Manual trans first time driver impressions (hatchback sport) (pics)

[pcsavvy]

Congrats on getting a fun car.
I remember my first car, i bought a well used 1978 Honda Civic, 2 door hatchback, manual. I had no experience at all with a manual and this was before the internet was a place to find how to videos. I learned through my mistakes, forgetting to downshift to first gear at a stop light and stuff. Unfortunately, when I bought the car through a credit union sale, the underside of the hood was covered in oil splatter which I did not know indicated potential serious engine troubles ahead, it ended up having a crack in the block. I was a newbie driver and owner at that time. This was before lemon laws. It was stressful at times but fun to learn to drive a manual.

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[Gotch]

Forks of the Credit is a great little run, though! Especially if you catch it before they install the speed bumps for the summer. Lots of fun corners.

So is Hockley Valley!

Hope I didn’t come across as preachy, that wasn’t my intent. I recently taught my oldest son to drive stick and those are some of the coaching points I went through.

 

[Royal_Purple_Oil_Filter]

Helpful advise... You may want to check for factory paint defect and flaking dashboard. You don't want to be in the kind of situation like us who has it.

 

[franzfume]

Unbelievable the knowing of manual transmission in USA.... here in Italy we shift gear for fun in kid box just after born

 

[geeeek]

I had to drive a 2002 civic for a bit a few years ago, I was driving through beverly hills to the beach with 4 other people in the car and coming to a stop was terrifying lol, people go faster because of the longer roads

Congrats on your new first stick shift! I got my first one a month ago.

Before I got my manual car, I follow "Drive Manual" on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9vvzqgfupUvAT-_ATPtr4Q

He has very detailed and patient explanations in driving stick shift in city and highway driving.

When I had my automatic car, I did a lot of image training driving in traffic, imitating clutch control and hand movements on the shifter.

I encourage for you to drive around your neighborhood at night or even early weekend mornings. I also journal in a notebook of all the difficult situations and driving interactions I had with the car.

Give yourself time and patience.

Hope this helps. Drive safe and have fun learning!

I legit watched this guy drive through creeping freeway traffic for 10 minutes, great videos

I would say that although one can not “rev-match” while downshifting, it’s honestly felt harder to try to do that, than it is to get used to blipping the throttle. I’m not talking heel-toe: just brake, clutch in, blip throttle, clutch out. When I was first learning, I struggled because I focused too much on getting it exact and the shift took forever. Too. Now I just blip by feel, and worst case put a little too much and just catch the RPMs on the way down.. same as you are doing OP.

To the OP, sounds like you’re gonna have a great time with the car. I love driving it to and from work.

I’m a year into the car, and still try to not let it bother me that the automatics behind me are getting mad about my slow 1-2 shift lol.

With regards to knowing what gear to be in when slowing down a lot on the highway: I would suggest focusing on just a couple of gears. Memorize 2nd and 4th for example for a range of speeds. OP, you’re comfortable getting into 15-20 in 2nd. Now find the gear and rpm you would be comfortable with to cover the rest of the gap until 40mph. That way when slowing down hard on the highway you can at least get yourself smoothly into a gear while moving, then worry about going up/down into the right one (for cruising, deceleration or acceleration) afterwards.

I noticed yesterday that 3k 3rd is about 40mph and 3k 4th is about 60mph, so I have some good reference points if I need to skip a gear. But following gotch's advice I practiced just going down a gear at low rpms and haven't had to try anything else (no throttle so can still brake). When I don't need to brake I definitely like doing a quick rev because it's smoother even at low rpms. It's super fun now that I'm not afraid of slows -> fasts

I'm all for people learning to drive a manual these days with how quickly they're fading but boy do you guys make it seem complicated lol

haha come on, you know new people like to go into detail about basic things. I feel that way when I hear other students on campus talking about 1st year biology or chemistry courses. It's just practice! (or memorization).

Just wait for the next chapter..

Chapter 4: Heel-Toe
1. An introduction to Heel-Toe
1a. What is heel-toe?
1b. When to use it?
1c. Mastering the art.

2. Methods to Heel-Toe
2a - Heel-Toe Downshift
2b - Heel-Toe to a Stop
2,c - Heel-Toe into a Turn

Stay tuned folks!

if you don't heel toe down every gear into every stop or turn in city intersections, I don't know what you are doing with your life.

I had the same issue last year when I bought mine. I used to shift to 2nd after 2,500 rpm and it was too slow. So now i shift 3k+ when launching out of traffic light/stop sign. then i would go on about back to 2,500 once i get going.

