Considering swapping for an Si but there's 1 problem

[DrToothache]

So I'm looking into swapping my 2016 Civic Touring for a 2018 Si sedan soon but there's one snag. Ive never driven a car with a manual transmission in my life. I keep reading that they're super easy to learn, but are they easy enough to the point where I can have a salesman at the dealership show me how it's done during a test drive? Or would I need to take some lessons first? Just looking for some opinions

I had never driven a manual in my life when I purchased my Si a little over a month ago. I had the same worries that you have right now and was nervous learning manual on a brand new car. Let me tell you that it is totally doable and you really can't mess anything up that bad if you go in knowing what to do. Just make sure that you do your research before. I watched about 20 videos on how to drive a manual before I drove to test drive the Si at my local dealership. I told the salesman that I had never driven manual before and he let me drive around the parking lot for 15 minutes to see what its all about. I still wasn't confident enough to take it on the road so I thanked him and went home that night.

I ended up buying my Si out of state since my local dealerships did not have the color that I wanted. They delivered the car to me and took my previous civic as a trade in. I did probably 20 laps around my parking lot, then plugged the nearest empty parking lot into my GPS and drove 10 minutes to get there . It wasn't easy and I did stall a few times but I made it there. I spent a good hour in the parking lot practicing going into first, going into reverse and shifting to second.

The first few weeks were a little rough. You will learn to start and stop on flat ground pretty quickly but hill starts take a little more finesse. I definitely stalled more than I would like to admit in that first week. As the days progressed driving the Si became smoother and smoother. Now, one month later I am driving like it's nothing, rev matching my downshifts and having a blast. Although I have no other manual driving experiences to compare to, the Si seems like a really good car to learn on.

So in short, yes you can totally learn on your own if you have too. If you have a friend that drives stick then I would have them go with you and maybe drive the car home or to an empty lot that you can practice in. If you can find an old beater to learn on that is obviously optimal. I wish that I had that option.

Just take it slow and focus on your driving. Don't worry about what the lazy person behind you sipping their coffee thinks when you stall at a traffic light. Ignore that person (they will probably be slamming on the horn lol) and just focus on your driving. At the end of the day you are going to be the more focused driver and have a skill that most people don't have.

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[Touring]

I definitely understand man. that may be the best option for you--getting real time experience before picking up your si. what color are you gonna get your si in?

I'd like silver but we don't have it in Canada so I'm leaning on either white or modern steel. I love black but after owning 2 black cars, I think I'm done with black, at least for awhile.

 

[Touring]

I had never driven a manual in my life when I purchased my Si a little over a month ago. I had the same worries that you have right now and was nervous learning manual on a brand new car. Let me tell you that it is totally doable and you really can't mess anything up that bad if you go in knowing what to do. Just make sure that you do your research before. I watched about 20 videos on how to drive a manual before I drove to test drive the Si at my local dealership. I told the salesman that I had never driven manual before and he let me drive around the parking lot for 15 minutes to see what its all about. I still wasn't confident enough to take it on the road so I thanked him and went home that night.

I ended up buying my Si out of state since my local dealerships did not have the color that I wanted. They delivered the car to me and took my previous civic as a trade in. I did probably 20 laps around my parking lot, then plugged the nearest empty parking lot into my GPS and drove 10 minutes to get there . It wasn't easy and I did stall a few times but I made it there. I spent a good hour in the parking lot practicing going into first, going into reverse and shifting to second.

The first few weeks were a little rough. You will learn to start and stop on flat ground pretty quickly but hill starts take a little more finesse. I definitely stalled more than I would like to admit in that first week. As the days progressed driving the Si became smoother and smoother. Now, one month later I am driving like it's nothing, rev matching my downshifts and having a blast. Although I have no other manual driving experiences to compare to, the Si seems like a really good car to learn on.

So in short, yes you can totally learn on your own if you have too. If you have a friend that drives stick then I would have them go with you and maybe drive the car home or to an empty lot that you can practice in. If you can find an old beater to learn on that is obviously optimal. I wish that I had that option.

Just take it slow and focus on your driving. Don't worry about what the lazy person behind you sipping their coffee thinks when you stall at a traffic light. Ignore that person (they will probably be slamming on the horn lol) and just focus on your driving. At the end of the day you are going to be the more focused driver and have a skill that most people don't have.

Thanks for the input. That's my main fear: stalling it over and over. Im thinking about getting one of those window stickers that says "Please be patient. Manual transmission driver in training"

 

[TypeSiR]

Thanks for the input. That's my main fear: stalling it over and over. Im thinking about getting one of those window stickers that says "Please be patient. Manual transmission driver in training"

I used the emergency flasher a lot when driving home with my first manual (1997 Integra). Locate the emergency button before driving off the lot. Most drivers behind you are understanding when you've the flasher on. For me, it was mostly due to stalling on stop signs. I hear the 10th-gen clutch is very forgiving (less likely to stall). You'll learn quickly and should be fine. Good luck!

 

[Balakay]

This is something I've been worried about too with my upcoming purchase. Granted, I have a small amount of experience with standards. I test drove an Si st a local dealership last week. I informed the salesman that I had minimal experience from 10 years ago. He was very patient and helped me remember when I needed to downshift etc. He also paid close attention to what my right hand was doing and even caught that I shifted from 2 to 3 instead of 2 to 1 before I ever let off the clutch and I was able to correct it. Before the end of the test drive he wasnt having to tell me much. My plan for buying the car (which may not be the best plan for you) is to just dive right in. I'll have my girlfriend drop me off at the dealer, purchase the car, and then drive as long as it takes for me to get it down. I'll probably be an hour or so from home anyway. But if I need more time, I'll just keep on driving. Wont ever get the hang of it unless I just do it.

