 mph which was major pucker time.

I explained that he could just feather the clutch to get us rolling then push the clutch back in and cover the brake as we rolled (more slowly, whew!) to the end of the driveway. This way he was able to make one last check for cars before backing out onto the street instead of practically Rockfording it out of the driveway.

Good times, good times.

 

[attrapereves]

I drove it some more today and am definitely getting the hang of it.

One other thing I seem to be having trouble with is parking lots. For example, when I am driving on a residential road at 35mph (usually 4th gear) and am turning left into a parking lot, I have to slow down in the road to let a car pass. Since I slowed down to about 15-20 to let the car pass and make my turn, do I need to shift into 2nd or just go down one gear to 3rd?

 

[Larry]

I drove it some more today and am definitely getting the hang of it.

One other thing I seem to be having trouble with is parking lots. For example, when I am driving on a residential road at 35mph (usually 4th gear) and am turning left into a parking lot, I have to slow down in the road to let a car pass. Since I slowed down to about 15-20 to let the car pass and make my turn, do I need to shift into 2nd or just go down one gear to 3rd?

Here are the speeds and the gears I use for them.

0-8 = 1st gear
9-17 = 2nd gear
18-24 = 3rd gear
25-32 = 4th gear
33-39 = 5th gear
40+ = 6th gear

That way you can see when you need to downshift or upshift.

 

[attrapereves]

Here are the speeds and the gears I use for them.

0-8 = 1st gear
9-17 = 2nd gear
18-24 = 3rd gear
25-32 = 4th gear
33-39 = 5th gear
40+ = 6th gear

That way you can see when you need to downshift or upshift.

With a 5Spd, can I use each gear in 10mph increments?

 

[sx sonic]

Haha stew. That's funny.... And scary.

 

[Larry]

With a 5Spd, can I use each gear in 10mph increments?

Oh, I forgot you have the 5 speed. Well, I don't know the gearing of that transmission. I would guess that it's much shorter 1-3 and taller 4-5. So 8mph per gear should work fine.

 

[attrapereves]

When shifting, should I do this based on vehicle speed or engine RPM?

 

[Larry]

When shifting, should I do this based on vehicle speed or engine RPM?

Shifting is situational, of course. Be aware of your surrounding and the road which you are driving on. If you know that you're merging onto the highway you're going to want to stay in each gear longer to accelerate up to speed. But if you're just driving around town, trying to get good mpg, shift around 1600-1800RPM.

The speed at which you shift will also determine how easy it is to shift. For example, shifting at low RPMs will require a little more finesse to prevent hesitation and bogging. It takes longer to learn how to shift at low RPMs smoothly.

 

[attrapereves]

Thanks for all the tips!

I'm slowly learning the transmission on this car. I took a short trip today to practice highway driving, reversing, and starting from a stop. I got honked at twice. I guess I wasn't punching the gas fast enough from a stoplight for some people. At least I didn't stall out.

I'm still really paranoid about hills. I guess the handbrake will come in handy.

 

[Larry]

Thanks for all the tips!

I'm slowly learning the transmission on this car. I took a short trip today to practice highway driving, reversing, and starting from a stop. I got honked at twice. I guess I wasn't punching the gas fast enough from a stoplight for some people. At least I didn't stall out.

I'm still really paranoid about hills. I guess the handbrake will come in handy.

Don't let people get to you, they're just honking cause they love the car!

 

[beaslbob]

Yes these newer cars drive differently. The difference between my four speed Corvair and six speed Sonic is light and day.

Laborsmith

Hmmmmmm

Other then the hill hold, longer throws in the shifter, and 2 more gears I didn't notice all the much difference.

Actually is more like my old 1976 olds starfire 5 speed. Which I don't have any more.

I do remember in my 65 corvair I had the clutch cable break one night across town with a friend riding along. So I would put it in first. Use the starter to get the car going until the engine started. (can't do that today because of the clutch interlocks). When it came time for second I would let off the gas, pull the shifter back to neutral, Keep a little pressure on it, until it just fell into second. Ditto third and fourth. (third was more of a problem because you have to go forward, right, then forward again)

Downshifting was a real bear and this is definately not recommended as it does stress the syncros and possibly the gears.

That said I did get back all the way across town which was seattle and a mix of city and interstate. then I replaced the clutch cable asap.

meanwhile my friend that was riding with me stated is was the smoothist I had ever driven. LOL

 

[beaslbob]

after that long story, I think just taking your time and laying off the gas pedal will help the most. And with experience this will seem to be a long forgotten memory.