Honestly, I find that when I start out quick, it’s worse... cuz the cars will keep pace behind me. Now I just never look in the rear view

I need to stop looking too

Congrats on getting a fun car.
I remember my first car, i bought a well used 1978 Honda Civic, 2 door hatchback, manual. I had no experience at all with a manual and this was before the internet was a place to find how to videos. I learned through my mistakes, forgetting to downshift to first gear at a stop light and stuff. Unfortunately, when I bought the car through a credit union sale, the underside of the hood was covered in oil splatter which I did not know indicated potential serious engine troubles ahead, it ended up having a crack in the block. I was a newbie driver and owner at that time. This was before lemon laws. It was stressful at times but fun to learn to drive a manual.

Aw it would have been awesome if you managed to keep that car all this time. I can't imagine learning on an older car but at the same time it sounds really fun

So is Hockley Valley!

Hope I didn’t come across as preachy, that wasn’t my intent. I recently taught my oldest son to drive stick and those are some of the coaching points I went through.

your advice about just going down a gear in low rpm was super helpful, I feel a lot more confident driving around and not relying on full stops or <20 rolls

Helpful advise... You may want to check for factory paint defect and flaking dashboard. You don't want to be in the kind of situation like us who has it.

I honestly don't mind small defects, I didn't notice anything when I waxed my car so that's good enough for me

 

[Royal_Purple_Oil_Filter]

I had to drive a 2002 civic for a bit a few years ago, I was driving through beverly hills to the beach with 4 other people in the car and coming to a stop was terrifying lol, people go faster because of the longer roads


I legit watched this guy drive through creeping freeway traffic for 10 minutes, great videos


I noticed yesterday that 3k 3rd is about 40mph and 3k 4th is about 60mph, so I have some good reference points if I need to skip a gear. But following gotch's advice I practiced just going down a gear at low rpms and haven't had to try anything else (no throttle so can still brake). When I don't need to brake I definitely like doing a quick rev because it's smoother even at low rpms. It's super fun now that I'm not afraid of slows -> fasts


haha come on, you know new people like to go into detail about basic things. I feel that way when I hear other students on campus talking about 1st year biology or chemistry courses. It's just practice! (or memorization).


if you don't heel toe down every gear into every stop or turn in city intersections, I don't know what you are doing with your life.





I need to stop looking too


Aw it would have been awesome if you managed to keep that car all this time. I can't imagine learning on an older car but at the same time it sounds really fun


your advice about just going down a gear in low rpm was super helpful, I feel a lot more confident driving around and not relying on full stops or <20 rolls


I honestly don't mind small defects, I didn't notice anything when I waxed my car so that's good enough for me

Just hope nothing will show up as time goes on. Mine was also perfect at first then after 2 months they started showing up

 

[geeeek]

Just hope nothing will show up as time goes on. Mine was also perfect at first then after 2 months they started showing up

yeah after reading about how delicate the paint is I wouldnt be too surprised, hopefully keeping the car waxed should slow down general deterioration. Using collinite 845 which seems to have a lot of good feedback. I’m expecting small scratches and such since I’m always parking the car in lots or on the street, I think my biggest worry is bird poop which I have an emergency clean kit in the hatch for lol

 

[Royal_Purple_Oil_Filter]

yeah after reading about how delicate the paint is I wouldnt be too surprised, hopefully keeping the car waxed should slow down general deterioration. Using collinite 845 which seems to have a lot of good feedback. I’m expecting small scratches and such since I’m always parking the car in lots or on the street, I think my biggest worry is bird poop which I have an emergency clean kit in the hatch for lol

I don't think car wax is going to be able to stop or slow paint defect that is underneath the paint itself like improper prep of the bare metal before spraying the paint.

But since car detailing is mentioned, I advise using "wax as you dry" types of spray wax on your weekly washes (if you wash every week) as it lubricates the paint surface so even less chance you're microfiber will scratch the paint surface when you dry the your car. And also, "wax as you dry" spray waxes seems to help in quickly drying the paint surface.

I do this on mine, every week wash, every time I dry I use Meguiars Quik Wax (red bottle) spray wax and after about 6 months of doing it, I'm impressed on how few the swirl marks/scratches my car has. And of course, I still apply paste wax every 3 months.

 

[geeeek]

I don't think car wax is going to be able to stop or slow paint defect that is underneath the paint itself like improper prep of the bare metal before spraying the paint.

