So I recently bought myself a Toyota Celica. I love it to bits and pieces. Unfortunately I was naive enough to think I can handle standard. Now it sits in my driveway waiting gathering dust. I took it out today and attempted to learn Standard. OMYLAWD, I suck. Stalled out just about every time I attempted to drive it. When I did manage to get it going, I had a hard time figuring out how to slow down, when to shift gears, etc.

Then the drive home...stalled twice...IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD.

._.

So I have a question to those of you who drive standard. Does it get any easier? How long did it take for you to learn? And can you teach me your glorious/holy ways so I can actually drive my car. D :

For those of you who drive Auto, would you ever want to drive standard, if so why?

And to staff, sorry if this on the wrong forum. :|

I don't drive standard, but I'm sure it gets easier the more you practice. I would be willing to learn how to drive standard though

I can only drive a standard on a fast car, my mom had a standard PT Cruiser. Oh god it was lame. But yeah, it took me quite a while to learn it properly.

I'd suggest focusing on your coordination with your left foot first, then in combination with the brake. That'll mess you up more than the gears honestly. If you're not totally comfortable with your feet you're bound to fail. It's tedious but it works.

Do you actually get used to shifting and whatnot? Or does it become a habbit?

I feel like I have to be focused on my RPM meter to start, my foot on the clutch, and what gear I'm on.

Thanks for your input. ^_^'

I still had to think about my feet sometimes or I'll leave the accelerator pressed a little. Shifting, I dunno, I've driven a lot of tractors and heavy machinery in the past so I had some experience with it already. I haven't driven much in the past year though, no car.

I have no idea what standard is.

I just started driving and I start drivers ed tomorrow.

I drive my mom's purple saturn.

BALLIN.

I have never heard someone call it anything other than stick shift. When I learn how to drive, I think I'll stick with good ol' auto.

I think standard is sexy (nice car btw - congrats) but I only drive automatic :(

Standard, manual, stick shift, same things. :)

I first learned how to drive on auto and I got used to it. So as you can imagine, my manual driving is epic fail. :(

duhblond - I thought so too until I actually drove it. Well attempted to. :P And thanks! ^_^'

First off.

Awesome car

Second

I drive auto, but I'm kinda interested in learning standard, only because my dad's Ranger is standard, and if we lose our truck or 4Runner, that will be the only thing left for me to drive xD

Plus, that Ranger has some pretty sick decals, and I want them :P

Wow, manual is so easy for me to drive! Wait til you try a manual 4 wheeler. The clutch is on the handle and you have to kick the shifter down to get into 1st, then kick it up for all other gears. Now that's a trip!

But just remember when you start it, hold the clutch in and rev it to between 2 and 3 RPMs, but don't get it under 2, then slowly let off the clutch :)

I drive an 05 Mazda rx8, man, I think I'm going to become a professional racer or something. LOL

obscene - Thanks! It is beastly. :D I wish my parents would drive standard and maybe I could've learned at an earlier age. D :

Lacylicious - Jesus woman, how to you manage? I think that's my problem. I tried to keep it under 2 RPM when starting. And the clutch of course, letting go too fast. :/ That is one nice car. I saw one in dark raspberry and I was like, "I WANT". But the Celica was better suited for me because of the price.

Your left leg will definitely cramp the more you drive. But you get used to it. And shifting really isn't that hard, the shifter almost guides itself.

The clutch becomes easier the less you think about it. At least that's what its like for me. If I think about what I'm doing, that's when I make mistakes :P So, just listen to your car. When the engine revs high, then it's time to shift. You can listen to it as you have the clutch in. Just letting it out slow takes some practice. And stopping at lights and on hills.

But once you get the hang of it, you'll wonder how you could ever drive an automatic before xP

Edit: Btw, here's a pic of my car if your interested. lol I just love showing it off, it's so much fun! Click.

my husband drives manual *saying stick sounded funny LOLOLOLLOL) amazingly and he prefers it - I just would rather have the ease of not needing to use so much effort so I bought a automatic and dont really regret it.

I'm sure you will get the hang of it... do you have a friend or parent who can help you?

I've only driven auto. I got to a school where people talk about driving their stick shifts all the time. "I SHFTD 2 DIS GEER ND DIZ WUN ND I WUZ LAIK HAULING ASSZ." (Btw, he said hauling ass like 50 times in ten minutes.)

Auto is easy. I LOVE IT

Lacylicious - Thanks for the tips. I hope I do get the hang of it because right now I feel like I won't and it kind of depresses me. You got an awesome car; show it off! Why do you think I posted a pic of mine? ;o

Duhblond - I had my brother's friend teach me and my dad tried to teach me today but it's kind of hard having two instructors because sometimes they tell me different. ._.

I would've bought auto but the seller gave me a deal I couldn't refuse and I've always wanted to learn stick shift anyway. c:

I'm in the process of learning how to drive - manual D:

All I can say is practice. Bring someone with you who has experience with standard gears, it gets easier with time :)

Ireesh - 5 speeds. ^_^' Yea, they told me about "the rule of the thumb" but I basically just learned to listen to my engine to when I should change gears. Thanks for the input though. :)

Kafka - How's that going for you? Hopefully better than me. D; I've only driven it twice as of now but I am dedicated to learn for my car's sake. :)

congrats on the new car and good luck. it does get easier. i did the same thing - got a new car that was standard and had to learn how to drive it later (though the car wasn't nearly as nice as yours). my dad taught me the basics, but the rest is just practice. i avoided hills for the longest time =P

oh and once i started getting used to it, he always made me back the car into our driveway, which has a slight hill. i'm very grateful for that because learning to back up driving a standard (on a hill no less) is a little different too and practice helps a lot.

good luck =)

i hate standard. but as others have said, it gets easier. auto all the way, it's much easier.