 

[babinjm]

I learned how to drive as a teenager on a manual transmission vehicle. So that was stressful, however since you are experienced driver, I can’t imagine that it would take longer than an hour or two to get it down. Plus the Si has Hill hold assist which should help with rolling back on incline starts. You will be fine. Then you will have a theft deterrent system for free. So many people can’t drive manual transmissions any longer that it is a modern theft deterrent system.

 

[MattyNice]

This has got to be one of the most forgiving manuals in the land. My about to be 15 year old started learning tonight. I was amazed at all well she did. This car also has the hill/brake hold and that will take a lot of the stress out of the learning process. I’d say get it but as long as you’re aware and ok w it’s a few weeks of anxiety and frustration.

 

[Dicecube]

My first car I bought at 16 yrs old was a manual. I didn't know how to drive it but learned in 15 mins. Fast forward 16 years and I'd love a manual again but family life. I'm not the only one driving

 

[maddmatt02]

Lol thanks for the input. I guess I'll have to call up a driving school. Even if I was able to pick it up quickly, I can get really bad anxiety when driving in uncomfortable situations so it would probably negate any ability to learn it fast. It sucks cause I don't know anyone other than my mom who can teach me to drive stick and I live 600km away from her.

do you really know nobody local that can drive a manual, or just nobody that would teach you? Every day I seem to be more amazed at the amount of people who never have/cant drive manuals.

like said before, car has brake hold so you don't have to worry at all about rolling so you can solely focus on throttle/clutch when taking off instead of about the car behind you. clutch is very light in the effort department although not really all that great at communicating where the grab point is imo but you somewhat learn it just by muscle memory. its almost the easiest manual I've driven and may be I just don't remember them all. The only failure I have is I sometimes let the clutch out too quickly at too low of an rpm, the vehicle doesn't stall but the clutch is now fully grabbing and I am not moving very fast so the rpms are so low that it has NO power and it just takes an extra second or so to actually get moving... rarely happens to me but does however almost everyone I see learn to drive is too aggressive with the throttle, not too light with it.

 

[RunningHot2017]

It wont be too bad, honestly. Before I had my mustang (and now my Si), all I had to practice on was a 10 ton diesel and a '78 chevy. Only difference is on a car you have to give it a little gas to get rolling

 

[RallyeX]

I taught my girlfriend how to drive stick on my 15 fit before i traded it in for my civic, she stalled the fit about 100 times and still couldn't leave the parking lot with confidence. After the break in period ( took a month and a bit) i let her hop in and she has yet to stall it. These civics are very forgiving. Get the revs up to 2000-2500k and slowly release. Get used to the catch point and bottom out the clutch pedal when pushing it in. Just be smooth with the clutch pedal and take some time between shifts. Dont get worked up about stalling X amount of times in a row.
If i saw an ad on Kijiji for someone in my city wanting to learn manual trans for 50 bucks I'd give them a go!

 

[Zeffy94]

I bought a Type R 4 months ago in the same situation. I took a stick shift lesson from a driving school a month prior to purchasing; it sort of helped. I watched YouTube videos prior to delivery. The drive home from the dealer sucked, and up until I took it out for dedicated practice i was garbage at it. Fast forward and now I don’t stall anymore, I know what I’m doing and I have an amazing time with it. Everyone is different how fast they can get it down, but it shouldn’t take too long. The only way to know for sure is to take the plunge and force yourself to learn it. Especially if it’s your only car... the best way to learn is to be forced to learn if you want to drive.

Yes you will stall and you will get beeped at, yes you may panic and do something dumb, it happens. Take a deep breath when it happens and move on from it. I stalled over 40 times in month 1 of ownership..and that number fell to near zero in month two and now I only sometimes stall in parking lots.

Honda has some of the best manual transmissions out there. You can definitely do it. Good luck!

 

[sib2on]

So I'm looking into swapping my 2016 Civic Touring for a 2018 Si sedan soon but there's one snag. Ive never driven a car with a manual transmission in my life. I keep reading that they're super easy to learn, but are they easy enough to the point where I can have a salesman at the dealership show me how it's done during a test drive? Or would I need to take some lessons first? Just looking for some opinions

For me, I never drove a manual either until I just took the leap of faith and bought 1. But preparation is key. What I did was had a friend/family teach me on their ride for a month or so before committing to buying one.

I believe the thing with learning during a test drive is that your mind is already getting filled with other information thus it could be overwhelming. Learning the stick is hard enough but tack that on alongside the salesman being more focused on selling you the car could actually deter you away from buying the car. And it’s unlikely any dealership would let you test drive their new manual cars. (The same exact reason why when buying a STI, they would let you test drive the wrx instead. At least this is true for the dealerships around my way.)


Just my two cents.

 

[typemismatch]

I don't remember if the new Si's do it, I've only driven one, but the R really helps you along in getting going.

If you let the clutch out slowly in 1st, the R will idle up to keep the engine from dying.

Don't worry too much about killing a clutch, they're generally pretty tough and can handle abuse from the stock power.

With the way these cars idle up under load, Hill Start Assist and Auto Rev Matching, there's almost no reason to not learn how to drive a stick on the 10th Civic. Every other manual I've driven has been "harder" than these to drive.

 

[Bolanosomar94]

Thank you all this post really helped me I have the 2016 Civic coupe LXP and I really want to trade in the for the SI coupe!

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