But since car detailing is mentioned, I advise using "wax as you dry" types of spray wax on your weekly washes (if you wash every week) as it lubricates the paint surface so even less chance you're microfiber will scratch the paint surface when you dry the your car. And also, "wax as you dry" spray waxes seems to help in quickly drying the paint surface.

I do this on mine, every week wash, every time I dry I use Meguiars Quik Wax (red bottle) spray wax and after about 6 months of doing it, I'm impressed on how few the swirl marks/scratches my car has. And of course, I still apply paste wax every 3 months.

so something along the lines of this? he dries the car with a damp microfiber towel and his “skin” product as a sort of lube which I’m guessing the spray wax serves the same purpose

 

[Royal_Purple_Oil_Filter]

so something along the lines of this? he dries the car with a damp microfiber towel and his “skin” product as a sort of lube which I’m guessing the spray wax serves the same purpose

EXACTLY, indeed yes, serves the same purpose. As for the product mentioned in the video, AMMO Hydrate, I remember that is expensive which applies the same for his other products.

 

[novadrive]

Hey guys, I've been mostly a lurker here for the past year. I got the '19 black hatchback sport this past saturday, may 18. Just thought I'd share my quick experience as a complete newcomer to manual transmission cars (but my family's '18 base elantra slapstick mode was totally legit though).

I spent all weekend practicing since I take the 110 south freeway to work on monday lol. So a lot of first gear starts and then some 1-2 shifts to learn the clutch bite point first.



That 1-2 shift.. I live in LA so there's a lot of that happening. I want to be able to match general traffic while avoiding getting rear ended during the 1-2 by those who mash the gas on green lights, so I've gotten into the habit of slowly engaging the clutch as soon as I select 2nd. I don't wait for rpm to drop, instead I let the inertia of the rev hang and flywheel accelerate me with slight throttle to keep rpm from dropping too much during clutch out. A lot of slipping but I feel like it's the only way to have smooth acceleration and also just smooth shifts in general for regular driving. Not sure if that's normal and I've just watched FF too many times.

About downshifting, man it's hard to get the blip right. I can feel the inertia of the flywheel and either it doesn't move at all or I stab the throttle too hard and wait half a second for it to come down. A lot of times I find myself double blipping and taking forever to shift lol. The heavy flywheel sounds awesome in the cabin, I thought I wouldn't like it because it doesn't have that quick whip feeling but it's something I love hearing every time. Also it's super forgiving during my noob shifts.

I love brake hold, I turn it on every time I stop on an incline with a car stuck to my rear bumper. I try to avoid using it for better practice but unfortunately sometimes a car is just right there behind me.

I'm still scared of 6th gear on the freeway because I'm never it in for more than 30 sec and I can't heeltoe let alone downshift quickly enough for potential potato traffic. Still iffy on those situations where I decelerate hard but am still rolling after, I'm confident in going from neutral to second at around 15-20mph but not higher gears at higher speeds.




Most of these things are observations centered around the anti shift triforce that I see complaints about on the forum (rev hang, heavy flywheel, cdv). I have no frame of reference to compare my experience to so I'm pretty much happy to learn how to drive this car, although I'd still like to remove the cdv eventually. If I could have another car I think ideally in my head it would be an rsx type s.

Overall I love driving this car and I keep finding reasons to go out for a drive, I just got back from buying milk 2.5 miles away when there's a liquor store a block away from me.

edit:
Another thing that's great is the increased low end torque, in the elantra I never ever wanted to be below 3k because it felt like pressing a limp gas pedal, but then again I haven't really been able to drive this car more spiritedly because I'm still super focused on shifting right


here's some pics

CONGRATS! I have the same car and it was my introduction to manual transmission. Couldn't have asked for a better starting point. Never going back.

 

[MutatedMango]

You know, glad you mentioned heel toe cause i cannot get it down. its just too hard for me. i know its not a must to learn but it sure is a good feeling once learned. Can you please share how you do this with the big space between the brake and gas.

Dude me too. The brake pedal is just way too far forward for me. I'm really thinking about the Acuity pedal spacers because they have gotten nothing but praise and that looks like it makes it so much easier to heel toe

 

[RyanK]

A good tip is to always try to double-clutch, and never granny shift.

 

[absolude]

I find not overthinking helps a lot with the manual once you've got the basics and have no bad habits like riding the clutch.
Can't think of one situation that requires heel-toe in 6th gear. Maybe double clutching, but usually one is not that rushed in high gear and is not that difficult to go down one gear and catch the revs for a smooth one.
Only hope for you the shifter is better than the one in my LX Hatch, which is quite crappy by Honda standards.

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